In stock on the 30th of May, but a great price for a very good neutral open back headphone. Amp likely required, but usable for audio work or just audio enjoyment in a quiet environment.
More notes and details on the last deal post.
Enjoy!
CamelCamelCamel.
They really, really aren't. They are comparatively low resolution, with artificially boosted lower treble and mid-bass that is needlessly harsh.
In that price range, for an open back, take a look at the K612, the HD 6XX and the HD 560S. The 560S doesn't need an amp either, has outstanding neutrality and soundstage for the price, and doesn't hit as poorly in the treble as the Phillips gear. Should be sub-$250 again soon.
The 6XX is my favourite out of all of these, but their imaging and soundstage is not ideal for gaming, which I assume is where the Fidelio still gets traction. The 6XX/650 are famous for their vocal timbre, resolution, and overall tuning.
The 6XX is about to drop again at Drop, as well.
I used these for gaming and was absolutely blown away.
I'm a newb to headphone gear.
I have the Astro A50s(which is meant to be the pinnacle of gaming audio at the time)
plus turtle beaches and other headphones.
And what the internet doesn't tell u easily is that ACTUAL hi-fi headphones sound outstandingly better + are cheaper.
I managed to get the 6xx at $289 or something close to that.
absolutely smashes the $499 Astros. (obviously doesn't come with a mic or wireless or with fancy gamer colours)
Yeah, the A50s are way overpriced/overrated. I got some RIG800s for the XBONE, and they're both better and half the price. But yeah, if you can rig a mic, proper headphones kill anything in the gaming space.
Thanks for the suggestion but the HD 6XX is $200 usd + the amp if you really want to get the value out of that headphones. Really not even close to the ‘that price point’.
Also never buying AKG after I bought their K240. Worse headphones I had by far, and I have koss porta pros, Bose QC25, Sony xm3, shure se215 Sennheiser HD 280, HD600 (however far away in some other country lol). so I had some experience with a decent amount of headphones on that price range.
The only thing Philips headphones are good for is imaging, and the 560S rivals them there.
The only headphones out of the list you just gave that are worth the time IMO are the HD600, and I find the 2-4kHz range a bit hot.
Strongly recommend demoing the HD 560S.
So what would you say would be the best one for gaming open back for pinpointing footsteps/movements etc would prefer something with a mic but not essential.
I have Hyper X clouds( there crap ) and EPOS Sennheiser GSP 500 the GSP500 are a lot better then the clouds but looking for something better.
560S, but you miss out in non-EDM based music.
Today's headphone technology isn't one size fits all because it's either one type of driver trying to cover the full audio spectrum, or several drivers crammed into a compact space without enough consideration in the tuning of the headphone and processing of the signal.
The ultimate competitive shooter headphone would probably be the Sennheiser HD 800S or HD 8XX, as it uses an intelligent derivation of the diffuse field curve and thus can be very 3D, but it's a very specific headphone from a musical perspective (though it responds well to EQ, so you could toggle a software EQ on when you're done gaming).
After quite a bit of research, I decide to get the Audio Technica ATH-AD700X instead for a quite a bit less (<$180 delivered) as it has better frequency response with 53mm driver and does not need a headphone amp to drive it :)
Enjoy the sucked out upper mids!
I don't think that matters much as I don't have "perfect" hearing anymore (otherwise I would have bought something else in the $500-$1000 price range). I can spend the left-over money on a bottle of Red enjoy it while listening to music at night. BTW, I do have a headphone amp but I hardly use it as I don't find it that much helpful with my audio set up :)
Hi OP apparently you like the K612, could you compare it to the K712 though? Thinking of getting an open back. I am driving it with an ultrasone NAOS and I will use it for music and gaming. Currently using an SR80i that's still going strong but just want to up the game a bit.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/10438101/redir
I'd focus on this, and the ATH-R70X, because the K712 needs a bit of work to provide a balanced sound signature that would be decent for music.
The 700 series provides polished imaging at the expense of the 1-3 kHz region and some treble spikes due to it also chasing the diffuse field target, which was a precursor to the Harman target. Effectively it tries to simulate the way in which sound would interact with ideal room while travelling at you from all directions.
Seems very 3D in theory, but the setup required to record this way is challenging and expensive. Harman might move back towards diffuse field in the future once we can adequately virtualise all audio to suit, but for now it (and similar targets) offer an experience that can compensate for bad recordings, then audio companies add in their little quirks to add spatial cues, instrument separation, better timbre, etc.
Wordy, but I hope that helps, because people who enjoy the 700 series tend to EQ or mod it, and it really doesn't stand head and shoulders over the 612 Pro.
I can no longer edit this, but this is no longer on back order, and the price is $208.
Local stock is now $220.
Man, I am waiting X2HR to go on sale. Sounds like they are pretty great and won’t certainly need an amp.