Sub £100 headphones for gaming and movies

[crazy8s]

I've been looking into getting some new headphones to be used for gaming (XBOX360 and PS3) and for watching movies (both off the PC and Blu-Ray) but I'm not sure which would be the "best" headphones for both uses.

I've currently narrowed it down to the following:

Sennheiser HD555 -open ~£70
Sennheiser HD595 -open ~£85
Sennheiser HD215 -closed ~£50
Audio Technica ATH-AD700 -open ~£80/100
Audio Technica ATH-A700 -closed ~£125 (over budget but have heard good things for these especially as they are closed)

For reference the last pair of headphones I used for gaming were the TB Ear Force X1's but I find the bass to overpower some of the other sounds which makes it slightly difficult to pinpoint players (COD4/COD5).

I do intend on buying an Astro A40 mixamp in the future to be used with one of the headphones above.

Are the HD555/ATH-AD700's the best headphones to get even though they are open, or am I going to be better off from buying the HD595's or even the ATH-A700's?

Since I play games/watch movies at night I wont necessarily have a huge problem with sound leaking in, but I don't want to disturb anyone in the house. Nor do I want to put the volume so low that it defeats the purpose of me using headphones in the first place.

The only other problem I can see with the open headphones is that my PS3 fan always goes onto full blast after around 10-15 minutes so I'm sure I will be hearing the loud noise through the cans no matter how high I turn them up.

Any comments/recommendations will be greatly appreciated

[Drubbing]

Go with open phones if positioning in games is important to you. I'd put the AD700 streets ahead of the senn's. Their bass is leaner than some others, but have very crisp and detailed sound.

Sound leakage won't be a problem if other people aren't in the same room.

[crazy8s]

Originally Posted by Drubbing

Go with open phones if positioning in games is important to you. I'd put the AD700 streets ahead of the senn's. Their bass is leaner than some others, but have very crisp and detailed sound.

Sound leakage won't be a problem if other people aren't in the same room.

Thanks, what about offline gaming-how do they compare?

I don't consider myself much of an audiophile, I'm really after one set of headphones that will work well for gaming, movies and occasionally listening to music.

I've read on other forums that the AD700's are definately ones to consider ahead of the Sennheiser's, but I've also seen the A700's being sold on Amazon.com for around £70 (after converting $ to £) and if import duty/tax comes to £20/30 they will still be within budget and cheaper than buying from UK.


On a side note has anyone experienced buying from "www.ath-ad700.co.uk/ "? They have the AD700's advertised for £79

[Drubbing]

Originally Posted by crazy8s

Thanks, what about offline gaming-how do they compare?

How do they compare for what?

[crazy8s]

Originally Posted by Drubbing

How do they compare for what?

Ah ignore that I don't know what I was thinking there

I've narrowed it down to the A700's or the AD700's, I can get both around the same price (Amazon.com are selling the A700's for $113 and with any import duties/taxes should come to around £100).

Hopefully I can find a store that sells both that I can try out before I buy