Hi
Brianfps welcome to XIM community
!
Sennheiser
HD660S and
Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro, even though are at the same price range IMO are unique on its own right; you can't wrong with either but is an investment for sure.
"For gaming", any audiophile headphones of these caliber(price range) or above, we are steeping over the line of "overdoing". Nothing wrong with that if you can afford it, go for it but don't expect what you are paying for...
About Headphone prizing:
A $200 headphone sounds 100% better than a $100?,
-no but a good 70% for sure.
A $500 headphone sounds 100% better than an $250,
-no maybe 40%.
$800 headphone doesn't sound 30% better than a $400 one.
Diminish returns. At that prizing you are paying for exclusivity, handmade materials(bamboo, wood) or even experimental technology.
Sennheiser HD660S, Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro and the Shure SRH1840 are professional headphones intended for music production and mixing, specially the last two, these means are very analytic, very accurate, clear and high fidelity (sound sounds like on real life), for music listening, movies, to get an exceptional audio quality experience that competes with a more expensive surround home theater, sure these price range is what you should looking for.
For Gaming:
Any of these had AMAZING imaging, you can know when a enemy is about to appear around a corner with precision, or if is behind you, or above you, under, if is at a 7 meters 2 o'clock, etc.
HD660S stands out for vocal mastering (vocal = mid-range = foot-steps) handles mid-range exceptionally. On gaming terms, you can hear clearly footsteps with both, but on the Sennheiser are very noticable. If the game is chaotic with a lot of explosions and ambient noise in the background on the
HD660S you can definitely identify the enemy footsteps and teammates call-outs (mid-range), on the
DT1990 Pro is a bit harder, footsteps kind sound mixed with the ambient.
However, if the game has a quiet ambient noise (like PUBG, Apex Legends, Squad)
HD660S and
DT1990 Pro are in a even field... and
DT1990 Pro might and edge specially if the game audio mix in question had enemy footsteps also in the low and mid treble. Treble is substantially more present on the
DT1990 Pro, this can be tiresome for long game sessions.
So I had both, and decided to keep the HD660S because is sound signature is more my liking, I can't hear treble dominant ("bright") headphones for too long, and this is my next-level headphones for a next-level audio listening
Introducing the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro... these headphones had a great bass for open-back, similar mid-range and highlighted treble performance than DT1990 Pro, but it doesn't sound "
as beautiful realistic representative as a real life" than the DT1990 Pro's", but for gaming in all honesty you don't need it, what we want is a radar, we want to hear every footsteps and its direction clearly DT990Pro for sure will deliver this performance, for a lower price. That's why is so popular between gamers/streamers.
Finding a right headphone is like finding a right mouse, you have to choose what ever is more comfortable for you and you hearing. But unlike mice, you can't have one headphone that does all, one that does great bass, other which mid-range is the best, and your bright headphone for treble heavy audio. In my case my DT990Pro are "my bright" headphones, my go-to for sound-whoring; but I can't use them for more than 2 hours, only for competitive of serious gaming... for enjoy casual gaming I prefer the signature of the ADG1X or HD660S.
My suggestion is, make sure you have a decent DAC/Amp, then start to look for headphones.
In short:
Assuming you can handle treble (high-notes) For Call of Duty (which has footsteps on mid-range and treble), specifically for sound-whoring I will say DT990 Pro are definitely a top recommendation, no doubt.
My go-to for sound-whoring (footsteps detection)
Proof that I own both.
But based on my personal experience, the best so you can ear
EVERYTHING will be
Shure SHR1840, over the DT1990 Pro, those has very good mid-range closer to a Sennheiser, very noticeable treble but not too harsh like on DT1990 and DT990 Pro, and it has such a WIDE sound-stage that you feel you are playing on a cinema theater, is weak point is the bass, DT990Pro has better bass, but as you know when we are sound-whoring a recess bass will help to hear better the foot-steps.
That was lot, sorry but at the end you have to try it.
