Recommend me a good pair of gaming headphones.

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

I don't need surround sound or anything fancy like that, as I'm gaming on a laptop which uses an AC97 codec for sound--thus, any fancy feature-supporting headphones would go to waste.

So, what's a solid, affordable, baseline model worth looking into?

[Geezerone]

I bought myself a pair of Grado SR60s for laptop gaming, and now I use it on my desktop (Audigy 2 sound card) if I need to be quiet.  I see they run for $69 at Cambridge Sound Works.  They are damn fine, comfortable, audiophile quality pair of "cans".  

From what I've read, it's hard to find sub $100 audiophile quality headphones these days, and these came highly recommended.  I am very pleased.  No head or earache after using them all night.

I understand that if you want more bass response, to get the SR80's.

PS: It's good to see all the GGers landed here  

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Right now I'm running on some cheapo $20 Sony pair... not adapted for much of anything at all.

I'll look into the SR60s.  I really need a better output than these cheapo phones or the builtin speakers for CS:Source.  

[Storm Crow]

Sennhieser HD 570's. Absolutley kickass headphones.

[Koz]

I got a pair of Sennheiser HD 497's. Great headphones and pretty cheap too (~$40-50) as far as quality goes.

[Vidiot]

I first got a set of Grado SR90s, but they were just to damn loud.  At a normal volume someone else in the room could call out the lyrics to what I was listening too.  So while they sound great, if you really need quiet I would go with something else.

In the end I got a set of Senn 212Pros.  They are sealed, so no sound gets out.  They have stronger bass then the Grado ones, some might say too much, but over all they are not quite as good.  Cost me about 50$, the SR90s cost about 90$.

I would also note that the SR90s were a lot harder on my ears, the pad on them was kinda rough.  As far as I know you can get a softer one, but you need to buy it separate.

[IHateMorrowind]

I'll second the opinion on the Sennheiser 497's.  I use them myself for gaming.

[Gwen]

Yeah,what they said. HD 570s.  So comfortable you can lay down and go to sleep with these jewels wrapped around your ears and not feel a thing.  Sound is scrumptious!!

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

I think I'm going to go with the 497s.  A local retailer has a pair for $60, which is in my price range... the 570s do look tempting, but $150 new / $100 refurb is just too much.

[Temjin]

I'm quite happy with my Sennheiser HD555s.  The 497s are probably the best choice for laptop listening, since anything over $100 would be overkill.

[Draco]

I think I'm going to go with the 497s.  A local retailer has a pair for $60, which is in my price range... the 570s do look tempting, but $150 new / $100 refurb is just too much.

I just saw that Amazon has the Sennheiser HD570 for only $79.98.  What's the difference between "closed ear" and "open ear" headphones?

Are these generally better than the new 5.1 headphones?