Choosing audio hardware for gaming and audio work?

[kinkinkijkin]

Before I say anything else, I'll say this: because of my chosen soundcard, to avoid buying extra adapters, I need a headset that uses the 6.35mm jack.

Okay, with that out of the way, I'm currently in horrible need of new audio hardware. I do everything with a broken (and low-quality to begin with) headset intended for use with consoles and onboard audio. I've already chosen a sound card, so don't worry about that. Basically, when not feeding my video game addiction, I'm a musician and voice actor (I'm just oozing humbleness, eh?), and I bought my hardware to appease NONE of those needs. My hardware is made for watching youtube videos and calculating how much money you lost buying this computer.

I have a maximum budget of $2000, and a preferred maximum budget of $1300, to buy ALL of the things I need. I have already allotted about $950 of that on hard disks and the soundcard. What's left to choose is a headset (preferably with microphone) and a microphone. Though, I might switch from four VelociRaptors to only two of them.

 

[oczdude8]

what audio hardware specifically are you look at? how "pro" are we talking about?

A basic audio recording setup involves an external USB or firewire sound card, a condenser mic and a reference headphone.

 

[kinkinkijkin]

I'm looking at a semi-permanent setup, with as much as is rational pushed into the computer's internals.

And, I'm looking at something that's high enough quality that minimal editing is required to get a clear recording, but inexpensive enough that it's easily replaceable, and feature-rich/tweakable to the point of not being a hindrance for gaming. Of course, while not obvious, I want a high-quality headset more than I want a high-quality mic, though they're near-equal.

 

[oczdude8]

ok so by the looks of it you are not looking for a high-end audio recording setup.

I would recommend you check out sweetwater.com. They specialize in audio equipment. you should buy a USB mic like this:http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SnowballAL/

for a headphone, I recommend this:http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/K240mk2/
be warned: this is a reference headphone-> this means it plays music exactly as it was recorded; it does not add any color to it like beats headphones.

I personally use the AKG 240 MKII for light music editing, and its great.