Headset and speakers

[chrand90]

Hello

I'm looking to buy a pair of speakers and a headset, and i'm very confused on what to get. I mainly use the headset for gaming, skype and music, but also the occasional movie. I've seen a lot of people saying that its better to stay clear of the "gaming" headsets and just buy an external mic and headphone. But what would you recommend? I've been looking to buy the sennheiser pc 360 g4me, which is around my budget, but my friend told me these are bad. What are you thoughts?

I also need a pair speakers. I've been looking at the creative gigaworks ti40 ii and the logitech z623, but I really cant figure out what makes a good speaker system, and what to stay clear of?

 

[ssddx]

what is your budget in $usd for headphones?
what is your budget in $usd for speakers?
are there any particular requirements you have?
for speakers, 2.0, 2.1 or 5.1?

to answer a few of your questions:

...are gaming headsets bad?
if you want an all-in-one unit with a mic then gaming headsets arent a bad choice. keep in mind though that the sound you will get from them is not in the same league as a good pair of headphones. if all you want is a cheap device that does as advertised then you won't be disappointed. if you care about quality sound you might be.

...headphones and a seperate mic?
personally this would be my choice. its a little more hassle to deal with but if you are going to be using your headphones alot and care about quality sound this is the way to go. if you search around you can get a deal on audiotechnica ath-m50 headphones for about $160. probably the best you can get under $300.

...what speakers?
personally i find its hard to go wrong with logitech if you are after speakers under $200. most of their sets are built well for being plastic and provide more than adequate sound quality.

...how much should i spend?
this depends on which you will be using more. if you plan to be using the speakers most of the time then you can get away with a cheap gaming headset and throw more money into speakers. if you plan on using the speakers only as a backup and the headset more often then it might be worth investing more into headphones and a seperate mic. if you just want to get by as cheap as you can go while maintaining "decent" sound then i'd say buy the $30 2.1 logitech set (the curvy one not the boxy one) and buy a cheap $30-40 gaming headset. everything depends on how you will be using them.

---

if you're curious...what am i using?

i've got a pair of ath-m50's (what i recommended) for work and travel and a home theatre set hooked up to my pc.

 

[chrand90]

My budget for headphones is around the price of the sennheiser 360, which is ~220 $ usd. That means i have 220 $ to get a pair of headphones and a mic. I've must admit that the ath-m50's look awesome. I've read a few reviews and people seem to agree that they perform very well. And they are on amazon for around 150-180 usd, which seems like a very good price.
But I also need an external mic then. I've seen someone recommend the Zalman Zm-Mic1. Would that be sufficient? I mean does it deliver a clear voice without too much distortion.

As for as speakers goes, my budget is in the range of 150-200 $ usd, depending on what headphones/headset i choose, as it is my main priority. I would like either a 2.0 or 2.1 system. Problem is the sub cant be too large as it will have to fit under my relatively small desk. Thats why i thought of the creative ti 40 first. Speakers doesnt need to be super great, just you know descent, as i wont be using them everyday.

thanks a lot for the help, I really appreciate it.

 

[ssddx]

i would definitely go with a quality pair of headphones then with a seperate mic.

yeah, the audiotechnicas are very nice and are a great price. definitely worth looking into.

no idea on microphones. i very rarely use one myself and when i do its a cheap $10 ah heck i got at walmart so i cannot really say. if you want quality then perhaps one used in the audio field. i wouldnt spend more than $50-75 at the most though.

since speakers aren't a priority you can get away with a budget 2.1 set from logitech. either the $30 or $50 curvy looking sets. the sound isn't bad at all for the price range and the speakers/sub are reasonable sizes. they arent audiophile quality but for intermittant use more than enough.

 

[pepsilime]

would u get more bass if you get a really good 2.1 set and an ok headset? I heard that the sound gets transferred from the speakers into the headphones

 

[ssddx]

when you are using headphones the main speakers are inactive.

in any case even if i hooked up a $10 pair of headphones to a $30,000 audio center the headphones would still sound like a $10 pair of headphones. you can get headphones to sound a bit better by hooking them up to an amplifier yes, however this only goes so far.

so to answer your question: no your headphones will not get more bass just by hooking them up to a 2.1 pc speaker system. if they are being amped up you might notice a slight difference but not the same type of difference a quality set would give you.