Looking for a Gaming Headset

[phasmantis]

So, if you're an FPS PC gamer, you probably know that BC2 is coming out soon. Well, luck be it, my headset is going back and I have to wiggle the cord to get the sound in both ears.

I'm on the market now for a good headset, but I want a headset with good surround sound and excellent sound quality/bass. Preferably one with jacks so I can plug them into my sound card.

So far I've looked at the Logitech G35
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104281&cm_re=g35-_-26-104-281-_-Product
But the complaints about Skype and the buzzing make me worried, since I game while Skyping and use Windows 7.

Also, the Creative Arena:
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826158084&Tpk=creative%20arena
This worries me because people say it messes with music and it's not truly surround sound.

Any experience with these headsets?


However, I believe they are both USB and won't plug in directly to my X-Fi sound card.

I would love to hear some other experiences. I hear Turtle Beach has some good head sets, but I also hear the opposite.

 

[Jayfar]

I have not tried those particular headsets, so I can't comment on those. However, since you have a dedicated Gaming Sound Card, I agree that finding a quality set of headphones that use jacks instead of USB is the better way to go from personal experience.

I use the Astro A40 Headset for both the PC and Xbox360 and have enjoyed them, perhaps they could be another consideration of yours to throw in the mix if you haven't heard of them. The A40 uses the standard PC Jacks, and potentially Optical cables if you include a mixamp.

http/www.astrogaming.com/products/3/Audio-Systems/

 

[phasmantis]

Hm, those are pretty nice. 250 Dollars is a lot, but I can't say much since I was considering the Psyko 5.1 head set as well.

I might end up going with these:

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826158082&cm_re=creative_fatal1ty_headset-_-26-158-082-_-Product

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826158081&cm_re=creative_fatal1ty_headset-_-26-158-081-_-Product

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826158084&cm_re=creative-_-26-158-084-_-Product

I like the arenas a lot, and they have a good rating, but they don't have jacks.

It's either one of those, the A40, or:

http/www.psykoaudio.com/

They look weird, but apparently they work AWESOME. 300 dollars though (tax return yay) I am just worried I'll break them.

 

[phasmantis]

Okay, so I did some more research and found two headsets within' my price range that I want. It's between the Turtle Beach HPA2 and the Sennheiser PC350. I want to be immersed in my games, and be able to tell which direction sounds are coming from. HPA2 is true 5.1 sound, however, the PC350 is said to have flawless sound quality and positional audio, even though it only uses two jacks. Does anyone have any experience with these headsets?

 

[Havick]

I had some Trittons and they worked great.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826235007&cm_re=trittion-_-26-235-007-_-Product

Though mine stopped working about 9 months after I got them. I had the originals and they had 2 power cords which is the worst thing about this headset. There really isn't any reason they need to be powered and unfortunately the power cord is what seems to have stopped working.

 

[Vertebreaker]

Get some of the new Tritton AX-PRO's when they come out. The website says they should be available during the middle to end of February.

The last batch had a problem with the mic so wait for this new batch that fixes that along with integrating it so it only has 1 power cord, as well as a better labeled off button. So the new ones should eliminate all of the complaints from the ones that are sold right now.

Out of all of the gaming headsets that I have tried (over 15 pairs) the AX pro sounded the best. The mic was garbage like I said but that is being fixed. True surround sound sounded better than everything else, A40's, Turtle beaches x41's ( the wireless still blows compared to a cord).

Or to go the cheapest route I just saw Amazon has the Tritton AX360's which are the headset before the AX Pro but were discontinued to upgrade to the AX pro. They also have the 4 speakers in each ear and great sound but do have some of the down falls when it comes to being able to filter the voice chat sound and game sound on Xbox live. But at the low price of $55 I don't think you can get anything remotely close to sounding as good without spending about $70-80 more.

 

[MEgamer]

instead of getting a usb headset, u will have much mroe appreciated sound quality, if u get a proper headphone and a mic, with gd soundcard.

 

[foody]

Okay, so I did some more research and found two headsets within' my price range that I want. It's between the Turtle Beach HPA2 and the Sennheiser PC350. I want to be immersed in my games, and be able to tell which direction sounds are coming from. HPA2 is true 5.1 sound, however, the PC350 is said to have flawless sound quality and positional audio, even though it only uses two jacks. Does anyone have any experience with these headsets?

Surround sound in a headset is virtually useless. When you listen to a surround sound system you can distinguish where the sounds are coming from more effectively because the speakers are in different parts of the room. When you have surround sound in a headset, the drivers are too close together to be anywhere near as distinguishable as a 5.1 system. Also, the sound quality generally suffers a great deal.

If you have 4-5 speakers in one cup of a headphone, you are replacing one high quality driver with 4-5 low quality drivers to keep the price similar. On top of that, you can't distinguish sound direction much if any better than normal headphones. What you hear in games that determines sound direction comes from the software itself anyway. Sounds in a game are altered depending on where your character is and the location of the source of the sound.

For the best experience I would recommend the Sennheiser PC350's or another high quality headset with stereo sound and something that can output Dolby Headphone from an optical or coaxial source such as the Astro A40 Mixamp. There are other devices you can use for the Dolby Headphone but I am not sure what the cost is. I myself own the Astro A40 Audio System (headset and Mixamp) and though it is a VERY nice set, it is expensive and the headset though of high quality, is surpassed in quality by the PC350's.

I hope my little writeup helped you. (=

 

[Cogswell]

So, if you're an FPS PC gamer, you probably know that BC2 is coming out soon. Well, luck be it, my headset is going back and I have to wiggle the cord to get the sound in both ears.

I'm on the market now for a good headset, but I want a headset with good surround sound and excellent sound quality/bass. Preferably one with jacks so I can plug them into my sound card.

So far I've looked at the Logitech G35
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104281&cm_re=g35-_-26-104-281-_-Product
But the complaints about Skype and the buzzing make me worried, since I game while Skyping and use Windows 7.

Also, the Creative Arena:
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826158084&Tpk=creative%20arena
This worries me because people say it messes with music and it's not truly surround sound.

Any experience with these headsets?


However, I believe they are both USB and won't plug in directly to my X-Fi sound card.

I would love to hear some other experiences. I hear Turtle Beach has some good head sets, but I also hear the opposite.

This is a great headset with SRS 3D Surround Sound, and the price is really really low. You should jump on this deal. If I needed another headset I'd definitely get this.

http/www.amazon.com/Communications-Microphone-Reduction-OEM-non-retail/dp/B002FC9KK2

 

[MEgamer]

how about buy a proper headset, then get srs sandbox... even better.

 

[phasmantis]

Best answer selected by phasmantis.

 

[joegris]

Just a complaint about Astro A40's. While the product is good, god forbid you have a problem. Their customer service is HORRIBLE. They don't have a phone number to talk to an actual person, and from my experience don't bother responding to email. I actually have to go to the bank to request a refund for an extended warranty they will not honor. BEWARE OF ASTRO HEADSETS!!!!