Looking to buy headphones and a mic under $100

[Benji52]

So I was going to get a gaming headset, however after some surfing I have read that headphones and a mic is better. I need some help choosing what ones for a total of under $100usd and if it helps I aim to use it for cs go and skype.

Thanks in advance, Benji!

 

[RababNoor]

Kingston HyperX Cloud II
or
Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma

 

[Benji52]

Kingston HyperX Cloud II
or
Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma

Yeah these look great and thanks for your advice, however I am more looking towards headphones and a mic instead of a headset all in one.

 

[RababNoor]

Kingston HyperX Cloud II
or
Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma

Yeah these look great and thanks for your advice, however I am more looking towards headphones and a mic instead of a headset all in one.

That Kingston comes with detachable mic.

 

[Gam3r01]

You can either get a quality headset (such as the cloud IIs), or a cheap mic with cheap headphones.
Its not hard to guess which option will both sound better to you, and anyone listening to you.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

i have these, decided to go with them a couple years ago after reading good reviews. I dont use the mic, just use them as headphones:
http/us.creative.com/p/gaming-headsets/creative-fatal1ty-gaming-headset
As headphones they are about the best you can do for the price.
http/us.creative.com/p/gaming-headsets/creative-sb-inferno
^this is the current version, its identical bar the branding and the mic.

 

[Benji52]

i have these, decided to go with them a couple years ago after reading good reviews. I dont use the mic, just use them as headphones:
http/us.creative.com/p/gaming-headsets/creative-fatal1ty-gaming-headset
As headphones they are about the best you can do for the price.
http/us.creative.com/p/gaming-headsets/creative-sb-inferno
^this is the current version, its identical bar the branding and the mic.

 

[Benji52]

i have these, decided to go with them a couple years ago after reading good reviews. I dont use the mic, just use them as headphones:
http/us.creative.com/p/gaming-headsets/creative-fatal1ty-gaming-headset
As headphones they are about the best you can do for the price.
http/us.creative.com/p/gaming-headsets/creative-sb-inferno
^this is the current version, its identical bar the branding and the mic.

Hey iam2thecrowe, I have looked at the website and some look great, however the link keeps changing to the main page so i was wanting to know the product name of the ones that you have.
Thanks again, Benji.

 

[anonymousdude]

Hyperx cloud II is great for the price. If you don't need or want the 7.1 virtual surround you can save a few bucks with the original cloud. Totally up to you.

Headphones and a mic tend to be better, but at the price range you are looking at it's a wash. You gotta figure out how to split the money between the headphone and the mic. If you want say a nicer mic say the antlion modmic ($50) then you'll have to get a $50 pair of headphones. Contrary to popular belief there are good headphones in that range. The creative aurvana live and koss porta pro come to mind. If you say spend like $20 on the mic then with a budget of $80 you have many more options.

Also just a fun fact, the cloud and cloud II are actually based on a headphone called the takstar pro 80. All they did really was add a detachable mic and rebrand it. Other companies also rebrand the takstar pro 80 and sell them, sometimes for much cheaper.

How hard is that $100 budget? I ask because there are good options around a $100 for headphones and then you could pick up a mic on top of that.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

i have these, decided to go with them a couple years ago after reading good reviews. I dont use the mic, just use them as headphones:
http/us.creative.com/p/gaming-headsets/creative-fatal1ty-gaming-headset
As headphones they are about the best you can do for the price.
http/us.creative.com/p/gaming-headsets/creative-sb-inferno
^this is the current version, its identical bar the branding and the mic.

Hey iam2thecrowe, I have looked at the website and some look great, however the link keeps changing to the main page so i was wanting to know the product name of the ones that you have.
Thanks again, Benji.

it's just called Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset. The other variant is Creative Inferno headset, which has the same headphones, but the mic is slightly different, and a different look to them. They replace the older Fatal1ty model. The headphones are awesome for the price, have lots of low bass, more than any headphone ive used previously. I previously had a set of Bose headphones that were about $200 rrp, and these creative headphones are way better.

 

[Benji52]

Hyperx cloud II is great for the price. If you don't need or want the 7.1 virtual surround you can save a few bucks with the original cloud. Totally up to you.

Headphones and a mic tend to be better, but at the price range you are looking at it's a wash. You gotta figure out how to split the money between the headphone and the mic. If you want say a nicer mic say the antlion modmic ($50) then you'll have to get a $50 pair of headphones. Contrary to popular belief there are good headphones in that range. The creative aurvana live and koss porta pro come to mind. If you say spend like $20 on the mic then with a budget of $80 you have many more options.

Also just a fun fact, the cloud and cloud II are actually based on a headphone called the takstar pro 80. All they did really was add a detachable mic and rebrand it. Other companies also rebrand the takstar pro 80 and sell them, sometimes for much cheaper.

How hard is that $100 budget? I ask because there are good options around a $100 for headphones and then you could pick up a mic on top of that.

Wow thanks for the great reply! I did a little research on mics and I don't mind getting a cheap mic for things such as Skype and in game chat, I would prefer it not to rattle etc. Zalman have some good reviews. The hyper x Cloud II's are what I am looking towards at the moment because they are apparently very good for their price. However if I was to get a cheap mic like the Zalman do you think that i could get better headphone quality than the hyper x cloud II or no?

 

[anonymousdude]

Hyperx cloud II is great for the price. If you don't need or want the 7.1 virtual surround you can save a few bucks with the original cloud. Totally up to you.

Headphones and a mic tend to be better, but at the price range you are looking at it's a wash. You gotta figure out how to split the money between the headphone and the mic. If you want say a nicer mic say the antlion modmic ($50) then you'll have to get a $50 pair of headphones. Contrary to popular belief there are good headphones in that range. The creative aurvana live and koss porta pro come to mind. If you say spend like $20 on the mic then with a budget of $80 you have many more options.

Also just a fun fact, the cloud and cloud II are actually based on a headphone called the takstar pro 80. All they did really was add a detachable mic and rebrand it. Other companies also rebrand the takstar pro 80 and sell them, sometimes for much cheaper.

How hard is that $100 budget? I ask because there are good options around a $100 for headphones and then you could pick up a mic on top of that.

Wow thanks for the great reply! I did a little research on mics and I don't mind getting a cheap mic for things such as Skype and in game chat, I would prefer it not to rattle etc. Zalman have some good reviews. The hyper x Cloud II's are what I am looking towards at the moment because they are apparently very good for their price. However if I was to get a cheap mic like the Zalman do you think that i could get better headphone quality than the hyper x cloud II or no?

The cloud II's are very good for the price. However if you don't want the surround get these and a mic.

http/www.amazon.com/Gemini-HSR-1000-Professional-Monitoring-Headphones/dp/B006Y2BI04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443415848&sr=8-1&keywords=gemini+hsr100

They are the same headphone except for the branding.

I can't really say that you will get a better headphone as sound quality is very subjective. What I can say is that you might find something that you like better. The sennhesier 558 comes to mind at right around $100.

http/www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-558-Headphones/dp/B004FEEY9A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443416032&sr=8-1&keywords=hd+558

There's also the brainwavz hm5 and its re-brands, but I can't say they are definitely better than the cloud II/takstar, but rather a bit different in how they sound.

http/www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-HM5-Studio-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B006MA9XXM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1443416107&sr=8-3&keywords=hm5

http/www.amazon.com/NVX-Over-Ear-Headphones-ComfortMax-Cushions/dp/B0093PVTPS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1443416107&sr=8-4&keywords=hm5

If you want something more portable the noontec zoro II and v moda m80 come to mind. Please note that these are on ear headphones and not over ear. I personally own the m80's and they are a fantastic headphone, especially at that price.

http/www.amazon.com/Noontec-Headphone-Professional-Comfortable-Adjustable/dp/B00MWRR8OA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443416320&sr=8-1&keywords=noontec

http/www.amazon.com/V-MODA-Crossfade-Noise-Isolating-Headphone-Shadow/dp/B00I9UKKS0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443416308&sr=8-1&keywords=m80

There are lots more around $100 that are really very good headphones. It really depends on your own preference in terms of sound, ergonomics, and style.

 

[Benji52]

Hyperx cloud II is great for the price. If you don't need or want the 7.1 virtual surround you can save a few bucks with the original cloud. Totally up to you.

Headphones and a mic tend to be better, but at the price range you are looking at it's a wash. You gotta figure out how to split the money between the headphone and the mic. If you want say a nicer mic say the antlion modmic ($50) then you'll have to get a $50 pair of headphones. Contrary to popular belief there are good headphones in that range. The creative aurvana live and koss porta pro come to mind. If you say spend like $20 on the mic then with a budget of $80 you have many more options.

Also just a fun fact, the cloud and cloud II are actually based on a headphone called the takstar pro 80. All they did really was add a detachable mic and rebrand it. Other companies also rebrand the takstar pro 80 and sell them, sometimes for much cheaper.

How hard is that $100 budget? I ask because there are good options around a $100 for headphones and then you could pick up a mic on top of that.

Wow thanks for the great reply! I did a little research on mics and I don't mind getting a cheap mic for things such as Skype and in game chat, I would prefer it not to rattle etc. Zalman have some good reviews. The hyper x Cloud II's are what I am looking towards at the moment because they are apparently very good for their price. However if I was to get a cheap mic like the Zalman do you think that i could get better headphone quality than the hyper x cloud II or no?

The cloud II's are very good for the price. However if you don't want the surround get these and a mic.

http/www.amazon.com/Gemini-HSR-1000-Professional-Monitoring-Headphones/dp/B006Y2BI04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443415848&sr=8-1&keywords=gemini+hsr100

They are the same headphone except for the branding.

I can't really say that you will get a better headphone as sound quality is very subjective. What I can say is that you might find something that you like better. The sennhesier 558 comes to mind at right around $100.

http/www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-558-Headphones/dp/B004FEEY9A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443416032&sr=8-1&keywords=hd+558

There's also the brainwavz hm5 and its re-brands, but I can't say they are definitely better than the cloud II/takstar, but rather a bit different in how they sound.

http/www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-HM5-Studio-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B006MA9XXM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1443416107&sr=8-3&keywords=hm5

http/www.amazon.com/NVX-Over-Ear-Headphones-ComfortMax-Cushions/dp/B0093PVTPS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1443416107&sr=8-4&keywords=hm5

If you want something more portable the noontec zoro II and v moda m80 come to mind. Please note that these are on ear headphones and not over ear. I personally own the m80's and they are a fantastic headphone, especially at that price.

http/www.amazon.com/Noontec-Headphone-Professional-Comfortable-Adjustable/dp/B00MWRR8OA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443416320&sr=8-1&keywords=noontec

http/www.amazon.com/V-MODA-Crossfade-Noise-Isolating-Headphone-Shadow/dp/B00I9UKKS0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443416308&sr=8-1&keywords=m80

There are lots more around $100 that are really very good headphones. It really depends on your own preference in terms of sound, ergonomics, and style.

I am now definately looking a the Gemini DJ hsr-1000 maybe with a zalman mic but what sort of benefits would the surround give me in terms of hearing gaming footsteps with the hyper x cloud II's?
Thanks yet again (you have been great), Benji.

 

[anonymousdude]

I find that virtual surround sound is pretty cool for a lot of games, but more for the ambience rather than any advantages it gives me in game. It also depends a lot on the algorithm that is used to create the virtual surround. Some old algorithms are pretty artificial sounding, but the newest ones are pretty damn convincing. I would say that it helps a bit in hearing footsteps as you will have a bit better sense of position, but it's very unlikely that it will be the difference maker in whether you get win or lose. Also if you ever want virtual surround in the future you can always just pick up a cheap sound card like the asus xonar dg or dgx and it'll have the feature.

 

[Benji52]

Ok sorry I didn't try to chose best answer (miss click). You all have been amazing help to my research to help me decide what headphones and mic I will get. I have decided to go with the Gemini DJ hsr-1000's coupled with the zalman zm-mic1!

Thanks to all, Benji!