Most comfortable headset with 7.1 surround sound?

John96

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Apr 6, 2014
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I'm looking for a headset for extended use, up to 10hrs at a time with 7.1 surround sound. I don't need a mic with it but it has to be comfortable.

I'm willing to spend £100-£150 but prefer it to be under that price range.

I've had expensive headsets in the past but they all become very uncomfortable after about an hour or two of use, and a quick google search of comfortable headsets come with ridiculous prices lol..

Anyway i don't want any wireless headsets since i've had a bad experience with Razer and Logitech wireless headsets.

I've heard that the Logitech G35 Surround Sound Headset (wired) is comfortable but im unsure.
 
Solution
While it does not come with virtual surround sound, my two friends and I switched to Sennheiser HD 558's and 598's and we all find them easy to wear for 6 hours straight.

They are open back headphones which while are not suitable for noisy environments but have much cleaner and clearer sound quality than virtually all gaming headsets so you can hear your enemies better.

Music also sounds fantastic as long as you are not a basshead, as these headphones favor clarity over skull crushing bass.

Tcinator

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Jun 25, 2014
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The G930 has a thinner band than the G35. the G930 hurts the top of my head after extended wear, but around the ears I could wear it 24/7. my friend does have the g35 and combined with a thicker band and the same ears, id say the G35 is a good pick.
 

shotgunz

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Dec 17, 2011
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While it does not come with virtual surround sound, my two friends and I switched to Sennheiser HD 558's and 598's and we all find them easy to wear for 6 hours straight.

They are open back headphones which while are not suitable for noisy environments but have much cleaner and clearer sound quality than virtually all gaming headsets so you can hear your enemies better.

Music also sounds fantastic as long as you are not a basshead, as these headphones favor clarity over skull crushing bass.
 
Solution

GeRgY

Admirable
Moderator
Don't get logitech buddy... I am a big fan of them! Got mice and keyboard *logitech and i am very happy about them, but sound belongs to RAZER. They made insane speakers and surround. Try Razer Kraken 7.1 and you will fall inlove :)
 

shotgunz

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I wouldn't recommend those though, my friend has a logitech G430 and it's dreadfully uncomfortable. Sennheiser's HD558 has thick, breathable foam + velour pads

sennheiser_hd_558_hd558_18439.jpg


Also, googling the logitech G35 tends to show up quite a few of them broken and their pads being worn out LOL

https://www.google.ca/search?q=logitech+g35&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=L9u_VIvCIMOfggSX-4GABA&ved
 

shotgunz

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I use a logitech keyboard and mouse too, mainly because the price was good lul, but I'd say sound (fidelity and quality) belongs to companies like AKG, Audiotechnica, Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser who each have over 50 years of experience making just audio products.

There is much misinformation in the audio world and generating hype through mass advertising with flashy designs leads to people buying headphones like beats, skullcandy and turtle beach.

Back to the OP, it's best to listen for yourself which virtual surround technology suits your own ears the best since everybody hears differently. You can try that in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BxO9cd-sYA

Buy a soundcard with that virtual surround technology that sounds the best to you along with a quality headphone. If your place is not noisy, an open back headphone will easily beat a closed back one for clearly hearing what's going on around you in your games.
 

GeRgY

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Moderator


TRUE! We talk about Gaming headsets. The sound from Razer headsets is amazing (i test them vs logitech and steel series... Razer still beat them hard). Companies like AKG, Audiotechnica, Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser are leaders but my experience in gaming turns to razer (audio only! ). Try them somehow
 

John96

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Apr 6, 2014
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I'm thinking about getting the Sennheiser HD 558 but i heard that it leeks a lot of sound which is an issue for me since i do recordings.

If my audio is low will it still leak enough to get picked up by my microphone?

Other than that that headset is perfect for me i think.

Also would it be better to get the Sennheiser HD 518 over the 558? Is there really a huge sound quality / comfort difference, since comfort and less sound leakage is more important to me that ultra high sound quality
 

shotgunz

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Razer only makes closed back headphones though, so you have no choice between an open or closed set.

As long as the OP is in a quiet environment, open headphones along with a virtual surround technology for gaming are generally better.

Open back headphones are more comfortable than closed ones since they are generally lighter and use more softer, breathable materials in their pads so your face and ears stay cooler and drier. Important for those intense fights when you may be sweating.

OP : "I don't need a mic with it but it has to be comfortable." Sennheiser's HD558 has no mic, so that's one less thing adding to the headphone's weight.

Since OP clearly wants a comfortable headphone, let's look at the weights of the headphones.

Razer Kracken 7.1 293 g
Sennheiser HD 558 260 g

and the shape and pads...

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hqdefault.jpg


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Sennheiser_HD558_right.jpg


You can see that the HD 558 has bigger pads for more surface area to distribute clamping force, more room for your ears, has much more padding on the top, weighs less.

Razer Kraken uses pleather pads, HD558 uses velour.

Pleather vs velour pads : Velour pads are much more breathable and keep your ears/face cooler and drier. See for yourself, opinions from headphone enthusiast site: http://www.head-fi.org/t/191377/velour-vs-leather-for-earpads

But OP, will you be using them in a quiet or noisy enviroment?
 

John96

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Apr 6, 2014
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Ill be using them in my room which is dead silent most of the time, though i don't mind being able to hear external sounds since i sometimes watch tv while gaming or have a friend over.
 

shotgunz

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You can lower the sensitivity of your microphone to not pick up the headphones. You shouldn't need to do it unless you like your volumes at vacuum cleaner level though. The HD 518 while cheaper, uses different earpads which are less comfortable so in the long run, it's better to invest in the 558.

And about the sound quality thing, open headphones sound well, open. Like you are half listening to a headphone and a speaker set at the same time. This lets you hear the directions of sounds much better. Couple this with their clarity and 7.1 virtual surround sound card, has saved my butt plenty of times in FPS games.

Trust me, over time you will appreciate hearing better so you can get more frags to look better for your viewers.
 

John96

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Apr 6, 2014
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Will getting a sound card really make much of a difference in sound quality? i looked them up on amazon and can be costly. What sound card do you use?
 

shotgunz

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It isn't as much of a sound quality problem, it's the fact that some games have their own "headphone" sound mode and some games don't. Most content you hear, especially music is optimized more for speaker playback than headphone playback.

Some sound cards have virtual headphone surround technologies like Dolby Headphone that improve your gaming experience by transforming sounds to be more headphone friendly.

If you are interested, it's best to listen for yourself which virtual surround technology suits your own ears the best since everybody hears differently. You can try that in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BxO9cd-sYA

Turn off any virtual surround sound effects when watching that
 

BlueFireZ

Estimable
What shotgunz said is comepletely true, Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, Audio Technica, etc have experience. Ive used many headsets and the Razer Kraken 7.1 and the Logitechs, they do not have good sound quality! I was once a newbie not knowing anything like you, but after hours of extensive research a testing headsets i came to a conclusion that many people who have bought headsets/headphones came too - headphones will beat headsets, though there are exceptions. I owned the Razer Kraken 7.1 and returned it because of constant hissing and other audio problems and I bought the Audio Technica ATH-M40x, im not advertising by the way. I will say other peripherals from Logitech and Razer are great, but I woulnt really recommend their headsets. A lot of people will say some headsets are good because of their famous advertisers like Pewdiepie etc. All you need is a headphone from a respected brand and a nice soundcard.

Hope you understand and that this helps!
 

shotgunz

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Sadly, that motherboard does not feature any virtual headphone surround technologies.

http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_D1/

http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_DX/

Both of these have dolby headphone and only differ from the kind of pci slot you want to put them in. You should try the UNi Xonar drivers instead of the asus ones since they are less buggy.

http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/

There's also a cheaper one too, also has dolby headphone but has less features you may or may not need.

http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_DGX/



My laptop comes with dolby headphone, so I use an external portable technically a "sound card" Fiio E18 USB headphone AMP/DAC to get better sound.