Need advices on 7.1 headphones to replace my G930

salawow

Estimable
Jul 30, 2014
3
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4,510
Hello !

English is not my native language btw

I currently have a logitech G930 headset which is getting old... battery doesnt last as long as before, memory foam can't remember anything anymore, well, i feel like i need something new but there are so much choice.

Fell free to skip the part in italic if it's too much read

I'll start by telling you what i used in the past, hopefully it will help to point me in the right direction:

When i was a kid, i grew up using 3$ headphones, that was horrible. When i turned teen, i recieved some nameless 40$ headphones, i liked them so much, it changed my life (well, at least the audio part of my life).

When i started working and earning money, i bought a sennheiser HD555 at my local store. I liked them much better than my previous ones, although the bass was a little low for my taste. Used them for about 7 years.

Then, i needed a microphone, so i bought a "gaming headset", the logitech G35. Although the sound quality was not as good as my sennheiser, i realised i liked closed headset much better than open, and i got terribly addicted to the simulated 7.1 surround sound. I have it enabled at all time (even when listening to music), not only because the G35 sound terrible in stereo mode, but because i can use it for extended period without having ear fatigue. Not to mention that it makes gaming and movie watching much more interresting.

Then the G35 broke apart, which made my buy a G930. Identical to G35 but wireless.. i enjoyed the wireless freedom, but it has too many downside in the end.


So, here's what i'm looking for in my future headset:

- Circumaural, Wired, Closed, Comfortable
- Good sound for games, movies, music listening.
- I don't care if it has a microphone or not.
- Budget: 200-250$ canadian, but i can possibly stretch to 300$ if it's worth it. (means about 150-250$USD i think)
- 7.1 !

If it was not of the last point, i'd just read a couple test and reviews and be done with it, but really that 7.1 thing is bugging me and i can't seem to find an accurate answer about that. Alot of people seem to say it's just a marketting gimmick, some says it make everything sound bad.. Just to make things clear:

I want headphones that have one speaker on each side, but that are able to trick my ear into thinking the sound come from all around me, exactly as the G930 (in surround mode) does. Games and movies recognise this headset as surround, and allow me to tell the difference between a sound comming from the front left, the left, the rear left, etc. And while listening to stereo music with this surround mode activated, i want to have the feeling that the sound come from all around the room and not from the side of my heads. The G930 did a wonderful job about all that "virtual surround" part, but the overall sound quality of that headset was not very good, and with the surround turned off, they sounded like cheap 40% headphones.

I thought it was the headset itself that was doint it, but i read somewhere that a good sound card that can do surround headphones + a good pair of headphones, will always be better than one labeled as "7.1 gaming headset". How true is it ? And considering my budget, is that even an option ?

Thanks !
 

BrandonYoung

Estimable
Oct 13, 2014
43
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4,610
Not to mess up your buying decision, but the simulated surround is often handled by the sound card, which would use any set of stereo headphones you want.

If you still have your sennheiser cans, perhaps invest your budget into a quality sound card capable of simulating environmental surround sound, there are many on the market. Most would probably be vastly better than the simulated surround coming out of your old G35/G930.

Best of luck!
 

BrandonYoung

Estimable
Oct 13, 2014
43
0
4,610