Gaming headsets

[Dominus Atheos]

I would like some recommendations on gaming headsets from people with experience with them. Can anyone tell me what to look for in a pair, like whether I need 5.1 headsets, or USB, etc. 5.1 sounds like it would be better since it can use all those speakers to more accurately reproduce which way the sound is coming from. Also I sure would like to be able to use the headsets to listen to movies on a laptop and still get 5.1.

Just to be clear, I am mostly looking for advice from people with experience with multiple types. I don't want "I use headset x, and it works works pretty good" or "I recommend headset y, I use it all the time and it's never failed me". I'm looking more for "I've used stereo headsets and 5.1 headsets and can tell you it's totally worth it for 5.1" or "If you have an integrated sound card, use USB since it includes it's own audio chip which is probably going to sound better" or "all gaming headsets suck for listening to movies, just get a headset for gaming and settle with stereo for movie watching", etc.

Thank you.

[Stark]

Do you want a mic, or just an enclosed speaker replacement? Good headsets with mics are almost nonexistent, certainly at any decent price.

[Dominus Atheos]

Do you want a mic, or just an enclosed speaker replacement? Good headsets with mics are almost nonexistent, certainly at any decent price.

I suppose I don't really care. I can use a regular microphone with a stand, or even just be ghetto and tape a microphone onto the headphones.

[Uraniun235]

I use this Zalman clip-on mic, it seems to work pretty well for gaming. Much more convenient, I thought, than a boom mic.

[weemadando]

I've got a pair of Siberia Neckbands which are awesome, because they come bundled with a device to allow you to use them as a 360 headset+headphones. The sound quality is decent, it has a retractable boom mike and it also comes with approximately 1km of headphone extension cables should you need them (single cable/dual jacks for headphones and mic). The only notable downside is that due to the design, after several hours on the ears, your ears REALLY start to feel ti.

[Jade Falcon]

I use a set of these

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/ ... oid=-29767

They are very comfortable, and a lot more lightweight than my old Speedlink Medusas, the mic is also fairly good.

[Dominus Atheos]

No one ever reads the OP.

[Jade Falcon]

No one ever reads the OP.

The Speedlink Medusa I used was a 5.1 headset, and while good was uncomfortable after long use, the Plantronics is not 5.1 and is just as good sound wise if not better. It's also more comfortable.

[weemadando]

No one ever reads the OP.

Stop crying.

I'll put it this way. You have really 3 options in headphones.

1) Cheap and simple. Sometimes you'll find a gem, but most are either uncomfortable have poor sound quality or both.
2) "Gamer"/"Enthusiast" sets. Decent quality and good comfort for all but the most extended use. Generally 100+ dollars.
3) Professional/Studio quality/stupid gimmicky shit. Don't fucking bother unless you NEED to hear the difference (and unless you are a professional sound engineer you don't). Generally you're looking at 300+ dollars if you're lucky. Oh and you won't fucking HEAR the difference in most cases anyway because nearly every fucking thing that you'll use on a PC won't have the fidelity you are looking for. Especially after it runs through the codecs, soundcards, shitty quality ports and cables and to your headset. I used professional sets when working in radio and you can hear the difference. Provided you have the 20k worth of other equipment backing it up.

[Laughing Mechanicus]

The Speedlink Medusa I used was a 5.1 headset, and while good was uncomfortable after long use, the Plantronics is not 5.1 and is just as good sound wise if not better. It's also more comfortable.

I also use the 5.1 Speedlink Medusa's - I find they give generally good sound quality and have some other neat features like an in-line volume control for front/rear/center, a vibration feature to reproduce deep bass effects (also in-line controllable) and a decent boom microphone. The surround sound effects work very well (unlike many 5.1 headsets) so long as you set them up properly.

One odd thing about them is the headset itself can only be plugged into an externally powered amplifier box (which comes with the headset). This has pros and cons: it lets you independently turn off the headset, have overall volume control, allows you to connect two headsets at once and provides an output so you can connect your standard speakers to it, however it does need to be plugged in to a wall socket and it also seems quite vulnerable to interference from mobile phones and the like. I have never had a problem with their comfort, but I could see how they might be a touch too hard for people with poor delicate ears.

My only complaint about them is that they take a little bit of setting up. If you have an Audigy soundcard (or any soundcard that "detects" what kind of headset is connected) then you must make sure the headset is switched on at the amplifier before you install the soundcards drivers, otherwise the surround effects will be totally broken until you re-install drivers - it's easy to forget to do this when you update the soundcard drivers.

[Jade Falcon]

It's nothing to do with delicate ears, its the plasticy stuff on the earpieces can cause your ears to 'sweat' a bit after extensive use. The quality was excellent, but my set did break eventually due to me being careless, and there were none of the Medusas in stock locally, so I went with the Plantronics.

I've noticed these headsets, seem to copy the Medusa design in the headset only. The main difference in them being the USB connection and the lack of the seperate amplifier box, oh and the OTT colour scheme.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Brand-New-Cyber-S ... 240%3A1318

[Laughing Mechanicus]

It's nothing to do with delicate ears, its the plasticy stuff on the earpieces can cause your ears to 'sweat' a bit after extensive use.

That's interesting - my Medusas came with nice felt ear piece coverings.

[Jade Falcon]

It's nothing to do with delicate ears, its the plasticy stuff on the earpieces can cause your ears to 'sweat' a bit after extensive use.

That's interesting - my Medusas came with nice felt ear piece coverings.

Perhaps mine were an earlier series, whatever, they were damned good sound and mic quality, and like yours it had the seperate unit you could plug another set into.

[Dominus Atheos]

I think I've narrowed it down to this Creative headset with stereo speakers and a 3.5mm jack so it uses my integrated sound card, or This Plantronics USB headset that comes with it's own Dolby soundcard that simulates 5.1, or this Turtle Beach headset with 4 speakers in each earpiece for real 5.1 surround sound and USB sound card.

All of them are pretty similar in price, and all of them got really fantastic reviews.

Once again, I don't care if you used one of these and thought they were "pretty good", I'm only looking for advice about integrated sound cards vs the one in the headset vs buying a real one, or 5.1 vs virtual 5.1 vs stereo. If anyone has actually used these three and can tell me which is better, that would be great but I doubt that's going to happen.

[Sharp-kun]

I think I've narrowed it down to this Creative headset

That's what I use. I hate the branding, but its a decent headset.

I did use a Medusa before an unfortunate accident involving it, the floor and my chair. I liked it, but it was very prone to getting interferance.

[Jade Falcon]

Well that Plantronics looks similiar in shape and dimensions to mine, with large squarish shaped earpieces, so if it's pretty much like mine it will be comfortable and Plantronics get a good name. Creative I've heard mixed reviews on, but it seems to be a love it or hate it idea. Some people apparently have issues with the comfort. Without making a joke, it comes down to the size and shape of your ears and head when it comes to comfort.

Turtle Beach, we don't seem to get retail over in the UK, but they also apparently have a good name.

As to the matter of integrated sound cards, I'm not sure, there's been mixed comments on headsets about that, but it really comes down to the headset itself, some might just have a cheap and nasty sound card bundled, others will be better. The choke point of course will be the integrated sound card. If you have a decent inbuilt one in your PC why have redundancy? Unless of course theres the option for disabling the integral one.

Sharp-Kun, that's what happened to my Medusa, it hit the base of the chair, and considering the chair is metal based, that didn't do it much good.

[Dominus Atheos]

In the end I decided to get this, since it's such a good deal. It's probably not gong to be the best for watching movies, but oh well.

[weemadando]

It will do the job just fine. Like I said, you can have that one and have it do the job perfectly well (and lets face it, if you've every worn ear-bud headphones, worked in heavy industry or fired guns, you probably won't be able to tell the difference between that and something $2000 bucks more).