Headset Dilemma

[NonRelyable]

Hello, I am Tesuki, a affiliate on twitch. Before you go on the rant of saying "Get a separate Mic and Headphones" I would but can't because of the nature of my streams. Since my home does not have enough bandwidth to stream, I am forced to stream elsewhere (aka my college) and would not like to have to deal with carrying around a lot. If that wasn't an issue I would be asking a completely different question entirely. Now that I got that out of the way, here is the situation.

 

So, for a while now my brother has had a bad and somewhat broken headset for a while (Its a old turtlebeach and it sucks, uncomfortable and garbage mic quality). Meanwhile I have a PC37X that has served me well. I am thinking of either getting a new headset and giving my old one to my brother or keeping my headset and getting one for my brother. Looking through the forum I found a couple options:

 

Cooler Master MH172

Mod Mic 5 + Some Headphones

 

Just to reiterate I prefer mic quality over sound so my streams sound better and am willing to spend around 150$ total, price is flexible.

[KEIN NEIN]

150 usd?

[NonRelyable]

Just now, KEIN NEIN said:

150 usd?

Yes

[KEIN NEIN]

2 minutes ago, Tesuki said:

Yes

To be fair, I don't know a lot about mics and headsets

 

but linus tech tips and hardware canucks are audiophiles so you should check their reviews

 

in general you should get stereo headphones for the most part, 7.1 is just marketing (although I know there are some good 7.1 headphones)

[NonRelyable]

5 hours ago, KEIN NEIN said:

To be fair, I don't know a lot about mics and headsets

 

but linus tech tips and hardware canucks are audiophiles so you should check their reviews

 

in general you should get stereo headphones for the most part, 7.1 is just marketing (although I know there are some good 7.1 headphones)

If you don't know about mics and headphones then why reply? I already know that info and based on the depth of what you said, I most likely know more then you.

[KEIN NEIN]

9 hours ago, Tesuki said:

If you don't know about mics and headphones then why reply? I already know that info and based on the depth of what you said, I most likely know more then you.

I said I don't know that much, I never implied I don't know anything and I am no fortune teller to know you already got that information.

 

And if you most likely know more than me, then that means you know where to look for info, you don't need anything else just do the homework

[Spuriae]

Your PC37X is pretty near as good as conventional headsets get, unfortunately. I don't think you're going to see any meaningful microphone improvements without switching to a standalone mic or a modmic wireless (much better than the Modmic 5, which itself isn't an improvement over the Sennheiser mic).

 

This video has a comparison between the Modmic wireless, Modmic 5, Sennheiser GAME Zero (same mic as the PC37X), and a few others. Note how the wireless is the only boom mic to have meaningful high treble extension.

[AAJoe]

ModMic guy here!

I'm going to make my most controversial posts ever! For your needs I recommend... The Koss UR20 and ModMic Wireless.

 

Whoa whoa whoa - Did I just recommend a 20 dollar pair of headphones paired with a $120 mic!? Ok, hear me out.

 

If you're traveling a bunch in order to stream in a fairly public area you need two things: Closed back headphones and headphones you don't care about if they get torn up. Nothing wrecks headphones like tossing them into a backpack (you can get a hard shell case, but if you're like me I'm too lazy to carefully pack my gear before heading out).

 

Meanwhile the mic becomes of paramount importance, both in portability and quality. As @Nimrodor says the Wireless kicks ass (paraphrased). It also has a hard shell carry case and unlike its wired bretheren, is a lot easier to yank off and toss into the case and go.

 

And then we have the 150 budget. To reach that with the wireless, you need cheap headphones, and imo, when it comes to 20-30 dollar closed back headphones the UR20 is the go-to.

 

If you want to break your budget and move to 50 dollar headphones all kinds of stuff opens up, including the ATH-M20x, MpowH5 (which has questionable ANC but may be ok for public environments), and so on.

 

So that's my take on it!

[NonRelyable]

On 6/19/2019 at 10:46 AM, KEIN NEIN said:

I said I don't know that much, I never implied I don't know anything and I am no fortune teller to know you already got that information.

 

And if you most likely know more than me, then that means you know where to look for info, you don't need anything else just do the homework

Kein, I am here for opinions of people who actually know this information like myself and not people like you who add nothing to the conversation. Posting here is part of my "homework" as you put it. You can't just rely on one or two sources and posting here allows me to gather data more efficiently as there are people here who likely know more then me on the subject and would be able to give a suggestion or helpful recommendation since I can't decide between two options. If you actually read my post, you would find that I was asking for preference, not asking for basic information for headphones as there is a whole board of pre-answered faq on the audio page. Please think before you type. If you don't know something, then learn what they are talking about and make a recommendation based on that or don't post at all. Simple as that.

Just as a side note you assumed that I haven't done research prior and also assume that I didn't know about headphones. If you bothered to look at my selections of headsets, you would find that they are both recommended by people in the LTT forum and by other reviewers.

[NonRelyable]

@Nimrodor Thanks for the advice but I think AAJoe has a better explanation on what to get for my situation.

[NonRelyable]

Wow, so much info to take in @AAJoe! Thanks for the advice! Like I said I am flexable with the price, I was kind of thinking of stretching it, What would you recommend? Part of me was thinking of this (even though I thought it is way over the original amount). https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD280PRO-Headphone-new-model/dp/B00IT0IHOY?th=1&tag=linus21-20

Edited June 20, 2019 by Tesuki
removed quote

[AAJoe]

Well, when you start opening up the purse strings you're going to get a pretty wide set of opinions @Tesuki - What was nice about your budget and the ModMic Wireless mix was it created a unique set of restraints. 

 

I have nothing against the HD280 Pro. At the $100 or lower price though, for closed back, you can also consider the Sony MDR 7506, Audio Technica M40x, Status CB-1, Creative Aurvana Live, or even entry level wireless options like the Sennheiser HD4.40 or Mpow H10! And that is just off the top of my head for closed back headphones!

 

Basically I guess I'd say this: If you want to spend up to $100 you must first answer if you want wireless and/or ANC. If that is not a priority I'd say if you want emphasised bass check out the M40x and CB1. If not, the 7506 (or V6 for a little extra bass+treble) or HD280 pro are probably your best bets. You won't be disappointed with the HD280 or 7506 for sure.

 

Also if you want MORE ModMic vs. the world comparisons, Dmitry did a good roundup too. In his test I prefer the ModMic 5 on overall quality, so as usual with any wired audio - your mileage will vary based on your machine and your voice! (Also it REALLY gives you a good idea on just how bad wireless mics are!) 

 

 

[NonRelyable]

I think I will go with the Modmic 5 and HD 280 Pro then. Thanks for the advice!

Edited June 20, 2019 by Tesuki
removed quote

[AAJoe]

In that case @Tesuki I strongly recommend picking up our USB sound card too! You can add it in later if you want to see how it sounds in pure analog mode, but often the USB sound card will make it better (and may improve the HD280 as well, ymmv).

[NonRelyable]

Yeah, I was looking at those @AAJoe and am considering picking one up. The only problem is that I have no idea what to get since there are so many.

[AAJoe]

Sorry for the delayed reply @Tesuki - If the one we make, the Antlion USB Sound Card is available in your area obviously we recommend that since we tested it extensively with our mic line. Otherwise, our second pick is the Syba CM-UAUD.