Looking for Headset+Soundcard

[Rale]

So i'm currently running a pair of old klipsch quintet satalite speakers with a 12" jl audio car sub with what i think is a dayton audio amp in a custom box.  This is all being driven by a kenwood receiver via a toslink cable from the mobo onboard soundcard, msi zz77 mpower, think its just a random generic realtek hd.

 

So i was under the impression that if i ran a toslink cable to my receiver i wouldn't have the need for a sound card.. and it sounds pretty good but.. as of lately i've been doing a lot of gaming with voip and only thing i have is a 7$ desk mic which ppl say makes me sound very quiet and i'm almost positive that it has quite a bit of background noise with it.

 

So i'm looking for a headset (headphones and a mic all in one) and a good sound card for them.

-These will only be used for gaming while using voip, that being said i like bass quite a bit but i also love my highs very crisp, not like annoyingy sharp but.. ya..

-As for cup style i dont care, what ever sounds best for the budget.

-I dont really want to spend over $400 as these are only going to be used for gaming, all movies and most music will still b over my normal speakers.

-Sound card must have some sort of shroud i'd love it to be white to match the inside of my case but... never gonna happen so i'll settle with a black one.

 

I've been looking at the corsair vengance 2000 and the 1500

 

Anyway let me know is the corsair headsets are a good way to go, if not could you guys recommend me something better.

[t0wer]

beyerdynamic dt770, dt880, dt990

hifiman he300 (he-400 would be the better than the others in this list, but costs $400)

shure srh-940

sennheiser hd598

 

all w/ modmic/zalman would be good options.

 

sennheiser pc360 or beyerdynamic mmx300 if you have to have a mic integrated into the headset.

 

for sound card, I'd use a fiio e10 w/ onboard input for the mic.

[MadZee]

-t0wer says stuff-

I agree on those Beyerdynamics. OP, get some headphones + a good mic (like the Blue Snowball), so much better than headsets.

[Rale]

Thanks for the info guys looking at the sennheiser pc360 now i just need to find a good sound card to drive them and still be able to use my normal speakers.. 

[penance]

I absolutely love my PC 360's. I came from a set of the Corsair Vengance 1500's which were decent for the lower price, but the driver support was horrible from corsair and these headsets have a myriad of issues. If your thinking about the 1500's I advice checking out their boards. The main issues with that set are the Microphone, I had several complaints about static, especially when using low end codec servers on Ventrilo. The PC 360's on the other hand have amazing sound quality. To me they have plenty of bass, I really like the open ear style as well, gives much more sound stage. I will say though that the open ear style does allow for a lot of sound to pass into the headset, so if you game in a loud area look at a closed ear set. I have heard people say the with open ear people around you can hear as much as you can, this is not true. They may be able to hear a slight sound if they are close, but the only way to hear it well is to place your ear on the outside against the headset. I have coupled my PC 360's with a Sound Blaster Z card, which I really like. Asus makes great cards as well, my only advice get a card with a dedicated headphone amp.

[Rale]

Well thanks for the help guys, i ended up going with the sennheiser pc360 and a Sound Blaster ZxR to switch from my speakers and headphones without having to unplug things..  i'll post back when they arrive.

[everything count to life]

Well thanks for the help guys, i ended up going with the sennheiser pc360 and a Sound Blaster ZxR to switch from my speakers and headphones without having to unplug things.. i'll post back when they arrive.

your getting the same sound card that i have and trust me its a BEAST sound card :d

[penance]

Well thanks for the help guys, i ended up going with the sennheiser pc360 and a Sound Blaster ZxR to switch from my speakers and headphones without having to unplug things..  i'll post back when they arrive.

 

Gratz man, you will not be disappointed with the PC 360's. I always wondered what made a headset worth $250, and after putting them on I knew why. Enjoy! 

[Rale]

So I got the sound cards and headphones today, put them in and hooked them up, installed drivers for the cards...  Have to say i'm both extremely pleased and pissed at the same time, let me explain some..

 

So immediately I hooked plugged in the sound card and hooked the headphones up as these are the first pair that i've spent more than 20 bucks on, so i was expecting the sound and mic to be fantastic.  They did not disappoint, without adjusting the eq or anything from the sound card just plugged in with auto settings, not too boomy with the bass, nice clear highs, no distortion or rattling when cranked up.  Now on to the mic, at first i was a little upset that there was a delay but it turned out to be the sound card filtering out the background noise so i turned that off and the slight delay was gone and the mic on the headset did very well with noise canceling all on its own.  So the headset is worth every penny, the sound card too for that matter..  One thing i do find annoying is that there is only one eq for both speakers and headset, or maybe i have not gotten into that far to find the option to turn an eq on for each.

 

So this is why i'm pissed, i have a headset that sounds about 5x better than my receiver and speakers.. i mean the speakers are "ok" but in comparison they sound like shit compared to the headset..

 

Anyway i just want to thank you guys again for recommending me some fantastic stuff.  Now i'm on the hunt for a 2.1 set of speakers and sub to match the quality of the headset.

[penance]

If you are looking for speakers pick up a set of the corsair 2500's and let me know how they sound  ;) . I have been thinking about getting a set, lol.

[t0wer]

 Now i'm on the hunt for a 2.1 set of speakers and sub to match the quality of the headset.

 

good luck, anything labeled "computer speaker" will not those expectations.

[Rale]

Here ya go posted some pictures of the pc with it installed, apparently i coudlent use the pcie 16x along with my two vid cards so i had to use a 1x slot.

 

 

 

Don't think it clutters it up too much, do u guys?

[t0wer]

I think it needs to be watercooled. :P