Time to get an AWESOME headset...

[loglog]

Ok guys, so I recently built a pretty good PC, at least in my opinion (Build in SIG), and it's time for me to get a headset to communicate and game without upsetting those around me at night. I just switched from console gaming (xbox 360) to PC gaming and had the Turtle Beach x31's, but they do not work for PC's. A little background; I have tried the:

• x1 and x11's - didn't like the wire going everywhere.
• x3, x 31 - ended up being a decent headset
• x5 (GREAT but broke after 2 yrs), x51 (too much static, so i downgraded to the x31)
• tritton 720 (didn't like the giant control hub at all, or the wired connection), tritton GoW edition (worst headset ever!)
• Logitech F540 (Best if the static wasn't terrible)

 

From these I've gotten a decent idea of what things I like and dislike. The only thing I liked about the Tritton's is that they were cross compatable. The Turtle Beaches seemed to just have a decent headset overall. I really liked the Logitech's features; metal arc, rotating ears- to put around neck, side controls (volume), and the mic would mute when pushed upright. I really, really like the wireless feature when it worked well, howeve the 2.4 wifi connection was terrible from 5 ft away and would crackle all the time; this was also when i was using a lot of wireless where as now i'm using almost all hard wire connections. I'm not sure why the x31's didn't have a problem like the F540's did. Now that that's out of the way, I'd like some opinions on my new headset if possible.

 

Currently I'm looking at the Astro a50: http://www.astrogaming.com/a50-wireless-system . Pretty much EVERYTHING I would want out of a headset. It has almost every feature that I've been looking for and has a great name behind it. However some of the issues are alerting. They are also very pricey, but that is probably my last concern in searching for a great headset! Where my confusion lies is with my motherboard (Gigabyte z87-ud3h), which uses a Realtek 5.1 and 7.1 not Dolby Digital and i'm not sure if it'll give me a problem. It does come with a mix-amp so a soundcard isn't really needed from what i've seen. THEY ALSO WORK WITH CONSOLE AND PC!

 

I have also considered the a40's, Logitech G930, Logitech G35, Razer Tiamat 7.1. The only problems are; the Logitech only use USB- which negates the possibility of a soundcard or amp, and the a40's and Tiamat are lacking in features.

 

Does anybody have an opinion on this topic????

[Kuzma]

Astro A40? A50? idk

[sonarctica]

I have the G35, don't get them, in fact don't get any headset. Buy a snowball mic and good sennheiser headphones. When it comes to headsets, they don't sound as good as headphones, you're better off getting the mic and headphones separately and then later on a good soundcard, this is how you'll get the best experience in my opinion.

[coen113]

I have the G35, don't get them, in fact don't get any headset. Buy a snowball mic and good sennheiser headphones. When it comes to headsets, they don't sound as good as headphones, you're better off getting the mic and headphones separately and then later on a good soundcard, this is how you'll get the best experience in my opinion.

propably the best answer here

[mr moose]

I have an opinion: If you buy yourself a headset then you should buy  everyone a headset.  Except me, I'd rather a pair of $30 headphones than just about any headset on the market. 

 

+1 for what sonarctica said. except the sound card thing, I'd get a dac instead.

[loglog]

I have the G35, don't get them, in fact don't get any headset. Buy a snowball mic and good sennheiser headphones. When it comes to headsets, they don't sound as good as headphones, you're better off getting the mic and headphones separately and then later on a good soundcard, this is how you'll get the best experience in my opinion.

 

I've seen other people recommend the same thing. Having experience with Hi-Fi and Audio, what you said makes complete sense, as I could easly get some Sennheiser or Bowers & Wilkins headphones and the Snowball- which i was going to buy anyway. It just seem awkward to do this for gaming, at least to me. How well would it be tuned for surround sound when gaming in a first person shooter?

[Lyons]

I've seen other people recommend the same thing. Having experience with Hi-Fi and Audio, what you said makes complete sense, as I could easly get some Sennheiser or Bowers & Wilkins headphones and the Snowball- which i was going to buy anyway. It just seem awkward to do this for gaming, at least to me. How well would it be tuned for surround sound when gaming in a first person shooter?

 

They're as well tuned as any headset, really. The Surround virtualisation is mostly done my the game, and remember, two ears; two drivers. It's all you need. What's your budget? (read the sticky)

 

Listen to this with literally any headphones, even shitty Apple earbuds will do.

 

[MayflowerElectronics]

I've seen other people recommend the same thing. Having experience with Hi-Fi and Audio, what you said makes complete sense, as I could easly get some Sennheiser or Bowers & Wilkins headphones and the Snowball- which i was going to buy anyway. It just seem awkward to do this for gaming, at least to me. How well would it be tuned for surround sound when gaming in a first person shooter?

 

It's not, go with your gut and get a dedicated headphone and mic. I use HD 600's and a blue snowflake.

 

Surround sound is a joke, just buy an open pair of headphones. HD 558's or AD700x's will work.

 

I find it easier than a headset, you don't have an annoying mic in front of your face, and the headphones are much more comfortable and less fatiguing when playing for long periods of time. 

[loglog]

They're as well tuned as any headset, really. The Surround virtualisation is mostly done my the game, and remember, two ears; two drivers. It's all you need. What's your budget? (read the sticky)

 

Listen to this with literally any headphones, even shitty Apple earbuds will do.

 

 

Thanks for that. Budget is really under $300 USD in total (so it must include a mic) - same as the a50's

 

It's not, go with your gut and get a dedicated headphone and mic. I use HD 600's and a blue snowflake.

 

Surround sound is a joke, just buy an open pair of headphones. HD 558's or AD700x's will work.

 

I find it easier than a headset, you don't have an annoying mic in front of your face, and the headphones are much more comfortable and less fatiguing when playing for long periods of time. 

 

Has anybody tried the Bowers and Wilkins P3's? Or are the Sennheiser HD 558's really the way to go.

[Aphexx]

how you see in 3d space and how you hear in 3d space is quite similar

the slight difference between what each eye sees gives you depth and that 3d'ness that you see every day.

 

the same is with ears the slight difference in timing when sound reaches your 2 ears on the opposite side of your head gives the sound the 'spacial' feel.

 

as you heard with the virtual barber above sound engineers have a way of encoding and recording sound with 2 mics on a dummy human head to recreate sound in 3d. any decent game you play will have this sound encoded/recorded in this way

 

gaming headsets and their gaming audio software almost always utilize sound virtualizers that add reverb and artificial echo effects to make the sound appear to be from a bigger room and to take the audio from inside your head to outside your head to make up for the shitty drivers/speakers that they stuck in their gaming grade headset.

 

open back headphones optimized for soundstage like the ad700(x) stated above synergize well with the binaural spacial effects that games use already. a soundstage optimized headphone projects the sounds outside your head better. to me, I feel my ath-m50 projects the sound inside my head between the temples but my open back headphones recreate the sound to surround me better and image the sound outside my head.

 

 

(I typed too much and I gotta finish and tie these separate points together later when I have time but needless to say it ends with a delicious steak and not putting steak sauce on it)

[MayflowerElectronics]

Thanks for that. Budget is really under $300 USD in total (so it must include a mic) - same as the a50's

Has anybody tried the Bowers and Wilkins P3's? Or are the Sennheiser HD 558's really the way to go.

Never heard of the p3's I'm assuming its a headset, if so then don't get it. Anything that's a headset or labeled "gaming" is generally bad.

Pick up an ad700x and a snow flake mic. It will be around $200 or less. If you want better, get a ad900x and a sanson meteor mic, it will be around the $300 mark.

[h264]

Never heard of the p3's I'm assuming its a headset, if so then don't get it. Anything that's a headset or labeled "gaming" is generally bad.

Pick up an ad700x and a snow flake mic. It will be around $200 or less. If you want better, get a ad900x and a sanson meteor mic, it will be around the $300 mark.

 

 

Looks like an on-ear headphone to me

[MayflowerElectronics]

Yeah they look really uncomfortable and probably not the sound signature you are looking for.

[loglog]

how you see in 3d space and how you hear in 3d space is quite similar

the slight difference between what each eye sees gives you depth and that 3d'ness that you see every day.

 

the same is with ears the slight difference in timing when sound reaches your 2 ears on the opposite side of your head gives the sound the 'spacial' feel.

 

as you heard with the virtual barber above sound engineers have a way of encoding and recording sound with 2 mics on a dummy human head to recreate sound in 3d. any decent game you play will have this sound encoded/recorded in this way

 

gaming headsets and their gaming audio software almost always utilize sound virtualizers that add reverb and artificial echo effects to make the sound appear to be from a bigger room and to take the audio from inside your head to outside your head to make up for the shitty drivers/speakers that they stuck in their gaming grade headset.

 

open back headphones optimized for soundstage like the ad700(x) stated above synergize well with the binaural spacial effects that games use already. a soundstage optimized headphone projects the sounds outside your head better. to me, I feel my ath-m50 projects the sound inside my head between the temples but my open back headphones recreate the sound to surround me better and image the sound outside my head.

 

 

(I typed too much and I gotta finish and tie these separate points together later when I have time but needless to say it ends with a delicious steak and not putting steak sauce on it)

 

 

Never heard of the p3's I'm assuming its a headset, if so then don't get it. Anything that's a headset or labeled "gaming" is generally bad.

Pick up an ad700x and a snow flake mic. It will be around $200 or less. If you want better, get a ad900x and a sanson meteor mic, it will be around the $300 mark.

 

The P3's are not a "gaming" headset they are for audiophiles. They are an on-ear design, which i'd rather have an over-ear design. However they VERY comfortable with the design of the ear piece, which is hard to believe but they use memory foam which seals around the ear. I was able to try them out at a Magnolia Hi-Fi.

 

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Headphones/Headphones/P3/explore.html

 

But i'm not sure how they compare to the HD 588's or ad700(x) which a lot of people already are using

[MayflowerElectronics]

The P3's are not a "gaming" headset they are for audiophiles. They are an on-ear design, which i'd rather have an over-ear design. However they VERY comfortable with the design of the ear piece, which is hard to believe but they use memory foam which seals around the ear. I was able to try them out at a Magnolia Hi-Fi.

 

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Headphones/Headphones/P3/explore.html

 

But i'm not sure how they compare to the HD 588's or ad700(x) which a lot of people already are using

 

I'm not sure either, i've never even heard of them obviously. If you can, try the headphones before you buy them, or atleast return them if you don't like them.

 

I don't know of anyone who doesn't like the AD700x, they are a serious headphone for the price. I used them personally, and only got rid of them because I wanted to try other headphones. I'm settling on the HD 600 for now along with my V2 t50rp's for bass.

[LAwLz]

I have also considered the a40's, Logitech G930, Logitech G35, Razer Tiamat 7.1. The only problems are; the Logitech only use USB- which negates the possibility of a soundcard or amp.

That will happen with all wireless and/or USB headset (including the Astro A50).

I would do like other people have already told you, get a good set of headphones, a standalone mic and maybe even an AMP/DAC if you still got money left. I would never spend 300 dollars on the Astro A50 (or any headset for that matter) because they are most likely bad and not worth the money. General rule of thumb: "gaming" is a word a lot of manufacturer put on the box to make mediocre products seem more appealing*.

 

 

*Does not apply to all kinds of products (mice would be one of the exceptions)

[Rollergold]

Ok guys, so I recently built a pretty good PC, at least in my opinion (Build in SIG), and it's time for me to get a headset to communicate and game without upsetting those around me at night. I just switched from console gaming (xbox 360) to PC gaming and had the Turtle Beach x31's, but they do not work for PC's. A little background; I have tried the:

• x1 and x11's - didn't like the wire going everywhere.
• x3, x 31 - ended up being a decent headset
• x5 (GREAT but broke after 2 yrs), x51 (too much static, so i downgraded to the x31)
• tritton 720 (didn't like the giant control hub at all, or the wired connection), tritton GoW edition (worst headset ever!)
• Logitech F540 (Best if the static wasn't terrible)

 

From these I've gotten a decent idea of what things I like and dislike. The only thing I liked about the Tritton's is that they were cross compatable. The Turtle Beaches seemed to just have a decent headset overall. I really liked the Logitech's features; metal arc, rotating ears- to put around neck, side controls (volume), and the mic would mute when pushed upright. I really, really like the wireless feature when it worked well, howeve the 2.4 wifi connection was terrible from 5 ft away and would crackle all the time; this was also when i was using a lot of wireless where as now i'm using almost all hard wire connections. I'm not sure why the x31's didn't have a problem like the F540's did. Now that that's out of the way, I'd like some opinions on my new headset if possible.

 

Currently I'm looking at the Astro a50: http://www.astrogaming.com/a50-wireless-system . Pretty much EVERYTHING I would want out of a headset. It has almost every feature that I've been looking for and has a great name behind it. However some of the issues are alerting. They are also very pricey, but that is probably my last concern in searching for a great headset! Where my confusion lies is with my motherboard (Gigabyte z87-ud3h), which uses a Realtek 5.1 and 7.1 not Dolby Digital and i'm not sure if it'll give me a problem. It does come with a mix-amp so a soundcard isn't really needed from what i've seen. THEY ALSO WORK WITH CONSOLE AND PC!

 

I have also considered the a40's, Logitech G930, Logitech G35, Razer Tiamat 7.1. The only problems are; the Logitech only use USB- which negates the possibility of a soundcard or amp, and the a40's and Tiamat are lacking in features.

 

Does anybody have an opinion on this topic????

The A50's still need a sound card, the Mixamp deal just takes 2 or more sources mixes them together and its also an amp. To use the A50 or the Mixamp PRO your sound processor needs to have Dolby Digital Live support, without it the Dolby headphone will not work for any apps execpt dvd and blu ray players. Looking @ Gigibyte's website your board does not have the support. I personally would forgo the A50's and get a good set of open back headphones like the HD 558's or ATH 700's and mod mic or a clipon mic. If you want the surround processing pick up Astro's superb Mixamp PRO + a sound card that supports DDL (Dolby Digital live) insted of the A50, that way you have cross platfrom support and not limited to one set of cans. Some of Asus xonar cards and all SB's Recon 3D-PCIe cards support DDL procssing

[AnonC322]

If you really want a gaming headset and not one of these audiophile solutions (which are still great) I would get the Corsair Vengeance 2000's or the 2100's when they come out. These have 50mm drivers which are around 30 ohms (if I'm not mistaken) delivering pretty good quality audio. Also it has an integrated mic which pivots upwards and they are also wireless. So they aren't audiophile grade headphones but they deliver Astro grade performance with better build quality and more comfort and at a far superior price of $100 (for the 2000). Hope this helps! 

 

EDIT:

Specs are: 50 mm drivers @ 32 ohms, 10 hour battery life, 40 feet of wireless range, and virtual Dolby 7.1

 

ALSO! USB connection so no sound card needed! 

[James_AJ]

Do yourself some favor and get a Blue Yeti + ATH M50s.. sure if you want some features and less than optimal quality (especially the mic) go ahead and fall for the marketing blurb.

[loglog]

So... I guess the real question here is Audio Technica 700's or m50 vs Sennheiser HD 558's

[Aphexx]

I guess the op doesn't need me to continue my rant.

 

each one does what it does very well. but none does everything perfectly. up to you in what you want in what form factor. I'd add one of the beyerdynamic dt990 or 880 to that list

[MayflowerElectronics]

558's.

[Josh]

So... I guess the real question here is Audio Technica 700's or m50 vs Sennheiser HD 558's

 

Depends I guess, I can't speak for the 558 as I haven't used them personally but I can say some things for audio technica headphones. Firstly I prefer the 700's for gaming, mostly due to comfort, the M50's become really uncomfortable after an hour or two, for me at least. The M50's definitely have better isolation being closed ears whereas the 700's are open, meaning you'll a lot of outside noise gets in. M50's are also a little bass heavy, not really a good or bad thing for gaming imo but just a side note if your using them for music too, with the 558's I believe quite they're quite comfortable, at least from what I've heard. If I were buying headphones for gaming, of those three it'd have to be the 558's or the 700's for me peresonally.

[ShearMe]

I love the fit of my Senn's over my AKG's, no experience with AT yet.

[MayflowerElectronics]

I love the fit of my Senn's over my AKG's, no experience with AT yet.

 

There's a pair of refurbished AD700x's on amazon for $99 and free shipping. You should pick them up