Looking for comfortable headset

[L. Kenter]

Hey everyone,

 

After many complaints from my friends saying I don't have enough spatial awareness while gaming (PUBG, Battlefield 1, Overwatch) I've decided to purchase a (gaming) headset. All I want from a headset is surround sound and a mic. It doesn't have to be the best of the best, doesn't have to be wireless (would be nice though) and it doesn't need to come with a DAC or external amp.

 

The most important thing for me is that it's comfortable. I've had numerous headsets and headphones which were all putting a huge strain on my ears and I was never able to wear any of them for over an hour without getting a sore head.

Right now I have a Mad Catz FREQ M and a B&W P3 which I use when travelling and occasionally to listen to some music at home. They are both comfortable enough to wear for around an hour before they start to hurt, and they're not surround, so I'm really looking for something to properly play games with for longer periods of time.

 

So my question is; can any of you recommend a good headset which is very comfortable and reasonably affordable (max 100 bucks)? I've been looking at the Razer Man O' War (which is on sale for 74 bucks right now where I live) and perhaps something from Sennheiser (with our without mic). 

 

Thank you in advance!

[Rupe]

HyperX Cloud or Cloud 2, sounds great, good build quality, feel great and great value you can't go wrong mics not too bad either. Also I would not recommend using surround sound as things don't sound as good and just ordinary stereo sound still gives reasonable precision as to where sounds are coming from, but if you really feel you need it the Cloud 2s come with a dongle that offers surround sound.

[seduce_me]

Surround sound does not help in games, you can achieve positional audio with stereo.

 

For around $100 I'd recommend the Philips SHP9500 with a V-Moda Boom Pro mic if you can stretch it, or else go for a Hyper X Cloud Core,

[jack_amtg]

33 minutes ago, L. Kenter said:

Hey everyone,

 

After many complaints from my friends saying I don't have enough spatial awareness while gaming (PUBG, Battlefield 1, Overwatch) I've decided to purchase a (gaming) headset. All I want from a headset is surround sound and a mic. It doesn't have to be the best of the best, doesn't have to be wireless (would be nice though) and it doesn't need to come with a DAC or external amp.

 

The most important thing for me is that it's comfortable. I've had numerous headsets and headphones which were all putting a huge strain on my ears and I was never able to wear any of them for over an hour without getting a sore head.

Right now I have a Mad Catz FREQ M and a B&W P3 which I use when travelling and occasionally to listen to some music at home. They are both comfortable enough to wear for around an hour before they start to hurt, and they're not surround, so I'm really looking for something to properly play games with for longer periods of time.

 

So my question is; can any of you recommend a good headset which is very comfortable and reasonably affordable (max 100 bucks)? I've been looking at the Razer Man O' War (which is on sale for 74 bucks right now where I live) and perhaps something from Sennheiser (with our without mic). 

 

Thank you in advance!

If you are going to get any headset... HyperX Cloud or other recommendations.

Here are some great videos:

 

[L. Kenter]

31 minutes ago, Rupe said:

HyperX Cloud or Cloud 2, sounds great, good build quality, feel great and great value you can't go wrong mics not too bad either. Also I would not recommend using surround sound as things don't sound as good and just ordinary stereo sound still gives reasonable precision as to where sounds are coming from, but if you really feel you need it the Cloud 2s come with a dongle that offers surround sound.

So would the HyperX models be a better deal than the Man O' War? Or would I be better off spending 15-20 bucks more for the Man O' Wars? (HyperX Cloud and Core are around 60 bucks, Cloud 2 around 100 and Man O' War is normally priced at 130+ but is on sale right now for 74 where I live).

[Tacanacy]

I have HyperX Cloud (which is sonically the same as Cloud II and CloudX), and I do not recommend it because it has a small soundstage, inaccurate imaging and the fidelity sounds very muddy. Soundstage is how well distance to sounds is portrayed and imaging is the location of sounds across the soundstage. A much better option is Superlux HD668B with velour earpads from HiFiMAN. The headphones have a big soundstage, very accurate imaging and good clarity and detail retrieval. Another option that I see people recommend for gaming is Philips SHP9500. As for mics, you have Antlion ModMic 4, Massdrop Minimic and V-Moda BoomPro. The BoomPro isn't compatible with HD668B. If you get headphones with a big soundstage, there's no difference to little difference in how three-dimensional the environment/space sounds like when comparing stereo to virtual surround sound. Due to compression, virtual surround sound degrades the fidelity and diminishes detailing and separation.

 

[Guest]

I have a big melon head and do NOT like the squeeze.  My PSB cans eventually cracked in the arch (repaired using guerrilla tape & cloth).

My vote's for the Sennheiser open-back cans.  The squeeze rapidly vanishes and are comfortable.  My 2 cents, L. Kenter.

[L. Kenter]

On 6/16/2017 at 8:01 PM, PrometheanCat2 said:

I have a big melon head and do NOT like the squeeze.  My PSB cans eventually cracked in the arch (repaired using guerrilla tape & cloth).

My vote's for the Sennheiser open-back cans.  The squeeze rapidly vanishes and are comfortable.  My 2 cents, L. Kenter.

I've heard good things about Sennheiser, although the higher-end models are quite expensive. I'll take a look at the open-back models in general, maybe I can find one for under 100 bucks. Thanks for the suggestion!

[L. Kenter]

On 6/16/2017 at 0:12 PM, Tacanacy said:

I have HyperX Cloud (which is sonically the same as Cloud II and CloudX), and I do not recommend it because it has a small soundstage, inaccurate imaging and the fidelity sounds very muddy. Soundstage is how well distance to sounds is portrayed and imaging is the location of sounds across the soundstage. A much better option is Superlux HD668B with velour earpads from HiFiMAN. The headphones have a big soundstage, very accurate imaging and good clarity and detail retrieval. Another option that I see people recommend for gaming is Philips SHP9500. As for mics, you have Antlion ModMic 4, Massdrop Minimic and V-Moda BoomPro. The BoomPro isn't compatible with HD668B. If you get headphones with a big soundstage, there's no difference to little difference in how three-dimensional the environment/space sounds like when comparing stereo to virtual surround sound. Due to compression, virtual surround sound degrades the fidelity and diminishes detailing and separation.

 

Thank you for another point of view on the highly popular HyperX Cloud models. I will take a look at your suggestions. Never heard of Superlux or HiFiMAN, thanks for the info!