Best Gaming Headset

[bigbeef2604]

I'm looking into getting a decent set of 5.1 surround sound headsets. I'm using it just for gaming so I want it to have a microphone built-in. Also I already have very nice speaker/reciever setup but I want these for when my girlfriend is doing work in our office while I'm playing games near her. She needs it to be pretty quiet so I'd like some that keeps game noise in and outside noise out.

I plan on spending about $100 or less.
Thanks,
Ryan

 

[pidesd]

what are your priorities?
if you dont care about sound quality and you only care about positioning then a 5.1 headset might be worth it
otherwise i would suggest you to consider normal headsets only

if you like music quite a bit and you d like to have nice sound quality for your receiver then norrmal headphone and separate mic is your best bet unless you travel a lot

for under 100...
akg k81(closed)
sennheiser hd555(open)
maybe ath a500(closed)

those will DESTROY any 5.1 headset or gaming headset on your receiver

ps: i owned a 5.1 medusa headset and it s one of the worst buy i ever
made

 

[CannedTurkey]

Not 5.1, but I picked up a set of these a while back. It's unfortunate that the marketing dept decided to call them force feedback, they have some excellent bass, but that's hardly the same thing.

 

[t2couger]

i have a medusa 5.1 it is one of the best buys i have ever made very solid construction and great audio quality, only down fall is that there is not a loot of base.

old review but here ya go http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/14/headsets_gamers_can_love/

 

[pidesd]

that is indeed one of it s downside. also when it comes to listening to music, it underperforms. anyway it doent fit into the op s budget so...

 

[bigbeef2604]

Thanks for the suggestions guys - i've now looked into all of them and I'd say the most attractive to me at the moment is the Medusa 5.1 . I actually just want a high quality headset that cancels out the outside noise. 5.1 is a plus as well. I have a larger head though and read that some of the suggested headsets may not fit well.

 

[pidesd]

at least i tried...

ok i ll give myself one more chance

for the price of the medusa you can get the sennheiser hd595 on ebay which are audiophile headphones and i d say even probably world class. they are open though

the ath-a900 then for the price of the medusa or beyerdynamic dt770 80 ohm. lots of nice bass

by the way if you have an x-fi card the cmss-3d feature is a nice substitute for 5.1 headsets

 

[chookman]

I would go with pidesd suggestions (it was a good try)...
Ive got a set of Senn's HD555's and they are awesome loud quality nice bass and i have a big head and i can wear em for hours so no issue there...
Just curious if you want noise cancelling headphones so your GF cant hear it while working yet you want a MIC to yell at the guyz when gaming? So instead of the GF having to put up with BOOm BOOM BOom she'll be hearing "F this F that" i dont know which would be better lol

 

[AdamJ]

Not too sure how you can say medusa 5.1's are bad. They are probally the best 5.1 gaming headset you can buy. Do not buy razer barracudas as they suck. Wait until there is a revision on them. Medusas sound quality is emazing, I watch movies on my pc all the time and the sound is great. You need a good dsound card though for them to actually perform to the fullest. Medusa 5.1 pro gamer edition is the best. The USB ones have drivers that are a little buggy sometimes. O and there is a **** load of bass. Depends on your soundcard and how you "tweak" your soundcard. Just make sure its set up right and your all good

www.medusa-usa.com

 

[tinman69]

Hi, I'm also looking for gaming headset, currently own Razer Barracuda HP-1 Gaming Headphones, Detachable Mic, 8 Discrete Drivers Channel , 330mW RMS Power, to put it simple there crap.
I have a Creative X-Fi Elite Pro Soundcard, so I want to make use of it, which excludes USB headphones.
It will be use 99% of the time for gaming, so music is not important.
I'm After the best possible headset or headphones, budget anywhere up too $800
Cheers

 

[Naw-yi]

im using logitech 350 usb headset w/mic, 30.00 bucks at walmart.

its not the equipment that makes a player great, and unless your recording engineer, these are just fine.

kool bass for music, 3d gaming sound, cant go wrong.

 

[pidesd]

Hi, I'm also looking for gaming headset, currently own Razer Barracuda HP-1 Gaming Headphones, Detachable Mic, 8 Discrete Drivers Channel , 330mW RMS Power, to put it simple there crap.
I have a Creative X-Fi Elite Pro Soundcard, so I want to make use of it, which excludes USB headphones.
It will be use 99% of the time for gaming, so music is not important.
I'm After the best possible headset or headphones, budget anywhere up too $800
Cheers

if you only game then i d not reccommend spending 800$ on a system
jst buy an x-fi with headphones.
however, if you dont know what to do with your 800$ and you an audiophile or you dont want to miss any single bit of audio info in a game then you should spend on a card with bitperfect out, a dac, an amp and some good headphones. i spent on an x-fi, a dac , an amp and headphones all for around 1200$ and i dont regret it one bit.

opps i havent read the rest of your post...lol

the best gaming headphones for the money in the high end are often considered to be:
ath-a900
beyerdynamic dt770 80 ohm
sennheiser hd595

these dont have a mic though and are not 5.1

which all retail for around 170$.

you could spend 800 on headphones alone but its not worth it for gaming.
i d say begin with that and if you re not satisfied then buy an amp and or a dac. go to www.head-fi.org when you are there

 

[infernal617]

LOL, I had this problem 2 weeks ago, I got away with a bit less money involved and a very happy girlfriend. Simple, head to Futureshop, Bestbuy or whatever, buy the damn girl a spankin' new vista notebook, for 600$, really, that's about what they need for basic Office tasks (ie. schoolwork and such). And now she can work in the kitchen where it is very well lit and spacious, all ideal arguments for a good working environment.

Cheers,
BTW, it sounds funny but it really did work for me !

 

[Granite3]

I have the Medusa 5.1's, the THIRD set of surround cans and by far the BEST.

The turtle beach 5.1's were flat, the razer's never sounded good on either my on board 7.1 audio, or my x-fi extremegamer card.

Several other "audiophile" headsets (grado, sony, etc)were next, and picked up the Medusa's on a techie forum for $60.

WOW! Amazingingly good, directional is awesome, very comfy on my Deathstar sized nogin.

Only minus to me is the lack of an overall volume on the cord. It has front, rear, and vibe/bass, but no overall volume.

Still, great. I do not use my X540 surround setup even when I am only one in the house anymore.

Mine is last gen speed link set, new gens are even better!

 

[pidesd]

it s think it s thru that the diredtional audio is good but that s is about it and to me it s not worth the money unless you ONLY game and you dont have an x-fi because the balance of those phones is far from great and for the money you can get almost world class regular headphones which are way more versatile. the thing that turned me away was the lack of bass.

however for 60 bucks it might be worth it but then again...

also when you got a x-fi cssm-3d does the directional job fine

ps: i just put them on and did some tests again just to see if i miss them:

music:
sound: no bass. zip. none. awful quality too. not balanced at all.not made for music obviously
detail: ok
comfort: ok. but my head is small and it doesnt fit well
build quality: seems ok
soundstage: bad

now battlefield 2:
directional audio: ok but front and rear channels are reverse on my version. agin no bass
3d positioning is sometimes good but in general it s not and every other aspect is not good.

plus i dont know if they are broken or not but the bass is bloated if i boost it too much

conclusion:finally no i dont miss them at all. i really think my 35 bucks akg k26p are better for music but for gaming it s close. my akg k701 completely destroyed them in every aspects but they are in an other price category(300$).

i really think from the bottom of my heart that people who find the medusa good just have nt tried any good audiophile headphones from grado,beyerdynamic,audi-technica,akg,denon,sennheiser,etc.


but the future for 5.1 headphones seems bright though. still early tech

 

[tinman69]

pidesd, when i say not for music, not meaning I don't like, I love my music, this pc is just for gaming and I love hearing everything in it's purest form including games.
I have another media centre pc with home entertainment system for my music and movies, which kills any headphones, set me back around 30000$, same goes for my car.
I tried the home entertainment system while playing games, but near woke up whole neighbourhood lol, so am looking for gaming headphones that too will give me best possible sound.
I'm looking into what you said, but will that give me full range of sound just for gaming.
What worries me is the stereo sound and not 5.1 or 7.1 sound for gaming which real does give you intense in game feel.

thanks for your help, any futher info would be greatly appreciate
cheers

 

[pidesd]

ok thanks for the clarification. my point was just to say that 5.1 gaming headsets are just not mature enough, for music and gaming and movies. i dont know if it will ever be but it s not right now. "normal" headphones are way more advanced in terms of technology even for 3d positioning IMO unless maybe you match cheap headphone with your onboard audio device, even then...

now what i think is your best option to get the more out of your money would be to get yourself some headphones with the best gaming qualities possible(without going wild in terms of $) like the headphones i mentioned. those are good because the bass is satisfying, the soudstage is good the details are there, it is well balanced in terms of sound quality, they are comfy,etc. they are the product of years of development to make a voice 30 feet away sound like a voice 30 feet away and to the extent to make a gunshot 100 feet away sound like a gunshot 100 feet away. if you want total absolute immersion you should choose closed cans as you wont hear outside noise. the only downside i see is that they do not have a mic

that should honestly obliterate any self-proclaimed "gaming headsets" or whatever. i really do think it s the best bang for you bucks if you want to game with headphones. however if you are not satisfied by then, you could consider spending the rest of your budget on an amp(for better soundstage and bass primarily) or an external dac (gives better detail and a more natural sound than an x-fi if it s not a cheap-ass dac) and an amp together. you just have to use bit-perfect. you can easily fill up your 800 bucks budget.

i hope it clarifies a little lol

ps: i just tought about something... you could maybe hook up your sound card to your super home entertainement system. all you would need is a headphone jack out on your amp and there you go...world class gaming but probably you d need a dac. you could easily get nearer to your 30 000$ home system than to a 5.1 headset for sound with 800$.

 

[tinman69]

Yeah not sure how all it all works, just love the sound, was all custom build into my house for me.
lol now you have my mouth drooling after looking at what you can actually get for headphones, wish you'd never shown me them, now I can't say no. lol (I can always use a desktop mic)
I'm looking to get a setup like you described with the dac and amp and top of the range headphones anything you recommended? I I am clueless as to what to look for for this setup.
Sennheiser HD 650 for headphone?

 

[pidesd]

like i said if you want the most out of your money i d get the beyerdynamic dt770 80 ohm(the pro are more affordable but the plain dt 770 are suppose to be better albeit not cheaper, known for their powerful bass) or the ath-a900(good bass and soundstage, also good looking to me ) or the senns hd595(well balanced, i own them they have a nice soundstage but maybe they lack bass a tiny bit, very comfy). these are well regarded in the high end gaming community.

i dont think it s worth it if you shell out more than that for phones only for gaming. sure you could spend like 3000$ on audio technica l3000 but it s not worth it for gaming, far from it. the senns hd 650 are good.really. you d have a great time gaming with them. but i d only consider them if you plan on listening to music or money is not a problem. they are the top of the line senns(except orpheus). + you would need an amp to drive them properly. and if you were to spend for an amp, you d be better of with buying a dac because you would be able to use your home amp which would be awsome, really(if you got a good home amp with a headphone output).

signal goes like that in any system as far as i know

source material(mp3,cd,dvd,games)>conversion of digital to analog(sound card,external dac, cd player)>amplification(home amp or x-fi does that)>headphones. not that hard is it?

so what you normally have is: games>x-fi>headphones
the ultimate setup would be: games>external dac(digital to analog converter)>your home amp>your headphone

like i said start with headphones IMO. if you like it and you want more, go ahead and upgrade. cause i know you would be mad if you just spent 800 bucks on a headphone setup only to realize it s not what you expected. what is nice too is that those kind of headphones sell like hotcakes on the net if one day you wnat to sell them

 

[tinman69]

thx mate you've been a great help, I'm going to stick with the hd 650.

Could you please recommended me a good amp and dac as I want to keep my gaming pc (Office room) Separate from my home system (Lounge room)

Cheers once again

 

[pidesd]

well using your home amp(which is probably a good amp considering what your setup is worth) would save you the cost of an amp if you dont mind using longer cables to connect your pc to your setup. however, if you absolutely want everything separate then the choice of componants depends on your budget and if you absolutely want the hd650. but i still think it might be overkill not to mention that it doent have the amount of bass(which is so important to gamers) that the dt770 has for example. if you re gonna spend on an amp and a dac to use only with your headphones and with games, id look for a amp/dac unit like the meier corda headfive. that is an example though there are a couple other choices. you dont need a usb connection because you ll want to use your soundcard to pass along the digital signal to the dac using bit-perfect. you ll also need a coax digital or an optical cable. i d recommend visiting www.head-fi.org as i m not a pro in that matter. this is one of the best if not the best site for headphones lovers.

 

[bigbeef2604]

damn thread highjackers..haha

So I think i've decided on the Medusa 5.1's. What would be the best place to buy them?

 

[eromlig]

ppl do you think the Roccat Kave will be a good headset? here is the lik for those who would like to take a look! btw i have no soundcard, i use the onbourd sound slots. does it makes a lot of difference???

http://www.roccat.org/Products/Products/ROCCAT-Kave/

 

[kubes]

Can someone enlighten me why they don't make more bluetooth and rf headsets? I have the problem of constantally getting tangled up in my cords or rolling my chair over them. Of course this creates a short in the wire making me have to splice the wires together. Is it because rf and bluetooth just can't produce good enough sound?

@eromlig
That looks like a pretty nice set of phones...I wonder when there coming out and for what price.

 

[eromlig]

this may should be available prive 90 euros