Best PC/Console Gaming Headset 4 the Money???

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josejones

josejones

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Oct 27, 2010
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Now, I have opened up a HUGE CAN OF WORMS checking into gaming headsets - holy crap! There are too many choices to choose from & I've never had one before so, I'm relying on the experience of others here.

What I need in a gaming headset is at minimum to work on the XBox 360 controller (2.5mm jack) and PC (via USB/pink & green 3.5mm jacks). I actually need TWO headsets - one for me and one for the 10 year old. The kid has the $20 Microsoft headset, which he says are uncomfortable and now I see why.

I'd prefer to spend around $30 to 40, but I don't want them to break down on me - I'd be willing to pay a bit more if they were versatile to work for telephone, Skype, portable devices, sweet features/options, excellent quality and made to last.

I'm willing to go with wired to cut costs so I don't have to deal with batteries but, is it worth it? I've never had a wireless headset but, don't want to ruin them by destroying the wires by accident or something. If I have to pay over $40 they BETTER FREAKING do it all.

What's the best headset for that $30 to $40 dollar price range?

What are the best brands to consider and which brands should I stay away from?

Here are a few I've been looking at:

$30 Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset (for PC ONLY ???)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826158082

Newegg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKb0wHapwGY

$39 Red Samurai
http://www.gamestop.com/xbox-360/accessories/red-samurai-xbox-360-stereo-headset/97538#productDetails

$59 Turtle Beach EARFORCE X12
http://www.turtlebeach.com/search/EARFORCE+X12

http://www.gamestop.com/xbox-360/accessories/turtle-beach-earforce-x12/92704

http://www.youtube.com/user/TurtleBeachVideos

$80 Creative Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage USB Gaming Headset
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826158167

Rage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZybtKNft18

$80 Tritton Detonator
http://www.trittonaudio.com/prod/detonator.asp

$80 Tritton Detonator
http://store.gameshark.com/viewItem.asp?idProduct=5237&idCategory=318&scid=trittonsite

TRITTON's Detonator Stereo Headset
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qLbDwUTMjI
 
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Depending on where you live, I would go with something like the Rocketfish Headset, I went from the XBOX 360 headset, to Turtle Beach Earforce x11, and then decided to sell them both and gotten a Rocketfish headset for $50. It's a lot better, comfortable, and has good surround sound for those 7.1 Blu-Ray movies so I can watch them at night with my 3D TV. You can also use them with cell phones and MP3/iPod/iPads even. But it needs to be plugged in using the USB to power them up.

Check those out, because they do a lot more than what the Earforce X12 does right now. Creative I don't know, Madcatz always has good quality but never used their headsets before, and don't know anything about Red Samurai. Corsair is a good company and so is Razer, used them both before but it's all about personal taste. What do you like? What do you want? What are you going to be using it for? I even use my headset when I do Podcast on YouTube. Pretty nice. Hope this helps and happy gaming! =D
 
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To be honest, I don't know. I never used them. I tried a Corsair, Razer, Rocketfish, and a couple of Turtle Beaches. I was going to give a Tritton headset a try but ended up finding Rocketfish at Best Buy for $15 on sale compared to $50, so I went with that. All I can say is look into the manual and see if it says anything about hooking them to PC or not. I would say on the box if it did or not though, but I'm not sure. Like I said, never used them before. Sorry if I can't be any more help. =(
 
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After doing some more research here's what I found out about the Tritton Detonator gaming headsets.

The Tritton Detonator are versatile and can be used on XBox and PC as well as many other mobile devices via 3.5mm or 2.5mm jacks. If I have to spend this much money on headphones they better freaking be able to be used on pretty much everything and that's what these do.

Here's a thorough video:

Tritton Detonator Headset Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy-l18Kjbms

The Tritton Detonator has the 50mm drivers but, it's not surround sound. I do remember seeing on the box that it said these have a 2 year warranty.

On sale for $59 at Newegg down from $79
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874704002

From Newegg: "Features: Officially licensed for the Xbox 360 console, TRITTON's Detonator Stereo Headset will take your gaming audio to the next level. Independently adjust your chat volume and voice volume on-the-fly to optimize your audio experience. Easily enable or disable the ability to hear your own voice through the Headset with Selectable Voice Monitoring (SVM). Compatible with most MP3 players and mobile phones, the Detonator is ideal for all your gaming and music needs. Features Hear your own Voice with Selectable Voice Monitoring (SVM)"

Does 'Tom's Hardware' have a "Best Gaming Headsets for the money" type of thing? If not, maybe they should? How would one request such a thing?
 
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I just contacted Tritton. They said that the Tritton Detonator will work on a PC but sound only without chat. In order to chat one needs the adapter/splitter from Radio Shack, same as many other headsets, to go into the pink & green jacks.

Also, be aware that dust inside the jacks on XBox or PC could cause humm or hiss sounds.

The Tritton Detonator will work for telephone too. I'll have to test to see if they'll work for Skype or not after Xmas. If they do and if the chat on PC works good, then, that pretty much covers everything doesn't it?
 
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An adapter/splitter from Radio Shack? I've never heard such a thing. My old Turtle Beach Earforce X11's worked on PC with voice chat, without a splitter. Here's the ones I use and I don't need anything what so ever. It works with the XBOX 360, PS3, PC, and mobile devices and has good surround sound built into it for those 7.1 surround sound movies.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Rocketf...088969&st=Rocketfish Gaming Headset&cp=1&lp=5

I don't need an adapter for it or splitters, unless if I want to use it for more than one room than yeah, splitters and adapter's from Radio Shack will do. Or Fry's if you have one nearby. But I just plug these headsets into my PC using the USB and I can do both! But then again, it did meet all of my needs for one headset. But if you want to spend more money on splitters and adapters then go ahead, I'm not going to stop you. Give them a try, see if you like them, see if they fit your needs, and see if your going to get your money's worth out of it. Happy Gaming! =D
 
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^ Ut oh, I may have to return both pairs of those Tritton Detonators and trade for the Rocketfish since they have: "Universal compatibility — works with Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows and Mac PCs, tablets, MP3 players and other audio devices."

Plus, the fact that the kid can chat on XBox whil gaming online LIVE and I can chat on the PC while online gaming. Is that confirmed by your own experience, Adsuki, you can chat with both XBox and PC while gaming online without any need to buy more adapters?

$50 Rocketfish Headset
http://www.rocketfishproducts.com/products/gaming-accessories/RF-GUV1201.html

$50 Rocketfish Headset
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Rocketfish%26%23153%3B+-+Universal+Wired+Headset+for+Xbox+360%2C+PlayStation+3+and+PC/3088969.p?id=1218377778578&skuId=3088969&st=Rocketfish%20Gaming%20Headset&cp=1&lp=5

Crap, will 'GameStop' even allow me a full return or will they only give me store credit?
 
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Adsuki, I'm reading reviews on the Rocketfish - can you hear both the game music & sounds as well as chat in the headphones or just one or the other? I saw a few reviews saying they wouldn't work properly on the PC with Windows 7, 64-bit and when they did they could only hear one or the other but not both at the same time. Any experience with that?
 
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Of course I can, I've been using them for a very long time. Those who can't hear music and sound as well as chat must have either have a defective products or they have they have it at either chat or game. I scroll the wheel in the middle to hear both, but if I need to hear chat more than game, then I move it towards chat and vice versa. Really? I have Windows 7 64-Bit and I can hear both.

When you have the headset plugged into the PC, then the Chat is how your going to hear both. I have no problems hearing either one or the other and if your having trouble hearing other players, then lower the music and sounds volume because sometimes people talk low like me. I have not encounter any problems what so ever. There's a lot of headsets out there and you just have to go and try them all to find that special headset for all of your needs like I do. Heck, I went through countless mouses and keyboards until I found the ones I love to death! Hope this helps. =)
 
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Okay, thanks bud, if those Rocketfish work fine for you then, I don't see any reason why they wouldn't work for me too. We use Windows 7, 64-bit so, we should be fine there. It seems to be that a major issue with these gaming headsets is being able to hear both the game music/sounds with chat through the headphones at the same time - some headsets, apparently, one has to choose which you want to hear in the headphones but not both. I just want to be able to game on both XBox & PC and chat on both if I want.

I called GameStop & he said so long as the box isn't opened I can get a full refund but, they don't carry Rocketfish.

I called Best Buy and they're out of the Rocketfish and they're charging quite a bit more too. I've seen some people say that they got them on sale for like $25 elsewhere.

Hey, just in case, what are your thoughts on the Turtle Beach X12's? Would they work just as good as Rocketfish and could I still be able to chat on both XBox and PC? GameStop had several of those in house.

 
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I asked Best Buy when they'll get more Rocketfish Universal headsets in and they responded that they've been discontinued and will no longer be available. The guy I talked to said that maybe they're coming out with a new improved version but, he had no way of knowing for sure. So, I called Rocketfish and they confirmed that Rocketfish model: RF-GUV1201 are in the process of being discontinued and will no longer be available once stores run out of stock. The Rocketfish guy said that they MAY be making a new and improved headset but didn't know for sure at this time.

So, I'm sort of stuck with the Turtle Beach X12's, which should work fine - one can chat on both XBox and PC.
 
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A friend & I both got the Turtle Beach X12's and we tested them out of PC last night from both ends of the country (US). Truth is they sounded fantastic AND the mic for chat was excellent but, we were using Skype to chat while gaming. On the PC/Skype we were not able to adjust gaming sounds and chat independently but, it wasn't a big deal - there were other ways to do that by playing around with the sound mixer so, in the end, there actually was a way to do it.

We still need to test out the chat through the game itself though - we ran out of time & had to go. We will test the X12's out on the XBox 360 after Christmas.

So far, absolutely excellent sound quality all the way around with both music, game sounds and chat (on Skype).
 
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