Eight 5.1- And 7.1-Channel Gaming Headsets, Reviewed

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WickedPigeon

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Without including at least on of the best selling Turtle Beach models - this analysis falls short. Why not look on Amazon (as well as Newegg) and pick the top selling models?
 

PaperBoy

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[citation][nom]PaperBoy[/nom]Its not the point of money we are talking sound quality reproduction here not cost per level of quality.[/citation]
[citation][nom]sinistersalad[/nom]Give it a rest PaperBoy. Most of us here are not going to drop that kind of cash just so the sound is a tad better in our perceptions.[/citation]
Further these head sets in question are in the hundreds of dollars range some are like over $300 I think LOL
 
[citation][nom]PaperBoy[/nom]According to your analogy there no need for nice home theater receivers which are the same premise of a PC sound card and low bit rate is good quality you say as long as it is pure digital when along sound cleaner and better and the DAC IMHO is what makes it sound good. In other words what you are saying is and I am not arguing I just am learning that a USB sound card like this http://ncix.com/products/?sku=6222 [...] cture=ASUS is better than a far more expensive PCI card like this http://ncix.com/products/?sku=5078 [...] cture=ASUS[/citation]

On the contrary, you need very nice amp equipment, specifically one that matches your speakers (which is why reference speakers with built in amps are so nice) to get the cleanest/flattest/most accurate audio possible. But what audio enthusiast in their right mind would plug directly into a sound card? The dac on even a mid-range amp/reciever is going to be worlds better than a high quality sound card, so why bother buying an expensive/buggy/annoying sound card when you can use any crap digital output to a high quality amp? If you want some of the features of a high end sound card you can always get aftermarket stuff like this: http://us.store.creative.com/Sound-Blaster-XFi-MB2/M/B006GK73K8.htm and use that to pre-process your audio.
The point is that you want a pure digital signal as close to the point of converting to your speakers as possible, and when you make the change you want a high quality DAC to do the work, and then you want a matched amp/speaker set (good speakers+good amp is not necessarily the best combination, you want things that match or compliment each-others frequency curves).
 

cleeve

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No, the most expensive headset in the roundup is $200 (and that's the poor-performing Psykos), and the rest are $130 or below.

Glad to see you're still laughing tho. Such a jolly fellow! ;)
 

PaperBoy

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[citation][nom]Cleeve[/nom]Rhetoric and brand loyalty pales in comparison to actual testing.[/citation]
Klipsh is an Industry recognized standard leader in quality sound reproduction no biased here that is a well know fact I would just as well go to sennheiser or Corsair if the quality and sound and price is right. You are falsely calling Klipsh ( rhetoric ) and ( brand loyalty ) when there are many others that have done much more testing that your little corner of the world has done. PS I am brand loyal only to quality.
 

cleeve

Illustrious


You disagree, then.

So in your opinion, brand loyalty and rhetoric is superior to testing.

I think that is a ridiculous assertion.
 

PaperBoy

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[citation][nom]caedenv[/nom]On the contrary, you need very nice amp equipment, specifically one that matches your speakers (which is why reference speakers with built in amps are so nice) to get the cleanest/flattest/most accurate audio possible. But what audio enthusiast in their right mind would plug directly into a sound card? The dac on even a mid-range amp/reciever is going to be worlds better than a high quality sound card, so why bother buying an expensive/buggy/annoying sound card when you can use any crap digital output to a high quality amp? If you want some of the features of a high end sound card you can always get aftermarket stuff like this: http://us.store.creative.com/Sound [...] GK73K8.htm and use that to pre-process your audio.The point is that you want a pure digital signal as close to the point of converting to your speakers as possible, and when you make the change you want a high quality DAC to do the work, and then you want a matched amp/speaker set (good speakers+good amp is not necessarily the best combination, you want things that match or compliment each-others frequency curves).[/citation]
Klipsh Pro Media 2.1 is all good hooked up to my Xonar sound card thanx very much but a receiver will not do much for clarity cause it is already very very high.
 

billj214

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So I noticed some of the headsets were USB only? I thought the analogue connections were the best since USB has a noticeable sound delay?

I would have liked to see this review last year when I bought my headset, which absolutely sounds horrible! :)
 

SinisterSalad

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[citation][nom]PaperBoy[/nom]Further these head sets in question are in the hundreds of dollars range some are like over $300 I think LOL[/citation]
Exactly my point. It's like having an article on comparing the Accord, Malibu and Fusion, and trying to argue about a Mercedes c300. Keep your arguments inside the price range.
 

WickedPigeon

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I own a number of headsets (I'm a dad with teenagers). I have Bose noise canceling for traveling (which work great on airplanes) - Tritton 720's - Turtlebeach PX500 - Audio-Technica ATH-M30 some lower end skullcandy and assorted apple and other earbuds. We have gone through so, so many.

For Gaming - I love the Turtlebeach px500. They have a great deal of depth and several different settings that actual help with MW3. and they are very good for music too.

The people who say these are junk brands - open your minds and your ears will be surprised.
 

PaperBoy

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[citation][nom]PaperBoy[/nom]Klipsh Pro Media 2.1 is all good hooked up to my Xonar sound card thanx very much but a receiver will not do much for clarity cause it is already very very high.[/citation]
IMHO a pure digital optical sounds lifeless and dead but with a DAC I can customized the nuance to my personal liking whereas pure Digital is cold and lifeless with no personality and warmth.
 

firefyte

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And inside the intended use...
 

PaperBoy

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[citation][nom]sinistersalad[/nom]Exactly my point. It's like having an article on comparing the Accord, Malibu and Fusion, and trying to argue about a Mercedes c300. Keep your arguments inside the price range.[/citation]
Sound card = $35 with a pair of $50 = better sound quality than these head sets.
 

space0dd1ty

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What's the consensus 'round these parts on Astro Gaming's headset/"mixamp" combo?
Curious because I've owned my A40s for a few years now, and they're decent enough. I've just never had the chance to try out any other high end headsets to compare them to.
 

SinisterSalad

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As far as ON topic.. I had(have) a Turtle Beach HPA that, after 6 yrs of beating the crap out of them, finally had the right channel go out on it. I picked up the Cyber Snipa Championship headset. @ $70, it's a very nice setup. Comfortable, good sound, and comes with a carry case!
 

PaperBoy

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[citation][nom]sinistersalad[/nom]As far as ON topic.. I had(have) a Turtle Beach HPA that, after 6 yrs of beating the crap out of them, finally had the right channel go out on it. I picked up the Cyber Snipa Championship headset. @ $70, it's a very nice setup. Comfortable, good sound, and comes with a carry case![/citation]
Still what does on topic and these pseudo surround headphone have to do with a quality sound standards which is first basic importance far before mucking it all up with emulator software's and EQs to create a quasi emulated synthetic unnatural surround effect reproduction performance.
 
[citation][nom]PaperBoy[/nom]IMHO a pure digital optical sounds lifeless and dead but with a DAC I can customized the nuance to my personal liking whereas pure Digital is cold and lifeless with no personality and warmth.[/citation]
A DAC is a Digital Audio Converter, and has absolutely nothing to do with the 'life' of the audio, a DAC merely takes what is there and reproduces it in analog. If your source is lifeless then your output will be lifeless, if your source is good, then the output will be good. A low quality DAC will add digital noise/artifacts, or have a lack of clarity, while a high quality DAC will be very accurate to the source material. Everything that runs inside of your computer is digital, and every computer has a DAC before going out to your analog outputs. If you have a digital amplifier/reciever then you can go straight from your computer to use the better quality (well unless you have a crap reviever) DAC that is built into it.
 
[citation][nom]PaperBoy[/nom]Klipsh Pro Media 2.1 is all good hooked up to my Xonar sound card thanx very much but a receiver will not do much for clarity cause it is already very very high.[/citation]
Oh, that's what's wrong with you! You like Klipsh equipment! lol I suppose you think Bose to be a good quality company too lol.
In all seriousness, Klipsh and Bose are not 'bad' simply overpriced for what you get. Which is understandable as you obviously know nothing about audio theory.
 

PaperBoy

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[citation][nom]Cleeve[/nom]=assumption[/citation]
Just like you are "=assuming" I don't know what I am talking about and that I haven't owned and or listens to all these head sets and parts in question.
 

cleeve

Illustrious


It's not an assumption when you've already said you choose brand prejudice over testing.

But illuminate please. Which $35 sound card and $50 headset did you put up against which of the ones we've tested in the roundup?
 

PaperBoy

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[citation][nom]caedenv[/nom]Oh, that's what's wrong with you! You like Klipsh equipment! lol I suppose you think Bose to be a good quality company too lol.In all seriousness, Klipsh and Bose are not 'bad' simply overpriced for what you get. Which is understandable as you obviously know nothing about audio theory.[/citation]
My Bowers and Wilkins stereo speaker set was expensive my Klipsh were no more pricy than the competition in the PC desktop speaker market and the klipsh sound great for a $200 2.1 speaker set. As for Bose I tend to take a pass on them but there noise canceling technology in the CC headsets is quite amazing IMHO but the sound quality is par and a bit pricy so I pass on them.
 
@cleeve
Just wondering, but did you try the blindfold experiment using a stereo headset with good quality surround emulation? I know back in the days of qSound and other such emulators that they were amazingly convincing, but they never took off due to marketing and the backing of studios and hardware manufacturers.
 
[citation][nom]billj214[/nom]So I noticed some of the headsets were USB only? I thought the analogue connections were the best since USB has a noticeable sound delay? I would have liked to see this review last year when I bought my headset, which absolutely sounds horrible![/citation]
USB has a ~1ms delay, which is roughly the same or less than what you see on the screen due to processing and display time, so no, that should not be a factor. There is a delay issue when doing audio recording at high rates with 8+tracks over USB (even then it is only ~2ms), but there you are talking a lot more throughput than your average 5.1 audio output.
 
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