Looking for a pair of Sound Isolating, High Quality, 7.1 Surround Sound, Gaming Headphones.

[Klawsome]

I have been searching online for a Headset that meet my specific needs for almost a year now.
I started out with a pair of Plantronics GameCom 380s that I purchased at BestBuy. They had pretty good basic stereo surround sound. The microphone sounded very good in my opinion and didn't pick up that much background noise except for when somebody came in the room and started talking to me, then the mic would pick that up. The cord was very durable and it never shorted out anywhere in the cable line for the 8 months that I had it. There were a few things I did not like about this headset. The square design of the ear cups didn't fit completely over my ears, so the tops of my ears were going a little bit underneath the inside of the ear cup padding. The ear cup's outer material was made of velvet, which collected lint, dust, and hair very easily. They were not very comfortable to wear for a very long time for me since the headset pressed down on the arms of my glasses and after 2 days of gaming all day (I slept), it was pretty sore behind my ears. After ruining the microphone from taking a bite of a nice, tall, juicy homemade burger and forgetting the mic was down in front of my mouth, the mic went into the burger and ketchup and juices some how made the mic permanently stop working.

Now BestBuy is really good when it comes to returns (in my opinion). Since I had purchased a 2 year warrantee on the headset, I was able to bring the headset back (with the receipt) and switch them out for a new pair. Turns out they were out of stock on the headset so I picked something within the same price range, a pair of Razer Carcharias. They were only $15 more ($65) so I gave them my GameCom 380s and got the Carcharias for only $15.

They were my first Razer headset so I was kind of excited. In the end, I was pleased with them. The circular design of the ear cups fit around my ears perfectly. They didn't press down on the arms of my glasses hard enough to be annoying. The ear cup's outer material was made of velvet so they collected lint and dust just like my old pair. The surround sound was noticeably better for some games compared to the GameCom 380s. The cable was braided, (which I absolutely love), and there was an audio adjuster and microphone mute switch on the cable line. This headset didn't feel as durable as the GameCom 380s, but I would say they were better in audio quality and comfort. Now I used this headset for 6 and a half months, until 3 days ago, where the cable met the left ear cup, it cable had shorted out and I could not hear out of the right ear.

The day after this had happened I returned to BestBuy to return the headset. Turns out this entire time I was using the 2008 model of the Carcharias. Since I wasn't looking for a new headset just yet, I got the 2012 model they had this time and I had to buy another warantee, (since it was technically a different headset), and apparently the 2012 model was $70 instead of $65. So I left that day spending another $15, upgrading to the 2012 model of the Carcharias and buying another warantee.

Now upon returning home I was curious to see the difference in the newer model. The 2012 model was the same in every way as the 2008 model except the the Razer logos on the left and right sides of the headset glowed green when plugged into USB power, the cable was now coated in rubber instead of being braided (why on earth would they change this), on the cable line was a larger and newly improved volume adjuster which included a Bass adjuster, microphone switch, a 2.5mm headphone jack to plugin to an XBox controller (the 2012 model is XBox compatible), and instead of having just a audio and microphone jack on the end of the headset like the 2008 model, there was now a audio and microphone jack including a USB plug which needs to be plugged in for the headset to work. This means I can't just plugin the headset to my 5th Gen IPod Touch and listen to music with them unless they are plugged into power. This isn't a huge disadvantage for me since I can just use my Apple Earpods, but sometimes I would like to use my Carcharias on my IPod in some cases. The main thing I love about this newer model of the headset is the amount of Bass it puts out. There is a ton of it and it's completely adjustable right there on the cable line.

Now after a solid year and a half with these 3 different headsets, i'v gotten a job at my Dad's store and have been able to afford nicer things now. I'm 15 and have no bills to pay, and I won a free car last Friday, (1999 Volvo), so I don't have to save for a car now. I have some extra money to spend and i'm looking for my dream headset. I am looking for a specific kind of headset. One that includes the following:

• Isolates sound, like to the point where if you are standing 2 feet away from me and i'm listening to music pretty loud, you wont be able to hear it and I wont be able to hear you. So a closed design headset, right?

• Has a pretty good frequency response, say 10hz - 25khz for example. I want to be able to hear everything in my music and games.

• Has very good surround sound for hard core gaming. 7.1 capabilities preferably. I want to be able to hear everything around me perfectly. It's very important.

• Does NOT have velvet ear cup material. I'm tired of the feeling and I honestly don't really like it.

• Must be comfortable to wear for long periods of time. I would prefer the cup material to be made of that soft leather/rubber material that most high quality headphones are made of.

• I would prefer the headset have any control buttons/volume adjustment on the side of the headset and not on the cable line. This is the least important to me, it doesn't even need to have any type of adjustment at all honestly, as long as it meets all the other requirements I listed.

• It should have at least a great sounding mic to record with.

• My budget for now is $350 and lower.

Now, I have looked at A TON of headsets online and read and watched many hours of reviews. The 2 pairs of Headsets I have found that seem to closely match what i'm looking for are the Sennheiser PC 350 SE's, and the Razer Kraken 7.1's.

The Sennheiser PC 350 SE's match everything i'm looking for and i'm currently thinking about buying them, except for 1 thing. I'v heard they aren't very good for surround sound. The PC 360's or PC 363D's match what i'm looking for as far as frequency response, perfect surround sound, comfortable to wear for long periods of time, and a great microphone. But they lack my need for a headset that has outside of the headset noise/sound isolation, and the ear cup material looks like it's made of velvet or foam, which I really don't want.

The Razer Kraken 7.1 headset matches everything i'm looking for except a few things. The headset claims to be a closed design headset for blocking out sound and noise, 7.1 virtual surround sound (i'v heard virtual surround sound is never nearly as good as real 7.1 surround sound), the material of the cups are that soft rubber/leather material, and they have a decent mic. The things they don't have is they say they have a 20hz - 20khz frequency response and i'm not sure about how comfortable they are to wear for long periods of time. Also they are only $99 and i'm not sure how durable or just overall how nice they would compare to the Sennheiser PC 350 SE's.

After all of this comparing and searching, should I just look into getting a nice studio pair of headphones which have everything I need except the mic? I havn't looked into studio headphones at all yet so... Or is there a gaming headset out there somewhere that somebody could possibly find for me or tell me about? Also I don't yet have a soundcard, but i'm getting a new Motherboard and upgrading to an i7 and 16gbs of RAM by the end of this month, so I will be looking for a sound card then.


So that's it for me. Please somebody out there read this and help me on my "quest" to find my dream headset.

 

[DarkSable]

I've tried a lot of headsets, and the best ones out there (*for gaming) are the Astro A40s. They're only 5.1 surround, but that's fine for gaming, and they have EXCELLENT quality and crispness, and a great mic. Other than that, they're everything you're looking for.

Finally, a few notes.

1) Do your research. This applies to everything below, because you haven't done enough of it.

2) Physical surround is better ONLY when it comes to large drivers. In a headset, where it means having tiny drivers as opposed to larger, more powerful drivers, this is not true.

3) Come on. An i7 and 16MB of ram are going to be absolutely useless. Neither give you ANY benefit when you're gaming - 8GB of ram can run battlefield 3, photoshop, AND 30 tabs in chrome simultaneously, and the only difference between an i7 and an i5 is that the i7 has a few more mb l3 cashe and hyperthreading, neither of which do diddly-squat for any properly programmed game.

4) Ditto on the sound card. You're much, MUCH better off using an external DAC, no matter what your scenario is. The point of a sound card is twofold: 1) to convert from digital to analogue, and 2) to amplify enough to power high-end headsets. An external DAC is going to be able to convert without all the electrostatic interference bouncing around inside your case, thus doing much better, and amplification is just a matter of large transistors and incoming power - both of which are found in excess on an external DAC. The A40's already come with one, by the way, and connect through optical out, which is a digital connection, meaning a sound card is pointless if your motherboard has optical or spdif out. If it doesn't, buy the cheapest sound card that does have that option, as that's its only benefit.

Sounds like having a job has made you realize what having money is like. I've been there, it's fun, you rack up credit card debt awfully quickly. Don't end up buying things you don't need, because buyer's remorse HURTS.

Go with the Astros - the company has an incredible warranty even if you don't purchase an extended warranty. (But since headsets take such beatings, you might as well.)

 

[Klawsome]

I've tried a lot of headsets, and the best ones out there (*for gaming) are the Astro A40s. They're only 5.1 surround, but that's fine for gaming, and they have EXCELLENT quality and crispness, and a great mic. Other than that, they're everything you're looking for.

Finally, a few notes.

1) Do your research. This applies to everything below, because you haven't done enough of it.

2) Physical surround is better ONLY when it comes to large drivers. In a headset, where it means having tiny drivers as opposed to larger, more powerful drivers, this is not true.

3) Come on. An i7 and 16MB of ram are going to be absolutely useless. Neither give you ANY benefit when you're gaming - 8GB of ram can run battlefield 3, photoshop, AND 30 tabs in chrome simultaneously, and the only difference between an i7 and an i5 is that the i7 has a few more mb l3 cashe and hyperthreading, neither of which do diddly-squat for any properly programmed game.

4) Ditto on the sound card. You're much, MUCH better off using an external DAC, no matter what your scenario is. The point of a sound card is twofold: 1) to convert from digital to analogue, and 2) to amplify enough to power high-end headsets. An external DAC is going to be able to convert without all the electrostatic interference bouncing around inside your case, thus doing much better, and amplification is just a matter of large transistors and incoming power - both of which are found in excess on an external DAC. The A40's already come with one, by the way, and connect through optical out, which is a digital connection, meaning a sound card is pointless if your motherboard has optical or spdif out. If it doesn't, buy the cheapest sound card that does have that option, as that's its only benefit.

Sounds like having a job has made you realize what having money is like. I've been there, it's fun, you rack up credit card debt awfully quickly. Don't end up buying things you don't need, because buyer's remorse HURTS.

Go with the Astros - the company has an incredible warranty even if you don't purchase an extended warranty. (But since headsets take such beatings, you might as well.)

The reason why I haven't even considered Astros is because in my opinion, they were just picked up and mainstreamed by the public but aren't like the "real deal". Like Skrillex for example. He was discovered out of no where and then very quickly picked up by the public and mainstreamed as the "king of dubstep". Some people even still believe that he invented dubstep, (which is complete BS), and there is nobody better than him, etc.. To be honest, I listen to the real deal of dubstep and enjoy some Skrillex every now and then, because come on, not all his music is just unorganized random sounds and screaming, (have you heard Rock N Roll, Disco Rangers, or Breakin' A Sweat? They are actually pretty good quality songs in my opinion compared to all his other stuff.) But then compare Skrillex to what actual REAL dubstep is, REAL dubstep is completely different from what Skrillex makes. I mean seriously, compare Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites to Jenova Project by Datsik, they are completely 2 different genres, yet they are considered the same genre, only because Skrillex was mainstreamed as Dubstep. I feel the same way about Astro headsets. They were picked up and mainstreamed by the public and overrated for what they actually are but don't get me wrong, i'm absolutely sure they are an amazing headset (seriously, every single person in a Dota 2 championship is wearing them pretty much. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7XZhwf1JIM and skip to 33:16, you see a bunch of A40s.) Also, I completely understand that the larger the driver the better the surround sound.

On the other hand, Sennheiser, (the real dubstep), has always had the best reviews and are known to be one of the best, top of the line brands out there to date. I'v asked many of my friends in real life and some that I game with every day, they have all recommended I should go with Sennheiser since it's an option for me and the price isn't a problem. (By the way, you mentioned before to be aware not to spend money on unnecessary purchases, but I have it completely under control. You don't have to worry about me spending extra money on something that's "overpriced".) I'm not just going to end the discussion here and disregard your opinion and say, "Sennheiser is better and i'm not going with A40's." I want to get as much feedback I as possible on what i'm looking for and a wide range of opinions on what I should do.

Currently, I have a type of amp, I have external speakers and I can plug my headset into and just turning the speaker volume to 20%, and the headset volume to 100%, it already insanely loud, lol.
However, I do have some sort of problem that you may have mentioned. If I were to take my Apple Earpods and plug them into either my speakers or the front audio port headphone jack in the front of my PC case, I would get clear audio and that very faint sound of static that you hear when your headphone/earphones have power. But if I were to plugin my Webcam into the USB port next to where my Apple Earpods are plugged into, I start hearing a kind of high pitched tone that keeps stopping and going and never stops no matter what I do until I unplug whatever is in the USB port. Same thing with my speakers. I plug my Carcharias into the speakers, the mic into a audio jack extension cable I have so I can plugin my mic right next to where my audio is plugged into, and I have a USB extension running from the back of my computer next to my speakers and audio jack extension cable so I can plug everything in right there. Since my headset needs a USB cable to be plugged in at all times for power, I ALWAYS hear this faint annoying and constant tone. Same thing no matter where I move the cables. Also if I turn my speakers off, I still hear the tone, and if I turn them all the way up, I still hear the tone the same volume level, just very faint. I think this is some sort of problem with the power. It's unnoticeable while i'm listening to music or gaming, but if I just sit here not listening to anything with my headset on, it's very annoying.

 

[DarkSable]

Yes, there is a lot of hype surrounding the Astro brand, but they're designed for gaming, and do that very well - they're horrible for an audiophile listening to music, but you aren't looking for that. Sennheiser are SOME of the best headsets out there... for music... but also have a lot of the problem you're railing against; they've held the crown for so long that I find their build quality is lacking sometimes, even though their audio quality is incredible.

The problem you're talking about with interference is exactly what's going to be solved with an external amp; your speakers are an interesting makeshift solution, but what motherboard do you have? If it's got an optical out, you can just get an external DAC and your problems will be solved.

(However, let me clarify one thing - you hear this when the headset is plugged into the computer, no matter if it's on or off?)

 

[Klawsome]

Yes, there is a lot of hype surrounding the Astro brand, but they're designed for gaming, and do that very well - they're horrible for an audiophile listening to music, but you aren't looking for that. Sennheiser are SOME of the best headsets out there... for music... but also have a lot of the problem you're railing against; they've held the crown for so long that I find their build quality is lacking sometimes, even though their audio quality is incredible.

The problem you're talking about with interference is exactly what's going to be solved with an external amp; your speakers are an interesting makeshift solution, but what motherboard do you have? If it's got an optical out, you can just get an external DAC and your problems will be solved.

(However, let me clarify one thing - you hear this when the headset is plugged into the computer, no matter if it's on or off?)

I read around online and found that my problem is most likely that the port is not grounded properly. (Does that sound right?) The only solutions would to be get a new motherboard, buy a sound card, or get a new DEC or Amp, but i'm not sure a new amp would change anything.

Back to the main topic, headsets. I actually spend an equal amount of time listening to my music as I do gaming.
In case you might have skipped over what I said before:
"• Has a pretty good frequency response, say 10hz - 25khz for example. I want to be able to hear everything in my music and games."

Also the time when I mentioned:
"• Isolates sound, like to the point where if you are standing 2 feet away from me and i'm listening to music pretty loud, you wont be able to hear it and I wont be able to hear you. So a closed design headset, right?"

So music is kind of a big thing to me. I only listen to all of my music in WAV format or high quality MP3 files with a bitrate of 320kbps. The top 2 games I play are APB:R and Dota 2, during the time when i'm playing these games I rarely ever have the game sound on and i'm blasting music. So in that case, the A40's are not for me. I want a headset that has fantastic quality for gaming surround sound and music. It seems like everything is either 1 thing or the other and never both. And remember, the headset needs to be able to isolate outer sound for me. :/

 

[Klawsome]

I'm still waiting for an answer, I really hope somebody out there has one...

Basically what i'm looking for is the Sennheiser PC 350 SE headset, but with very good surround sound.
Or the Sennheiser PC 363D headset with outside the headset sound isolation, good bass, and that soft rubber/leather material for the ear ups instead of Velvet or Foam.

 

[Lasse Hurttila]

In case you still haven't bought a headset/headphones you might want to check Steelseries H Wireless with virtual 7.1. From the reviews I've read they are the best wireless gaming headset available. And I'm stressing the word wireless and gaming. They are closed and meant for gaming meaning that they aren't as good for listening music as open headphones tend to be but if I'm correct closed is what you wanted. They also have swappable battery backs for unlimited wireless use and an external control box which you can use to hook them up with pretty much anything (consoles included). I've also understood that the box works as a dac so it might help with the interference you have been hearing. Ear cups are not velvet but pleather (don't know if that's how it's supposed to be written)

For now I have Sennheiser hd555 headphones which are good in audio quality but not in build quality. Got cracks on both ends of the headband and the insides of cushioning on the headband and other cup are are showing. I've been trying to decide whether I should get those or just go with beyerdynamics DT990's stereo headphones which are half the price with better sound but lack surround and mic and have wires.

As for the sound card I'm getting Sound Blaster Z (the other versions are waste of money if you aren't an audiophile and have money to throw at creative) mainly because of the onboard card can't properly drive headphones with bigger ohmage. For headphones with bigger ohmage you need an soundcard or an external amp. I'm going for the soundcard because I'm trying to get rid of the extra stuff on my desk and frankly I don't think I could hear the difference. There's a lot of bs in audio industry an I suggest you do the following test on the link to get some perspective on what differences you actually can and can't hear in music quality. Best of luck in finding what you seek
http://www.audiocheck.net/blindtests_index.php