do you use gaming a headset?

[Super56K]

ATH-M50's are really nice headphones. Mine are going on 3+ years old at this point without a single issue. I primarily use them for listening to music (and I initially got them coming from a background of guitar playing/recording and dabbling in mixing), but they're my only nice headphones so they've ultimately been used for everything else.

Some knocks against them from a gaming standpoint:

-Tight clamp over the ears
-Closed and small sound stage.

Those are potentially two deal breakers from the gaming side of things. Larger sound stage headphones will work way better for the competitive FPS aspect where you really need to differentiate directionality of footsteps and misc. noise cues. You can't get the separation in these that you can from open-style headphones. I'm not that kind of gamer so that's a non-issue, but the tight clamp means my comfort limit only lasts about 2 to 2.5 hours before I need a break from them. I did play through long stretches of The Last of Us wearing these though, and the isolation they provide almost made it too intense to play - in a good way.

But, since I've been gaming a lot more consistently the last year, I ordered a pair of Samson SR850's. I didn't want to invest in a second pair of expensive headphones so after looking high and low at $60 and under options I found these for $40. They're obviously cheap, but they seem to have the makings of a solid gaming/movie headset. They're light, have large padded cans, a big sound stage, and purportedly full bass. I don't have them yet so whether I really like them is to be determined, but the clamp pressure on my M50's just wasn't suited toward gaming because I like to listen to music almost daily in them. It's a little too much to try to have M50's do it all throughout the course of a day. Pending a trial of the SR850's they might be my new preferred gaming and movie headphones. We'll see I guess.

I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way about M50's. I absolutely recommend them for some things, but not if gaming is the #1 priority. If my pair randomly died and couldn't be fixed I'd have a new pair on the way within a couple weeks. I love the isolated punch and natural sound they have, as well as sounding fantastic without the need of any amplifier.

 

[codyray10]

Planning to get the x12 turtlebeach. Anyone have them?

I have had the X12's for about a year and a half now. I originally picked them up to use with my 360, but since have been using them as my primary pc gaming set without issue. My only complaint is the lack of surround sound, but for $50 dollars they are a pretty good buy. Sound quality is pretty good and bass levels are decent as well for listening to music.

The logitech set that Jules linked to at BB look nice. No experience with them but the 7.1 surround sure would be nice

 

[imaheadcase]

I've never seen a "gaming" headphone that was better than a good quality pair or headphones itself.

 

[Triglet]

If you're still buying a branded gaming headset you're doing it wrong -- spend what you can on a good set of cans (head-fi.org forum is a good place to research) and add a ModMic.

 

[Super56K]

I've never seen a "gaming" headphone that was better than a good quality pair or headphones itself.

I've tried some wireless Turtlebeach models, some Steelseries, and a set of Sony Pulse Elite's, and I'd agree - not good investments for what they charge. Seems like on many models you get a mediocre set of headphones coupled with a poor quality mic. But, people see built in mic, wireless, some sort of gaming branding, and then plunk down significant cash for them without a lot of research because they need 'gaming' headsets.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I've tried some wireless Turtlebeach models, some Steelseries, and a set of Sony Pulse Elite's, and I'd agree - not good investments for what they charge. Seems like on many models you get a mediocre set of headphones coupled with a poor quality mic. But, people see built in mic, wireless, some sort of gaming branding, and then plunk down significant cash for them without a lot of research because they need 'gaming' headsets.

I don't use wireless myself and some of the different models have a good quality mic like the astro and sennheiser. I will not buy triton or turtle beach ever personally.

 

[moonbogg]

If you're still buying a branded gaming headset you're doing it wrong -- spend what you can on a good set of cans (head-fi.org forum is a good place to research) and add a ModMic.

Its true, but to be honest you have to be willing to spend a little cash on the setup or else you'd be better off with a decent gaming headset IMO.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Its true, but to be honest you have to be willing to spend a little cash on the setup or else you'd be better off with a decent gaming headset IMO.

To be fair...a modmic isn't always available. The manufacturer doesn't always have them in stock. When a friend of mine ordered one a while back it took over a month to get. I don't know how many people would be happy to wait that long when they can get an all in one solution immediately that works well enough. Very few people will be able to tell the difference to be honest.

 

[moonbogg]

To be fair...a modmic isn't always available. The manufacturer doesn't always have them in stock. When a friend of mine ordered one a while back it took over a month to get. I don't know how many people would be happy to wait that long when they can get an all in one solution immediately that works well enough. Very few people will be able to tell the difference to be honest.

Yeah. There are good quality headsets anyway by music headphone companies, so people do have options. However, I think I'll go ahead and grab a pair of senn hd800's to help open my BF4 soundstage . Any serious gamer needs a pair of HD800's.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Yeah. There are good quality headsets anyway by music headphone companies, so people do have options. However, I think I'll go ahead and grab a pair of senn hd800's to help open my BF4 soundstage . Any serious gamer needs a pair of HD800's.

You have the necessary amp to drive them I assume they are very nice though.

I would be curious how they handle gaming audio as a lot of audiophile headphones for music are not forward enough for some people's taste. Explosions and such may not have that impact. Having never tried it myself I don't know but would like to be educated here.

 

[Geosurface]

Apparently the newer version of the m50s is more comfortable for longer

 

[moonbogg]

You have the necessary amp to drive them I assume they are very nice though.

I would be curious how they handle gaming audio as a lot of audiophile headphones for music are not forward enough for some people's taste. Explosions and such may not have that impact. Having never tried it myself I don't know but would like to be educated here.

For what its worth, I was joking. Those 800's do look totally badass though.

 

[Firsttime]

I use a SteelSeries Siberia v2, Comfortable, flexible/retractable microphone, good sound, comes in a multitude of colors, and not that expensive.
http://www.amazon.com/SteelSeries-Si...dp/B003N636VI/

I use this as well. It's the best. Sound is decent, quality for me has been outstanding, I've had it for 2-3 years and put it through hell and it's held up great. I love it and will probably re buy if it every does break. Also it's the most comfortable thing ever.

 

[lupi]

my logitech pair similar to the h390 seems to have just broken the wire at the usb connection, g430 on sale right now, any reviews?

 

[Elixer]

I really don't think price plays much of a difference for headphones, in terms of how long they last...
Sooner or later, they will all fail because of cord issues.
I have seen some cheap $20 ones last 1-2 years, and some that cost $200 last 1 year.

I am thinking wireless would be better, and last longer than corded ones.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I really don't think price plays much of a difference for headphones, in terms of how long they last...
Sooner or later, they will all fail because of cord issues.
I have seen some cheap $20 ones last 1-2 years, and some that cost $200 last 1 year.

I am thinking wireless would be better, and last longer than corded ones.

With the quality of the headphones comes quality of electrical components as well. Besides, as long as you aren't crimping the cable, it won't just fail on its own.

 

[futurefields]

ive literaly never had a headphone cable issue... and ive been using headphones since Sony Walkman cassette with Mega Bass was da new shit lol

 

[RaulF]

I really don't think price plays much of a difference for headphones, in terms of how long they last...
Sooner or later, they will all fail because of cord issues.
I have seen some cheap $20 ones last 1-2 years, and some that cost $200 last 1 year.

I am thinking wireless would be better, and last longer than corded ones.

That's the reason i went wireless.

But also to not have cords all over me. The downside is a bit more weight, and if you go in a long gaming section you can run out of power and have to switch to speakers. I guess you would use a long micro usb cell phone charger and plug it in while gaming and keep going.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I really don't think price plays much of a difference for headphones, in terms of how long they last...
Sooner or later, they will all fail because of cord issues.
I have seen some cheap $20 ones last 1-2 years, and some that cost $200 last 1 year.

I am thinking wireless would be better, and last longer than corded ones.

I have never had a cable issue with the q701, ad700, m50, and t50rp in over 5 years of usage for each. In fact my q701s that are my daily driver still look brand new after 5 close to 5 years of use.

 

[Cuular]

Logitech wireless, the wireless transceiver died 2 weeks after the warranty ran out.

Triton physically "broke". The material that holds the ear cups is a multi-layer glued together set of stuff, and the glue came undone. Again within a few days of the warranty expiring on it.

Sennheiser PC 163D actually still works, but the surround sound separation on it wasn't as good as some of them.(3 years old)

Just got the CM Cirrus Storm, and so far it's been one of the better with surround separation. Now let's see if it survives past the warranty period.

Where I live now I end up accidently edging them off the surface they are sitting on a lot. But the Triton set was never dropped, just the force of putting them on and taking them off loosened up the glue holding them together.

And the Logitechs wireless transceiver stopping to work, was just bad luck I guess. I never actually used them wireless, always used them wired. but the wireless module started dropping and reconnecting signal, which made the whole setup not work.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is find a pair that sounds good to you.

And good surround sound trumps 2 speaker setups for gaming, every time.

And hopefully you get lucky and get a well built set.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Logitech wireless, the wireless transceiver died 2 weeks after the warranty ran out.

Triton physically "broke". The material that holds the ear cups is a multi-layer glued together set of stuff, and the glue came undone. Again within a few days of the warranty expiring on it.

Sennheiser PC 163D actually still works, but the surround sound separation on it wasn't as good as some of them.(3 years old)

Just got the CM Cirrus Storm, and so far it's been one of the better with surround separation. Now let's see if it survives past the warranty period.

Where I live now I end up accidently edging them off the surface they are sitting on a lot. But the Triton set was never dropped, just the force of putting them on and taking them off loosened up the glue holding them together.

And the Logitechs wireless transceiver stopping to work, was just bad luck I guess. I never actually used them wireless, always used them wired. but the wireless module started dropping and reconnecting signal, which made the whole setup not work.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is find a pair that sounds good to you.

And good surround sound trumps 2 speaker setups for gaming, every time.

And hopefully you get lucky and get a well built set.

Almost all surround headsets these days only use 2 drivers just like regular headphones. You are paying for a gimmick and extra processing on your sound with worse audio quality.

Pretty much all games do what Dolby headphone does in game on their own these days. Good position audio boils down to soundstage and for that you need good open backed headphones. Most people buy closed back headphones that put the sound inside your head and you do not get accurate positional audio.

If you want to game competitive buy ad700's, hd558, dt880/990, q701's, or something ridiculously expensive like hd800's. Open backed makes all the difference.

 

[kyrax12]

What's the point of getting headsets with surround sound when there are software like the Razer surround.

 

[Jules]

Almost all surround headsets these days only use 2 drivers just like regular headphones. You are paying for a gimmick and extra processing on your sound with worse audio quality.

Yet the positional audio works pretty damn good.

What's the point of getting headsets with surround sound when there are software like the Razer surround.

Probably because everything is done on the USB sound card. Did you find what you wanted yet? The g430's are pretty nice for the price.

 

[kyrax12]

Yet the positional audio works pretty damn good.




Probably because everything is done on the USB sound card. Did you find what you wanted yet? The g430's are pretty nice for the price.

I ordered the Turtle beach x12 before I found out about the G430 unfortunately.

I did it through Amazon so I am assuming the refund process is painless?

It is expected to come tomorrow. Maximum budget for headset is $50 for me. I heard the surround headsets sacrifice sound quality. Is that true?

 

[Childs]

Its true, but to be honest you have to be willing to spend a little cash on the setup or else you'd be better off with a decent gaming headset IMO.

The JVC RX700 and RX900 sound almost as good as my Custom Ones, DT 770 Pros, AD700, AD900 and M50s, and they cost like $40 and $60. Gaming headsets are really overrated. The only set I kinda liked was the Razer Caracas, and that had more to do with comfort than sound. Very cheap build quality though. Anyways, spending $50 on headphones made by a company that knows how to make headphones goes further than gaming headsets that cost almost twice as much.