In need of good quality Gaming headset

[vbuggy]

My Sennheiser 595 left ear went dead after roughly 4 months of use. Its an expensive paper weight now.

There is this thing called a warranty. Perhaps you might like to make use of it.

Or perhaps it's a case of 'x broke, it sucks' and you felt it should have stood up to whatever abuse you heaped on it

 

[vbuggy]

If a set of headphones connects via USB, I guess there isn't even a point in getting a soundcard? As it probably uses the onboard audio anyway?

So if I wanted a simple setup, I could use onboard audio and a decent set of USB headphones and spend around 100.. just for gaming.

But if I wanted high end gaming as well as a starter kit for High End audio on a PC, re-ripping all my CDs in FLAC format this weekend, then I should get a good sound card and higher end headsphones? like Razers or Sennheisers? something NOT USB so it plugs analog into the soundcard.

I would like them for mostly gaming but definitely some great music listening as well.

USB headsets give you other options as well. The G35 gives you device-mounted volume controls, etc. It is just plain more convenient to use.

The only tripping point is 'some great music listening as well'. As I pointed out, the G35 is competitive with closed phones which hover around the same typically discounted price of the Logitech. But it's not going to offer performance beyond. If that's what you're looking for, then you need to move onto headphones - and really, to fully justify a sufficient sonic jump over the Logi I think you're looking at >$200 open headphones or >$300 closed headphones plus a decent soundcard. If you go with a ~$150 headphone plus a high-spec soundcard (and a $10 mic) then you're getting slightly more performance with a whole lot of added inconvenience (and crappy pickup). That's just my opinion but it's the reason why I have separate headsets.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

My Sennheiser 595 left ear went dead after roughly 4 months of use. Its an expensive paper weight now.

They are definitely covered under warranty if they are only 4 months old. I'd warranty those things.

I love my Sennheiser 650s

 

[videogames101]

My Sennheiser 595 left ear went dead after roughly 4 months of use. Its an expensive paper weight now.

Bro, have you heard of a warranty?

 

[HeXen]

i just got the Creative sigma's. i really like them. their far, far better than the Razor'rs, Triton and Ultrasone's i have.
I have the xfi fatality card and between it and the usb adapter, i couldnt tell any real differences so i just switched to the USB and pulled the sound card.

 

[corkyg]

It's time to get the thread back on track. Sennheiser 595s are headphones, not headsets. OP asked about a gaming headset. By definition a headset includes a microphone. Headphones do not. System Mechanic is on target.

 

[GullyFoyle]

Anybody have experience with the Turtle Beach Ear Force X12?

It's on sale for $50 at Best Buy and Target this week. It's got 111 out of 175 5-star ratings on Amazon.

 

[Remobz]

Bro, have you heard of a warranty?

I know of that. Its a long story, but I do not live in North America and its not cheap and not that easy mailing things at great distances.

I can go into details here and maybe you can understand my current situation

Anyway, I am derailing the thread now. I am happy to continue in private messages if anyone is interested.

cheers all........

 

[BrightCandle]

The HD 595's are a great set of headphones. The problem is that the Sennheiser PC 360's are their top of the line headset and its not a scratch on the 585's. If you look at enough reviews of headsets you'll find most of them are pretty poor headphones, even when you are spending decent money on them.

I have now given up on the PC 360's and gone back to a the 585's and got a clip on mic. Shame is the mic on the PC 360 is really good, very clear and the clip on isn't as good. However its much easier to get quality headphones and a mic than finding the combination together.

 

[JJ650]

The HD 595's are a great set of headphones. The problem is that the Sennheiser PC 360's are their top of the line headset and its not a scratch on the 585's. If you look at enough reviews of headsets you'll find most of them are pretty poor headphones, even when you are spending decent money on them.

I have now given up on the PC 360's and gone back to a the 585's and got a clip on mic. Shame is the mic on the PC 360 is really good, very clear and the clip on isn't as good. However its much easier to get quality headphones and a mic than finding the combination together.

That is one of main gripes about headsets. Even when you dish out a fair chunk of money for them, the sound quality isn't a good as a decent dedicated set of heahphones.
It can’t be tough, I would imagine, to add a mic to an existing product line that would satisfy the folks who want a little more out of their nice headsets.

I have been thru a few headsets and each time, I come away disappointed with the sound quality.

They are either too tinny, bass is overpowered and nothing else, or lacking bass at all (Razers come to mind). The Turtle Beach so far has been one of the *better* sounding headsets but the build quality is shit.
2 pairs broken thru normal use and no abuse. Unacceptable.

Right now, I am using the Dolby Processor box (from the DPX21) with the optical input going out to a set of borrowed Sennheiser HD280s. Better sound but no mic.

Reading up on other sites, a lot of folks are using Astro’s Mix Amp along with Sennheiser PC350 or 360 and have been quite happy. I am not sure how the mix amp compares to my Dobly processor box.

Anyone here have an Astro Mix Amp and care to comment?

 

[Zargon]

I know that Termie uses a logitech desktop(I think its this one) MIC when we do VOIP while playing BF3 and it works pretty well.

that would make it easier to get a nice set of headphones if that type of solution works for you OP

 

[vbuggy]

Problem with desktop mics is pickup - true, it might be a better option than some $20 headset but it'd be very dependent on the usage scenario. It would probably send your co-gamers crazy if you eg. used a noisy or mechanical keyboard, not to mention the non-optimal pickup if you place it behind the keyboard.

A headset with a noise-gating mic (as all decent headsets are) provides a much more consistent voice experience, fact.

I guess it just depends on how important it is. I use Blue Mouse's and Electro-Voice RE20's suspended over / in front of my head (connected to either RME or Prism soundcard) in a way that the mic is just not blocking my view of the screen, and use a relatively quiet keyboard. I also use closed headphones to eliminate any sound feedback to the mic.

However I don't think most people would be looking to spend >$1000 just to get great pickup, so if you want your compadres to hear you properly - nothing more, nothing less - I'd recommend going headset and not desktop or those clip-on mics.

If music is more important than that though (and it's not like the leading gaming headsets are terrible in that respect - but just that you *can* do better in headphoneland, although you'd effectively be spending much more in the process) then you have to balance what's important to you.

 

[BrightCandle]

....
Reading up on other sites, a lot of folks are using Astro’s Mix Amp along with Sennheiser PC350 or 360 and have been quite happy. I am not sure how the mix amp compares to my Dobly processor box.

I have been intriguded by the MixAmp thing. They are decidedly pretty expensive for a headphone amplifier, presumably because they are doing the headphone surround sound effect in the box. Seeing as how my speakers have a headphone port which is amplified and a Xonar providing me with Dolby Headphone virtual surround I am guessing I wouldn't see any real benefit from a MixAmp but I don't know that for sure. I just know comparing some 595's to the PC 360's amplified in the same way is no contest, but the mic quality on the PC 360 is really good.

 

[SilthDraeth]

Anybody have experience with the Turtle Beach Ear Force X12?

It's on sale for $50 at Best Buy and Target this week. It's got 111 out of 175 5-star ratings on Amazon.

I have had the x11s for about a year, and while I think the sound quality is adequate, and they are semi comfortable, the plastic where they articulate at the speakers is starting to break.

I have a semi large head, size 8 military hat, so it may contribute, but just a word of caution.

Oh yeah, the x11s use audio jacks and usb for power, and have a white noise hiss in the background.

 

[JJ650]

I have had the x11s for about a year, and while I think the sound quality is adequate, and they are semi comfortable, the plastic where they articulate at the speakers is starting to break.

I have a semi large head, size 8 military hat, so it may contribute, but just a word of caution.

Oh yeah, the x11s use audio jacks and usb for power, and have a white noise hiss in the background.

This is precisely where mine are breaking (dpx21). The fitting is woefully undersized and the material is just too weak.
Shitty construction is all you can attribute it to.

 

[HeXen]

i have never had a HP break. you guys must be hard on em.
My wife has even had a super cheap pair of skull candy ear phones for over a year now i think and she loves it for some reason. lol
but if those el cheapo's don't break and a fancier Sennhieser's do..thats kinda sad actually

 

[JJ650]

i have never had a HP break. you guys must be hard on em.
My wife has even had a super cheap pair of skull candy ear phones for over a year now i think and she loves it for some reason. lol
but if those el cheapo's don't break and a fancier Sennhieser's do..thats kinda sad actually

I was especially careful with the second set I got. They broke while I was wearing them and i don't have an overly large head. The plastic fitting is small and really doesn't have much mass to it to help prevent stress fractures which later on lead to failure.
If anything, the fitting should have been aluminum or sturdier plastics or nylon.

 

[JJ650]

My RMA was refused my turtle beach. WTF!?

"Insufficient packing"

I had this thing packed in it's original box, in a decently sized box WITH bubble wrap and packing paper too.

Big WTF.

Yeah, bro. I'm mad.

 

[JJ650]

After some email wrestling, TB sent y replacement headphones. They say PX21 but I think they have revised them. The ear cups are slightly smaller and not as comfortable as the last pair.

I think I am going to eBay these and look into Astro or Sennheisers.

Any other suggestions?