Surround sound Headset to go with Xonar DG?

Greenboi

Greenboi

Greenboi

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Hi all,

I'm looking for a good headset to go with a Xonar DG (Seeing as that gets good reviews, and the prices seems great).

I used to have Speedlink Medusas and loved them, especially the bass, i also thought the sound quality was good from them. (Limited experience though!)

Main things im wanting is 5.1 surround and an attached mic. Ive done a bit of reading around about the differences between real surround and virtualised, but im still not 100% clear on which is the better option. Any advice on this also would be great :)

Budget for the headset is around £60-70, might go a little bit higher if there is a really good option just above that price.

As im sure you can tell im a total sound newbie, so any help / advice would be great.

Thanks :)
 
The DG gives Dolby Headphone through stereo headphones so 5.1 headphones aren't required. I used to have Medusas and DH completely outclasses them for positioning.

I would either get Goldring DR150s ( open backed headphones like Medusas) or NS1000s (closed with optional noise cancelling) depending on your preference. If you go for the NS1000s also consider a FiiO e5 headphone amp, which will markedly improve sound quality when you run without noise cancellation.

Both are headphones rather than headsets, so you will need a clip-on or desktop Mic, but they absolutely murder anything else in the price bracket (£50 to £60 for either). Sorry I am unable to recommend a headset with Mic as I've never heard one for a reasonable price that comes close to the Goldrings for sound quality. Synergy with Dolby Headphone is really important and both produce excellent results with the NS1000S having the edge IMO.
 
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Hear we go again. No offence, but this is like a never ending round about. So called 5.1 headphones are explained in one thread, then along comes another, and the same things are said over and over. I don't wish to criticise, but it's a chore to try and convince people that headphones sold as 'true 5.1' by the manufacturers is nothing more than a marketing ploy to sell their products, over and over again. Hell, it works for them. The amount of people who come to Sound City asking which 'true 5.1' headphones are best is like waiting for a bus. None for a while, then a load turn up at once. I know it's not your fault, if you don't know anything about how it works and all, then that's why you have come here.

I just wish there would was a sticky on the subject, then at least people could read into it, and see why myself and others see 'true 5.1' headphones as marketing BS. If they then wish to still purchase them, that's fine, at least they know the full story, so to speak. The other choice without repeating the same thing over and over, would be to say, buy whatever you like. That's not exactly helpful though. I and others can't really advise you not to buy so called 'true 5.1' without explaining why. So the whole process is repeated over and over. We could just say, don't buy them, they are a load of marketing BS, but that's not giving you the full picture as to why they are marketing BS, which isn't of any help really, as you came here for info. So you see where I'm coming from? about the whole process being repeated over and over. Maybe I'm just rambling on here, but I had to get it off my chest, so to speak. :)

Having said all that, it wont make a blind bit of difference. No sticky will be made, and soon enough, I'll probably be telling someone else the same thing. Haha, it's taken me so long to type this out, Uriel has beaten me to a it! :p Which is no bad thing at all. :)
 
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Uriel, thanks for the suggestions and info, ill take a look at the DR150's and NS1000s :)

And Marsman, sorry that i've upset you, but as i said in the OP i have done some reading around and still wasnt quite clear on the exact benefits / drawbacks of the different options, hence asking for a little clarity ;)

Any other suggestions of headsets with a mic though? :)

Thanks
 
(Edit: Response to Marsman) You've seen all the 5.1 and 7.1 sets that OCUK sells or has sold? There will be no sticky ;)

If I had time, or I thought it might have chance of getting stickied, I might write a general guide to surround sound over headphones. As it is I'll just stick to answering queries.

By the way, if it wasn't for virtualisation my next option would be some sort of multi-driver surround sound headphones rather than plain stereo. I'm not totally against them, it's just that they're outdated tech.
 
Uriel said:
(Edit: Response to Marsman) You've seen all the 5.1 and 7.1 sets that OCUK sells or has sold? There will be no sticky ;)
Click to expand...

Yes, that did cross my mind. I thought maybe it a bit controversial to suggest there wont be any sticky so potential sales could be maximised. :o

Greenboi said:
And Marsman, sorry that i've upset you, but as i said in the OP i have done some reading around and still wasnt quite clear on the exact benefits / drawbacks of the different options, hence asking for a little clarity
Click to expand...

No it's fine. I'm not upset at all. It's just a pain saying the same things over and over. I know you didn't ask for an explanation, but some people want to know why Uriel, myself and others recommend a sound card and decent stereo headphones, rather than Roccat Kave's, or Logitech G35's etc. It just means saying the same things over and over, why so called 'true 5.1' headphones are anything but.

I knew the chance of a sticky on the matter, was about the same as someone running the 100m in 10 seconds backwards. :)

One problem with recommending a sound card and stereo headphones, is that sometimes people want a headset and not headphones. Which is fine, but looking at the range of headsets, there is nothing that will offer the same audio quality as decent headphones. Up to £50, there is nothing of real quality. Razer Carcharias is a very good headset, but that's £70 odd, which IMO is too much to be paying to get anything decent. TBH, I would get something pretty cheap. Another member here has gone through no end of headsets, due to them breaking, even the Carcharias, and they cost over £70. Maybe someone would have to pay near £100 to get anything that is of decent sound and good build quality, but having to pay £100 to get that, is not on.

If I were looking at getting a headset, I would probably go for a Plantronics GameCom for about £20.
 
Ive decided im going to get Goldring NS1000s and get myself a Speedlink clip on microphone in a few days time. Seems the best way to get good sound quality at a good price.

Thanks for the help :)
 
It's a good decision, from a sound quality point of view. That's the most important thing. Sure headsets are convenient, but they sorely lack in the sound quality dept when you compare them to headphones in the same price range. Even the most expensive headsets, sometimes can't match headphones that cost half as much. A good example would be a member here who has both Sennheiser HD555 headphones, and a PC360 headset. Buying both at retail cost, you will be paying £80 and £160 respectively. Yet he was disappointed with the PC360's sound quality in comparison to the HD555's. When you pay 2x as much, you expect superior sound quality, not less.

Uriel has said it many a time, why can't these manufacturers make decent sounding headsets that sound as good as a decent pair of headphones? Too many gamers aren't bothered about sound quality, and looking at the list of manufacturers, there is only one that makes good quality headphones, and that's Sennheiser. I guess it's no surprise there the choice of good quality sounding headsets are few and far between.
 
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