Another spec me thread

Aedus

Aedus

Aedus

Soldato
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Luton, England
Looking for a new headset purely for gaming (FPS games mainly) bundled with a mic and a sound card I'd guess (My current sound card is an x-fi fatal1ty so I assume there is much better out there). Budget isn't that much of an issue, but obviously I don't want to pay mega bucks for something which is marginally better than something half the price.

After researching the most recommended headsets seem to be:
SteelSeries Siberia v2 - £70.99
Sennheiser 555's - £58.30
Goldring NS 1000's (?) - £49.99
Logitech G35 - £79.99
Razer Carcharias - £68.10

Unsure which route to go for, the Siberia, Carcharias and Logitech are slightly more expensive but come with a built in mic.

Sound card I think I'd like to go with Asus, X-fi drivers are poor at best, can't even update them without my sound completely cutting out before having to roll them back to get my sound back again. It doesn't have to be the cheap Asus Xonar DG if the Asus Xonar DS 7.1 would be the much better option, for example.

I'm not savvy with audio, so hopefully someone will give me a hand.
 
I'll add in I've also been looking at the Goldring DR150's and the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 today.

Out of most of the reviews there is lots claiming between the Sennheiser 555's and the Audio Technica ATH-AD700's. What's the main difference between them? Which will be better for bassy music, also is it true you can mod the 555's to make them identical to the more expensive 595's?
 
seekdestroy said:
They are almost identical, the PC350 is just a gaming version with a good mic.
I just bought some HD555/HD595 ear pads, that fit the PC350 perfectly.
Click to expand...

How good is the bass on the PC350's? Is it worth the extra price over just a normal 555 + mic, if you think about it? I only use my mic on Skype and it's not that often I'd use it, so weighing up which would be better.
 
Well, apparently the bass isn't amazing, but there is a mod you can do to improve it. But i didn't find any issues when i used it, but i did the mod to see if there was an improvement. There was a little, tbh if you use a gd sound card just boost the bass to your liking.

If the 555 + mic is cheaper then you might aswell go for that tbh, its up to you whether you want a detachable mic or the fixed 1 (which can be swivelled out the way)
 
seekdestroy said:
Well, apparently the bass isn't amazing, but there is a mod you can do to improve it. But i didn't find any issues when i used it, but i did the mod to see if there was an improvement. There was a little, tbh if you use a gd sound card just boost the bass to your liking.

If the 555 + mic is cheaper then you might aswell go for that tbh, its up to you whether you want a detachable mic or the fixed 1 (which can be swivelled out the way)
Click to expand...

Yeah true I'll keep it in mind from the price point of view I'll shop around and see, what kind of sound card would I be looking for with either the 555's or the 350's? Any particular 1 which is well suited for use with them?
 
Ah you got suggested the ASUS card I was looking at, will have to check that out. Seems like a fair price for it.

Lots of people recommending the NS1000's in the DG thread though. Confusing.
 
Aedus said:
I'll add in I've also been looking at the Goldring DR150's and the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 today.

Out of most of the reviews there is lots claiming between the Sennheiser 555's and the Audio Technica ATH-AD700's. What's the main difference between them? Which will be better for bassy music, also is it true you can mod the 555's to make them identical to the more expensive 595's?
Click to expand...

You can mod them to sound more like the HD595's, but not identical, due to the HD595 drivers are tuned differently.

The HD555's are not the best choice, if you are looking for bass. Very good headphones yes, although a bit expensive at £80. They are more a laid back type of headphone.

The Goldring NS1000's are a very good choice for bass. Given their price to quality ratio, there is no better headphone really. I have the DR150's, which I chose over the NS1000's, due to wanting open headphones. I find the DR150's outstanding headphones for their price, and the NS1000's are better still.

I notice you said you only use mic for skype. IMO, go for headphones, not a headset. If you take what the PC350's cost, you can get better headphones for less. The PC350's are good, but they are over priced. They do come bundled with the Xonar Xense, which gives the PC350's too much credit. I read a good review of the Xense bundle, and the reviewer said the PC350's are not good enough to be paired with a sound card like the Xense, or maybe I should say, the Xense is too much sound card for what the PC350's are capable of.

Sennheiser products are costly though, so it's not just the PC350's that are over priced. Same applies to the HD555's and 595's. Probably many others too. I have seen many a person rate Goldring DR150's better than the HD555's, and yet the HD555's cost £30 more. The NS1000's certainly are better than the HD555's and £30 less.

ATH AD700 are also superb headphones, but again are expensive in this country. Did you know they can be bought in the US for half of what we pay in the UK? Shocking really, what some headphones cost here.
 
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Okay thanks, so it seems like the Goldring NS1000's are a good choice, better get them whilst they're still £50.

The next question being, which sound card? In the ASUS Xonar DG thread people mention that the noise cancelling feature doesn't work with such a low end sound card (Or something like that)? So what would be the best option to get? (So long as it's not too expensive).
 
The NC uses a battery, AAA I think. Lasts 3 months from what I can remember of an older thread, although that will depend on if the user switches them off when not in use, and how much they actually use them.

With the NC off, they will require a headphone amplifier. Although the DG has a headphone amp, it doesn't provide enough juice to drive the NS1000's effectively with the NC off. The NC circuitry acts as an amplifier so with the NC on, they will run fine with whatever they are plugged into, whether it be a netbook, MP3 player, or sound card.

Some people use a separate headphone amplifier, Fiio E5 is very common, decent and cheap. I think using a headphone amplifier gives a slightly different sound, from using the NC, which is probably one of the reasons some buy an E5. Other reasons might be, not having to worry about remembering to switch the NC off, to save battery power. Having an amplifier is certainly not needed, just a preference thing.

Which ever sound card you choose doesn't matter really, as the NS1000's will work fine from any with the NC on.

They have a short 1m cable, reason being is they are designed for on the move in noisy environments, on a plane for eg, where a long cable isn't desired. Some people get a headphone extension cable, and others who buy an E5 use that and the provided cable as an extension.

Edit: I should mention the NC circuitry does produce a slight hiss, when nothing is being played. When there is sound, it can't be heard. That's probably another reason why some get an E5.
 
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