Gaming Headphones/Headset

D-Ranged

D-Ranged

D-Ranged

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I'm looking at upgrading my headset which is currently an older Logitech model, which I'm not sure of the name and was about £50 at the time of buying.

It has been a nice headset, but the sound quality for gaming is kind of lacking. The mic seems ok, but again could be better.

I've never had a decent headset so looking to get something a lot nicer, with much better sound quality. It will be 99% for gaming, I have a nice set of studio monitors for anything else.

I don't mind if it's a headset with a mic attached, or just a headset that I'll need to get a mic for.

Budget is £300
 
I've always found the steelseries arctis range really good quality and value. I am about to replace my Arctis 7 actually as its just about 7 years old oe and getting tatty.. audio quality is still great though.
 
roachyuk said:
Have you decided what you are replacing them with yet?
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Well as they are fully functional I decided to try and clean/refurbish them myself. Word of advice if anyone is potentially looking to do the same be very careful when cleaning the ear cups. The foam you remove does become very fragile wirh age bit also the cups themselve and the material will easily come apart.. thay said I did clean mine albeit have not gone back together the way I intended. Long story short.. I have just bought new ear cups.
 
kayone said:
Well as they are fully functional I decided to try and clean/refurbish them myself. Word of advice if anyone is potentially looking to do the same be very careful when cleaning the ear cups. The foam you remove does become very fragile wirh age bit also the cups themselve and the material will easily come apart.. thay said I did clean mine albeit have not gone back together the way I intended. Long story short.. I have just bought new ear cups.
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Same here I have bought new earcups and had to staple the headband lol was gonna get another set but as you said they still work perfectly, also have another set where the usb connector has come off.
 
D-Ranged said:
Any recommendations on headphones?
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What are you planning on plugging them into?

- Beyerdynamic DT990: Excellent open back headphones, great bass given that fact and a lot of fun. Some people don't get on with the treble, I've never had a problem with it and you can EQ a little if necessary.
- Beyerdynamic DT770: Closed back so there's less sound leakage, good bass but not quite as good of a sound stage if you're planning on using virtual surround.
- Philips Fidelio X2HR: Open back, excellent soundstage and good bass, although not on the level of the two Beyer models.
- Hifiman HE400SE: Open back, entry level planar magnetic headphones with good soundstage and accurate if not quite as punchy bass compared to the Beyers.

The above can be had for around £80-120 depending, but they will require an AMP to get the most out of which will set you back another £100 or so depending. If you already have an AMP that you can use you could consider spending more, the Hifiman Sundara are a good step up from the 400SE for example at around the £220 mark.

Some of the Sennheiser's mentioned are well worth a look too.

As long as space isn't an issue I'd just get a desktop MIC, I sit around a foot away from a £20 Trust Gaming GXT 258 Fyru and have zero issues with voice comms.
 
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Gray2233 said:
What are you planning on plugging them into?

- Beyerdynamic DT990: Excellent open back headphones, great bass given that fact and a lot of fun. Some people don't get on with the treble, I've never had a problem with it and you can EQ a little if necessary.
- Beyerdynamic DT770: Closed back so there's less sound leakage, good bass but not quite as good of a sound stage if you're planning on using virtual surround.
- Philips Fidelio X2HR: Open back, excellent soundstage and good bass, although not on the level of the two Beyer models.
- Hifiman HE400SE: Open back, entry level planar magnetic headphones with good soundstage and accurate if not quite as punchy bass compared to the Beyers.

The above can be had for around £80-120 depending, but they will require an AMP to get the most out of which will set you back another £100 or so depending. If you already have an AMP that you can use you could consider spending more, the Hifiman Sundara are a good step up from the 400SE for example at around the £220 mark.

Some of the Sennheiser's mentioned are well worth a look too.

As long as space isn't an issue I'd just get a desktop MIC, I sit around a foot away from a £20 Trust Gaming GXT 258 Fyru and have zero issues with voice comms.
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Either directly into my PC, or i have a focusrite 4i4 interface which i could use.

I'll have a look into your recommendations, thanks.
 
I use a pair of Philips Fidelio X2HR, and the SQ is much better than any "gaming" headset I've used.

For a mic I use a mod-mic, which works perfectly, and as the grilles on the side of the earcups are metal, you don't need to use the stick-on magnetic mount to attach it, the mic sticks directly onto the headphones with the magnet.

Obviously being open back there isn't much sound isolation, but that's a bit of a bonus for me since it means I can still hear the baby monitor :p

I'd avoid anything Steelseries. Firstly because they are a "gamer" brand (so SQ takes second place to their gamer branding), but more importantly, because their after sales support is ****, and a lot of their headsets have a common and well known design flaw where the (plastic) earcups crack around where they attach to the headband.

I had a pair of Arctis Pro Wireless (so not exactly cheap) which broke after ~14 months, and they weren't interested in the slightest.
 
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