headset recommendation

bigjme

bigjme

bigjme

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Joined
18 Mar 2013
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67
Hi everyone. Im looking for some suggestions on headset.

Im not massive on having the best audio experience. As currently ive only ever run audio through my TV. But after moving house doing lan games with my brother who is in another room has become an issue unless we want to shout at each other.

So im looking for something with a good mic so I sound clear and is good with games. I dont mind how clearly it does positioning as the game franchises I play are mainly

Crysis, borderlands, dota, dead island, far cry. So a large range of different audio sounding games. If it plays music and movies fine that would be a bonus but it is very very rare that I listen to either without my TV volume up high.

I use only my motherboards onboard sound card, which has sadly got worse going from my crosshair iv to my sabertooth z77. So I am limited to the connectors on my board. My case using cables is atleast 4m away from where I sit, so using wired I would need extenders. But again not much of an issue as I have cable routing for my keyboard and mouse.

So my main things;

I need something good with games and a good mic
Something easy for me to connect and use
Good Audio quality from music and films would be a bonus

Im not after anything proffesional. Just something thats going to work well. I did want the corsair vengeance 2000 but after reading issues with them im putting myself off more and more. But with the 2100 coming out this month that may be fixed.

I know I may not have given much information guys, and I know this will have been asked a lot but I have been looking a lot lately and just cant find anything. My maximum budget would be roughly £150.

Thanks in advance for any help guys,
Jamie
 
Ok sorry for the double post and if it bumps my post. I know you guys hate headsets and I have looked around and know where im going wrong.

Im going to get a good set of headphones and a clip on mic. I was looking at the following

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-037-SL&tool=3
A set of 80ohm DT770's

I have looked an im unsure if my motherboard would run this properly. I know it wont run the 250ohm version correctly.
 
I think headsets get everyone with the looks. I love the look of them, and the all in one is a bonus. But their not practical. Im no one who loves sound to be amazing but I like bass, these are good at I believe. And I may use them on my phone aswell. Again a bonus over the headsets, using mostly usb for the ones I like.

Again these are only for LAN games with my brother. We're currently using our phones on loud speaker as I have unlimited minutes so anything is better lmao
 
Another option is to go for cheaper headphones, such as the Creative Aurvana Live (£50) and add a sound card like the Soundblaster Z (OEM) (£54). The soundblaster Z has a very nice headphone amp and a decent DAC and does sound very good. I used my 250 ohm Beyer DT 990 pros with the Soundblaster Z and it was certainly not lacking in bass, the sound was pretty amazing for the money.
 
So you would recommend a cheaper set of headphones and a soundcard over onboard and more expensive headphones? Again I will have to add extensions to the cables so anything I save will help. Hopefully the extensions wont cause any loss in quality
 
It all depends on just how good a pair of headphones you want. If music was your first interest I'd say go for the Beyers but if it's gaming then I think the Aurvanas are more than enough. As you said positional audio isn't all important maybe a Xonar DGX would be enough, it has a pretty decent headphone amp on board, though you'd have to use the front panel sockets on your case. The SB Z has a dedicated headphone socket on the back panel.
 
My case sits on its side next to my TV so the back of the system is actually closer to me then the front. Which I have disconnected to tidy up my cables.

Overall whats my best bet if I said it wasnt just for gaming? If I can use it on my phone then great. Very rare I use my phone though. Overall experience? Movies I watch late at night, so no one hearing them when their on my head would be nice. Gaming sessions can last 8 hours plus easily so they need to be comfortable.
 
The Aurvanas are supposed to be very comfortable, though I haven't tried them myself. They also have a good sound as they are basically a rebadged Denon D1001, a well respected and more expensive headphone. The Beyers have them trumped in every department though, more comfortable due to the velour ear pads, stronger bass, bigger sound stage and a better sound overall but they do cost a lot more.

As for a sound card, if you don't have access to the front panel then the Soundblaster Z OEM is your only affordable option apart from sticking with the onboard sound.

Obviously, the best mix would be the Beyers with the Soundblaster Z but that would take you well over budget.
 
Hmm how about the more expensive headphones.... and a soundcard for christmas? I can work around anything if I need to :-)
I can get the mic on amazon for a little over £6 and need 2. So that and the headphones will cost 145 ish. The cheaper headphones with the none oem SB Z is £135. So... for the sake of lower quality for 3 months, and £10 more in the long run. Am I better with the more expensive headphones?

If I buy the cheaper and end up changing them it will cost more then adding a soundcard to the more expensive headphones. I hope any of that makes sense. Im writing on my phone and slowly struggling to keep my eyes open so I apologise if it didn't make much sense
 
It boils down to this, if sound quality is important to you then it's always going to be worth getting the better headphones. At 80 ohm they should work but are not going to sound their best, even though they are not really high impedance they really do need amping. Still, if you can tough it out for four months then go for it. :D
 
I think I can tough it out. If not then I will just use them for talking whilst in games and mute the game volume like I have to now to use my phone. Either way they will be better then my brothers cheap wireless headphones. And surely should sound better then a TV's built in speakers even driven by the motherboard
 
So an improvement either way :-) thanks for your help. I think I will be ordering the DT770's tomorrow at some point. Probably not the best thing for me as I always buy lower end and work my way up on everything so expect to see me back some time next year lmao.

I will let you all know how I get on with them aswell. My head isn't very large so hopefully they will fit nice. Just need to find some extension cables to buy tomorrow aswell. How many sockets are on the Dt770? For some reason I found images on good with 2 and some with 1. May just be my tiredness. Either way I need atleast 2 extensions.
 
I worked up to the DT 990's, so now I have a pair of Sennheiser PX 100's and a pair of Sony MDR-V6's sitting in the cupboard. I seriously doubt you'll need to upgrade the DT770's any time soon.

I think they are the same as the 990's which have a single coiled lead coming from the left ear phone. I have mine hooked up to a 3m extension I bought in Asda so I can sit on the couch.
 
With the cable being 3m already I think I will get a 2m extension just to make sure I dont cut it short and restrict myself. Hopefully I will have the entire lot saturday or next week (early I hope)
 
it's a coiled 3m lead so unless you pull it tight (bad idea) it's going to have a somewhat shorter working length.
 
They do. The 250Ohm have a coiled cable and the 80Ohm are straight. The 80Ohm were more designed for portable use, hence the shorter straight cable; although why someone would want to use such large headphones while out and about, is beyond me. Coil cabled headphones are used in studios. They allow the user to move about without yanking a shorter straight cable, but being coiled, that means there is not a lot of cable bundled up on the floor, like a long straight cable would be. Such a cable would get caught up.
 
I know the 32 ohm has a short (1.6m) straight cable but thought the 80 ohm was the same as the 250 ohm. The 32 ohm has it's own write up on the Beyer site while the 80 & 250 share a common one. Probably the most damning thing I've seen about the 770's is a photo of Justin Bieber wearing a pair. :D
 
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