New Headphones for PC gaming

wildest_jjk · 9 May 2014 at 14:52

Hi guys,

I am looking for a new pair of headphones as I have started PC gaming again.

My old headphones were the Astro A40's which I used on my Xbox. However I had to sell these due to financial issues.

Would you guys be able to suggest a new set for around £100?

Thanks!

wildest_jjk · 9 May 2014 at 15:09

Thanks for the responses guys.

I'm going to sound stupid but do I need an amp at all? Would I buy a seperate microphone? Also do they have any form of surround sound or would I need an amp that provides that?

I don't mean to be ignorant! Thanks

wildest_jjk · 9 May 2014 at 15:26

Brilliant thanks again

Well this is a lot of headphone suggestions but thats good. So what would be the main contenders in terms of gaming alone? Providing I have a sound card for surround and microphone.

wildest_jjk · 12 May 2014 at 14:16

Thanks everyone for all of the responses.

I still haven't made a final decision as there seems to be a few suggestions. It is also taking quite a while to decide between. As well as this I'm a bit concerned about the cost as I didn't really consider the extras, such as microphone and sound card. With my old A40's they came with everything needed to provide surround sound and chat.

But as I need all of the above I am trying to make a decision!

Thanks again guys

wildest_jjk · 12 May 2014 at 14:55

Thanks guys.

Psycho Sonny said:
sound cards can be re-used in new machines, sold on, bought second hand, etc, etc, also the Asus DG is hardly expensive at £20.

Microphones again are hardly expensive and again can be re-used with new headphones, sold on and the DX Clip on mic costs £1,56 delivered to your door. I don't think that is worth thinking about bh.

It only gets expensive if you buy a very hard to drive pair of headphones which then require a powerful AMP and then you will want a decent DAC to pair with them, etc.

Best to stick to easy to drive headphones.

I definitely agree with regards to the sound card. How do people go about connecting things like portable in-ear headphones to them if they are in the back of a PC? Or am I missing something? Also would 7.1 sound cards be worth it compared to 5.1 for gaming?

The clip on microphone I just don't like the look of, meaning I would need something like the antlion £40 version. This is obviously quite a steep price which adds to the overall cost.

Stuen4y said:
From all I have read the best sounding gaming headset up to £100 is Qpad QH-90. They should be a bit harder to drive at 60 ohms but on my opinion offer the best ratio sound quality/gaming options in this price range.
P.S. For less money it is worth to go the route clip mic + good audio headphones and I am currently running a setup like this. Cable management gets tedious though and if the QH-90 is in the budget I would choose it without hesitation.

Thanks for the suggestion I will also look into that

Cheers guys!

wildest_jjk · 12 May 2014 at 19:07

Ok so after reading through all of the posts again I think in terms of comparable price, the choices are:

AkG K550
DT770
DT990 Pro

So combined with some sort of mic and an Asus sound card for virtual surround sound. Which would people suggest out of this list?

Also just to make sure, no one has mentioned Turtlebeaches, which I might get laughed at for saying. Are these even close to the above headphones?

Thanks everyone

wildest_jjk · 13 May 2014 at 19:56

Right guys I'm going to start off with ordering a sound card I think. Still cannot make a decision on headphones.

As mentioned I already have Sennheiser CX300 In-Ears which I do use at the PC sometimes for ease. As well as this I have Edifier R1600T's. Finally I will be getting headphones when I have decided. With all this in mind what is the best choice of sound card to get?

Thanks for all of the help everyone

wildest_jjk · 13 May 2014 at 23:03

Anyone?

Thanks guys!

wildest_jjk · 14 May 2014 at 13:03

Cookeh said:
DG/X for £20/£25. Best budget option, capable of powering mid-fi easily enough. You can always upgrade to a good dac/amp combo later on.

Awesome, thanks for the help!

I will most likely go with your choice then. With regards to amps for PC's I have always wanted to be able to control the sound and inputs etc via a physical device. Is an amp what I would need? Are there any examples?

Thanks

wildest_jjk · 1 Jun 2014 at 14:04

Just an update guys. I've just purchased the Creative Aurvana Live headphones with the Zalman Mic.

Figured it would be worth giving these a try considering they are my first pair of headphones. Would these benefit from a sound card? I will be using for gaming and I have been used to Astro A40's with virtual surround etc.

Thanks

wildest_jjk · 1 Jun 2014 at 14:45

Cookeh said:
Everything benefits from a souncard. Will it be necessary? Not strictly.

Thanks again for the response. For virtual surround on these is it necessary/possible?

Cheers

wildest_jjk · 2 Jun 2014 at 12:00

Thanks again

Are there any better alternatives to the Xonar DG that are worth it for a small increase in price?

Also what would I need to get the CAL!'s connected to my Xbox? A mixamp or something?

Cheers