Spec me a Headset (Gaming/music)

J1993 · 1 Oct 2009 at 07:36

Ok, as the title says, not a solid budget yet, but nothing over £80 shall we say.

Also good to post your views on 2.1/5.1/7.1 as people say you can notice the positions with stereo, but some say 5.1 are gimmicks, just your views please.

Oh, and i like bass, but adjustable because music bass (Y), Gaming bass (N)

BeeP · 1 Oct 2009 at 09:56

Coming from medusa 5.1 (the old ones) to Goldring DR50's I have to say that I do get a better sound from these than I ever did from my Medusas, I have to add that when I tried them in CS:S last night I thought they gave better positioning than my 5.1 headset.

These only cost a tenner & no doubt can be outperformed by the ones higher in the range (Uriel says the DR150's are great). Most on here will say that 5.1/7.1 in headphones is a gimmick, having just joined the normal headphone brigade again I would tent to agree.

Senn & goldring come up in these threads a lot, some say you should get a headphone amp too......thats my next purchase now.

markop2003 · 1 Oct 2009 at 11:32

Goldring DR150s or DR50s (apparently the 100s ain't worth it). Those Superlux HD681s look nice too but i don't think positional is their stength. For the best positional Audio Technica is the way to go though they do have weak bass, though the bass that is there is good.

Uriel · 1 Oct 2009 at 12:55

CSS is one of the few games with a decent headphone mode. For most games (without dedicated headphone mode) do better with the combination of a Xonar or X-Fi soundcard (which both give a surround effect over stereo headphones). Preferably then get stereo headphones with good synergy with the soundcard.

My current recommendations are Xonar (not DS) with Goldring DR50, DR150 or NS1000 headphones (depeinding on what you can afford) or X-Fi (not Xtreme Audio or USB) with Sennheiser HD555s.

Hamoodii · 1 Oct 2009 at 12:58

Uriel said:
CSS is one of the few games with a decent headphone mode. For most games (without dedicated headphone mode) do better with the combination of a Xonar or X-Fi soundcard (which both give a surround effect over stereo headphones). Preferably then get stereo headphones with good synergy with the soundcard.

My current recommendations are Xonar (not DS) with Goldring DR50, DR150 or NS1000 headphones (depeinding on what you can afford) or X-Fi (not Xtreme Audio or USB) with Sennheiser HD555s.

I use the latter of what you've recommended and I am very pleased, the HD555s are a cracking set of headphones and it was a nice upgrade from my fatal1ty

Stormar · 1 Oct 2009 at 13:11

yer as above post has said go with them,i had the fatal1ty headset as well,they was oki but become uncomfortable for long use..

J1993 · 1 Oct 2009 at 17:30

ok, so i see there are loads of fatal1ty soundcards, which one do i get, i cant afford an expensive one, and im not an audiophile, so for what i want, will the cheapest one be ok?

J1993 · 1 Oct 2009 at 17:39

ideally i would like it all to be below £80 with headset and soundcard

J1993 · 1 Oct 2009 at 17:42

Uriel said:
CSS is one of the few games with a decent headphone mode. For most games (without dedicated headphone mode) do better with the combination of a Xonar or X-Fi soundcard (which both give a surround effect over stereo headphones). Preferably then get stereo headphones with good synergy with the soundcard.

My current recommendations are Xonar (not DS) with Goldring DR50, DR150 or NS1000 headphones (depeinding on what you can afford) or X-Fi (not Xtreme Audio or USB) with Sennheiser HD555s.

here, with your reccomendations, why not fatal1ty with goldrings, do they not work well together or...

Uriel · 1 Oct 2009 at 17:57

J1993 said:
here, with your reccomendations, why not fatal1ty with goldrings, do they not work well together or...

You mean X-Fi with Goldrings? Strangely I am using an X-fi with Goldrings! To my ears CMSS-3D headphone on X-Fi can place sounds convincingly behind you on neutral headstage headphones like the Goldrings. They don't give me an impression of stuff being in front of me though so things sound like they're off to the sides or in my head - not on screen.

Sennheiser HD555 has angled drivers. These are designed to present the sound as being in front of you - hence the CMSS-3D headphone problem is allieviated and stuff in front of you is placed on the screen. I note that CMSS-3D headphone is HRTF based. It's more unique to the indivicual than Dolby Headphone and some people may get a better result with it than me.

Back to my X-Fi with Goldrings (DR150 and NS1000). I'm using optical out to an external Dolby Headphone processor so not using CMSS-3D headphone. The resultant soundstage is just like the Xonar but I get the X-Fi's full EAX, MacroFX and elevation filter support (for the latter 2 need to run Dolby Headphone and the X-Fi in 4 channel mode, not 5.1). A very nice combo but not exactly cheap.

BeeP · 1 Oct 2009 at 18:18

I think most on here would say to avoid the extreme music version of the x-fi, not having one myself I cant say either way.

Uriel · 1 Oct 2009 at 18:48

BeeP said:
I think most on here would say to avoid the extreme music version of the x-fi, not having one myself I cant say either way.

Nope. Xtreme Music is fine. It's the Xtreme Audio that's the wrong-un.

J1993 · 1 Oct 2009 at 18:52

ok, so, lets say i dont have to buy off this site, because things here are a little bit more xpensive than other places, what should i get

BTW i have Gigabyte UD3R and Realtek HD audio onboard, just to let you know

lets say £80 max, whats my options

J1993 · 2 Oct 2009 at 07:14

BeeP · 2 Oct 2009 at 12:34

Buy a set of Goldring DR150's for £42.50 (google it) & fleabay for a soundcard, something like xtreme music (sorry about wrong one earlier) or extreme gamer, these go for about £30 there.

I hope I'm not out of line posting this.....Mods remove if inapt.

J1993 · 2 Oct 2009 at 15:27

ok, i have built my own pc yes, but apart from what i own, im not very with the market as far as sound.

Ok, so goldring dr150's. and the soundcard, with these do i want xonar or xi-fi

Stormar · 2 Oct 2009 at 16:15

for headset use.you will want this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-001-AS&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=

Uriel · 2 Oct 2009 at 16:17

J1993 said:
Ok, so goldring dr150's. and the soundcard, with these do i want xonar or xi-fi

Xonar. Cheapest one that's not a DS.

J1993 · 2 Oct 2009 at 18:33

xonar D1 is guess?

It includes dolby headphone, i guess thats what i want

Also, why do you not suggest x-fi here, you did before but not now, how about the Xtreme Gamer version, i might not get goldrings, as it ischristmax i might get Steelseries Siberea V2, released in november, if they are any good.

Basically, cos im a sound noob, does it matter what combination of soundcard and headset i use, as long as i have xonar or x-fi, and if it does, what are the differences

Uriel · 2 Oct 2009 at 22:39

Sorry - you gave the impression you'd decided on the soundcard. I'm a big believer in matching X-Fis or Xonars with particular headphones that suit them - as stated in other thread. I usually make recommendations based on what people already have or have decided to buy.

Don't know much about the Steelseries Siberia V2.

The Xtreme Gamer is OK. It's a full spec X-Fi but a low end one. As usual with X-Fis I'd ether recommend something with angled drivers (like HD555 HD595, ATH AD700 etc) or optical out to a Dolby Headphone processor to headphones with straight drivers (like Goldring DR series). The Xtreme Gamer does do Optical out but you have to pay an extra US$5 to creative so that it will do 5.1 over optical rather than stereo. The X-Fi Titanium isn't much more expensive and has 5.1 over optical included in the price (it's a licensing issue).

The Xonar D1 or DX are a cheaper route to Dolby Headphone but you miss out on some effects that are X-Fi only in some games.