Analog headset vs. USB headset

Is there a big difference between the two? which is better overall? for gaming.

 

Analog headsets use the motherboards sound card while the USB headset has its own built in sound card device.

For gaming, I'd rather focus on comfort though.


I use a Microsoft Lifechat LX-3000 cause it is USB powered, I like having the option of having my headset only for Ventrilo and games while everything else(including Ventrilo pages, music, etc.) come from my speakers.

 

For headsets, I prefer USB. Analog microphones always tend to screw up for me after a while. And yeah, it's nice to only have to plug one thing in, and still be able to use your external speakers.

 

I'm thinking of getting the Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset, what do you think?

 

I have the HS-900 Headset. I like it a lot. Even more so with my new sound card.

 

I wouldn't get it. Everything with the Fatal1ty name attached to it tends to be crap.

Razer makes some good headsets, as does Plantronics. How much money are you looking to spend?

 

dunno, but paying $100 for a headset just sounds stupid to me.
Fatal1ty is pretty cheap, like less than 40

 

It's also less than $40 quality. You don't have to pay over a hundred for good sound. Look at the Plantronics GameCom 377.

 

I got the Razer Carcharias, to replace my Plantronics, snapped cable by accident, and I love them

 

Every USB headset I've gotten has broken, and every headset under or at $40 I've gotten has broken, so I got a Razer headset and it's lasted me a while.

 

I have had both,

First of all understand the core differences. Analog is powered by your computer and the SQ (sound quality) will be directly dependent on your sound card.

While USB is powering itself from the 5v the usb cable has fed to it and has its own internal sound card.

So if you have like a $200 nice sound card like a Xfi card, it would be a big waist to use a USB based headset, vice versa if you have really cheap crud like onboard sound cards, the usb maybe is better for SQ.

I find that any modern onboard sound is good (last 2 years or so) but the older stuff was pretty lacking.



USB advantages - Already listed is the main one I would point out, since it uses its own sound card internally you can actually setup your computer to use the headset for one thing only while still using your computer speakers for something else. My personal example is when I used to play WoW, we had big 40man raids and used teamspeak or ventrillo to communicate and when I used to share the speakers on the computer I could never hear what people said as it would mix in with the game sounds, my only solution was to turn the game sound way down and that just was no fun.

Later when I got a pair of Plantronics DSP 500's that are usb based I noticed I could set my sound out to the headset only in Vent or Teamspeak, so that is what I did. I would have only the voice communication in the headset and then have the game music/sounds on my computer speakers. This made it much more clear and easy to understand.


The primary downside of a USB based headset is that you are limited to using it on a computer only and often times its proper function/operation is going to be based around drivers. My DSP 500 that I loved so much do not work properly in Vista as the dirvers/software do not install on Vista. Also there is no way to plug them in and use them on other audio devices like your cd player or phone.


Analog benefits - Higher compatibility with no worry about drivers since its just a standard plug & use affair. Generally the sound card in a USB solution is very basic (thing about how sound cards cost $100+ for good ones, so how can you expect a $60 USB headset to have both a good sound card and good speakers/mic??) so if your worried about quality chances are you can find higher quality with an analog based headset.

For voice USB is fine, but if your in it for music and stuff I would be looking at analog probably, actully I would be looking at some good headphones and just get a clip on microphone and skip the headset thing totally.

One extra free usb port when using analog.

Analog downfalls - No separate use of headset from your normal PC speakers, at the mercy of your sound card and its options.

 

My laptop only has 2 usb ports so I'd rather go for analog.

Make sure you won't need any extra ports if you want to go USB.

 

I figured usb headset's were kinda pointless with newer computers these days. Onboard audio is very good.

 

Even if it's not an issue of sound quality, it's still nice to have just one cable to plug in, and not have to worry about poor grounding causing microphone static, etc. And the ability to independently control the USB sound device is neat, as Vicious pointed out.

 

O yeah! Good point Mr.Shroomie.

 

I use the Logitech ClearChat (Analog) headset and despite its negative reviews on amazon; so far it's been working great for me as a webcam mic and Voip mic for games.

For my XPS M1530 I'd rather not use a USB since I've only got 3 ports and 1 to spare while gaming (for mouse and the USB mic if I wanted to use one).

Besides, I can still output speakers since the XPS has two headphone outputs.

I guess a factor in your decision would be the number of USB ports available on your notebook you are willing to sacrifice for the addition of a headset.

 

I wouldn't touch a USB headset with a 10 foot pole. Of course that being said thats because they have thier own DAC(sound card), or even use the DAC of your motherboard but just route the signal through the USB. Either of these cases don't meet my standards, I'd much rather use my own external DAC. Then you have the issue of only being able to hook them up to a PC, you can't plug it into any DAP, CD player, or well... anything other than a PC and maybe an Xbox/PS3. Now I'll move onto the sound quality issues, of course you'll be using them for gaming mostly and probably not alot of heavy music listening, but I don't game and just listen to music. So that means something that sounds as lame as one of these gaming headsets simply would not do for me.

 

In most PC's the soundcard is very subpar, and fzzts, pops and squeaks are not uncommon. USB headsets actually show how even the really cheapo USB audio stages actually manage to do away with that. It's convenient too. A lot of nerdophiles have no experience of even a half-decent headset while turning their noses up at them. Fact is, for most people's general-purpose needs - Skype/VoIP, the occasional bit of music, gaming, etc - USB headsets work really well, especially the decent ones in the $50-$100 bracket.