How 'bout them headsets folks?

I think I already asked about gaming headsets once, but I don't remember lol xD I'm not looking for the best, I'm searching for one that is less than $150 and produces nice audio for gaming, music, and movies. I looked at wireless gaming headsets with equalizer settings (I prefer wireless), but at the same time, I might try to buy a creative soundblaster recon 3d soundcard (for the sager 9150). That will require me to use wireless, but also allow me to buy an affordable stereo headset. I sincerely ask for your assistance folks!

 

I would recommend the Corsair Vengeance 2000: wireless, long battery life (~10h), comfortable (more than the Logitech 930 imho).

Here, found them on sale on newegg:
Newegg.com - Corsair Vengeance 2000 Wireless 7.1 Gaming headset

 

If you want a wireless gaming headset, for ~150$, there is the logitech G930 and Corsaid Vengeance 2000. If you want to go wired, you have more options, if you can find a deal on it, the SteelSeries Syberia v2 is a very good choice, the Corsair Vengeance 1300 is also not a bad choice.

I prefer using a good pair of cans with a separate mic when possible though. Something like a pair of ATH-AD700 (not for bassheads though) and a clip on mic will give you much better sound outside of gaming than a headset could.

EDIT: Katalin beat me to the Vengeance 2000, i have one and i can vouch for it being comfortable (velour pads ) and it does last 10 hours on a single charge too from experience. Range will vary depending on the amount of wireless interference. I get some white noise with mine when there is no sound playing and a program that has audio is opened, that is likely due to the amount of wireless networks in range of where i am (the 2.4GHz band is super crowded where i am).

 

Thanks guys! I watched a couple videos on your suggestions.

@katalin_2003 Do you own a pair of these? I'm asking because I would like to ask you if these produce good bass quality when listening to music and movies? They sound like an amazing gaming headset, but for the times where I'm doing other stuff I'm just making sure it covers those avenues

@tijo Kind of the same question for you to, tijo and do you suggest any sound cards with this?

Thanks again guys! All this help contributes to the greater good

 

I own both a corsair vengeance 1500 and a corsair vengeance 2000. Both are USB headsets meaning that they have integrated DACs so a soundcard would be useless with those (or any USB headset). The 1500 is definitely mid forward, the 2000 has much better bass. Virtual 7.1 is better on the 1500 though. The 1300 could be used with a DAC since it's analog, but i don't know how much of a difference a good DAC/Amp combo would do.

In comparison, i use a FiiO E7 with either my ATH-M50 or Sennheiser HD25-1II (whichever is closer or whichever i feel like listening to) and in terms of sound quality they completely destroy both headsets.

Astro has a headset with a mixamp, but it's out of your price range and the Sennheiser PC-360 is also outside of your budget.

If you want to go for as much sound quality as you can get, going for an entry audiophile pair of cans with a stand alone mic is the way to go.

If you are looking for a soundcard because the onboard in your laptop is terrible, then a 25$ USB turtlebeach sound card will do the trick. If you're looking at a soundcard because you want better sound over an already decent onboard, then you're better off looking at a DAC like the FiiOs or above, but those aren't exactly cheap either. I haven't found a portable DAC/amp that had the same bang for the buck as the FiiO E10 and E7 in the ~50-70$ price range, there are better DACs, but they are more expensive.

 

Ok so maybe wireless won't be my best bet for now? Using a dac/amp isn't required, I was just asking in case if be better off with a wired set. If there is a wireless set that allows me to have better sound that what is offered onboard, that's fantastic! Btw, are there any good suggestions besides the ath-ad700? I've got my smallish female head and those ear cups look massive! I'm taking your advice tijo and searching for a nice stereo headphone, although I do like headsets for rotating ear cups and attached microphones thanks for bearing with me I've never had a nice pair of headphones/headsets, only my in ear Beats xD

 

I'm personally using a plantronics gamecom 777 (wired). Can't really comment much as it's my only headset that I ever bought (Recently). Pretty happy with the sound. Build quality is not the best and the it clam on your head too hard. I had to stretch it for a few days before I am comfortable using it.

That being said, I was deciding between this and the siberia v2. I went with the gamecom 777 in the end because it's said to be "best bang for the buck" headphone for its price range.

Do check it out, hope I helped

 

Yes you did help, thank you ! I will take a look at some reviews and stuff on that headset as well! Still open for suggestions as I have no money to buy a headset yet xD

 

ATH-M50 using it and im loving it.

 

I use modded HD 555's, though I will be testing out some HD 650's and HE-400's when I get to the states. As far as recommendations go, tijo seems to have it covered. Though I need to add that the unidirectional clip on/desktop mics can be quite sensitive to pretty much all noise (especially if you have a mechanical keyboard).

If you want a decent closed set of headphones, may I suggest looking at the Shure SRH 840's (much more natural sounding imo compared to the M50's). The BRAINWAVZ HM5 are also getting some decent interest though I can't really vouch for them myself.

 

The SRH840 are a decent buy, avoid the 440s like the plague, it has to be the worse pair of headphones comfort wise i have ever tried. Whether you prefer the 840 or the M50 is a rather subjective thing.

 

Yeah the 440's weren't that great. I tried my friends pair and it didn't feel to flash. I think you can put the 840 pads on them but I don't know how much of an improvement that gives.

 

Hmmmm... Between studying for exams and picking out laptops/headphones, this is a struggle! I'm still trying to figure out a good stereo set, but I heavily like the wireless idea. BUT, it seems that the better cans are wired, so I might stick to wired + soundcard? I looked at the astro mixamp, but they're out their minds for me to pay that price! What do you guys thing about the steelseries 7h (fnatic edition)? And I'm still looking at the shure headphones and audio technicas. Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming please

 

Personally I think that all 'gaming' oriented/branded headphones usually punch well below their price point. I used to have a G35 headset which I got years ago, and at the time I thought they were the best headphones ever. A year later while a friend and I were editing poorly made videos of us doing stupid/potentially dangerous stuff I had a chance to listen to his headphones (Creative Aurvana Live). Boom, miles better than my own, and everything sounded so much clearer. They were also pretty much the same price as I later found out. Moral of the story, for the money you can get much better headphones than ones made by 'gaming' companies. It doesn't take an audiophile to get into nice sounding audio (nor does it take a massive budget).

Also I should add that the Creative Sounblaster Recon3D comes in both wireless and wired versions (the wireless unit is usually bundled with the Omega Wireless headset). You can find the standard Recon3d for sale on Amazon: Link

EDIT: I should also add that I am in the middle of deciding what laptop to get and also an upgrade over my current headphones. Luckily for me though, exams are over. Forever

 

Well, if you are in no rush and you're near an audio store, for headphones, the best thing you can do is load up your favorite tracks of every genre you listen to and sample them. You can also take a look at the headfi forums. Audio being so subjective, there will be a lot of polarized opinions over there, don't drink the kool-aid, but it's a good place to start looking. There are recommendations for pretty much every price range there.

For the laptop, you can always post in the WNSIB section of the forum if you're unsure what to get. I was in the market for a new laptop not too long ago and posting there turned out suggestions i hadn't thought of. I'd have a m17x or Clevo on order rather than the precision if i hadn't dropped by in WNSIB.

 

headfi is a pretty decent forum but you pretty much hit the nail on the head when you said people are quite polarized. There are some very helpful guides on there though.

As for what laptop I will be getting, I've got my eye on a 680m sli m18x (yeah I know they are probably overkill/very expensive) but I want something that can fully replace my desktop rig which I'm leaving behind. The P370EM just doesn't look that nice and in my case there isn't much point in going for a single 680m/7970m since I will be getting something portable-ish (the U500VZ looks tempting) with a 650m soon enough (the m18x will be a holiday/sale purchase).

A new laptop in addition to a new amp (maybe a schiit), new headphones, and a new cellphone (my current 7 year old flip phone just died); it's looking to be an expensive few months.

Sorry for getting off topic on your thread OP.

EDIT: Woah just checked out that M6700, 17" IPS screen. Nice. 1100USD upgrade, cringe.

 

Woooo NinjaPirate! Sounds like you got some money in bank! :thumbsup: Lol but thanks again guys. I'll keep looking at audio stereo headsets then, and maybe check out that turtle beach soundcard or the recon 3d! In terms the laptop department, I'm thinking on a sager np9130 with the gtx660m for college (until haswell comes out). I will check out the headfi forums as you guys say! Thank you very much and if there are any more suggestions lease keep them coming!

 

Haha, I'll be back on my university diet of noodles, rice, beans, and eggs soon.

 

@SocaJam

Head-Fi has a holiday guide for last year i think, given that the headphone market isn't as ever changing as the computer market, most of it if not all should still valid. There is also a headset guide over there, but i'm not sure there is anything that falls in your price range.

Then you do not want to check out the covet edition, if you configure it to be fully loaded (minus RAM and drives), it will come to something around 5000$. Also, i'll sat 1100$ USD for the IPS?! GASP! It's something like 300$ in Canada.

I don't think i said it, so welcome to NBR NinjaPirate. Too bad AW deosn't offer the same type of LCDs they were offering on the m17x-R2, those were very nice too.

 

That's fine thanks tijo ill check that out! I just realized the 9130 has a 7.1 on board sound (something like that), so would the x-fi go! or some quick USB card work? And thanks again you've been a big help for this and in when I was choosing a laptop

 

A USB soundcard or DAC, bypasses the onboard audio completely, it appears as a separate audio device. Whether you need one really depends on the quality of your onboard audio, something i can't help you with since i don't own the laptop you're planning to buy.

EDIT: There is the guide: http://www.head-fi.org/t/581714/check-out-head-fis-fall-2011-holiday-gift-guide, click on the link at the bottom of the first post for the pdf guide.

EDIT2: Reading the guide right now and given it's age, the ATH-M50 are mentioned, i'd just like to add a caveat, they aren't 175 US$ good, for ~100-125$. they are still a good buy though. If you live in another country (damn you Canada for having higher headphone prices), you'll have to check out the prices in relation to one another.

 

Ok and the ath-m50 looks nice and plain! In terms of on board sound quality, people say the sager 9000 series sound sucks (it's 7.1 capable). I'm sure the m50 can be able to produce good sound when the laptop can't (hopefully!). By the way tijo, what clip-on mic would you suggest? And how do you feel about the sennheiser pc 323d? Are the cool in terms of sound?

 

I don't have any experience with the 323. At first glance, it looks like a decent headset if build quality is there, it won't sound as good as a pair of headphones of the same price though. It's an open design which will give a better soundstage and likely (likely, but not necessarily, as i said i got no experience with it) has some emphasis on the mids (it helps track movement by ear in shooters so it's something appreciated by some, my vengeance 1500 is like that).

As for the mic, i use that clip on Zalman: Amazon.com: Zalman Zm-Mic1 High Sensitivity Headphone Microphone: Electronics. works pretty well with the M50, dual to combo jack adapter and an ipod touch.

 

There is an updated Summer 2012 guide available on head-fi but I would say its less of a guide and more of an advertisement for higher end headphones: Link

@SocaJam: Mad Lust Envy's also got a decent guide for Dolby Headphone Gaming with a decent selection of headphones tested: Link

 

Thanks for the guide! As of now, I'm just looking through the guides you guys gave me trying to find something that fits me best. Thank you all for your help!! :thumbsup:

 

Hey again all! I just want to quickly ask what y'all think about the Sony pulse wireless headset?

 

I roll with the Corsair Vengeance 1500s when I'm playing a game and or on vent with friends. They've got excellent sound and mic quality for the price. However, I usually just stick with my Audio Technica ATHM50s which are excellent for music, movies and games alike. Both headsets get slightly uncomfortable after a few hours of use, could just be me though.

 

Is the comfort issue mainly to do with sweat? If it is then you could possibly look into getting some velour pads. I think Beyerdynamic has pads that will fit the M50's, not sure which ones though and they may require some basic modding to get a good fit. Also for pleather type pads, its always good to wipe off sweat after use as it decreases the rate at which the pleather hardens/cracks.

EDIT: I should also add that changing the pads can cause a quite dramatic change in the audio profile. Just something to be wary of in case you were interested.

 

Actually, that was my biggest issue with the ATH50s. I think I'll give it a shot with some new pads. Worst case scenario I can switch back, but I think the velour would fix the problem and is worth checking out. Thanks!

 

No problem, head on over to the head-fi forums for some more information/first hand experience: Link

 

Thanks for the input mkyeny! Yeah I am getting more and more convinced about the ath m50 (or the cheaper m50s ), but I also like the look and wireless connectivity of the Sony pulse! I think the m50S might be the best bet for now... Would I need a sound card with it if the onboard laptop sound isn't great?