What is your favorite wireless gaming headset?

What is your favorite wireless gaming headset? I'm still trying to find the ideal headset and giving the Logitech G930 a very hard consideration but it doesn't look durable enough to be portable.

 

I have a G930

It sits in my file cabinet and never gets used, I dont like the drivers, sound quality, nor feel/function of the unit.

The microphone is atrocious, I have no idea how they came up with the idea to produce a headset, and expensive one at that with a microphone so poor since half the function of the unit is to receive sound not just play it.

My $5.00 clip on mic sounds 6x better.

I don't think we will have any worthy wireless headsets until they start to use SKAA and give the microphone proper bandwidth.

http://www.elevenengineering.com/products/SKAA/cecille.php

 

Any reasons to why you need a wireless headset compared to a wired one?
Personally i dont trust wireless headsets and if i would get one then my solution would be a wired headset + a MixAmp setup.

 

None so far?

 

I like the convenience of putting away the headset when I'm done without dealing with wires. My last headset that I really liked got chewed up by my wife's dog because I left it sitting out. It was my bad, but I *loathe* needing to wrap up cords all the time, so here I am

 

If you live near a Best Buy, you could go buy the G930 and try it out yourself. Everyone is going to have different experiences with it. The guy above didn't like his but I've read many good reviews on it. If you don't like it, you could just return it. Personally, I would try to find a wired headset. All things being equal, wired will always sound better than wireless. It will also be cheaper.

 

Unfortunately I stopped by Best Buy last night and they didn't have the G930. I can't notice a huge difference in sound quality in headsets on account I work on a flightline and my hearing is pretty shoddy to begin. I'm mostly looking for something that is comfortable and durable.

 

If you care about comfort and durability, forget about wireless headsets. They are actually going to be LESS comfortable, because of the added bulk / weight of the batteries and wireless circuitry inside of the headset. They are going to be LESS durable, because all of the added components inside the headset means more opportunity for things to break.

P.S. I also noticed that you asked about people's favorite wireless gaming headsets... and everyone unanimously told you to buy wired headphones / headset instead.




If you specifically want comfort, I would suggest you look at full-sized circumaural (sits against your skull and completely surrounds the ears) headphones.

* Sony MDR-XB500 ($80, Best Buy)
These are headphones specifically have an "unbalanced" sound profile, with intentionally heavy high-end frequencies and low-end bass. Headphones with that kind of sound signature are generally looked down upon by audiophile snobs, who seek "neutral" and "balanced" sound.

But that kind of intentionally "unbalanced" sound profile has its benefits... such as certain styles of music (hip-hop, dance, electronic, etc), and *ESPECIALLY* with gaming.

The big benefit here is the relatively low price, and the fact that you can walk into a Best Buy to test them yourself.




*Audio Technica ATH-Ax00 series (ATH-A700 for $125, or ATH-A900 for $200)

These headphones are incredibly comfortable due to the large ear pads and the "wings" on top that hold the headphones against your skull. They tend to have neutral, balanced sound profiles that slightly emphasize the mid-to-high frequencies and sound detail.

They are going to be better-liked by the audiophile snobs because of their "balanced" and "neutral" sound signature. But if you're looking for headphones for gaming, you will want to look elsewhere. You intentionally do not want "balanced" and "neutral" when gaming... you want "fun" sound.

The big benefit of these headphones is comfort. They are going to be some of the most comfortable headphones you will ever find, especially to wear several hours on end.




*Corsair Vengeance 1500 USB gaming headset($90)

This gaming headset uses large ear pads made of memory foam. It tends to have a sound signature that is bass-heavy. But the ear pads make this headset comfortable to wear for several hours on end. Be aware that it is a USB headset, so you will only ever be able to use it on a computer (no MP3 player or smartphone use).

The big benefit of this headset is the virtualized surround sound support for gaming. The other products I mentioned are 2.0 stereo headphones, which will require an external sound card in order to achieve virtualized surround sound. This Corsair Vengeance 1500 headset is also a pair of 2.0 stereo headphones, but comes with the virtualized surround sound hardware built in to them.

 

I actually didn't find the vengeance 1500 to be all that bassy compared to other gaming headsets. The reviews i've read put the sound quality as average and i'd agree with them, but it is one of the most comfortable headsets i've gotten. It breathes, you can literally use it for hours and it won't get annoyingly warm or put a lot of pressure on your head.

 

I guess I should have specified I want a gaming headset *with mic*, otherwise those other ones you listed do look pretty amazing, kent. I'd kill to see some wireless form of SteelSeries 7H ( SteelSeries North America - SteelSeries 7H Fnatic Edition)

However if I do decide to go wired headset, I'll probably go with these because they look very nice and comfortable while still being discrete (I can use them to listen while gaming without looking like a *complete* nerd ).

 

LOL. I read "wireless", "gaming", and "headset" all in one sentence and had a good chuckle.

While wireless mice have somewhat improved over the years where gaming is concerned, anything involving headphones whether gaming or audio listening have not.

 

Yes however I'm at an advantage since I'm pretty much half-deaf from spending the better part of the last decade working around jet engines, so I'm not looking for the huge cutting edge in gaming accessories. I'm a pretty casual gamer and prefer convenience and comfort over performance (where it can be afforded to sacrifice those, I draw the line at bluetooth for gaming, just not gonna do it again).

I could very much get along with a wired headset where you can unplug the wire (like in the SteelSeries 7H Fnatic - which is sadly sold out and being grossly inflated on eBay :-/ ).

 

That corsair looks pretty sharp, I like the industrial looking design and while it makes a statement its not overly flashy.

Hows the mic on it?

As for headsets I have already decided if I get another the next one for me is the Beyerdynamic MMX300

 

I have the vengeance 1500.. Very comfortable
As far as the sound goes, its not bassy at all.. Infact I feel there's a mild lack of bass. Its fine for me cause i really dont like bass-heavy sound to begin with
The highs were too sharp for me to begin with, needed to tweak with the equalizer to get it to sound a bit more neutral.

As far a sourround sound performance goes, its damn good. In the 5.1+dolby prollogic IIx mode, the games really come to life. Mostly playing skyrim nowadays and the positionality of the sound is amazing.

I havent really used "surround headsets" before because i thought they were a gimmick, but this makes me believe otherwise. I have used surround emulation techniques like cmss3d,etc but those were never very convincing primarily because I believe windows and games recognizes the headphones as a stereo device and the sound is upscaled from 2.1 to emulate 5.1. With these corsairs the device is recognized as a native 5.1/7.1 device and the results are much better.

as far as mic quality goes. I havent really tested it thoroughly but everyone i've talked to using these say my voice comes through absolutely clear and distortion free. I was trying to check the ANC once and according to my friend on the other side, it really didnt cancel stuff like water running in the background but did cancel noises like me tapping on the laptop's palmrest.

All that said, here are some issues i have with it.
1. the cord distance from the control unit to headset is very short and it tends to dangle in the air many time, tugging at your headset
2. the control unit tends to heat up with prolonged use (not too much). Its never affected the sound but just thought i'd mention
3. there are some driver issues like not being able to choose speaker setup from the headset's application(have to go through windows speaker config). The prologicIIX only works in 5.1 and 2.1 setup and this sounds the best but you have to be careful as each time you plug in the headset it reverts to 7.1
4. Lastly and this is the bug one. A couple of weeks into using this headset I started noticing a mild crackle in the left earcup whenever there was a deep rumbling bass. It's pretty mild and transient and lowering the low freq sliders helped a bit.
I thought about RMAing it but the one way shipping was turning out to be almost half the sale price i paid for it. So i decided to live with it, the crackle doesnt show up for hours sometimes but when it does even for a few seconds, it can be annoying.

Anyway, it seems i've gotten a bit off topic.
@OP, i agree with everyone else and avoid wireless as far as possible. That said if you must go wireless, have you considered something more compact and strictly not gaming headphones such as the Arctic sound P311 bluetooth headset. I had gotten my dad one of these to use with his tablet and I was surprised by how good they sounded especially considering the pricepoint. The bass response was very nice and tight. The mic sounded clear in calls. It comes with a very good quality carrying case. You can use em with your phone/tab too.

link - Amazon.com: ARCTIC Sound ORACO-ERM28-GBA01 Headphones P311 (Black): Electronics

Try considering getting these when on the move and dedicated decent quality wired speakers/headphones for home.

 

I think I'll get myself a Corsair as well and complete the set (have the new keybs & mouse) - had the G35's for pretty much 3 years now so up for a change. Let's hope they're better, or at least as good.

Or since you have the podcast amateur setup, you could move it up to pro - this is one of my current main 'headsets'.

 

Dsottum-

I wouldn't worry about the mic too much. Many people will convert a pair of high-end headphones into a gaming headset with an $8 clip-on Zalman ZM-1 mic.

Remember, if you're dealing with in-game VoIP, you only need a mic that is "good enough." You're not dealing with super high-end studio quality audio recording here. So even a cheap little $5 mic is "good enough" for the other person to clearly hear you using in-game VoIP.

 

I have to disagree with that.

When I hear
" Hey I *scrunch* thought you might *bump scrunch bump* be over there *shhh zrrrp*"
You can bet your [redacted] I'll say "Are you using a [redacted] Zalman?"

 

I'd say that is a problem with user error, and not the sound hardware itself.

A "hanging" mic like the Zalman ZM-1 (or even a cellphone headset mic) should be positioned to hang freely in the air, between the bottom of your chin and the top of your chest. When you turn your head, the mic itself should not rub against your shirt.

My recommendation for clip-on and add-on mics was in response to dsottum's comment about specifially wanting headsets w/microphones. My point was to avoid disregarding a pair of great headphones, simply because it doesn't have a mic. The "no mic" problem is easily solved.

 

I dunno I would personally call a Blue Yeti + Ultrasone Hfi 2400 something other than amateur.

If I was to go any higher than that I would need better ears and a better recording environment, the yeti is already more than capable of picking up imperfections in ambiance.

I use my mic on a normal boom mic stand, the retracting arms would get in my way of viewing my quad monitor setup which of the late I tend to use 3 of them at the same time quite often when I live stream.

I do have the MMX300 on the way though to compare, if it works well enough for my taste then on some occasions it will benefit me like when I need to use my camcorder and dont want my recording mic in the way of footage or when I am on the road and have to use my laptop.

 

Im loving my MMX 300.
The price is steep but totally worth it.

 

I like the convenience and simplicity of a headset with a built-in mic (as I am a huge fan of reducing the amount of wires I have to manage every time I pull out my laptop for gaming).

 

I suppose I'm one of the few people who actually like my Logitech G930...For me, the number 1 important thing was wireless so you really are limited in what's out there.

I work downstairs in my house and use it all the time to listen to news/podcasts for a couple hours even though my computer is upstairs. I haven't tested the mic in multi-player gaming, but wireless has been great for me since I move around in my work and used to yank my computer off it's pegs from the headphone jack...

I'm no audiophile though so I probably couldn't tell...Paid 75 bucks or so (50% off coupon).

 

At $75, no doubt it was a great buy. I don't think anyone's saying it's terrible, just that if you do care about sound in more than a casual way then wireless is a compromise. And purely for me perhaps, as I've said before it's just another device to not be charged when I really want to use it.

 

Where'd you get your G930s for <$100 (or rather where'd you get that coupon)? I'd buy them in a heartbeat for that price!

 

Logitech was mailing out coupons last year to people on their mailing list who sign up for special offers, register their products, etc...

Picked this up (G930) as well as a wireless keyboard as a spare. Even better for things like the steering wheel or large purchase.