Gaming Headset? or Audiophile AD700's?

Hey NBR

I need somebody's expertise.

I have a Sager 8170 and I need headphones and a mic. I want simulated surround to play First Person Shooters. My onboard sound card is not very good.
I had my eye on either the AD700's with a clip on Zalman mic or a Gaming Headset.
I've been told that 5.1 headsets are a gimmick and that I should stay away from all of them.
I originally wanted to get an Astro Mixamp and connect through my 3.5m Optical Mini Toslink but I don't think my RealTek ALC892 Codec supports Dolby Digital Live.

What is everyone using for surround sound?

 

why dont you combine both? the grad SR80 are great for gaming, and just get that zalman mic and you are golden

I think there is a porta pro designed for gaming with a mic built in

 

Thanks for the reply. I know which headphones and mic i am getting but how do i get the surround sound?? If i plug it directly into my laptop it will be just STEREO. I need some sort of Amp or DAC right?

 

I suggest you get a DAC or DAC/Amp combo to replace the onboard soundcard and then get a nice set of headphones.

For DAC/Amp - Ibasso Zero, Fiio E10 would be perfect.

For Headphones - I would not really recommend the AD700 - I have owned it and found it lacking in bass department and little too airy. Your better off going the AD900 if you want an audio technica - there much better than the AD700.

If you want a closed pair of headphones you could consider Audio Technica A900, Beyerdynamic DT250, Shure SRH440, Shure SRH840

Of course the headphone you go with depends on your budget as they can get quite expensive

Edit: You would have to either use your laptop mic or get an external mic with above options

If your looking for surround sound with the whole package (that has a mic, soundcard and surround sound). You could consider a gaming headset that was designed for that purpose.

For example the Razer Megladon or the upcomming Razer Tiamat 7.1 or 2.2

 

I don't ever listen to music on my laptop so a DAC/AMP combo might not be for me. I was interested in the Astro Mixamp because it has everything all in one package. Surround Sound/DAC/Amp. But I don't think it works on the Sager 8170

 

Even if you don't listen to music you will need a decent DAC to replace the onboard soundcard if you want good sound spectrum (low, mid, high's, soundstage)

If your main purpose is for gaming I would look into getting a Gaming Headset which includes a surround sound/DAC/Amp like the Razer Megladon or upcoming Tiamat or any other company's gaming headset that has similar features.

 

Dedicated 5.1 is a gimmick. Gamer headsets are expensive and generally poorly made in terms of sound fidelity and (above all) durability. I went through 3 of them in as many years.

So this time I went with a cheap USB Creative Sound Blaster Pro, plus Sony MDR-V6 headphones (ie the legendary "don't make em like they used to" ones). And BC2 sounds better than my last "gaming" headset. But headphones are a matter of individual taste (we all have different perception of sound). Have a look around head-fi.org and you'll get some great advice there.

 

I got the Corsair HS1 usb headset two months ago and it has worked like a charm so far. It uses software downmixing to emulate surround sound, which is better than using separate, underpowered drivers, imo. It's pretty sturdy and VERY comfortable. A good option if your have a slightly lower budget, but using a DAC and a good set of regular cans is probably your best bet.

 

I like these. I chose the open ear version because I need to be alert to help people in the house when they call out, but they also have closed ear version. There also is a USB version sold

Amazon.com: Sennheiser PC 161 PC Gaming Headset: Electronics

 

What is a DAC?

 

It's a "Digital-to-analog" converter. For example, the sound card in your computer is a DAC because it converts digital sound files to analog output like your headphones.

Digital-to-analog converter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Handsomerob, what did you end up with? My system ships tomorrow and I'm facing the same dilemma. Based on the research I've done today, this seems to be the best thread:
The NEW Gaming Headset/Headphone Topic! (REQUEST STICKY PLZ) - AVS Forum

Looks like you were on the right track with the Astro Mixamp to synthesize surround sound and then plugging in any set of headphones, but will this work for us over the optical S/PDIF? I can't see why not...

BTW, I posted this today in the accessories sub-forum before I found the avsforum thread, but have not received any replies yet.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/acc...cent-audio-over-headphones-my-new-laptop.html

 

I was in the same boat as you guys and ended up getting the Corsair HS1-usb version. I settled on it mainly for the price and comfort, as well as good reviews on the sound of these cans. As a usb solution, it doesn't really rely on your sound card to produce quality, and has all the bells and whistles you could want. I've tried the simulated 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound in FPS games and it works pretty well. I can generally figure out almost exactly what direction sounds are coming from.

 

I would recommend some Sennheiser Headphones with an external mic. Would be cheaper & has a better quality. A 10€ speedlink table microphone (which I have) will be enough for all the talking on skype/mumble/vent/teamspeak and has the same soundquality as every gaming headset I tried so far. And then you have plenty of money left to invest it into some good headphones (I bought the Sennheiser HD 555 around 2 years ago). Or maybe try Shure.

 

Once you hear a set of high end headphones with an external DAC/amp, it's very hard to go back to using onboard sound and a gaming headset. The quality difference is VERY substantial.

Maybe head over to Head-Fi.org - Headphone forums and reviews for audiophiles to browse some forums and product reviews.

 

so true :S

 

My personal favorites are the audio-technica ATH-50S, they can be had in the $150 range. The onboard sound cannot drive these headphones well, you need an outboard amp to get them to really sound good.

Be careful of dealers selling them cheaper, because there are many fakes out there.

 

What are you main priorities for the headset/headphone?
Do you want complete immersion or do you want accuracy and good positioning?
Also, how much are you willing to spend?

The Corsairs, although i thought they sounded flat in anything else but games have dolby headphone. That will give you great positional playback. If you want them for music or movies, you would need to EQ them for best sound.

The other option would be an external sound card that has dolby or similar capability. The astro mixamp is pretty versatile, it would do well with the AD700 and a zalman clip mic.

I actually had the AT-A900, it is bass light with decent mids and faint highs. If your a competitive gamer either one would be fine.

 

I'm not sure that immersion and accurate positioning are mutually exclusive. I am not a competitive gamer, but I want to really appreciate distinct surround which is hard enough to virtualize with headphones. I'll probable get something like the Senn 598s. I should have good surround effects and great 2 channel over the S/PDIF that way. Combining this with the Asus Xonar U3, sounds like a better quality and more versatile option than something like the Corsair. If I want to go wireless later on, I could add the MixAMP 5.8 to the DDL optical output of the Xonar.

It sure is a shame that on such a high end gaming and hometheater/video editing capable laptop that Clevo cheaped out on the internal sound processor by not paying license fees.

 

The senn 598 is a nice well rounded headphone, though you are at the mercy of the games you play for proper positional replay. If you get one of the asus xonar or even the mixamp you can bypass the games 3d positional software and go with proven dolby headphone.