Best Headset

A

Attean

Gawd
Joined
Oct 24, 2004
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I never really liked headsets, but a buddy of mine insists on having one and he wants the best. What is the best headset (with mic) out there in terms of sound quality, mic quality, and comfort (I realize this is subjective but most people can agree certain brands are less comfortable than others, say Grados for instance).
 
Very subjective and it all depends on price.
I have tried a bunch of headsets and never cared for any. Personally, I find logitech has good mics, but their headphones suck.
I suggest taking a nice pair of headphones in your price range and adding a clip on mic. Most people are big fans of the Zalman ZM-MIC 1 (Clip-on) mic.

The headphone part is complicated. Like I said before, I find logitech headphones to have crap quality in terms of sound. Same with the Bose headphones.

Audiophile headphones have amazing sound quality, but generally speaking are not great for gaming. Audiophile headphones can cost $60 - $6,000.

But really, any headphones will sound fine unless you try a better pair. ie: my $35 sony headphones sounded great, until I tried a $700 pair of AKG cans.

Comfort is hard to grade as well. Audiophile headphones are often modified. I agree that Grado are known for having rough pads, but there is a guy on headfi who sells custom made ones that feel great, for cheap.

I used to have a set of AKG cans that by the time I sold them, I had changed the headstrap, pads, covers, wires, connectors...the drivers were the only akg park left in the end.

whats your budget?
 
<$500. I told him the exact same thing pretty much a month ago haha. Ok, for audiophile headphones what would you suggest for good directional sound. We need to get him a good pair fast, he just told me this:

"I'm just gonna get the most expensive ones with the most lights on them"

Most gaming headphones, you pay $50 just for the advertising and the bullshit names with gaming in the title. + Music will sound like ass.
 
I've always been partial to sennheiser cans. The new HD 800 is coming on soon but will be priced at $1,400 completely new design and technology, the soundstage and frequencies it can produce with clarity is amazing. If not those I would go with the Sennheiser HD 650's, you can get them anywhere from $349 to 499.
 
general consensus is that the AD700s are top notch for gaming, good directionality etc. only issue with these is that some people find that they lack bass impact (they ARE open after all). they go for around $100. you can go with more expensive cans like the DT880, akg701, HD650 etc but i've noticed that a lot of the people who have these cans still say that the AD700 has be better soundstage for gaming (music is another thing). not to mention that an amp is almost necessary for those phones and the AD700 needs no amping.
 
I'm not a big fan of the Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro for music, but they perform pretty well for gaming (decent soundstage, great bass). That and the construction quality is pretty nice, although the lettering seems to eventually rub off.
 
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I like my Sennheiser PC135USB headset. great imaging (in CS:S I can easily hear where people are coming from) and the mic is nice and clean.
 
just to clear up AD700 = open and A700 = closed. The 2 cans are just about at the same level, the main differences are that the AD has a wider soundstage and the A has more bass impact. Its really personal preference at this point.
 
miskari said:
just to clear up AD700 = open and A700 = closed. The 2 cans are just about at the same level, the main differences are that the AD has a wider soundstage and the A has more bass impact. Its really personal preference at this point.
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True, its almost splitting hairs. But since gaming usually warrants more sound stage, the AD is probably the way to go.

I hold my stance that your better off getting a quality pair like the AD700 over a pair of gimmicky "surround sound" headphones.
 
If you want more opinions, check out www.head-fi.org.

Probably the AD700s are a good option. If i'm not mistaken, these have been reccomended for gaming quite a bit. I use the Zalman mic posted here and it's pretty much the only option I've seen that is readily available and directly compatible with a standard sound card. It fits just fine on my headphone cable and probably the AD700s as well because they probably have a fairly thick cord. It works well enough, I haven't had any complaints and it does work better than a desktop microphone.

The only thing I have to caution about here is that it's all well and good to get a sweet pair of headphones but many of the headphones (HD-650s especially) are going to need to have some decent source/amplification to sound their best. I can certainly say that I would not be content with using my HD-650s directly connected to my onboard sound.

The AD700s don't generally require amplification to the same degree from what I understand, so may be a better choice here for gaming.
 
Xaeos said:
Though its not out yet, the new Logitech G35 might tip the scales. On paper it certainly looks a cut above everything else: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/gaming/pc_gaming/headsets_microphones/devices/5095&cl=us,en
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Logitech is notorious for making flashy, yet poor audio quality headphones. They roll in with big numbers, flashy designs, and now a big price tag. Its the bose Tri-Port effect. Sweet looks and good advertising can push a product that greatly under preforms.

Im sure the G35 is a decent headset. I agree that it looks beautiful. But at the $130-$200 price, I assure you that you will get a better sound from the AD700+clip on mic for the same or less price.

Headphones with "G keys"...lol
7.1 surround in a headphone, lol, gimme a break.
Im no fan of USB headphones either, generally they have inferior audio quality.

As for a cut above, I assure you a comparable pair of Sennheiser, ATH, AKG or other professional audio headphone manufacturer will mop the floor with a Logitech device.

Im sure Im sounding like I hate the logitech devices, as they do make many good products. I just don't want people to get confused and praise the G35 headphones as the greatest, just like people did with the Bose Triports($200, $400 originally, headphones that are not worth $50, but are praised by the ignorant as the greatest headphones in the world).

Though Im hoping they do well in reviews, and I would pick up a set when they hit the bargain bin at sub $60.
 
Droc you are so wrong with that higher quality headphones is less good for gaming... You are spot on with pretty much everything else though regarding logitech headphones, 7.1 etc You don´t get the most out of them for gaming but getting high quality headphones is never wrong. I have used the DT 770 PRO for a while... Many would rank them as audiophile headphones other as fart cannons ;). Using the Proline 750 it´s not even a contest I can´t find a single game where I would have better use for cheaper headphones like the DT 770s for example. In general the biggest improvement in later years have not been in graphics but in audio for games :)

As for headsets well this perhaps? http://www.corporate.qpad.se/modules/news/article.php?storyid=218

Ít has a USB soundcard which is a big minus though... And you could as yell get some DT 770 PROs and a separate mic for half the price ;) Or for the same price or even a bit less a pair of Ultrasone PRO 750 and some cheap mic... You do want an amp with the Dt 770 PROs though. The 750s is a bit more easilly driven but still you do it very much injustice without a proper sound card (sky is the limit) and a amplifier (pimeta do just good)I got a Heed Canamp as well but that isn´t much bang for the buck I have to admit...
 
Droc said:
Logitech is notorious for making flashy, yet poor audio quality headphones. They roll in with big numbers, flashy designs, and now a big price tag. Its the bose Tri-Port effect. Sweet looks and good advertising can push a product that greatly under preforms.

Im sure the G35 is a decent headset. I agree that it looks beautiful. But at the $130-$200 price, I assure you that you will get a better sound from the AD700+clip on mic for the same or less price.

Headphones with "G keys"...lol
7.1 surround in a headphone, lol, gimme a break.
Im no fan of USB headphones either, generally they have inferior audio quality.

As for a cut above, I assure you a comparable pair of Sennheiser, ATH, AKG or other professional audio headphone manufacturer will mop the floor with a Logitech device.

Im sure Im sounding like I hate the logitech devices, as they do make many good products. I just don't want people to get confused and praise the G35 headphones as the greatest, just like people did with the Bose Triports($200, $400 originally, headphones that are not worth $50, but are praised by the ignorant as the greatest headphones in the world).

Though Im hoping they do well in reviews, and I would pick up a set when they hit the bargain bin at sub $60.
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Oh I'd never suggest that their sound quality would beat any "real" headphones. I tend to think of headsets, with integrated microphones as a different beast altogether. For instance, I have a pair of Senneheiser PC155s that have served me well. They certainly aren't Senn 800s in audio quality, but they have some nice features (USB for instance). I'm thinking of buying the G35 not because they can compete with top end headphones for quality, but for all the little "headset" things - USB support, auto-mute, the G-keys and so forth. If they have the best "headset" audio around due to their dolby support, then that's a plus.

When I'm buying a headset for gaming/communications I don't want something I need a proper amp for or that takes the place of my speaker system. I want something with decent enough audio quality, comfortable, and can be plugged in as a secondary audio device when needed. If it can do double-duty as "good enough" for when I can't use my speakers (laptop, for instance) that's all the better.
 
I use a pair of JVC HA-RX700's for gaming, movie watching and music on my laptop and its an amazing pair of headphones for the price. Pair it with the zalman clip on mic, and you have an awesome headset for less then 60$
 
AD700 vs A700 vs hd595s. I'm leaning toward the hd595s simply because I loved my old hd497's. I already have a desk mounted mic. (this is for me this time)
 
I think I'm leaning toward the hd595's as the best long-term solution for gaming and music. I can eventually get an amp to drive them.
 
The newer HD595's are 50ohm impedance, so an amp isn't neccessary, but won't hurt.


Omerta said:
I have the Sennheiser PC350 gaming Headset, and I quite like it. I think it's the best way to go if you want a gaming headset.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-PC..._1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1232192943&sr=8-1
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I disagree, and I'm a hugh senn fanboi. Very tinny highs, no bottom end. Doesn't matter if they are amped or not. This is the 1st time I've bought a set of Senn's and was completely and utterly disappointed.
 
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Anybody try the Astro A40 headphones with their mixamp surround sound device? It is $250

The pricer Qpad QH-1339 professional headphones is $350. Anyone have experience with those?
 
HardUp4HardWare said:
I have had the medusa 5.1 for years and it kicks all a$$ known to man. The bass on these will blow your head off.

http://www.medusa-usa.com/medusa-51-home-edition-p-876.html
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Got a set of those as well. I love 'em but my bro has me wanting to try a setup like he's got. We recently got one of the Asus sound cards and a damn nice pair of headphones to go with it. Incredible sound...but it was about a $450 investment and I can't justify that right now as my current headphones still work lol.
 
I'm currently running a DT770 Pro 250 with a Headroom Mini Amp.

Pending arrival of the Audio-GD Compass / DAC / AMP and Dennon AH-D7000 for primary usage of FLAC / APE, and Gaming.

Cost: about 850.
 
"Made by TRITTON Technologies, the AX Pro is a cross-platform headset compatible with the PC, MAc, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network and provides Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound via eight speakers."

I know those have a really good rep, some of my more experienced friends swear by them for Socom.
 
Porn Loader said:
The newer HD595's are 50ohm impedance, so an amp isn't neccessary, but won't hurt.




I disagree, and I'm a hugh senn fanboi. Very tinny highs, no bottom end. Doesn't matter if they are amped or not. This is the 1st time I've bought a set of Senn's and was completely and utterly disappointed.
Click to expand...

I agree. I just purchased the PC350 headset and the bass is seriously lacking. I'd understand if they were $75, but I paid $150 for them. They are going back!
 
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