Gaming headphones w/ a mic. Need recommendations.

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x_MaGiuS_x

Gawd
Joined
Dec 28, 2008
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I need a headset w/ mic. Im looking for something nice and everything I can find at Newegg and a few other places looks cheap.

Is there anything in the $100 range that will provide good sound quality and have a mic?
 
what i use is a bose headset and a standalone mic. i just love sound of my bose headset
 
I thought of using a standalone mic because I too like my headphones.
How does it work for you?
Do you ever find yourself wishing you had an attached mic?
 
I picked up the PC-350's and to tell you the truth, they suck. Sound quality sucks on them, very tinny sounding. Doesn't matter if I am running them through an amp or not. And I am a Senn fan, I have the PC-150's, PC-161's, HD-545, and HD-595's.

If i was looking for a set now, i'd try to find the 161, or pick up a nice set of headphones and buy a seperate lapel mic.
 
actually, i do. i hate having to bend down to talk. i wana get the bose aviation x headset, but its just to dam expensive.
 
I picked up these to use with L4D and they are really good for the price! I like that it is a USB headset and you dont need to plug in multiple jacks for headphone & mic. The bass on them is really impressive. You need to tweak them from their default settings to get the surround sounding right.

CyberSnipa Sonar 5.1 Headset
 
My biggest gripe with stand alone mic's is they often pick up a lot of other noise even with reduction and so forth enabled.

I have a turtle beach 5.1 headset that I really really like. Audio quality is pretty good, of course there is better. The mic has great response and the individual audio controls (front, sub, center, surround) make it great for games.

I came from a pretty good Altec Lansing headset and I find this one easily many times better.
I paid 80 dollars for it.

There are a ton of options out there, I would stay away from the USB options as they tend to not use your sound card. If you dont have a good sound card or care than the USB options can be nice. Some models I have heard of issues where if you dont have it plugged in or turned on when you launch the game it work work etc but that might have been model specific.

Do your research and hammer down more what you want it to do for you.
 
zuppy said:
what i use is a bose headset and a standalone mic. i just love sound of my bose headset
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ouch, not those triports?

They are hugly overpriced and in the audiophile community are considered a joke. I had a set and returned them after I tried a pair of Grado ca:confused:ns.
 
x_MaGiuS_x said:
Is there anything in the $100 range that will provide good sound quality and have a mic?
Click to expand...

$63.96 Sony MDR-V6 Studio Monitor Headphones
Wonderful stereo imaging with these and anything can drive them. Also Beyerdynamic sells a very comfortable set of velour replacement pads for their DT250's that fit the V6's for about $15. I've purchased from etronics before, they're safe.

$6.26 Zalman Microphone ZM-MIC1 High Sensitivity Headphone Microphone
I like it...a lot. Shipping costs about as much as the mic tho. :p

$37.49 Left 4 Dead
Look at that, I even fit in a game! THE GAME. :D
 
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If you're willing to do some slight modifying you could do what I did and buy the cheapest Senn headset and cut off the mic assembly and then take a pair of HD555's and slap them together. Sub 100$ solution that works great and is nice and comfy unlike some of the other gaming headsets you can buy (at least imo).

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I wanted a comfortable decent pair of headphones and a mic that didn't pick up everything else in the room such as TV sound etc so I didn't feel like a jackass on Ventrilo or in-game and ended up with that. It does have a ghetto look to it I admit but it works great and is solidly in place on the headphones. I also thought that maybe the magnet on the mics side would get a bit hinky with some metal hardware right by it since I had to cut out the cover but I cant notice any difference with the hardware off or on.

Edit: Also wanted to mention that I had a pair of those Sony MDRV6's prior to these Senn's and had a pretty bad experience with them. All that meterial covering the ear cups started to crack and them flake off and became pretty uncomfortable.
 
I was also looking a new set of headphones with a mic but im interested in getting myself a USB headset any recommendations?
 
I personally use a Logitech PS2 mono headset. I dont need all the sounds coming through the headphones, just the voice. I use my Klipsch promedia 5.1 ultra for sound. Only gripe is night time when i cant blast the speakers. I do have a backup for that though, and its the plantronics .audio 650 USB. They are really good quality and it gives you the choice of USB and mini jack.

The MDR-V6 are great. I use the 7506 (same headphones, gold plated cord) for DJing and they have great sound quality for gaming. You could also do a minor mod to have a mic built in. Ive seen a DJ talk into his headphone which was kind of surprising.
 
Jodiuh said:
$63.96 Sony MDR-V6 Studio Monitor Headphones
Wonderful stereo imaging with these and anything can drive them. Also Beyerdynamic sells a very comfortable set of velour replacement pads for their DT250's that fit the V6's for about $15. I've purchased from etronics before, they're safe.

:D
Click to expand...

I will vouch for the MDR-V6 headphones. I have a pair and they are tremendously comfortable and they sound very nice. If you have the money, go with them, hands down.
 
Thanks Jodiuh! I ordered the mic for $11.21 shipped. Doing this saved me enough money to pick up Left 4 Dead, which is something I planned on doing anyway.

Can you play L4D multiplayer with no mic? Doesnt seem to me you could, at least not very effectively.
 
You're welcome, hope you enjoy it. As for L4D, I'm SURE you'll enjoy that. And hell yes you can play without a mic. I've met some funny folks that have been limited to the keyboard's "smoeoen hlep em!!" slightly slower death grip.

And then when you get a mic, you can play "in character." I've been trying to perfect a sort of Charlton Heston-esque voice for Bill w/ limited success. :D
 
Q-BZ said:
This looks ideal for those of us that already have quality headphones. :)
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It´s not. You will get annoyed by the thin extra cable that goes with it. It´s not noise cancelling either. It´s not perfect but if you use one very rarely it´s a cheap solution and yes you don´t have to deal with these sub par gaming headphones for 50$

That mentioned I just ordered one Edimensional Audio FX for 30$. Mostly for flight sims which really just outputs an awful lot of noise anyway ;). Can get them from edimensional.com or http://www.flightstore.co.uk/

I didn´t get the new "5.1" because as I see it that is just a marketing gimmick. I have had good 5.1 headphones before like the Kinyo but they don´t give you better surround.
The old are true and tested and getting great reviews everywhere for gaming.

If you want some serious headset that does it all I guess you need to get this
http://www.corporate.qpad.se/module...ch_beyerdynamic_lanserar_lyxigt_gamingheadset

I have some DT 770 PRO as well as my Ultrasone Proline 750 and there is nothing that beats the comfort of those. Great bass and good isolation. Not that cheap you can almost get a set of Ultrasone Proline 750s for that amount so it´s for you picky who value your ears :)
 
WaterproofPaper said:
I have a mic, but i dont really use it for pugs in L4D. I usually type fast enough.
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Same here.

I use a set of Steelseries 4H's that I got fairly cheap awhile ago from an Alienware deal. They have been fantastic for what they are. The fact that the mic is completely retractable is a plus. These also fit very well without squishing my huge noggin.
 
oqvist said:
It´s not. You will get annoyed by the thin extra cable that goes with it. It´s not noise cancelling either. It´s not perfect but if you use one very rarely it´s a cheap solution and yes you don´t have to deal with these sub par gaming headphones for 50$

That mentioned I just ordered one Edimensional Audio FX for 30$. Mostly for flight sims which really just outputs an awful lot of noise anyway ;). Can get them from edimensional.com or http://www.flightstore.co.uk/

I didn´t get the new "5.1" because as I see it that is just a marketing gimmick. I have had good 5.1 headphones before like the Kinyo but they don´t give you better surround.
The old are true and tested and getting great reviews everywhere for gaming.

If you want some serious headset that does it all I guess you need to get this
http://www.corporate.qpad.se/module...ch_beyerdynamic_lanserar_lyxigt_gamingheadset

I have some DT 770 PRO as well as my Ultrasone Proline 750 and there is nothing that beats the comfort of those. Great bass and good isolation. Not that cheap you can almost get a set of Ultrasone Proline 750s for that amount so it´s for you picky who value your ears :)
Click to expand...

I'm using AKG 701s and love those things so I know where you're coming from. :)
 
oqvist said:
It´s not. You will get annoyed by the thin extra cable that goes with it. It´s not noise cancelling either.
Click to expand...
I prefer the long thin cable. It goes straight through the coiled 770's cord and attaches nicely at the nub on the bottom of the left ear muff. Since it's only used w/ a headphone, noise cancellation's not much of an issue for me.
 
you mean you fit it inside the cord :) I feel noise cancelling would help since I couldn´t use it effectively for my voicybuddy and other voice tracking software compared to other noise cancelling microphones I have used. People complained a bit about the quality of the speech as well.
 
Ah, I only use it for Left4Dead. I've had people comment on my keyboard typing though, so it definitely picks up everything. :D Fortunately things can be kept very quiet in my office.
 
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