Headset reccomendations
inveigle
Join Date: 2004-01-07 Member: 25117Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
Join Date: 2004-01-07 Member: 25117Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
Comments
That said, I recently switched to circumaural from on-ear resting headphones, and I don't find a difference in comfort. I was very happy with the earlier Plantronics GameCom headsets, but sadly they have discontinued the line of on-ear headsets that I loved so much.
http://www.amazon.com/Plantronics-GameCom-780-Surround-Headset/dp/B00B1KJK22/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1391028050&sr=8-2&keywords=plantronics+gaming+headset
This is the current model I'm using. The only gripes I have with it are that it's not USB (it's 2x3.5mm mic + headphone) and the cord is shorter than I'd prefer. However, the quality of input and output are excellent, and the volume/mute controls on the back of the left earpiece is SO MUCH BETTER than having that damn control halfway down the cord. The way I sit, I was constantly getting those controls behind my back and leaning on the volume up button. Not fun times getting my ears blasted out depending on what was happening (usually music playing/wow raiding).
Hope this helps.
Tl;dr get good quality stereo mixing 'phones and a separate desk mic. That is my best advice after 20 years of PC gaming (and also having released my own music on EP).
I use a wireless circumaural headset myself that's why I said something about it.
As far as dying during a game, I can plug it in while wearing it and I have an hour+ battery warning (beeps at 1 minute intervals) for that. Most of the time I leave it plugged in but it's nice to be able to untether myself when I want to and if I accidentally pull the wire out all it does is stop charging, no interruption in gameplay like pulling a wired headset out of the computer.
As far as Circumaural, I find that supra-aural designs are absolute murder on my ears, excruciatingly painful after just 30 minutes, specifically the cartilage directly next to the antitragus (something I had to look up for the sake of this discussion, google a diagram of the outer ear). Anyway I assume many people find similar discomfort from the design, although cheap circumaural headsets that don't have thick enough pads or large enough openings have the same problem regardless.
I've gone the headphones+desk mic route myself, and let me just say NEVER AGAIN. Granted, the headphones weren't anything with high quality sound, but the inconvenience and discomfort of using a desk mic in gaming is an absolute deal breaker. Basically, you have to lean in and face the mic directly and calibrate its volume for the distance you are speaking from and never speak from closer or further away. All of those mean putting too much focus on the microphone itself when while gaming you should be able to forget that the microphone even exists at all and just speak normally. It's also not cheaper, since the desk mic runs around $30 in most cases and no headphones worth owning cost less than $30 as well.
Personally, I'm using the Corsair Vengeance 2000 wireless gaming headset. That's not really a recommendation though. It works, but I've had to send it in on warranty twice already since I got it about 14 months ago. They have since upgraded the construction a bit and the current set have lasted longer than the other two combined, but I would probably get something else given the choice.
You definitely need a microphone that doesn't have to be close to your mouth for this purpose!
@Infinity_X I am not up to date on these headphones any more. What I would say it's that if it's possible to save up and spend a little bit more, the ATH-M50S set I have has lasted me years and taken a good deal of abuse: in the long run it has worked out a lot cheaper to spend more on a higher quality product than repeatedly having to buy headsets which don't last very long!
It doesn't have a mic, but I would never buy that, if you mic is good, you don't have to do anything more than if your mic was on your headset, but it's way more comfortable and you can even use your headset for everything else.
This is what I use to play and cast.
I've made a collection thread here: http://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/123505/headphones-with-mic-or-headset-highly-recommended/p1
I would strongly recommend to stay away from wireless especially since you have a lower end budget to work with. If you want strictly a headset for gaming, go check out some of the Plantronics Gamecomm headsets or, like dragonmith said, the Logitech G35s have been a favorite for quite some time... but those are around 99$ new.
http://www.amazon.com/Plantronics-GameCom-780-Surround-Headset/dp/B00B1KJK22/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391096303&sr=8-1&keywords=plantronics+headset+780
G35 is wired only. I think you are referring to the G930?
+1 to this. Plantronics has a few sub 100$ headsets that aren't half bad. Probably the best value for around 60$.
Use a wannabe-gamer with a mickey mouse syndrome headset if you wanna look lame! :O)
Look at this hot girl with a behind-the-neck headset! You think she wanna date your lame headphones? No!
I'd say she's pretty average, from that angle.
Been using the steelseries siberia v2 (3.5mm - make sure you get the pc one and not the universal one cause that one doesn't work well for computers) and it's been doing really well, mic quality is good, sound quality is good, umm you can wear them for hours and they don't get dusty -- also the head band is super flexible and feels pretty sturdy
I got mine for a really really low price but I had to do it through steelseries support by trading in the wrong version and .. well forget the story -- in terms of gaming headsets that aren't super expensive I'd pick this one up. I know sennheiser has gaming headsets that are super duper but there's no point really, because if you cared for super quality you'd just get regular headphones
If you need to hear sounds in games, listen to music in decent quality, and talk with a clear mic.. siberia v2 does it
http://steelseries.com/us/products/audio/steelseries-siberia-v2
I'm sure it's cheaper on like e-bay or amazon
If anyone is looking for fantastic headphones that don't cost hundreds of dollars I can warmly recommend the superlux HD 668b: http://www.amazon.com/Superlux-HD668B-Dynamic-Semi-Open-Headphones/dp/B003JOETX8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391153924&sr=8-1&keywords=superlux+hd668b
They are said to compare to the higher tier products of AKG or beyerdynamic for around 30$. I can't tell myself, because I never had such expensive headphones, but I can say that they sound brilliant and are by far the best audio device I have ever wrapped around my ears. Here's a review that I think hits the nail on the head(phone): http://www.headfonia.com/superlux-hd668b/
edit: forgot to mention that they are 56 ohms, so you'll need an amp to get most out of it.
probably the only forum left
It doesn't even really matter if you can tell the difference for gaming. It's not like NS2 has top quality sound effects that you just have to hear in perfect clarity. What you need is some good positional audio, anything else is just a waste of your time or money. It's not just NS2 either, most games just don't have sounds that are worth listening to on high quality headphones. If you want to play music through your computer that's another story.