SOLVED Best Budget Gaming Headset (X360 & PC)?

Trojan Horse · Apr 7, 2012

Before I continue, I would like to add, for those that nag me to use the 'search' feature, that there aren't any good threads and yes, I mean good threads dedicated to finding a decent budget gaming headset.

I would like my headset to be able to be really good at tracking enemy locations, for example; I want to know everything going on behind me, infront of me and towards the sides of me.

It's gotta' be comfortable, I like playing for around 6hrs+, and don't want my ears to bleed from pain as soon as I take my pair of 'cans off.

I don't really care too much about the audio quality, just aslong as explosions sound cool and I can hear when the guy behind me attempts to use his knife.

Wireless would be a really neat feature, but I ain't paying an extra £20 for it.

Oh, and would love for it to look cool.

The main games I would play are; BF3, GOW3, maybe some gay MW3 ( just for the friends ) and possibly skyrim when the new DLC comes out.

=========================================================

My budgets around - £60, and I want to know the best of these cool headsets;

SteelSeries Spectrum 5xB Headset - £34.97 (Really cheap for it's quality)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SteelSeries...ODDG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333708292&sr=8-1

Turtlebeach Ear Force X12 - £39.99 (too much overrated crap sold by these dudes)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turtle-Beac..._2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1333791931&sr=1-2

Tritton AX180 - £38.90 ( in the style of one of my favourite games - gow3) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gears-Tritt...QX3A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333792164&sr=8-2

So yeah, help me pick out one of these headsets;
I personally want to buy the SteelSeries Spectrum 5xB, because at 34.59 you can't go wrong, BUT I've heard that they break quite easily (something I really don't want)

xander89 · Apr 7, 2012

Trojan Horse said:
Before I continue, I would like to add, for those that nag me to use the 'search' feature, that there aren't any good threads and yes, I mean good threads dedicated to finding a decent budget gaming headset.

I would like my headset to be able to be really good at tracking enemy locations, for example; I want to know everything going on behind me, infront of me and towards the sides of me.

It's gotta' be comfortable, I like playing for around 6hrs+, and don't want my ears to bleed from pain as soon as I take my pair of 'cans off.

I don't really care too much about the audio quality, just aslong as explosions sound cool and I can hear when the guy behind me attempts to use his knife.

Wireless would be a really neat feature, but I ain't paying an extra £20 for it.

Oh, and would love for it to look cool.

The main games I would play are; BF3, GOW3, maybe some gay MW3 ( just for the friends ) and possibly skyrim when the new DLC comes out.

=========================================================

My budgets around - £60, and I want to know the best of these cool headsets;

SteelSeries Spectrum 5xB Headset - £34.97 (Really cheap for it's quality)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SteelSeries...ODDG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333708292&sr=8-1

Turtlebeach Ear Force X12 - £39.99 (too much overrated crap sold by these dudes)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turtle-Beac..._2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1333791931&sr=1-2

Tritton AX180 - £38.90 ( in the style of one of my favourite games - gow3) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gears-Tritt...QX3A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333792164&sr=8-2

So yeah, help me pick out one of these headsets;
I personally want to buy the SteelSeries Spectrum 5xB, because at 34.59 you can't go wrong, BUT I've heard that they break quite easily (something I really don't want)

the steelseries looks like a decent headset, but yes they are notoriously flimsy. the problem is with a budget of under £40 you wont get anything of incredible build quality.

Ultimately any decent stereo headset will allow you to track player movements easily enough to determine where they coming from ( avoid cheap 5.1 surround sound headsets, they are made so badly, you need to spend in the 100's to get a decent pair). But arguably that only becomes super importants when playing CSS XD. Games like BF3 its generally pretty hard to tell where anything is coming from on a 64 player map cos so much **** is going off.

if you can i would suggest waiting a little and forking out an extra £15 and going for something in the £50 range. Something like the Corsair Vengeance 1300 would be a good bet. They have pretty nice drivers, and double up as pretty sweet music headphones as well. Cracking bass. Ultimately, you get what you pay for

. But out of the ones you listed i would go for the steelseries.

mjw21a · Apr 7, 2012

Well, I love my Turtle Beach Ear Force P11 so if the X12 is much the same it has my vote

Trojan Horse · Apr 7, 2012

Omg. turtle beach fan boys everywhere. >:[
But, I'll take that into consideration, but is anybody else going to go for the X12 instead of the steelseries?

Also; I'll be gaming mostly on xbox 360, a little on PC and I have a portable headgear that I am going to buy soon ( Sound Magic E30's )

do the Corsair Vengence's work on the xbox mate? + MW3/GOW3

Edited what you gave to the swear filter. Please don't test it again.

RT

mjw21a · Apr 7, 2012

The P11 is the first I've owned, and puts every other headset I've used to shame

Trojan Horse · Apr 7, 2012

What other headsets have you used?

Trojan Horse · Apr 7, 2012

Just read/looked at alot more reviews, it seem's the X12s are probably the best bang for buck, probably with a better build quality than the 5xB & the PX11/PX21's.

Anybody else's opinions?

mjw21a · Apr 7, 2012

Trojan Horse said:
What other headsets have you used?

Plantronics, Logitec, Cyber Accoustic. Philips, Sony, a few other generic brands.... The Philips sound quality was pretty much the same as the Turtle Beach. The problem with every other headset I've had was the length of the cables - Too short. I had a bad habit of getting up to adjust the fan or something else and either end up damaging either the headset or the front audio ports on my computer.

The Turtle Beach P11 has combined the best of each headset I had.... Good noise cancellation on the mic, good sound quality for the drivers and most importantly for me, longer cables than those on any other headset I've ever had. It also has the advantage of keeping my voice down as I can actually hear a little of whats going on around me with these if they're not turned up too much.

While they sound great in games, they're also equally good for watching movies, TV shows and music, which was an area where the Plantronics, Logitech and Cyber Accoustics headsets fell short.

Trojan Horse · Apr 8, 2012

The P11 is just the PS3 based version of the X11's right?

And I've heard alot of bad comments on the P11 (bad build, but okay sound) and anyways, the X12's are a upgrade from the X11's + P11's, but with big 50mm drivers they look alright anyway, the only things I find that the P11s do better than the X12s are that the P11s look significantly better and make the X12s look like cheap ****.

Oh, also; If I spent 60-80 pounds could I get a decent wireless headset, or should I just avoid wireless headsets alltogether?

xander89 · Apr 8, 2012

Trojan Horse said:
Omg. turtle beach fan boys everywhere. >:[
But, I'll take that into consideration, but is anybody else going to go for the X12 instead of the steelseries?

Also; I'll be gaming mostly on xbox 360, a little on PC and I have a portable headgear that I am going to buy soon ( Sound Magic E30's )

do the Corsair Vengence's work on the xbox mate? + MW3/GOW3

Edited what you gave to the swear filter. Please don't test it again.

RT

that im not 100% sure about mate sorry :S. Not sure what connectors the xbox has.

meh wireless, I've always seen it as an expensive luxury. If your gona fork out 60-80 just get a REALLY nice wired headset and your laughing ( just make sure the wire is long enough ofc

)

mjw21a · Apr 8, 2012

P11's also use 50mm drivers so not sure where you got that from. I find build quality is fine, just don't make a habit of dropping them. I tend to go through headsets from standing on the cables and then getting up. Never killed one any other way.

Trojan Horse · Apr 8, 2012

Yeah, I usually drop them accidently or stand on them because of the annoying wires.

So does anybody know a REALLY good wired headset for around 40-60 or shall I just go with the good X12's ?

oqnx · Apr 8, 2012

I would suggest that you avoid "gaming headsets" as these are usually cheap, sub optimal headphones for gaming. The real appeal of "gaming headsets" is the DSP provided by the receiver. Instead, look into picking up a pair of AD700 (I've never heard them myself but they are recognized as almost invariably being the best gaming headphones out there) and the turtle beach DAC / AMP combo:
http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/audio-processors/ear-force-dss2.aspx

It's not going to be a top of the line audiophile experience, but that's not what gaming headphones and DSP are about.

mjw21a · Apr 9, 2012

^^^ Those are headphones. Easy to come by good headphones, the challenge as always is to find a good headset with decent mic and noise cancellation as well.

Trojan Horse · Apr 9, 2012

oqnx said:
I would suggest that you avoid "gaming headsets" as these are usually cheap, sub optimal headphones for gaming. The real appeal of "gaming headsets" is the DSP provided by the receiver. Instead, look into picking up a pair of AD700 (I've never heard them myself but they are recognized as almost invariably being the best gaming headphones out there) and the turtle beach DAC / AMP combo:
http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/audio-processors/ear-force-dss2.aspx

It's not going to be a top of the line audiophile experience, but that's not what gaming headphones and DSP are about.

Not many people seem to be getting that I'm getting this mainly for use on XBL, and that I really don't think that AD700s work on the xbox.. js
I'm not an audiophile, and nor can I tell between minute sounds that most people just don't give a **** about. I just want it for gaming, obviously with a mic, and to have an unfair advantage on my gaming experience.

I will probably invest into some DSS2s next year, after I buy most of my gaming needs, but for right now I just need a greap pair of gaming headsets, designed for the xbox 360 & would be fun for the PC also.

mjw21a · Apr 9, 2012

Just go the X12's. If they sound as good as the P11's they should be a good headset.

The limiting factor with mine is noise coming through my soundcard. I've an external Toslink optical reciever/DAC coming to take care of that.

Trojan Horse · Apr 9, 2012

I.. just thought of something really good.

How about I use my sony home cinema system (dav-lf1) instead? i mean who doesn't want massive 5.1 dd surround sound speakers dotted accross their room? anyways it's alot cheaper for me, because all i have to do is spend two pound on an RCA to RCA extension lead, for that beautiful subwoofie that sits accross my room.

take a look at the cinema system and tell me what you think;
http://www.sony.co.uk/product/hcs-surround-kit---dvd-player/dav-lf1
look at it, just look at it. also tell me if i should go with a headset instead of that. lolz.

mjw21a · Apr 9, 2012

^^^ Makes more sense to me, although if you're running VOIP you'll drive your mates nuts with them hearing whenever your in a vehicle etc.

One of my mates we usually end up muting in BF3 because his mic is too sensitive with inadequate noise cancellation, picking up the audio from his earphones.

oqnx · Apr 9, 2012

mjw21a said:
^^^ Those are headphones. Easy to come by good headphones, the challenge as always is to find a good headset with decent mic and noise cancellation as well.

Well the 5.1 speakers make the most sense, just make sure that when you connect your pc to the receiver, you make sure that you're sound output is running at the right sample rate. Optical audio on my d/a converter defaults to 48 KHz which makes everything sound a bit funny because 44.1 does not upsample to 48 neatly.

Anyway, in case headphones are still an option (or for anyone who stumbles across this thread through google), there is no such thing as a pair of headphones that are "designed" for xbox. Turtle beach sells their stuff as being for xbox 360 or ps3 as a marketing gimmick so they can get people to buy the same thing twice or more. The x12 are just regular headphones with an inline amp that draws power from the xboxs usb port. In fact, all of turtle beach's headphones are just regular headphones with mics. So I'm not going to push another model or say that there is no merit in a turtle beach headset, but people need to realize that there any and all other options out there CAN work with xbox 360, and that turtle beach's headphones are NOT 5.1.

Metlcub · May 4, 2012

I used to have the Tritton Tech AX720, and those would work with PC3, 360 and PC. Uses Optical out and USB for Mic for PS3 and PC, and used a little cable from Controler to volume control for 360.

SOLVED Best Budget Gaming Headset (X360 & PC)?

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