Best Headset Any Budget

Best headset for Gaming

What Audio card to pair with it

Would love some Wireless options and explanation of why NOT wireless

not worried about budget but don't want to spend 10k on a headset

Oh boy


For starters... theres gonna be a LOT of suggestions here. There are discernible differences between a 100$ headphone and a 500$+ headphone, although there is a point of diminishing returns above the 300$ mark.

For starters... are you willing to buy a DAC/preamp and receiver? That will go a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG way in improving your sound, a sound card is irrelevant to that solution. If you are, I have a good solution for you in that arena.


Me personally, Im totally against wireless solutions. Yes there are some "good" ones, but I HATE noise, static, interference, anything that can deteriorate sound, which is inevitable in any wireless solution regardless of "how good it is".

You also need to identify "what you need and want" vs "what you can afford". Usually budget limits the latter, but in your case it may be the other way around. If you don't care, can't hear the difference, or don't need "the best", then theres really no point for you to splurge unnecessarily. Not me telling you what to do or how to spend your money, thats not even close to my say, just being pragmatic is all.


So, respond to the following to help people answer better


1) What kind of music do you listen to
2) do you plan on watching movies a lot with these
3) "gaming audio" is irrelevant, as most games don't even have high quality audio engines compared to 360kbps+ studio productions.
4) are you willing to buy hardware?
5) do you need these headphones to be usable on portable devices (phone, ipod, etc)?
6) do you prefer bass heavy things; open atmospheric things; something random Im not thinking about?
7) style and aesthetics can matter too
8) yes yes, budget is "irrelevant", but whats a number you would like to stay under?

I really like the Klipsch S3. Great sound in the $50 class but also very portable. (I got mine for $20 on sale.) It does, however, require an adapter to use the microphone part with a PC.

For starters... are you willing to buy a DAC/preamp and receiver? That will go a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG way in improving your sound, a sound card is irrelevant to that solution. If you are, I have a good solution for you in that arena.

Click to expand...

Receivers are for speakers, not headphones. On many (if not most), the headphone jack on the front is more of an afterthought than a primary feature. After all, most users never or rarely use that feature.

It's true, however, that when using a DAC or a digital amplifier/receiver, a sound card is irrelevant as S/PDIF is just data and onboard will work just as well.

NiHaoMike said:

I really like the Klipsch S3. Great sound in the $50 class but also very portable. (I got mine for $20 on sale.) It does, however, require an adapter to use the microphone part with a PC.

Receivers are for speakers, not headphones. On many (if not most), the headphone jack on the front is more of an afterthought than a primary feature. After all, most users never or rarely use that feature.

It's true, however, that when using a DAC or a digital amplifier/receiver, a sound card is irrelevant as S/PDIF is just data and onboard will work just as well.

Click to expand...

I use a mackie preamp and onkyo reciever for my headphones as well as my speakers... The equalization and stereo sound from having the receiver in line is a huge performance improvement to the sound. It just happens that I can drive my stereo system as well. That said, theres a reason I put the slash after the DAC xD The main reason I offered that is because you can get a "2 fir 1" kinda thing out of that. Hardware equalization is MUCH MUCH MUCH better than software equalization.


Works for me, and works really well I might add...

Modern CPUs have so much power that you'll hardly be able to measure the load doing some simple audio DSP stuff. And assuming it's well coded, the lag can be made very difficult to even measure. That's why sound cards with DSPs aren't so important for gaming anymore.

Many mobile SoCs (like the TI OMAP series) do have a dedicated audio DSP, but that's mostly to reduce the power consumption for phone calls and media playback.

bob4933 said:

Oh boy


For starters... theres gonna be a LOT of suggestions here. There are discernible differences between a 100$ headphone and a 500$+ headphone, although there is a point of diminishing returns above the 300$ mark.

For starters... are you willing to buy a DAC/preamp and receiver? That will go a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG way in improving your sound, a sound card is irrelevant to that solution. If you are, I have a good solution for you in that arena.

If its needed I would get it however. On my PC I only Game I have a HT system for Movies/Music High end Bose I KNOW I KNOW but the Woman bitched for months that my Custom system was ugly in the living room and I just gave up.

Me personally, Im totally against wireless solutions. Yes there are some "good" ones, but I HATE noise, static, interference, anything that can deteriorate sound, which is inevitable in any wireless solution regardless of "how good it is".

You also need to identify "what you need and want" vs "what you can afford". Usually budget limits the latter, but in your case it may be the other way around. If you don't care, can't hear the difference, or don't need "the best", then theres really no point for you to splurge unnecessarily. Not me telling you what to do or how to spend your money, thats not even close to my say, just being pragmatic is all.

Best answer I can give is I'm happy with 90%-95%+ Since the last few percent drive the price to crazy places

So, respond to the following to help people answer better


1) What kind of music do you listen to NONE
2) do you plan on watching movies a lot with these NO
3) "gaming audio" is irrelevant, as most games don't even have high quality audio engines compared to 360kbps+ studio productions. I would say it still matters or I could just throw on my iPhone headset
4) are you willing to buy hardware? YES
5) do you need these headphones to be usable on portable devices (phone, ipod, etc)?
6) do you prefer bass heavy things; open atmospheric things; something random Im not thinking about? I'm concerned about positional audio (direction of gunshots and sound of foot steps etc)
7) style and aesthetics can matter too NO
8) yes yes, budget is "irrelevant", but whats a number you would like to stay under?

Click to expand...

I would say 0-$500 I would go above that If given a good reason

I've enjoyed my Logitech G930 quite a lot, look into it. You mentioned directional audio, it does that perfectly.

ATMINSIDE said:

I've enjoyed my Logitech G930 quite a lot, look into it. You mentioned directional audio, it does that perfectly.

Click to expand...

I have the g930 now and agree its pretty damn nice I was wondering if anything around much better

Keep in mind that ...What one person considers best is not going to be what everyone thinks is best. With audio, it's really what YOU think is best, NOT what I or anyone else thinks.

kyfire said:

Keep in mind that ...What one person considers best is not going to be what everyone thinks is best. With audio, it's really what YOU think is best, NOT what I or anyone else thinks.

Click to expand...

that goes without saying however I don't want to buy 50 pairs of headsets to grade them all myself

Considering your rig specs, I would would say just grab a pair of Sennheiser PC360 and be done with it. Sennheiser offers a nice natural sound signature so they tend to go over well with a large majority. And you won't find a better mic on any other headset for that matter.

Check out the Beyerdynamic MMX300, I love it.

For the regular price the MMX300 sits at, it isn't worth it at all. The PC350/360 can be had for about 1/3 the cost. If they kept the MMX300 in the $200~ range then maybe, sure. But $300+ is a bit much unless you absolutely need a mic and refuse to use anything but Beyer. And since the MMX300 is simply DT770 with a mic slapped on, instead of paying $350 - $400 for the MMX300, you could spend $150 and get a pair of the DT770 and get an Antlion Modmic for $35 and put that $200 - $250 saved, into your pocket or other areas of the computer.

I picked mine up for $300 on sale. He said that his budget wasn't an issue. It's convenient to have everything in one. I know that modmic is probably one of the best options for attachable mics, but I doubt it beats the mic in sound and construction quality of the mmx 300.

It's just another option for the OP to consider.

What I'm saying is the DT770 Pro goes for $150 and offers the same drivers found in the 770 Premium and MMX300. So even if you paid $300 instead of $400, that's a big difference in price wherein you could have spent that same amount of money on better headphones + mic.

Outside of that pricing issue though, as long as you are happy them.
(The mic found on the MMX300 is rather good, only thing better would be a Sennheiser mic, you can't really compare the Modmic to the 2 though as it simply isn't in the same playing field)

They are a bit pricey, no debate about that. I do not regret my purchase at all. It is the most comfortable headset I've ever worn. I've worn them all day without any discomfort. I think the mic makes up a good portion of the price. In my opinion, the mic quality rivals that of $100 stand alone mics. It all depends on what the OP is looking for.

Regardless of headphone/headset choice, if getting a high quality set, I would suggest a good dac / sound card. I can tell the difference between the on board and my xonar stx.

Best headset I have ever and likely will ever use:

NVX XPT100 ($80) + Antlion Modmic ($40) (>= just about any $300 gaming headset out there)

I used to recommend the Creative Aurvana Live! ($60) + Antlion Modmic ($40), but the NVX XPT100 is >>> the CAL. In fact, the XPT100 is > my old ATH-M50s ($150), and in side-by-side comparison with a friend's Sennheiser HD25-II 1 ($170), we both agreed that the XPT100 had the more accurate overall sound (and not to mention MUCH more comfortable)...he was pissed when he heard the NVX's price.

Sennheiser ear buds + a condensor lavalier mic. It's what I use. The Senheisers will give you better sound quality than any gaming headset you try, and a condensor mic will pick up anything in the room. Just adjust the sensitivity/transmission level in TeamSpeak/Mumble and you've the perfect setup.

Sennheiser CX270 and a lavalier mic will cost you less than $50 off eBay. You don't even have to wear the mic. I leave mine sitting under my monitor.

Se my siggy for details

medo145 said:

They are a bit pricey, no debate about that. I do not regret my purchase at all. It is the most comfortable headset I've ever worn. I've worn them all day without any discomfort. I think the mic makes up a good portion of the price. In my opinion, the mic quality rivals that of $100 stand alone mics. It all depends on what the OP is looking for.

Regardless of headphone/headset choice, if getting a high quality set, I would suggest a good dac / sound card. I can tell the difference between the on board and my xonar stx.

Click to expand...

Medo

Can you explain the USB sound card thing?
http://www.amazon.com/Beyerdynamic-715565-Premium-Digital-Microphone/dp/B001BYMZ5W

Also any suggestions on a Amp/Dac for it?

Since it has the USB sound card thing do I need a Sound Card?

If I need a sound card what's the best around these days?

I would highly recommend against paying $400 for them (Senn PC360 is $166 right now at Amazon... ).... And a USB sound card is exactly that, a USB sound card, not something I tend to recommend unless you are in absolute need and are unable too occupy PCI-E/PCI slots.

You can purchase the Beyer sound card seperate,
http://north-america.beyerdynamic.com/shop/usb-sound-card-for-headsets.html, but I would really recommend a SoundBlaster Z at this time due to it's price/performance. You can of course use your onboard, keeping in mind the MMX300 does NOT need an amp to be driven.

"Best" around is controversial, you have the ASUS Xonar Phoebus, ASUS Xonar ST, Creative TitaniumHD, Creative ZxR, and HT Omega Claro XT. As you can see from my specs I run the Phoebus, nothing but good to say about it and since Creative put out some decent drivers for their Z-series of cards recently I'd say the ZxR is an excellent pick that can be less finnicky than the Phoebus. Of course there is still the TitaniumHD that is to this day a fan-favorite, although many of them have been dying after prolonged use.


There WILL be someone to say why not a receiver and digital, quite simply why ruin the sound from the source using digital? Analog can be looked at similar to vinyl in regards to sound (if you don't understand, go listen to some vinyl), so my personal recommendation is to stick with it. On top of the fact that you will be spending quite more on a quality receiver that takes up space at your pc for no reason when the sound card offers the superior DAC anyway (assuming you don't purchase a high end receiver of course) :/


As far as amp/dac, Schiit offers some great product! I personally moved from a Schiit Asgard and Bifrost to a Matrix M-Stage amp/dac stack to my current WooAudio WA7 Fireflies. All have been excellent, but my favorite so far as been the WA7 paired with the Beyer T90. The WA7 and T90 happen to pair together with excellence. If you want something great for the price, look at the Schiit Vali / Modi stack, amazing for their price tag.