Help me pick out a gaming headset. :)

quake101

Ok, I forgot I had a $40 newegg gift card... So, I've decided to use this $40 to help offset the cost of a decent gaming headset. I currently use a Xbox 360 control with a wired headset tethered to it... (hey it works and I had no additional cost) With that said, this setup isn't ideal as I do not receive sound through this headset. *waits for the laughter to stop*

After a quick scan of newegg and reading a few reviews, I have listed few of the headsets within my budget (~$100-$40=$60max out of pocket)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826816005
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826186002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826106157
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826158082

Let me know what you guys/gals think. Please list any headset that's worth the price and I may have missed. Thanks!

Annes

What features are you looking for? What sort of cups do you want? In-ear, over-the-ear? In-line sound and mic adjustment? What will you mainly be doing with it - gaming or watching videos or listening to music? Do you have a separate sound card or is it integrated? Is the environment you're in noisy?

Also, please try to remember to use an IC affiliate link when buying these. Every little bit is awesome!

Jokke

I have the Creative Fatal1ty and I'm quite happy with it. Sound and mic is decent, but in my case wearing it for more than a few hours cause my ears to hurt. I'm not sure if my ears are big or something, just thought you should know.

CB

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826158088

Innexpencive, and has great features. I don't really care about the Warcraft branding, as I don't play the game, but it doesn't bother me either.

I recently bought and returned about a dozen headsets looking for one that was both comfortable (I have large ears, and if any part of the pad is pushing my ear against my head, it really bothers me after only a few minutes), and didn't make my friends complain about mic quality. This was the one I settled on.

quake101

What features are you looking for? What sort of cups do you want? In-ear, over-the-ear? In-line sound and mic adjustment? What will you mainly be doing with it - gaming or watching videos or listening to music? Do you have a separate sound card or is it integrated? Is the environment you're in noisy?

Lots of questions here so I'll try my best.
What features are you looking for? I'm not really to picky, but the main reson I want to buy a nicer headset then I have now is the fact I mostly game at night, and I don't want to wake up my son or wife.

What sort of cups do you want? In-ear, over-the-ear? Over the ear

In-line sound and mic adjustment? I would like but not a requirement.

What will you mainly be doing with it - gaming or watching videos or listening to music? Gaming!!!

Do you have a separate sound card or is it integrated? Integrated

Is the environment you're in noisy? Not really, I use my "man cave" aka, the basement. Not much noise, maybe a small heater in the background.

TiberiusLazarus

I don't see any wireless headsets up there...

I have these (they are a bit more expensive than what you have listed :/ ): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104399&Tpk=g930

Absolutely love them. The ability to stand up, walk to the bathroom/kitchen/wherever in your house, and still be able to hear is awesome.

quake101

I don't see any wireless headsets up there...

I have these (they are a bit more expensive than what you have listed :/ ): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104399&Tpk=g930

Absolutely love them. The ability to stand up, walk to the bathroom/kitchen/wherever in your house, and still be able to hear is awesome.

I did look at them quickly but I see mixed reviews about them... Also, they are out of stock and a little over my planned budget.

Cliff_Forster

This is just my two cents but I think headphones that have some kind of hardware surround solution are not necessary. Personally, I prefer a nice clean stereo mix, I've tried hardware surround, but I don't think it does anything better than software virtual surround you get some something like dolby headphone. I'd encourage people to save a few bucks, save one additional conflicting device on your system and just go old school analog audio and mic jacks.

I purchased a Corsair analog headset a few months back and could not be more pleased with it. It sounds fantastic, its comfortable, it does not look too "gamer" and it's a fair deal at $80.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826816004

quake101

@Cliff_Forster How is the fit with that set? Also, with an analog headset, how do you switch from your main speakers to the headset?

Cliff_Forster

@quake101 - I think it feels nice, it does clamp down a bit, but the earcups are so big they fit around my ears and not right on top of them which helps my ears stay cool for extended wearing. I like it, and the mic is nice, its stiff enough that it does not just flop around everywhere, but flexable enough so you can position it comfortably when you want to use it. People I have talked to say I sound decent over it.

My particular integrated sound solution which is nothing fancy, its Realtek on board audio, its HD up to 7.1 and the software has surround virtualzation options if I want them. In my case I have it set up in software, if I plug in the headphones it identifies that as the primary audio and shuts off the output to the stereo speakers on my desktop, but if I want I can set them both to output. I believe most on board audio solutions included in the past couple years allow this, any dedicated sound card definately will.

In my opinion headphone surround is kind of strange, it can give a dimension of space and perhaps drop you a few extra cues, but I find its at the expense of general fidelity, I don't find it to be a good trade off. A good friend of mine let me borrow some Turtle Beach headphones with its own in line surround hardware, honestly between that and software virtualized dolby headphone, I could not tell a difference, and to me, plain old stereo just sounded better, but your milage may vary.

I will say, the Corsair headset offers a slightly flatter frequency response curve than most headsets, which I think is fantastic, it sounds more natural, but if you want giant thumping bass you have to toy around with your software equalizer settings a bit more than some other headsets I have used. For me I switch from games to music, so I prefer something a little more neutral sounding, the Corsair headset gives me that.

quake101

@Cliff_Forster thanks for your quick reply and feedback.

quake101

*bump*

Anyone else have any more feedback?

So far I'm liking the Corsair Vengeance 1500, with my gift card and the mail in rebate, I'll have a total of $40 into that headset. Seems like a rockin' deal to me...

Canti

I'd suggest this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104319

They're cheap enough that your gift card will cover all of it and have a little left over. They aren't nearly as huge as many of the others posted which might not matter much to you but I like that. I've never had any trouble whatsoever with the sound or being heard on the microphone. They're just all around good, maybe not as good as some of those more expensive but I don't think there is a better headset in that price range than these. Plus you get a free copy of World of Tanks with it right now. Looks like it could be some fun.

quake101

Well, I ended up buying the Corsair Vengeance 1500, for $40 out of pocket I couldn't pass it up. I end up paying with my paypal and noticed I had $20 sitting in there too, so it's like $20 "out of pocket" when all said and done. LOL

This headset seems very solid and I've read some great reviews about it:

Here (page 2 has a nice table of games/apps and what settings work best):
http://www.everythingusb.com/corsair-vengeance-1500-gaming-headset-21427.html

And here:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/corsair-vengeance-1500-and-1100-headset-review/

I can't wait to test this thing out. Too bad I'm traveling next week.

quake101

Side note: @Canti, isn't World of Tanks a free game?

Side, side note: Thanks everyone for their feedback.

Canti

If it is I'm going to be playing it later.

quake101

@Canti, Looks like it is http://worldoftanks.com/

Canti

Well that's kinda silly on Newegg's part.

ardichoke

Mmm... I just got World of Tanks with the Logitech G300 I ordered. I'll have to check it out as well.

quake101

Maybe it's extra game items or something like that. Seems kinda odd they would offer a free game... when it's free to begin with.

Thrax

Well that's kinda silly on Newegg's part.

It's a comarketing bundle. The game was included as a demand generation tool, not because it has any actual cost associated with the title. In other words, it's free, but most are unlikely to have heard of the game, so both WoT and Corsair benefit.