PC speakers and Headsets

[freezspirit]

I'm considering replacing my old 2.1 Harman Kardon but one speaker doesn't work so its a 1.1 setup.

Main contender at the moment it Creative Gigaworks T40

For the headset was thinking of Creative Aurvana X-Fi but they are a bit pricy and battery life doesn't ast long

But I'm open to advice/comments/recommendations but things to consider:

• Not got a budget in mind at the moment

• wireless or wired

• 2.0, 2.1, 5.1 7.1 etc

• The wattage

• The brand

Only thing that I am sure on it that the sound must be of great clarity/definition and ofcourse value for money.

[TooNice]

As far as desktop multimedia speakers go, I do think that the Gigaworks rank amongst the best (though sound is quite subjective).

As far as headset go, I am a little split. The convenience of having it all in one piece is nice especially now that I move about, but for home use, I find that headphones give better sound quality for the money, even if you add 10 pound for a desktop mic. The problem of course, is that it's not as convenient (one more thing on the table you need to move about).

If the headset I've tried, I favour the Sennheiser PC-series at least over the '5.1' headsets I've tried. If you are open to the idea of getting headphones with mic as sperate, then I'd go Koss PortaPro/KSC-75 or Sennheiser PX100. That's on the lower end of things (but they are amazing for the money and compete well against twice+ their costs) - if your budget is higher, I may be able to suggest other things (but generally speaking, the aforementioned are hard to beat from a bang for buck point of view). They are also great for any portable music players use.

[CrazyMonkey]

Using the Steelseries Siberia Headset (Originally Icemat Siberia) It's the most comfy headset i have ever worn and also delivers excellent sound quality for a decent price.

[freezspirit]

Thanks TooNice, yep I've read alot of reviews on the Gigaworks T40 all have been mixed about the sound quality but since they will be mostly for drama/movie listening compared to gaming think I might get them, unless other can recommend others. I do like the look of HD50 but I think they are over priced compared to the T40 although I could be wrong.

About the headsets yep not really concerned about a mic since I don't really talk online, when I do I have a mini mic but I did forget to mention that the headset needs to be noise cancelling or noise isolating which ever is better. Mostly use for indoors. When I'm out I mostly wear what is now called backphones last pair were Philips but cat chewed cable.

Thanks also to CrazyMonkey to be honest never heard of Siberia so will look into them.

[Mick84]

I have the T-40 speakers for my PC and they are really really good. I was surprised with how loud they can actually play (loud enough for anything really eg music for parties). The sound quality is also really good I think - a lot more balanced base than if you went for a 2.1 setup where the base usually is too powerful and a bit out of sync with the rest.

They are quite pricey but if you think about how much they contribute to your PC experience then £70 isn't really anything.

[TooNice]

@freezspirit: You generally have to pay a bit more (in terms of sound quality, cost or some combination of the too - it's easier to have an 'open' sound with a non-isolating headphones). At the lower end, I think the Sennheiser PX200 is decent at what it does, and I can't quite think of any other closed headphones at that price point (there are a few other options if you want to consider IEMs but I am assuming you want headphones just to keep the choices down). The consensus though, is that the PX100 and lower end Koss (both non-isolating) sounds better.

If the budget permits, you are looking for more serious hi-fi headphones to keep for years/decades, I'd look into the Beyerdynamic DT770 (~85 pounds) and the Audio-Technica ATH-A500 (around the same price in this part of the world but currently a little over 65 pounds on YesAsia - very decent value). Those are two closed headphones I've tried, and quite liked. I'd suggest the later if you are going to plug it straight into your PC - it's a bit less demanding in terms of the source (Beyerdynamic are a bit more picky in my experience). Shop around though, the price I've quote were just quick Google search. The great thing about headphones though, is that unlike multimedia speakers, they are much easier to try, so I would suggest that you find a hi-fi store and try them out if you can.

[dfour]

The logitech G51 speaker set came out very well in a review only just behind the gigaworks 7.1 setup
Amazon.co.uk: Logitech G51 Surround Sound Speaker System: Electronics & Photo

Considering getting some myself to replace my creative set I have now.