Gaming Headphones

[Merlin4458]

Been using my maplin ones for a year now and i have to hold the ear peices to my ears...

Budget around 30-40 really. Must be fairly hard wearing. Heard good stuff about the medusas but are they a bit dated now? Im thinking 5.1 is worth getting as i will be palying Counterstrike source and other "u need headphones to play" games.

Any suggestions would be great. Thanks

[NightshadowUK]

SteelSeries SteelSound 4H ~ £32.49

One down from my trusty 5H's which're awesome.

[Merlin4458]

they look so comfy. But not 5.1 as far as i can see. Prob thinking its worth going 5.1s.... then again i dont know much apart from 5.1 is more accurate than 2.1

[Nemz0r]

Quality 5.1 headphones are pretty expensive. But some good stereo headphones: Sennheiser PC151's. If you can afford £45, the PC161's have an open ear design, which basically means, the bass will not overshadow the treble as much as in closed ear designs. And you can hear what's around you outside the game more.

[Merlin4458]

thanks nemzor. Both look good, i dont get the p161's. Why would i wanna hear noise in the background? lol. How do these fair to medusas or similar. I will generally throw them on the floor or on my desk so they need to be able to take a bit of wear and tear

[Nemz0r]

To be honest, I don't know . I just know they are highly rated by multiple sources. Not really a technology magazine but this is how PC Gamer described both them and the Medusa. I just like the way they review headphones now and then: Opinion rather than a load of graphs and stuff I can't understand too well :

The Burt Bacharach
Medusa Stereo Jack:
Speed Link: www.meroncourt.co.uk

Performance, 78%
Value, 81%
'A good choice if you're on a budget: 79%'

Excerpt:
"...these are not the strongest cans when come to bass. Like the Steel Sounds (although lacking quite the range of the 4Hs) they're fairly bright and chirpy when it comes to speech and high frequencies -- the open backed design helps -- but fall off ever so slightly faster when it comes to bass notes. The overall tone is slightly richer than the 4Hs, but the bass distortion forces them into third place."

The Maria Callas
Communications PC161
Sennheiser www.sennheisercommunications.com

Performance, 91%
Value, 86%
'A headset in a league of its own: 90%'

Excerpt:
"...When it comes to games, there's nothing to fault in the sonic reproduction. From the lowest rumblings of an explosion in World in Conflict or the threatening growl of one of Stalker's mutants, to the crystal ringing tunes of Auberdine in World of Warcraft: there's a dimension to the sound captured by the high quality drivers like this that makes other headsets flat and boring. Once you've tried them, you can't go back. Even if something is distorted, you can be fairly sure your soundcard is overloaded or the devs left a dodgy sample in the game code.

All of the headsets on test here are what's known as 'open back' design: they have holes in the earpieces to allow sound through. It means you can hear what's going on around you and, more importantly, helps to stop bass tones overwhelming the mid range tones. If the £70 price of the PC161s is a bit steep, the closed-back PC151s -- with slightly different speakers and a boosted bass gamers may prefer -- are available for £20 less."

by Adam Oxford, (C) Future Publishing.

[Merlin4458]

ok they sound perfect for me. Thing is im using an onboard realtek 7.1 sound card which is on my abit at8. Am i going to need creative labs to feel the difference?

[Nemz0r]

I wouldn't think so, onboard sound these days is pretty decent. But i'd clarify with someone more informed than I before purchasing if I were you .

edit: Another idea would be to (if possible) visit a local shop near you which sell headphones, and get a taste of which you like best.

[DannagE]

Why not get a headphone stand if you are worried about them breaking. Its garenteed that if you put them on the floor or desk that you will roll over the cable with your chair and then when you want to use them there will be a break in the cable.

A banana stand will do for cheap cheap ness

Dan

[philipbain]

I use a pair of Zalman true 5.1 surround headphones which are pure class and they were also excellent value, check them out here. They are about £30 and are easily the best pair of headphones i've had for gaming.

[mycarsavw]

I'm currently researching headsets and wondering if you ended up buying any of the above recommendations?

[Server: 503]

Just wanted to say thanks for answering my questions guys

Just joined and haven't figured out how to post, so it was mightily useful to have someone asking the same question.

One further thing to ask though, the PC 161 looks to have a similar design to the Razer Piranha, which has some rather potent retention, becoming uncomfortable after about 10 or 15 minutes (for my admittedly Broad head, anyway), so was wondering if the 161 is tight as well.

Thanks in advance.

[Muska]

Sennheiser: PC 166 USB if i were you i'd raise my budget and get one of these - get exelent reviews everywhere, but the stock is hard to find

[Server: 503]

Stock is hard to find. Found one place but it's not actually in stock. The reviews are very good though, thanks for the heads-up.

Know anywhere that usually has them?

[ikix]

Amazon.co.uk: Used and New: Sennheiser PC 166 USB

[Server: 503]

Oddly enough, I ended up at Amazon without seeing that. Spooky.

The Sharkoon xtatic looked really good though so I bought that. The Sennheiser pc 350s look really awesome, but I can't find them anywhere for less than 107 (in stock) + shipping.

Had my eye on the Sharkoon cosmic anyway, so the predisposition won out in the end.

Thanks for everything, guys. Really appreciated