Hi guys
looking for a good budget gaming headset?
mainly for COD was interested in the 5.1 stuff but will hear arguements against
cost wise upto £40-50
cheers
Hi guys
looking for a good budget gaming headset?
mainly for COD was interested in the 5.1 stuff but will hear arguements against
cost wise upto £40-50
cheers
I would like to suggest you for Razer Carcharias Professional Gaming Headset.
It's for approximately 70$. I think you should take a look on it.
Do you have a soundcard?
If not, I'd suggest:
Xonar DG soundcard http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...-headphone-amp - this is a stereo card but simulates 5.1 over stereo headphones with Dolby Headphone (very convincingly IMO, based on other Dolby Headphone products I've heard). If you don't like DH, you can stick to stereo and the card will give a sound quality boost over onboard anyway.
Goldring DR50 headphones http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Goldring-DR50-...ht_1485wt_1139 (review - http://www.otest.co.uk/group-test/wh...on-116343.html)
And a desktop or clip on mic http://www.medusa-uk.com/product_inf...=96#googlebase or http://www.okobe.co.uk/ws/product/Lo...4519?ref=1q4bs
No headset I've heard comes close for the money.
No sound card just the onboard from my asus p6t
Then the setup I posted is probably the best you can get for the money.
Why not these for headset:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ozone...gaming-headset
I know these are a bit over budget but I just got the Roccat Kaves and they are very, very good.
I recently posted a short review about them. They are hardware 5.1, which will never be as good as a proper speaker set up but they are the next best thing. Certainly one of the best 5.1 headsets available.
Also the build quality is fantastic so the extra expense should pay for itself as I shouldn;t need to replace them in a while.
They are heavy though.
i have been looking at these
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/medus...gaming-headset
seems to be a good set most gamers have them
I used to own Medusas. I thought they were superb at the time. However, a Xonar soundcard with Dolby Headphone and decent stereo headphones utterly outclasses them for both sound quality and positioning.
I would forget multiple driver 5.1 headphones like the Medusas and Kaves entirely. They're outdated tech and have been utterly surpassed by what virtual 5.1 over stereo headphones can do. There is so much about the way we perceive directional sound that can't be done with multi-driver surround headsets. Google HRTF for more of an explanation on directional sound perception.
Having a Xonar or X-Fi is a big advantage for older games too. In the changeover from windows XP to Vista, Microsoft completely changed the way Windows handles sound. Anything older is restricted to a software based sound system that is usually only stereo. Only Creative and Asus have implemented fixes that work well, allowing hardware based audio processing and surround sound as was originally intended by the programmers (Creative cards are actually a little better for this but their CMSS-3D headphone isn't a patch on Dolby Headphone).
Edit: to give an idea of what Dolby Headphone is like. I'll quote from HardOCP's review of the Corsair HS1, a Dolby Headphone based stereo headset:
When they say 'speakers' they're talking about virtual speakers. Dolby Headphone simulates speakers and a listening environment around you.We began Left 4Dead 2 with a 2.1 speaker choice in both the game and our Corsair HS1 control panel. The game sounded fine, but there was nothing special about this experience.
We next chose 5.1 in both the game's options and the Corsair control panel. The character of the game's audio changed dramatically. Before, with two speakers and Dolby Headphone, we were hearing enemies in the "Dead Center-Streets" level to the sides, front, and back of us. When we changed to 5.1, everything in the game's soundtrack playback changed dramatically. We could perceive depth of sound above and below us. Enemies running from stairs toward us from above and behind us was extremely clear and realistic. The dark tunnels in the middle of the level had genuine sounding echoes and players behind and in front of us were clearly perceived by sound alone. Sounds were accurately separated and not muddy in the least. Other players could be located easily on the other side of walls and around corners.
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/...eadset_review/
That reflects my own experience. The Corsair headset's a little out of your price range (cheapest I saw was £66) but the Xonar with stereo headphones (not just any stereo headphones mind you, synergy is very important) will give you the same sort of gaming experience.
George1979 mentioned that the Kaves are no substitute for 5.1 speakers. I'll put it this way: since owning Dolby Headphone capable devices with decent stereo headphones, my Logitech z680 5.1 speakers have been gathering dust. They won't beat several grand's worth of home cinema equipment but they can do better than a couple of hundred quid's worth of PC speaker, especially if you're restricted by room layout, family or neighbours.
I'll add a caveat though - Dolby Headphone, like all generic HRTF systems, relies on a match with the user. The perfect system would measure and replicated your own hrtf with microphones in your ears. Without that it's kind of luck of the draw as to how well it works for you
Last edited by Uriel; 03-12-2010 at 10:21 PM.
while im glad for ur input and dont doubt you are right i dont like the idea of having a seperate mic?
I sit some distance from my pc desk so has to be mounted on the headset
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