Headset and sound card

[gilljoy]

Hey all just looking some advice,

I'm looking to get myself a decent headset and accompning soundcard for gaming,

unfortunately cant have real surround sound due to family members working night shifts.

I'm thinking of picking up Roccat Kave headset but if anyone has any good suggestions i'd appreciate it

Also are xonar or X-fi sound cards better for gaming? I've heard mixed oppinions about both of them so kinda confused

[george1979]

Someone has another thread about headsets, especially the Kave, over in the gaming section right now.

I have the Kave's paried with a Xonar DG and it does sound really good. You get a good suuround sound effect and they are solidly built. This brings up their main downside though and that is that they are heavy. I have to shift them around now and again as the headband doesn't seem to agree with my oddly shaped head.

For the money they are great.

[MSIC]

What is your budget?
Because I can recommend some £500 headphones that will sound great...

In the meantime however, check out a few review sites.
The Register did a piece recently comparing 10 wired headsets:
http://www.reghardware.com/2011/02/1...ar_headphones/

They also did a similar piece about wireless ones:
http://www.reghardware.com/2010/08/2...ss_headphones/

I just bought these ones:
http://www.reghardware.com/2010/01/2...ss_headphones/

[gilljoy]

What is your budget?
Because I can recommend some £500 headphones that will sound great...

In the meantime however, check out a few review sites.
The Register did a piece recently comparing 10 wired headsets:
http://www.reghardware.com/2011/02/1...ar_headphones/

They also did a similar piece about wireless ones:
http://www.reghardware.com/2010/08/2...ss_headphones/

I just bought these ones:
http://www.reghardware.com/2010/01/2...ss_headphones/

Lmao about £70 max for the headphones and about £30 for the sound card..


So pretty much £100 for both

[Aurhinius]

I'd go for the Asus Xonar DG - supports 5.1 and has an inbuilt headphone amp which you will need to drive a decent set of headphones.

As for headphones everyone has their preference mine is sennheiser so I would go with some 595's if you don't need a mic otherwise the PC 350/360's are good.

[Uriel]

Absolutely do not get 5.1 multiple drive headphones like the Kaves with the Xonar DG. The DG has Dolby Headphone, which does a more than passable 5.1 impression over stereo headphones. This is a much more convincing 5.1 representation than multiple driver 5.1 headphones like the Kaves can ever hope to produce.

Surround headsets with multiple drivers per ear are based on technology that was known to be limited in the 1970s.

Don't get me wrong - multiple driver headsets do work - just not that well. Virtual surround is much more capable these days and I would particularly recommend Dolby Headphone. I used 5.1 Medusas for years (loved them at the time) and I'll never go back to a multi-driver 5.1 headset, knowing what I do now.

[c.ruel]

Another vote for the Xonar DG, very impressed by mine. What shocked me most about it was how much better it made music sound over my 2.0 speakers not just how it improved sound ingame with my siberia headset.