Need a new headset, advice welcome.

[Pob255]

A couple of years back I got a Speedlink Ares headset from scan
http://www.speedlink.com/?p=2&cat=183&pid=23244&paus=1
I really loved this headset, great sound quality, very comfy, large cups that sit over and around my ears, so not pressing on them.

However I noticed the lead had pushed up inside the cup (wire only goes to one side) and the sound was cutting out in one ear, after some pulling, pushing and twisting it would come back, then died totally.
I've opened it up to see one wire had totally fraid, so I soldered it back together but it's still dead in one ear.

So now I'm thinking it's new headset time, I'm thinking about the Speedlink Ares2 (I've found on an ebuy shop for £20 although I'm a bit wary of ebay headphones due to the number of fakes)
Any other sugestions?

The Sharkoon HS40 looks good, but I'm not sure how large the cups are? http://www.scan.co.uk/products/shark...ing-multimedia

Also the SpeedLink Medusa NX http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129383 the more expensive 5.1 versions got very good reviews

And the Ozone Gaming gear Attack http://www.ebuyer.com/product/222143

ideally I don't want to spend over £30, I prefer jacks to usb (I've seen too many usb burn out issues with headsets in the past) and cups that fit over the ears on on them.

For reference the speedlink ares ear cups padding is - tall 110mm external, 65mm internal, wide 90mm external, 45mm internal, depth of padding 15mm

[Pob255]

no one? anyone?

[Agent]

I had the SpeedLinks....well I had 3 of them to be precise, then I got a refund.

When they work, they're great, but they have pretty low build quality (given the price though....) and I certainly wouldn't buy them as a long term investment.

I know it's out of your range, but after having so many headphones fail on me and / or be poor quality, I splashed out and got some Roccat Kaves. Best investment I've made for a while.

I was using some decent Sennheisers in conjunction with a desktop mic for a while. That worked well and was a bit cheaper, but I liked the idea of an integrated mic too much and didn't stick with that setup.

Sorry I can't recomend anything that you've listed directly, but I guess telling you to avoid one is just as good in terms of buying. I know Zak had a pair which he used and loved, so do ask him if you decide you really like them

[aidanjt]

I've given up on Speedlink, too. I got a set like 6 years ago and the amp failed a few years later after increasing amount of interference induction, although I still used them directly connected to my soundcard in stereo mode until one of the ear peices stopped working. Then I got another set a little over a year ago and one of the ear peices gave out again, and I sent an RMA request to them and they never bothered to reply (and didn't reply to a request for possible amp fixes before that, either).

I'm not going to loathe a company for their hardware fail, it's annoying and inconvient, but can be understandable in a world of cheap, mass produced goods. But for a company to supply badly built hardware and not even bother to reply to customer support, much refusing to honour warranty commitments are purely detestable. They can go screw themselves as far as I'm concerned.

When I get a new set of cans, it's gonna be the Sennheiser PC 360. They do kinda need amped output, and it's a fair chunk of change, but Sennheiser do have outstanding build quality. The PC 350 is about £20 cheaper if you prefer closed cans.

[Agent]

PC 360s are awesome. I went with the Kaves for 3 reasons though:

*Side by side, I couldn't notice any difference between them sound quality wise. The 5.1 on the Kaves actually work too (no, really, I couldn't believe it either).

*The breakout box on the Kaves allow fine tuning of the sound

*The mic was detachable on the Kaves, which I really wanted.

(Sorry for the hijack)

[aidanjt]

Yeah that's another good set. Quite a bit cheaper to buy, as well.

[Pob255]

Well stereo is fine for me, 5.1 would be nice but out of my budget and I'm no where near audiophile enough to spend over £100 on headphones.

The issue of usb amp burnout is fairly common on low cost usb headphones which is why I avoid them, straight jacks that plug into my front connectors is fine by me. (yes I am just using onboard sound, again I'm no audiophile)

Opinions on Koss? or Plantronics? as thoes are two other names coiming up in my searches.
Or any other suggestions within my non-audiophile budget?

[aidanjt]

With your £30 budget, the SpeedLink Medusa NX might still look like your best bet, I wouldn't count on them, but the simpler stereo driver arrangement might be less prone to failure. But if they do, you'd have better luck with your wall than their customer support.

[Pob255]

Well the Koss come with a "life time warranty" which caught my eye and I seem to remember they are an audio company not a gaming peripherals company.
And all the reports I've seen so far is that they are very good on this warranty.

also now eyeing up the Corsair HS1A a bit over my budget but look good

[george1979]

If you are planning on upping your budget I would vouch for the Kaves too. The build quality is excellent and, as the admin mentioned, the 5.1 does work.
The only downside to the build quality is that they are a little heavy but it doesn't take long to get used to them.

[Behemoth]

I'm still using a set of these

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/336113...rlrefer=search

I didn't pay for mine though, won them off a competition here at Hexus along with a copy of Sins of A Solar Empire. Might be worth seeing if you can get them cheaper, have had mine for 3 years, still working well and in one piece

[jonny440]

The gf got me the steel seriessiberia 2 headset a while ago and i've been very happy with it.

The retractable mic is nice and the cups are very comfy.

[Pob255]

I'm scouring fleabay atm

[Terbinator]

+1 more happy Kaves owner here.

[Pob255]

Well as my other half's graphics card is playing up (it's my old xfx 7900gs xxx) I've just ordered her a 5450 to replace it and decided to chuck a pair of the Sharkoon HS40 onto the order.
They may turn out to be rubbish but I'm getting fed up with my current stopgap measure (namely I'm only plugging in the mic and wareing a set of ear buds under the headset) so they should turn up on wednesday so expect a pob review.

And I'll probably keep an eye of fleabay to see if I can pick up something better cheap.

[Behemoth]

Oh well mate, needs must. Ask the GF to cough up a few quid for the GFX card ?