First PC Gaming Headset

[cheesemp]

Its my birthday coming up and my other half wants some ideas for a present. All I can think of is a proper gaming headset for my PC (to replace my £12.50 Philips VoIP headset I currently use). Looking to spend something between £30 to about £80ish. Any good recommendations? So many of these headsets are MW3 branded or some other game I never played which really does interest me. Thinking USB would be best as I only have on board realtek sound but willing to listen to advice to the contrary. Also think wireless would be nice but not essential.

Games I do play for the record are BF3, ME3, plus lots of other random FPSs, puzzles and strategy games.

Any recommendations as everyone I work with who is into gaming has £150 sennheiser's and I've never had anything decent so don't even know where to start...

Thanks!

[jonny440]

My wife bought me the Steelseries Siberia V2 in blacka while ago and I have no complaints. It has a mic that slides back in to the frame, so they can pretend to be a pair of normal headphones, and the sound quality is good. I've got quite a big head and they are very comfortable for prolonged use.

They come with mini jacks plugs and a usb plugin soundcard/adapter thingy, so would suit your requirements.

http://steelseries.com/products/audi...ies-siberia-v2

Currently on Scan for £54

[Rookie1986]

Hi,

I had a sennheiser headset for years and it was perfect I can't remember what model it was but they make really good headsets. When It broke last year I replaced it with a Roccat Kulo 7.1 USB headset and I've been more then happy with it. They are around £59 on PC World at the moment and should be worth a look.

[uannaka]

The Sennheiser pc360 is an excellent headset for me. Quality is great, microphone is ok, comfort is great.

[Cheapy]

The Corsair HS1A is suppose to be very good value for money at £35 and I think quite a few people on here have a set if you want impressions on them.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsa...nnectors-analo

As they are anolog you can get a soundcard then to do the virtual surrond sound. Xonar DG is cheap but has a headphone amp and importantly can use Dolby headphone for surrond sound on your headphones. Worth the small £22 investment I reckon.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...e-ampifier-oem

Gives you a grand total of ~£55 for a soundcard and headset and you have a soundcard for any future headphones too. Good luck making a choice with all the options.

[IronWarrior]

The suggestions Cheapy has made are very good, would recommend them as well, myself I would personally recommend Sennheiser PC350/360's, but that be out your budget.

I would avoid headsets that are 5.1/7.1 since these are gimmick, also avoid USB headsets.

[Pob255]

I'd clarify that to some USB headsets, if you're not an audiophile, main danger is on the cheap USB headsets which can have a bad habit of burning out usb headers if you use front usb ports.
The other major issue is if you've got a sound card, because USB headphones use their own separate audio (which I believe is generally a realtek)

The corsair HS1A is said to be very good and so is the USB HS1

I've found my current SpeedLink Medusa NX v2 analogue to be very nice http://www.scan.co.uk/products/speed...adset-with-mic there has been a few horror stories about it but it's always been the 5.1 version, mainly around the usb burning out
I've not heard of any failings of the stereo analogue version and my pair is still holding up well.
I would of gone for the corsair HS1A at the time but it was around £45-50 which was out of my budget.

[Sacred]

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/rocca...gaming-headset

I've currently got that and I find its great, I often sit at my PC even when not gaming and use ventrilo with my friends. Really comfy especially for them 8+ hour gaming sessions! Worth a look if you're wanting to spend over £60.

[cheesemp]

Cheers Guys - Thats a nice range of prices to pass on to my other half. That way she can decide how much she spends! Think its probably between one of the Roccat's (Kulo 7.1 or Solid 5.1) and the corsair HS1A.

Cheapy - I don't think i'll stretch to new audio card though - My PC is due for retirement soon so it might end up being a wasted upgrade. Onboard will be fine for now.

[dfour]

I have the hs1a and they are a very well build and very comfy, very detailed but totally lacking in bass. I had to pump it up on my old x-fi to get any and it was just as bad for music as I tried my mp3 player vs my trusty old Koss portapro's and it was terrible especially for 50mm drivers.

I would also look to the plantronics 380 (superb and very comfy) (£18) or the usb 780 for £40 if you want 3d surround.

[cheesemp]

Cheers dfour. Glad to know the HS1A bass is a little off. I do like my bass!

[stephen83]

I would suggest Plantronics Gamecom 780.

I would suggest Plantronics Gamecom 780.

Forgot to mention it is way better than Plantronics 777 as the one I owned previously. Much better sound quality and lighter!

[Pob255]

Cheapy - I don't think i'll stretch to new audio card though - My PC is due for retirement soon so it might end up being a wasted upgrade. Onboard will be fine for now.

Just want to point out that a separate sound card can always be moved over into a new build, onboard audio hasn't progressed that much, most new motherboard will probably have the same realtek audio chip that your current board has.
The big thing about onboard audio is often the DAC, that's generally where most of the quality is lost, a good DAC requires a load of capacitors and other bits to filter the signal as it's converted into analogue and that's often an area that onboard sound is weak in.
On the flip side of that is that many sound cards lack an internal header so you cannot connect your case front sockets to it. (just something to watch out for if you buy a sound card and want to use front sockets then make sure the card has an internal header for it)

[shaithis]

Once the HS1As have been worn in (as all speakers need) and you have had a play with your EQ settings, the bass on them is perfectly fine.

I was a bit disappointed when I first got them due to the bass but am now more then happy for the £30 I paid. Microphone quality is excellent as well, as is the braided cable.

[Lociaberca]

I have the Arctic P531 for a year now and I have to say it is very good :-p or you can try the creative fatal series