Headset/sound card advice

[strike-down]

I will say it outright, I am an incredibly fussy audiophile. Yep, one of the irritating "has to be perfect" FLAC types

I will be using the headset for both gaming (so mic needed), and for music. Now from what I've gathered, I can do it one of two ways: A USB headset, or a discreet sound card and analogue headset. Now I am a big fan of the corsair vengeance line of peripherals, especially the M60 mouse so I thought I might give the Vengeance 1500 a shot. Anyone here using that headset? Would you recommend it? Any others I should be looking at?

Now I've had a look at some of the sound cards available, and to be quite honest, I haven't got a clue whats good and whats not at the moment. People seem to be getting the Asus Xonar cards over the creative cards (my usual choice for a separate card). Thoughts? And if I did go down the sound card route, what headset would you recommend to go with it?
My budget will be in the region of £100-150 so it will be quite tight for audiophile grade, but it would be a massive leap away from the on board sound

Thanks in advance! Any input is greatly appreciated

[kalniel]

Might be worth looking at: http://hexus.net/ce/reviews/audio-vi...ing-audio-set/

Hopefully you should be able to get them close to budget these days.

[strike-down]

Thanks for that, seems like quite a solid setup in most respects! Will do a bit more reading into that combo. Price is still around £175 from most retailers that I've looked at this far. Worst comes to worst, I'll put a few things on ebay to stretch the budget a little

[mekeirc]

That sounds like a poor idea.

If you're willing to spend £175, then you should be willing to pick up a decent pair of headphones (Beyerdynamic DT770, AKG K 701, Audio Technica ATH-M50) to go along with a average mic.

[kalniel]

That sounds like a poor idea.

If you're willing to spend £175, then you should be willing to pick up a decent pair of headphones (Beyerdynamic DT770, AKG K 701, Audio Technica ATH-M50) to go along with a average mic.

Undoubtably better headphones, but then you're left with little budget for a decent DAC and headphone amp. Like I said in the review, the Xense is more like an all-in-one package, like a mini-hifi. It's going to be bettered by a decent separates system, but whether you can get your separates for the budget is another issue.

[Bonebreaker777]

That sounds like a poor idea.

If you're willing to spend £175, then you should be willing to pick up a decent pair of headphones (Beyerdynamic DT770, AKG K 701, Audio Technica ATH-M50) to go along with a average mic.

I have Audio Technica ATH-M50 and it is worth it. I would too, personally, prefer mekeirc suggestion. On the other hand, what kaniel says it true also.

Try to stretch your budget but get the better headphones.

[MrJim]

These might not be quite 'audiophile' quality, but they get quite a good review:

http://www.kitguru.net/site-news/hig...aming-headset/

[strike-down]

The combo may not be the best out there, but it does give a very good starting point. I'm also tempted by it as it has a reasonably decent sound card with it and I do also use speakers quite a bit. Thanks for all the suggestions thus far!

[Gunbuster]

How about a good USB mic like a snowball, a good set of headphones, a decent sound card and maybe even a cheap Chinese desktop dac+amp. Just a thought. Very modular so easy to upgrade.

[strike-down]

£60-70 is VERY expensive for a microphone just for gaming use, but thanks for the idea

At the moment, even though its a little outdated, the Xense combo is at the top of the list for me. I have seen very positive reviews of it, including the one kalniel posted. Payday is Friday, so less than a day to talk me out of it

[Iron Sights]

Clear!..... Thread revive! I just wanted to know what you ended up getting. I'm in a similar boat and wanted your thoughts and how you got on