Gaming Headsets

**Lemur** · 09-16-2011, 15:06

I'm getting these delivered today. Didn't pay anything close to list for them; some kind of return/open box deal, almost half off. They've had some good reviews. Never bought anything from Razer before, so this is new turf.

Used to wear the Sennheiser PC 151s, which were pretty good cans; soft on the low end, but the mids and highs were crystal. Volume knob and cord were the weak points, and both failed eventually. That's a selling point for the Razer cans; supposedly the cord is braided, coated and durable, and the mid-cord controller (volume for ears, mute for mic, pretty typical) is said to be equally abuse-tolerant.

Still have a pair of Grado SR60s, but they're ancient and falling apart, literally held together with superglue and duct tape. Also, they lack a mic, which means other players in Left4Dead 2 can't hear my sexy, sexy voice. Can't have that.

What's your favorite headset? Good experiences, bad experiences? I've never tried a pair of Logitech cans, or anything by Plantronics. I'm especially interested in thoughts from people who are cursed with good ears. Life is harder for us.

**Beskar** · 09-16-2011, 15:53

I know many people buy "Turtle Beach", Secura's family effectively all own one (ie: her dad and uncles who play CoD) and they even got Secura a pair and she doesn't even really play games which require them which was amusing, especially as she mocked them for it.
http://www.turtlebeach.com/

As for Razer, I have the Razer Naga mouse and the Blackwidow keyboard. Both so far are working very good, though the keyboard does have a tendency to "clackety-clack" when I am typing.

**Gregoshi** · 09-16-2011, 16:00

I have the Logitech G35 surrounds. I don't have any complaints about them, but then I can't go around saying things like "...soft on the low end, but the mids and highs were crystal." They don't bother me wearing them, but a friend of mine got rid of his because they made his ears too hot.

**Lemur** · 09-16-2011, 16:34

Originally Posted by Gregoshi

I can't go around saying things like "...soft on the low end, but the mids and highs were crystal."

Yah, I know, it's very hard to talk about sound quality without sounding like a pretentious idiot. Especially if you are cursed with good ears.

I console myself by remembering that even at our worst, audiophiles don't sound half so snotty and precious as wine aficionados.

**Lemur** · 09-18-2011, 22:01

My trusty old Logitech MX518 started dying as well, so I decided to throw good sense and reason to the wind and purchase this. What the heck, right? I've had a fun afternoon of figuring out how to program the buttons and take the thing apart. Quite an amazing piece of hardware, really.

All of this is just my way of delaying myself from rebuilding my aging Core2Duo.

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 09-19-2011, 04:50

Are there any decent mic-only solutions? I love my new Sony MDR-XD200 cans and I don't want to use my dinky logitech $20 USB mic with its headphones of pain.

**Furunculus** · 09-20-2011, 13:55

Originally Posted by Lemur

I'm getting these delivered today. Didn't pay anything close to list for them; some kind of return/open box deal, almost half off. They've had some good reviews. Never bought anything from Razer before, so this is new turf.

Used to wear the Sennheiser PC 151s, which were pretty good cans; soft on the low end, but the mids and highs were crystal. Volume knob and cord were the weak points, and both failed eventually. That's a selling point for the Razer cans; supposedly the cord is braided, coated and durable, and the mid-cord controller (volume for ears, mute for mic, pretty typical) is said to be equally abuse-tolerant.

Still have a pair of Grado SR60s, but they're ancient and falling apart, literally held together with superglue and duct tape. Also, they lack a mic, which means other players in Left4Dead 2 can't hear my sexy, sexy voice. Can't have that.

What's your favorite headset? Good experiences, bad experiences? I've never tried a pair of Logitech cans, or anything by Plantronics. I'm especially interested in thoughts from people who are cursed with good ears. Life is harder for us.

my bro has just bought those Razors.

i myself like the sharkoon x-tatic V3's as i have an asus xonar card and these are one of the few with 3x proper 3.5mm inputs to control the eight drivers.

**Lemur** · 09-20-2011, 14:43

Originally Posted by Furunculus

3x proper 3.5mm inputs to control the eight drivers.

Ah, surround-sound. I didn't make that plunge, just went with what looked like a good pair of stereo cans.

**Secura** · 09-20-2011, 15:14

Originally Posted by Beskar

I know many people buy "Turtle Beach", Secura's family effectively all own one (ie: her dad and uncles who play CoD) and they even got Secura a pair and she doesn't even really play games which require them which was amusing, especially as she mocked them for it.

I mocked them all for it, and it's funny because now I wonder how I ever managed without them, especially as I've only had 'em a month or so. They're mainly aimed at FPS games sure, but they do bring a new dimension to games like Fallout and the like; no more will a Deathclaw sneak up on me with padded footfalls, muahaha!

I have to say though, I think that the sound amplification is a double-edged sword, really. Turtle Beach are fantastic for the occasions I play MP (since I can follow the sounds of footsteps, voices and even 'silenced' gunfire), but they're absolutely awful for Zombies, where a single game can last hours on end.

The other night, I had to remove them outright because the constant groans, roars and footsteps of hundreds of zombies was simply too overwhelming for my delicate ears, let alone the whining/'flirting'/outright fail of the teenagers I was inevitably paired up with via the random public match system. >.<