sennheiser pc 350 or 360
beyerdynamic mmx 300

akg ghs-1

At that price range I haven't used much. I would suggest spending 79.99 on a steelseries 5Hv2 (not the USB model). However in comparison to my sennheisers it is slightly harsher for highs and lacks a bit on the low end. Key thing with the 5Hv2 pair, is I can wear them for hours and not notice. The biggest problem with cheaper headsets is they are not comfortable.

http://www.amazon.com/SteelSeries-5H-Gaming-H...amp;sr=8-2

The steelseries 4h is supposed to be the same "cans" as the 5h, but doesn't have some of the extra features and gets within your price range. However I personally have not worn them and can not vouch for the comfort of long term use

My suggestion:

Sennheiser CX300 II Precision ECO Headphones + chep ass headset with mic, put around neck :)

prize are around 45e

just get some soundcard and u win! :D

Portable, comfortable, ear wont hurt from 8h of playing, u cant hear shit around you when u have them in, and sound is amazing, also bass is very very good.

but if u want u can buy

Plantronics gamecom 367 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUm-lcW7-b0

plantronics are quite a good compromise: the sound isn't that bad (can't compare the sennh pc350 quality for pure gaming, but at least they got some bass), and the build quality is fairly good for an appropriate price.

The only drawback is the cloth material used for the inner part which touches your ears, which might be annoying if you can't cope with the summer heat

They good are they? Good for helping you pinpoint enemies yeah? Really helps with knowing where your enemies are yeah? Yeah I'm sure they're fuckin' great m8

ahhaha

I'm going to keep my current setup.

Siberia v2's are really comfy, I can wear them for hours with no irritation on the ears or top of head. I haven't really used the mic much.

Kind of expensive though if you're trying to be within a price range.

you'd be better off buying a proper headphone instead of "gaming hardware" and add a clipon mic, phones for 50-70€ and mic is probably around 15-20.

akg
beyerdynamic
sennheiser
...

ive been using a zalman mic1 which i clip on to my headphone cable at chest height. its got extra clips so it just sticks to my headphone cable neatly. and the audio quality is quite good for team communications. i even cast on it altho its not quite perfect for casting.

Thanks for the heads up, I've been eyeballing one of those on Amazon for a few days now wondering if its usable. They are dirt cheap, too. Should be a good match for my Sennheiser HD280's.

If you are upping your specs to 100 dollars you do have several options.

The siberia's from Steelseries are not bad, but the mic can be challenging for certain programs. So they sound better imo than the 5hv2 but the mic seems to be more difficult to tune in a lot of voice programs.

The 5hv2 has the problems I mentioned above, however is an extremely comfortable headset.

What Zealot said above is often correct and will typically get you a better quality headphone for less money than a headset.

So if sound quality is your concern follow Zealot's approach and buy the best set of Sennheiser headphones you can afford and get a good clip-on microphone to give you voice input (Sennheiser is my particular favorite here, others above have mentioned other 'phone manufacturers that are also good). When I last did this sort of research I was looking at around $15 for the clip on mic...

The disadvantage with Zealot's approach is that you will have more cables coming towards you. To manage that you will be taping the headphone and mic's cable together...

Brands I would avoid (at least the models I have tried)

Turtle Beach -- were not comfortable long term and the 5.1/7.1 headsets all seem to make ugly compromises on the drivers resulting in questionable sound qulity.

Razer -- I have not personally used their sound stuff, but friends of mine who have, have not been happy. The over "bling"ified approach that they use just doesn't appeal to me.

If you are looking for comfort primarily, I do suggest the cloth ear cups over the leather ones. If your room is warm the leather ones will result in more ear sweat which just is not fun when gaming for long periods. The advantage of leather is more isolation from the room (typically) so if you have a noisy room mate you may want to head in that direction.

well try to save up more money and get Sennheiser PC 360 G4ME Headset

zeroql,

The sennheiser pc360 is what I currently am using. The price was steep, but I had some amazon gift certificates and credit card points burning a hole in my pocket. If it had been all my money, I would probably be using something else...

After trying Megalodon, Siberia v2 and 5Hv2 and AD700,
I can tell you these:
Megalodon have very good serrounds effect, but the quality is ruin it.
The 5hv2 dont have bass at all, but its very good for pinpoint enemys beacause of the HUGE trebel [bolding lower sounds and etc]
The 7H is kinda overall usage - The mid and the highs dont sparking and have very good balance in the overall sounds - very good for music and gaming.
The AD700 is the best headphone for fps and comfort wise, but not very good for music.

The siberia v2 have high and very good bass and medium trebel - very high quality for music but less recommended for gaming beacause the high bass that can eat the lower effects/sounds.

My rate- gaming:
AD700
5hv2 / 7h
siberia
megalodon

music:
siberia v2
7H
AD700
megalodon

comfort wise:
AD700
5Hv2
megalodon
siberia v2

Microphone:
5Hv2 / 7H / siberia V2
AD700
Megalodon

I just recivied yesterday the AD700 and mod it to have a boom-mic, I can tell you that is the best FPS headset I have had.
now just need to grab some DG or upgrade my whole motherboard for an PCI-E Titanium HD.

Good luck.

For headsets like Sennheiser PC 350 or 360, you need a decent soundcard or it's just a waste of money, and this is not an exaggeration!

If you use your onboard audio, the best you can do is to get the Superlux 668b headphone and the AKG velur-pads (25€+15€) + buy any cheap mic you like

- Noise cancellation also depends on the quality of the onboard audio and on the mic also, so dunno if it's gonna be decent or not, but it must be noted that it's a semi-closed headphone only.
- Comfort is a little bit on the tight side, but gets much better with time. (you can also mod it for better comfort and sound quality)
- You have to EQ it ofc, but the detail in fps games are just amazing for 25 euro headphone, it wont beat headphones in the 300€ range, but easily competes with headphones above 100€.

edit: http://www.soundtrackforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=257

Kapca,

I agree the 350 really needs a sound card that can handle the high headphone impedance that is normal for the 350. The 360 is a little more forgiving here (check the specs and you will see). The 350 is better for noisy environments since it definitely does not let much sound in at all while the 360 with its open air design has a better sound stage (in my opinion) however it does let the noise in. So if you have a noisy fan in your gaming machine the 350 will make the sound disappear... In my case I'd rather not have people sneak up on me and scare the hell out of me when they tap me on the shoulder! (laughs)

dunno, it's true that the 360 is "Only" has 50 ohm impedance, but still it sounds like shit with the onboard audio (probably because of the huge DAC/AMP quality difference).

Kapca,

Interesting, I have not run my PC360's with my onboard sound so I can't validate what you say. Although I will agree that not all sound cards/on board chips are created equal. So it is completely possible that the onboard sound you are trying your 360 with has a horrible headphone amp and the sennheiser's (360 or 350) are exposing this weakness.

I do know that many folks (specifically posters at head-fi.org) believe that a good headphone requires a headphone amp, however now we are completely derailed (and way over budget) for the original poster! I use an Asus Xonar ST (on windows 7) and other than the drivers from Asus sucking wind (get the community made ones and use them instead) it is a great sounding product.

Kevin

I don't own a 360, I only had a chance to try it out for a weekend. I had a 350 for a short time, and I was thinking about moding it (the mod with the little holes) but I sold it instead, because for that price, I could get a used HD600 or a used PC350 Xense edition.
Now I have the Superlux 668b with the akg240 pads + a boom-mic, It's only temporary until I will have some money again what I can spend on myself, but it's really surprised me how good this cheap thing sounds, I expected way much worse tbh.
The only problem I had was that it wasn't comfy at all, I had to mod the headband and replace the pads also. It's a studio monitor headphone, so it doesn't sounds dynamic, but it's exactly what I was after, since I use it for fps games, so I like it clean, detailed and calm:)

The ST is still a good card, and will serve you well for a long time imo. It's sad there is no PCI-E version (iirc the STX is PCI-E but can't do 7.1 while the ST can)

The Superlux do benefit a lot from a soundcard too tbh, but not all onboard audio is bad anyway, at least on desktop PCs, on laptops it's usually pretty damn awful.

And I disagree about having to EQ them, the way they sound out of the box with the velour pads is pretty good - balanced, detailed, not too much bass (and good soundstage) etc
They're great for everything tbh.
But yeah, they don't sound 'dynamic" or "fun" they sound rather "serious" and "detailed" and not everyone likes that.

I have no problem at all with the comfort (even with stock pads I could wear them all day long easily). Guess that depends on the shape of your head etc

For someone who wants cheap but decent and versatile headphones it's certainly the best there is IMO.

- Well, I meant: if you use it with the onboard, then you have to EQ it for sure.

-Indeed the 668b sounds much better with a dedicated card, just like almost everything does, but you are right headphones with impedance as low as 20-30 ohm may sound "ok" with a good onboard audio.

-Imho, you need to EQ anything below HD600 tbh, but perhaps it's just me (e.g.: for me, the 668b EQ-ed vs untouched is like day vs night)

- It was very uncomfy, was hurting my ears:( Had to add extra pads under the velour (+1.3cm), and also had to stretch the headband because it was just too tight for me, it gave me a headache after 30mins or so. (btw when I heightened the pads, I also got better a soundstage... but others are still testing this, so it's only my opinion atm), the stock pads were awful for me, too hot and they sounded bad as well.

I tried the siberia v2, I wouldn't give 20€ for it, maybe I would buy it for 15€ since the mic and the noise canceling... but not sure... perhaps for 10€ only

Sennheiser HMEC 460. The one and only

25,99 € : CREATIVE-Gaming-Headset-Fatal1ty offer @ LIDL

FraGTaLiTy's Audio-Technica AD700 boom mic Mod (Do it yourself Headset)





$91.99 (formerly 250 $) = Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Open-air Dynamic Audiophile Headphones @ Amazon.com
$29.99 = Labtec LVA-7330 Microphone @ Outbackequipment.com
$35.99 = VELCRO® Brand Industrial-Strength Tape, Black @ Staples.com

Sum = 157.97 $

More info, including other similar mods@ head-fi.org


SteelSeries Siberia V2 tend to malfunction after a short time of usage.

SteelSeries Siberia V2 tend to malfunction after a short time of usage.

Malfunction how? When I got my pair about a year ago I was initially annoyed by the cheap feel of the headband, but I can say it's as stretchy now as it ever was. Electronics? Again, a year old and still working 100%.

I really wonder what's going on when people talk about their keyboards and other hardware breaking within a month or two of use.

I noticed with the Siberia V2 headset a sound distortion at certain sound ranges, e.g. that the bass sound range is not reproduced properly as it was before, it sounds numb, and additionally there is some kind of crackle. That happened on two items on them.

There are several other user reports available on the web, which confirm the same problem.

But I am glad, that their customer service is reliable, and I do have now a third replacement headset, but I am unsure to use them or not.

Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro 80 Ohm

this =D

Razer Carcharias! Most comfortable headset i have ever tried.

I had four Sennheiser headsets (mainly the PC series) and the microphone broke on ALL of them the same way.

Carpio,

What did you do to your Sennheisers? I have 2 of them (a Pc360 and a PC350) and have not had the problems that you describe (yet). Where did your microphone break?

K

Holyshit, the guy from Men in Black..

mine broke too, I have 3 broken Senny, I love the brand, but I'm too poor now to burn money like that :(((

if i where u i woudnt buy head set would buy good earset its much cheaper and u can plug to mp3 phone pc much better.. and i think it isolates sound better.
But its headset u want i know alot my friends saying to buy seinheiser and they really happy about it u should try buy one of theese. And maybe creative have ones

collect 150 euros and buy a sennheiser hd 25-1 II and it's the last headphone you will buy in your life probably

what a 'gaming' headset is suposed to be?

Ultrasone PRO 900 if you like huge bass and good soundstage. The bass is addicting.

I can't listen to dubstep with any other hadphone and I have 5 diff. bass heavy headphones.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Superlux-NEW-HD-668B-...2a14051108

might be the best performance/price wise ?

I am not exactly a new player, but I am looking at getting a headset - any advice on brand/cost?

I do not have much to spend, but if anything ~$20-$30 would not be worth it, then I will hold off till I can afford something decent.

Though to those of you that might be surprised to possibly suddenly hear me speaking... <_<
I wouldn't hold your breath

A big reason I am looking at doing it is that the guy whose house I usually play at is moving out of state (which means a LOT more up here in Alaska :P)
Though you may occasionally find me eventually possibly signing into some servers... maybe.

Would this be better in perhaps one of the other forums?
I had the idea that other people of various grades of "New" might benefit from it as well though, so unless otherwise dictated I am leaving it here.