Your best headset

Hi gurus,

What is in your opinion the best surround headset for gaming? I have been using the Logitech G933's that they are pretty amazing, but I am interested in what you all use/prefer.

 

Try asking on the Website Head-fi, check the Mad Lust gaming headphone thread.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/mad...g-guide-5-6-2019-hifiman-ananda-added.534479/

 

Oh dear, you opened a can of worms @TaskMaster

Really depends on your budget, first of all. Personally , I'll always recommend to avoid "gaming" headsets. Generally, you want a good set of headphones with large drivers, open ones will generally produce more of a wide stage which is brilliant for positioning. Also, comfort is key for me and many others. Quality materials that make headphones feel sturdy and comfortable is key, also weight matters! Clamp force too. There's a lot to it.

Probably best to tell us how much you're willing to spend on headphones and what you'll be plugging them into, that's for starters.

 

@metagamer
Only two problems with open type of headphones: leakage of sound out, and leakage of noise in.

 

Budget is not an issue at the moment, and I will be plugging it in to optical if possible, do they exist? or standard line in, onboard realtek sound system.

 

Ive seen some post with prices in the $500 range, I think there is a thread already on "What CANS r u using"
that said, I have a set of steelseries(forget which line)open backs, about $70 new I'm happy with. But im a gamer not an Audio file nut, though I do love music!

 

Yes, definitely. I wouldn't use them outside and I wouldn't use them in an environment where I would annoy others. In my private game room though, I don't care about either. But yes, a good point.

 

Still using my HD580's after 10+ years, and no real reason to replace them. I've replaced the foam pads with nylon, and bought replacement foam strip for the headrest. And using the Cardas replacement cable, which I bought when it wasn't stupidly overpriced.

 

This set ..https://steelseries.com/gaming-headsets/arctis-pro-gamedac Great sounding headphones. The DAC is what I really like about this set. You can adjust pre set EQ settings or set your own EQ on the fly, and while in a game. Getting the surround sound set up to your liking in a particular game, or movie etc., needs you to be IN that game or movie. This DAC lets you do that. For the money, and ease of fine tuning etc.the Arctis Pro + DAC is the set I believe to be the best all round surround sound headphones. And, I have a LOT of gaming headphones to make a call like that. Of course, this is my opinion.

 

Actually they are in stock together with HD 58X Jubilee and ship almost immediately. I.e. buy now, ships on Monday. Those Sennheisers are so popular these days that they basically keep the in stock all the time.

When buying from Drop.com, it's good idea to check the shipping date and/or if stuff is in stock.

 

An excellent budget choice would be Audio Technica AD700; sounds neutral (though maybe a bit lean in the bass) , large soundstage, nicely detailed and super easy to drive.

As matter of fact I vaguely remember a while back there were some "gaming headphones" which were just the AD700 rebadged with a mic added to it?

Otherwise agree with everyone else, avoid gaming headsets in general and go with proper headphones, you'd be surprised what budget hi-fi headphones with comparable price to a gaming headset can sound like.

 

AD700 are a good choice for sure, extremely comfortable and great sound stage. Easy to drive. I haven't listened to my pair in a while but from what I remember, they were less than neutral in many aspects. But a good choice for sure and I kinda think everyone should have the AD700 in their collection because they sound good, are cheap and are different.

 

From memory (and this is a version I heard many, many years ago) I remember the biggest issue was it being quite bass lite; still nicely detailed just lacking punch I know they've had a few changes since then but haven't heard the recent iterations.

 

I use the Sennheiser PC360. Good mix of sound quality and comfort.

 

I use a pair of Beyerdynamic DT1990’s or a pair of Beyerdynamic MMX 300’s depending on what I’m doing, the MMX 300’s mostly just get used on PS4, both great sounding headphones though and the mic on the MMX 300’s is great unlike most gaming headsets I’ve heard.

Can’t really recommend any surround sound headsets, something never sounds quite right with them to my ears.

 

So I caved and bought the Steel Series Arctis Pro wireless and I am not disappointed at all!

I use the optical input to my PC as I have dolby and wow! fired up BFV and it sounds incredible! The little DAC thing is very easy to use, have a nice custom EQ set up as well.

They are far more comfortable than my logitec g933's and have a very good about of bass to them without being overwhelming.

Music and movies sounds very good as well. Just what I was looking for, very happy.

Thanks for your help all.

 

Can you plz specify your exact setupp? My brother is going to hammer me with questions on 5.1 soundcards and headsets very soonish so i'm preparing myself with infos atm.

 

I'm more of a 5.1 surround speakers guy (still <3 my good ol' z5500). However, when I got my Kingston HyperX Cloud II 7.1 Gun Metal headset ~3 years ago, I had 0 expectations, as it was kind of an impulse buy, since I needed a headset, and they were on sale. Turned out I made a great choice, as the headset is/was one of the best price/performance pieces you could get at the time (the mic is decent too), still use it today.

 

We had a couple of pairs of Audio-Technica x40s and 50s I liked those very much and altough they were not quote on quote gaming headsets the sound was pretty damm good! Right now using a pair of Hyper X cloud I think they are called? Very good sound + its easy on the skull not to heavy or bulky, Sound that comes outta these things + Bass is freakin amazing for a sub $100 dollar headset.

 

I have the new Asus Maximus XI motheboard which come with Realtek audio.

The headset I bought has a hub where you can connect it to multiple sources such as PS4/ PC and even has blutooth.

What I did (and which provides the best audio quality) is plug the optical cable from my headset hub to the realtek optical port on the pc and thats it!

Makes sure the hub is set to PS4 (optical is default PS4 on the hub, but it just the way they named it, nothing more) then make sure you do the usual on windows i.e. make sure you select realtek speakers etc and you are done!

It will be dolby 5.1 surround sound and works very well. I can hear enemies creeping up on me from a long way and even in BF games with all the chaos in the battlefield I can still distinguish enemy steps near me without sounding fake. Everything is blended nicely.

Optical headset is truly great for gaming. Sound is crisp and bass is good. Just make sure to set up a good EQ (plenty of sites offer you guidance).

Great thing about this headset is battery life. About 10 hours on each battery and when one runs out you simple charge it and swap it with the one that was charging before so essentially you have 20 hours (if not endless) gaming time, thought I know most of us would never go on for that long, but it is a great feature.

 

1) Using optical connection means that you are using the hub as your DAC, so having the Realtek audio is irrelevant. All the analog conversion is being generated on the hub.

2) Dolby 5.1 is a compressed audio format. (SPDIF just doesn't have the bandwidth for 5.1 PCM) You probably don't notice the difference, which is perfectly fine. I use HDMI to output to my external DAC so I can get uncompressed 5.1 audio. If it sounds better than the line out of the Realtek, it just means the DAC and analog components on the hub are doing a more pleasing job.