Headsets

[Sneakytiger]

been using my corsair void pro headset for a few yrs now and find them hard to beat.

[adm]

The Shures turned up and showed an immediate boost over the existing no-names in the mid and high range, and an improvement in noise isolation that allows all those background noises to be heard (read: people sneaking about the map).  Removable cable mean that I could upgrade to a Bluetooth system by buying the appropriate cable.  I'm aware of, but can't comment on the single vs multi driver arguments because I've not made the comparison.

If you're thinking of trying them out, IEMs will initially feel unfamiliar and possibly uncomfortable to new users, but after 5-10 days use, headphones will just seem so heavy and clunky.  And they can be worn with hats that aren't baseball or beanie.  Result.

Just don't buy expensive ones first time out.

[Twyst]

I've been using SteelSeries Arctis 7 (2019 model) for a few years and have been very satisfied with them as a wireless headset.
They also sounded better than my old wired Game One and Zero headsets hooked up to a GSX 1200 amp.

In all 3 cases, I was using VSS which exposed 7.1 channels to the game and then used reverb effects to gain the positional audio in the headset.

I have since changed to using Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro headphones powered by a Mayflower Electronics ARC MK2 amp.
This has no VSS at all so only 2 channels are exposed to games which means any audio positioning is done by the game more than the audio setup.
This is no bad thing as more modern games offer a headphone mode in audio setup which so far is giving me a better "he's over there!" experience.
There is also no microphone, no gaming features other than the amp offers a microphone input.
I have attached a ModMic to the headphones via a sticky magnet.

My ears have been totally blown away by the audio range I was missing - from listening to music I know well to playing familiar games I am hearing stuff I missed all these years!
But then this is audiophile equipment now, so I should expect some improvement I just did not expect this much improvement
Now, this is not a cheap setup - you can get the headphones for around 370GBP and the amp only ships from the manufacturer for 380USD (I payed for 5 day shipping).
However, I will argue that people currently pay much more for their GPU + Monitor to treat your eyes, so why not treat your ears the same?

However, there are some downsides over my prior setups .....
I do miss the hardware volume control for a separate voice channel - windows sound mixing/app muting is a poor substitute.
I am back to using a cable on the headphones. On the slightly plus side, I have two cables now - one coiled one straight. I use the coiled one so it doenst catch on anything like my chair.
These are open back headphones so useless for LAN parties when you need to concentrate on the game.

I have also been using Z Reviews channel on YouTube a lot for audio research before setting on this combo.

[Chaosphere]

I had the same experience a few years ago.

I may or may not now own 5 pairs of headphones, 3 amps, and a standalone dac...

If my wife asks they cost £9.99 each.

:flirty:

My current work horse is the Hifiman HE1000 V2, which I would highly recommend, but the price may put most off. I see it much the same as you said though - most wouldn't complain at dropping a few hundred on a monitor, so why not the headphones too?

For me it isn't just gaming but music, and with it being one of my favourite past times I have no issue indulging a little.



Zeos is ok, I find his content entertaining, but as a reviewer he is a bit lacking. He just seems to enjoy everything - which is fine, the guy loves music and headphones.

But these... THESE... ahem.

https://www.headphones.com/community/reviews-learning-and-news

This is my main source for what I consider to be well-done reviews, that focus a bit more on the review and a bit less on THESE!!!!!

Joshua Valour is also another youtuber whose content I enjoy, and another website - Audio Science Review - is good for the technical performance of gear, but not really for the subjective - which remains far more important...

There are a few others out there too. Always worth watching / reading reviews from a few different sources, and if possible trying the gear yourself before buying - this is SUCH a subjective area.


Enjoy your Beyers!

[TeaLeaf]

That sounds like a great system Twyst, I've been tempted to get into something similar but not yet pushed the button or felt quite the necessary need to justify the budget.  But yeah, colour me green!

If my wife asks they cost £9.99 each.

:flirty:

My current work horse is the Hifiman HE1000 V2, which I would highly recommend, but the price may put most off. I see it much the same as you said though - most wouldn't complain at dropping a few hundred on a monitor, so why not the headphones too?

Holy cow Chaos, the reviews on those HE1000 V2 are amazing, but damn, colour me more than green - if you bring them to the LAN I'd love to hear what that gets you!

[Chaosphere]

I'm a big fan of Hifiman's sound. Their most popular can, the Sundara, can be had for under 300, and would be a fantastic place to start for someone looking to get into high end audio. And most likely 9 in 10 would stop there and enjoy top tier listening for years and years without wanting.

And I'd be happy to bring them along to a LAN, in fact we did something similar last time. Good fun.

[TeaLeaf]

I can trade you an only slightly soiled Sennheiser PC363D? :whistle:

[Chaosphere]

Only slightly? I'd need them to be at least fully caked in grime to even consider it. :lmfao:

[DiseasedBunny]

I can trade you an only slightly soiled Sennheiser PC363D? :whistle:

ericaceous or alicaceous soil?

[SithAfrikaan]

What YEAR is it, let me just blow the dust out of this thread, I didn't think the forums went back this far! :roflmao:

[A Twig]

Ohhh yes, I joined back in the days of CS1.6 when the "clan" I was part of - NoC - folded, and a few people found their way here - smilodon (for that was not his name then) was one of them? Love looking back at the "top hardware" from back then - and how pleased I was with my desk mounted mic and DJ headphones combo

[TheDvEight]

Any recommendations for over-the-ear wireless/blue tooth headphones for use when listening to music /maybe for gaming with a detachable microphone? Max budget would be 200£ would be nice if it came with a case too

[smilodon]

Chaos - Lionheart: [insert wisdom here]

[Dexterous]

Any recommendations for over-the-ear wireless/blue tooth headphones for use when listening to music /maybe for gaming with a detachable microphone? Max budget would be 200£ would be nice if it came with a case too

I can recommend the HyperX Cloud II Wireless.

I've owned them for about a year and half now and from my experience they're very comfortable.

I use a stand alone microphone so I can't speak first-hand as to the quality of the microphone but from a quick google search the reviews that deal with that seem to generally rate it as 'fine'. It's not spectacular but not bad either. Just, meh.

They come in well under budget at £150 RRP but can be bought at the moment for around about £110 on Amazon.

Unfortunately they don't come with a headset case.

One plus that they have is a very respectable battery life of 30 hours. Range wise, they seem to be pretty good. I can move from one end of the house to the other (with doors + walls in the way) and maintain the signal, it's only when I'm on a different floor that it becomes a little patchy.

You can probably get headphones that sound better or have a higher quality mic but for the price these are pretty good.

[Edit] One thing to note is these are wireless but not bluetooth. I think the equivalent bluetooth product is this.

[lionheart]

What a minefield this is....... I like wireless headphones for gaming, but wired for music. My gaming headset are the Astro A50, they are decent for music as well, but not in the same league as proper headphones.

Bluetooth is generally not the best for gaming as there is often latency with the sound. 5Ghz wifi has the most bandwidth but 2.4Ghz has better range. Some headsets have Bluetooth as well as wireless such as the Steelseries Arctis PRO so offer the best of both worlds.

I would have a look at the Corsair Virtuoso range or perhaps the Sennheiser GSP670.