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looking for a new high end headset/soundcard

post #1 of 6
12/20/11 at 9:38pm
Thread Starter 

Hi, i'm looking for a higher-end headset and soundcard for my computer, at the moment, i'm using a pair of logitech g-35's and while they are pretty good, especially in games, i know they can be better, the headset i'm using atm uses a USB connection which also means that i get some noise from the connection sometimes too

anyway, i'm looking for a new set that has the following features

-over ear

-microphone

-better bass quality in particular

-generally better quality in rest of range also

will be using it for

-gaming

-movies

-listening to whatever, music etc

 

as for the sound card, well, i'm not too sure what they do compared to onboard audio, but i think they have much lower noise than onboard/usb connections

 

the store i might get it from is this one http://www.pccasegear.com/ so it's a plus if it's avaliable on their site (though i can look elsewhere)

and the motherboard i'm using is a M4A89TD pro http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A89TD_PRO/#specifications so you can compare soundcards to the onboard audio on that

 

price isnt much of an issue, probably looking to spend about $200 all up, but will go higher if it's worth it ( and thats AUD, from prices in australia)

 

any suggestions are appreciated


Edited by Kieran - 12/20/11 at 9:40pm
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post #2 of 6
12/20/11 at 11:40pm

First suggestion would be to separate the microphone and headphone - you'll open your options. Zalman used to make a very inexpensive clip-on microphone that was fairly popular, I'd start there. There are other options, pick more or less whatever works (Logitech makes some USB microphones, for example). Do this and you can pick any headphone you want. 

 

 

I would consider the Sennheiser HD280 Pro - it's not perfect, but it sounds good, is fairly comfortable (a bit "clampy"), and shouldn't cost a fortune. If you can spend more, I would look at the Denon AH-D2000 and Kenwood KH-K1000 (as closed headphones), and AKG K701 and Sony MDR-F1 (as open headphones); the AKG and Sony would be my first-choice picks, the Kenwoods get the nod over the Denons. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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post #3 of 6
12/21/11 at 3:42pm

+1 i would gladly take a budget stereo can like Superlux 668B or JVC RX700 over any 'headset' beerchug.gif

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post #4 of 6
12/21/11 at 4:26pm

Just pick a typical hi-fi headphone that suits your sound signature preferences and tack a ModMic on it.

 

As for the sound card, my suggestion's the X-Fi Titanium HD...holy crap, what's with the pricing on that site? It's only around US$100-120 here. Even the Xonar Essence STX is cheaper, and that's usually around US$150-175 here, significantly more expensive. We're probably better off keeping it cheap with the Xonar DG to leave most of the budget to the headphones, so long as you have a PCI slot free.

 

What games do you play, by the way?

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post #5 of 6
12/23/11 at 7:53pm
Thread Starter 

lately, i've been playing bad company 2 + bf3, some left 4 dead 2

 

also, it seems like kindof a hack solution to attach a mic to headphones, i've tried it before, and it's just really.. fiddly having 2 seperate cords running from your head (i did this when i had one broken headset (headphones broken) and one with a broken mix, so naturally i attached one to the other)

surely there has to be some quality headphones avaliable, not to mention, that ModMic thing costs $32 + probably atleast $10-15 shipping to australia ( if avaliable), thought there are probably alternatives

the site (pccasegear.com) usually has very decent prices for australia ( among the best ) though you can go to www.staticice.com.au to compare prices on other products too

or check out the range on iibuy.com.au

 

dont be restricted by the stocks of these sites though, i will look elsewhere if there's a product that suits my wants

 

edit:

oh also, "Just pick a typical hi-fi headphone that suits your sound signature preferences and tack a ModMic on it." i already have an above-typical headset(i think?), just want even better


Edited by Kieran - 12/23/11 at 9:19pm
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post #6 of 6
12/24/11 at 5:47pm


I'm skeptical of any "gaming" accessory to produce SQ comparable to a hi-fi headphone. It's just the result of different design goals. I'm not sure how else to express that to you; please do not take this as an attack on yourself. The best headphones available on the market are just that, headphones. You won't find them attached to a microphone. The ModMic is not that expensive at all compared to a quality set of headphones (the set pictured on their website, the Sennheiser HD-650, is $300-$500 US, for example); I like the suggestion. 

 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kieran View Post

lately, i've been playing bad company 2 + bf3, some left 4 dead 2

 

also, it seems like kindof a hack solution to attach a mic to headphones, i've tried it before, and it's just really.. fiddly having 2 seperate cords running from your head (i did this when i had one broken headset (headphones broken) and one with a broken mix, so naturally i attached one to the other)

surely there has to be some quality headphones avaliable, not to mention, that ModMic thing costs $32 + probably atleast $10-15 shipping to australia ( if avaliable), thought there are probably alternatives

the site (pccasegear.com) usually has very decent prices for australia ( among the best ) though you can go to www.staticice.com.au to compare prices on other products too

or check out the range on iibuy.com.au

 

dont be restricted by the stocks of these sites though, i will look elsewhere if there's a product that suits my wants

 

edit:

oh also, "Just pick a typical hi-fi headphone that suits your sound signature preferences and tack a ModMic on it." i already have an above-typical headset(i think?), just want even better



 

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