[hitraj47]

Hey guy's,
 
I hope this is the right section to post in.
 
I've been reading through Mad Lust Envy's Headphone Gaming Guide and and some other sites reviewing gaming headsets and I am wondering which headphones I should buy. It will be primarily for PC gaming so I need to have a mic as well. I'd like to keep the price under $200 (USD) preferably $150 or less. I've used a Logitech G35 for years now, but it's starting to fall apart and the sound goes all crackly sometimes, which I know is a sign that it's dying as the same thing happened on a previous pair. I've always liked the G35, the sound quality was good to me and it's very very comfortable and has a lot of convenience features, but I am wondering if there is something better out there.
 
I put together an Amazon wishlist of some that I'd like to try: http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/21SHXQDJNSI2E/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_o
 
Please bear in mind I am not an audiophile, so if you plan on using a lot of technical terms, treat me like I'm 5  
 
Also, if I don't buy a USB headset, should I buy a soundcard? If so, which one? My motherboard is an ASUS P8P67 Pro, I don't know if that is sufficient integrated audio quality to really appreciate these headphones.
 
Finally I am looking at getting a good balance between awesome sounding games but at the same time I want headphones that would be good for competitive play, but leaning more towards impressive sound/experience.
 
P.S. I put the Corsair headset on that list because it has been getting good reviews.
P.P.S. Since the headphones don't have mic's, what do you suggest?
 
EDIT: I should add that I prefer circumaural, I feel this is the most comfortable, which is important because I wear them for hours.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I've been reading through Mad Lust Envy's Headphone Gaming Guide and and some other sites reviewing gaming headsets and I am wondering which headphones I should buy. It will be primarily for PC gaming so I need to have a mic as well. I'd like to keep the price under $200 (USD) preferably $150 or less. I've used a Logitech G35 for years now, but it's starting to fall apart and the sound goes all crackly sometimes, which I know is a sign that it's dying as the same thing happened on a previous pair. I've always liked the G35, the sound quality was good to me and it's very very comfortable and has a lot of convenience features, but I am wondering if there is something better out there.
I put together an Amazon wishlist of some that I'd like to try: http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/21SHXQDJNSI2E/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_o
Please bear in mind I am not an audiophile, so if you plan on using a lot of technical terms, treat me like I'm 5  
Also, if I don't buy a USB headset, should I buy a soundcard? If so, which one? My motherboard is an ASUS P8P67 Pro, I don't know if that is sufficient integrated audio quality to really appreciate these headphones.
Finally I am looking at getting a good balance between awesome sounding games but at the same time I want headphones that would be good for competitive play, but leaning more towards impressive sound/experience.
P.S. I put the Corsair headset on that list because it has been getting good reviews.
P.P.S. Since the headphones don't have mic's, what do you suggest?
EDIT: I should add that I prefer circumaural, I feel this is the most comfortable, which is important because I wear them for hours.

Asus Xonar DG (PCI) sound card $27
Samson SR850 (made by Superlux) headphones $55-$60
Zalman micropdone ZM-Mic1 $9
total  $100, everything could be bought on Amazon.
 
 
 

 

[hamzatm]

HI there, referring to what PurpleAngel said, I actually went and bought that exact combination (SR850 and Xonar DG) for gaming purposes (all FPS), so I believe I can give some useful insights into it.
 
Firstly, for the price I dont think there is anything that can beat it. The SR850s sound great, and the Xonar DG is awesome for £20. For all uses the SR850s are literally fantastic.
 
For me, however, I felt that I was missing out in terms of the gaming sound I dreamt about. I play somewhat competitive MW3 on the PC and I was after every advantage I could get in my game. With this combo, I could hear footsteps but I couldn't easily detect the exact direction they were coming from. I could locate gunfire and everything without a problem but determining footstep directions consistently was just impossible! It may be I need to get used to the headphones, but being an impatient guy I didn't take that route
 
On a budget, I went and bought some used DT770 pro 80ohm cans and a used Auzentech X-Fi Forte - came to about £140. And now I have exactly the accuracy of sound I always wanted!
 
IMO If you really want that kind of accuracy, I recommend going a notch higher and purchasing something from a higher price range. This shouldn't be a problem considering the G35s are about £80 over here, so if you are already willing to spend that much, for a slight bit more you can get some absolute monster headphones/headsets. Also, I dont think the Forte was worth the upgrade from the Xonar DG, compared to the difference the headphones make.
 
Just my 2p

 

[AltairDusk]

Quote:

P.P.S. Since the headphones don't have mic's, what do you suggest?

My vote goes to the AntLion ModMic hands down, it's one of those things that make you wonder how nobody thought of it and marketed it before: http://www.modmic.com/
 

 

[wotts]

For that price I'll have to try one. I have been looking at the Beyer MMX300, but this would be awesome to use with all the cans I alreaddy have.  Thanks!
 
 
Quote:

Quote:

My vote goes to the AntLion ModMic hands down, it's one of those things that make you wonder how nobody thought of it and marketed it before: http://www.modmic.com/
 

 

 

[spoonstar]

Quote:

 Also, I dont think the Forte was worth the upgrade from the Xonar DG, compared to the difference the headphones make.
 
Just my 2p

I was actually going to ask if you still had the DG and noticed a difference between the Forte and the DG with your Beyers. I have been a long time fan of my Xonar DG, and I think I would need some real burden of proof for me to upgrade. Not saying there isn't any improvement (hence my asking!), but I was soooo impressed with the quality difference between onboard sound/Audigy2 and the DG. For the price, the thing is a monster.
 

 

[NamelessPFG]

What games do you have in mind? That can quite easily shape your sound card decision if some of them happen to be older titles that have hardware-accelerated audio options.

 

[Phos]

Everything I've heard about the Zalman mic is that it's a piece of crap and that the mod mic is the way to go.  For PC I use a cheapo desktop mic and it works well enough.

 

[ibage]

Quote:

Everything I've heard about the Zalman mic is that it's a piece of crap and that the mod mic is the way to go.  For PC I use a cheapo desktop mic and it works well enough.

I'm going to second this. I've ordered two of those things now and neither have worked right out of the box. I use an old, crappy Logitech headset planted on my desk and for $13, they've gotten me results. I've just been too sheepish and lazy to mod my HD555.

 

[hamzatm]

Quote:

I was actually going to ask if you still had the DG and noticed a difference between the Forte and the DG with your Beyers. I have been a long time fan of my Xonar DG, and I think I would need some real burden of proof for me to upgrade. Not saying there isn't any improvement (hence my asking!), but I was soooo impressed with the quality difference between onboard sound/Audigy2 and the DG. For the price, the thing is a monster.
 

Well said!
 
I gave my DG temporarily to a friend, but as soon as I get it back I may well do a direct comparison for yours and others benefit

 

 

[NamelessPFG]

I'm looking forward to the comparison.
 
The Xonar's going to be heavily disadvantaged in anything that uses DirectSound3D or OpenAL, but it does offer a lot of bang for the buck for a card that can still be bought brand new, at least going by the feature set. I wonder how well it fares sound quality-wise against a Forte in working order.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I was actually going to ask if you still had the DG and noticed a difference between the Forte and the DG with your Beyers. I have been a long time fan of my Xonar DG, and I think I would need some real burden of proof for me to upgrade. Not saying there isn't any improvement (hence my asking!), but I was soooo impressed with the quality difference between onboard sound/Audigy2 and the DG. For the price, the thing is a monster.

I would suggest holding off from any upgrade right now anyway, C-Media just came out with an newer audio processor, the CMI8888 (PCI-Express).
So I'm guess new sound cards are going to be coming out in the next several months.
 
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I'm looking forward to the comparison.
The Xonar's going to be heavily disadvantaged in anything that uses DirectSound3D or OpenAL, but it does offer a lot of bang for the buck for a card that can still be bought brand new, at least going by the feature set. I wonder how well it fares sound quality-wise against a Forte in working order.

As Xonar's come with OpenAL, how is that a disadvantage compared to other sound cards using OpenAL?
 
 
 

 

[Roller]

Quote:

As Xonar's come with OpenAL, how is that a disadvantage compared to other sound cards using OpenAL?
 

You mean the poor software implementation of OpenAL present on Asus cards? Other than it sounding worse, having low quality positional cues and having the most basic support for advanced audio? Not much...
 
There is hardware OpenAL and software OpenAL, and they don't differ just in performance.

 

[Phos]

Quote:

You mean the poor software implementation of OpenAL present on Asus cards? Other than it sounding worse, having low quality positional cues and having the most basic support for advanced audio? Not much...
 
There is hardware OpenAL and software OpenAL, and they don't differ just in performance.

Unless you specifically need EAX you could get the Xonar for its Dolby Headphone for software games and rapture 3D for native OpenAL games.  I wounder if the directsound3D wrapper that Asus uses could get Directsound games working with rapture...