[xwgpx55]

I'm pretty much new to this whole concept of "Audiophile" headsets lately. I always thought "gaming" headsets were the way to go. I've been through a nice few of gaming headsets from Best Buy and whatnot, and recently, just got done with my Fatal1ty headset; (thanks to my room mate accidentally splitting the wire on it).

I liked the fatal1ty headset a lot actually. But now, after reading up on headsets and sound, I can see that maybe I was not getting the quality that I should be. I have an HT|Omega Striker 7.1 sound card that I just bought, and apparently that didn't have an effect on my sound because the Fatal1ty headset was USB.

So, I heard good things about the HD555's and bought them yesterday from Amazon, and paired them with a clip on mic. I do a fair amount of gaming and a fair amount of music listening, and have recently been dabbling in music mixing with some computer programs.

So, will I be noticing a difference in sound quality? I always thought to myself that my Creative Labs Fatal1ty headset sounded great.

 

[j.har1bo]

I've heard people like the Fatal1ty's too but then they've probably never listened to anything better, they have the same perception that gaming headphones must be good as that's what they've been made for. The 555's will certainly be better than the Fatal1ty's in every aspect. You probably could have picked up some AD700's about 5 days back for $65, but I'm sure those 555's should be a step above your old headset.

Have fun

 

[Necrolic]

Never heard the HT Omega sound card, but if it's not complete garbage you will definitely hear a large improvement over the Fatal1ty. A couple reasons for this.

1. "Gaming" headsets are generally made up of a mediocre headphone and mediocre, overpriced microphone, then overpriced even more because they are "optimized for gaming". This is all complete bull and you can get a $5 Zalman mic that will outperform just about anything on a headset, and for the price you pay for a decent "gaming" headset you could get a fantastic pair of headphones.

2. Fatal1ty's are overpriced even more due to the Fatal1ty brand being slapped on them. They are the equivalent to a $20 Logitech headset in fancy packaging, and sound like crap in comparison to good headphones.

 

[xwgpx55]

Yeah, I saw the AD700 after the fact. People are saying that they're better, but to be honest I really didn't know much about audiophile quality headsets. This is all new to me.

I'm really into music and sound, so I'm pretty excited for this.

I do see some things about amps and DACs? Not exactly sure what they are, but will I need this for my new headset? Or is there an amp in my sound card?

Hopefully this headset is eye opening enough to make me upgrade in the future to some high end stuff.

 

[j.har1bo]

The HD555's are easily driven and sound good unamped so no amp will be required. I don't imagine your card has an amp although I could easily be wrong