New headset

Ryan12

Active member
Hi, I'm looking for the best headset I can get for about £200.
I need the headset instead of headphones and a separate mic just because I find it's less hassle.
Just saw a recent thread and got me thinking :)
 
T

TheGeeza

Guest

Grimezy

Prolific Poster
I would also recommend the Sennheisers. I have the HD558's which I believe the gaming versions are based on but obviously mine doesn't have a mic attached (I use a separate Blue Snowball Ice mic).

The headphones are very comfortable though and the sound is extremely good. Mine are 'open' so they do leak a lot of noise and also let a lot of noise in which is personally fine for me. The sound feels much more natural this way and you don't feel the need to take them off every 30 mins because your ears don't feel claustrophobic at all.
 

perry123

Member
Get a Mic and headphones. You could save money and you get a better sounding system. It is easier to get a headset but I personally can't stand low quality mics and you generally get ripped off.
 

Spuff

Expert
Get a Mic and headphones. You could save money and you get a better sounding system.

It's not as convenient as an all-in-one headset. You have to set up a stand for the mic, you probably won't be able to mute it like you can with a headset, and it will probably pick up environmental sound in way a headset mic won't. If you have a quiet place where you can keep all that set up, then it's a good option, but personally I don't have that. I play PC games on my TV in my comfy slouch position.
From watching streams on Twitch, the sound quality of headset mics is fully adequate, although perhaps the ones I see are on expensive headsets.
 
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perry123

Member
You are not wrong, it is a better choice for the more lazed out player. When it comes to quality I find adequate a complete failure. It isn't doing the job properly, obviously that is subjective. You can make your own "all in one" headset with clip ons. You don't need a stand you can have it mounted onto the wall or on your headphones and a few more options. To me a headset is a cop out and a expensive one at that, for someone who doesn't know a lot on the subject and doesn't want to take the time to the research. This is understandable as it is extra work and it is much easier to just put on a headset and be ready to go.

Muting can be done in several ways and a mute button comes on nearly every microphone I have purchased. HotKeys, Software and by using push to talk. It really isn't a issue, not to mention that headsets that come with a mute button are on the hefty side of the price tag.

The environmental sounds you can configure the microphone to not pick up these sounds or have a noise gate. Truthfully I have had headset microphone that also pick up background sound. It has nothing to do with the microphone it's how the person configures it. Buying a microphone and using it is much like PC gaming once you've tried it properly, you don't want to go back. Not only do you get better quality vocals, generally headphones are better value for quality.
 

Spuff

Expert
Muting can be done in several ways and a mute button comes on nearly every microphone I have purchased. HotKeys, Software and by using push to talk. It really isn't a issue, not to mention that headsets that come with a mute button are on the hefty side of the price tag.

My £24.99 headset has a mute button ( Gioteck EX05 ). I bought it so I could talk on GTAV on PS3, all voice chat there is the same rubbish quality, and would be even if you were using a Neumann U87.
I come from a music recording/performance history and no mic I ever saw had a mute button on it. That said, I do have a dynamic vocal mic that I bought some years ago that does have a mute switch, it was a budget mic.
I watch streams on Twitch and the difference between the headset mics I see and external mics is a difference I don't notice.

I wouldn't suggest a headset mic for recording vocals.

But having said all that, now that I've got a gain issue sorted out with my cheap mic, I will now be able to use my comfy headphones and that cheap mic when GTAV rolls around on PC.
I could already have been wearing my Senheiser HD650's for gaming (the comfies are my Beyer DT231's), but I prefer the thin sound through my TV. I'm getting too old for all the boom-bang-a-bang.
 
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Grimezy

Prolific Poster
Spuff has a point, my headphones cost £120 and my mic cost £60. There's no volume control on the headphones, there's no mute button on the mic, there's not even an off button (I have to manually unplug the USB from my PC otherwise a bright red light stays on. This is all basic stuff that you'd find on a £50 headset.

However in terms of quality I don't think I could have spent my money better. Plus, do you know how convenient it is drinking a cup of tea without dipping your headset mic in the mug each time?

A headset is perfectly fine at the end of the day. I used to have the Steelseries Siberia V2's and they were very comfortable and good quality. With a budget of £200 I'd go for the Sennheisers though.
 

Spuff

Expert
There's no volume control on the headphones,.

That's a point I didn't think of. My £24.99 headset has separate volume controls for the level of voice chat and the rest of the game sound. This is very handy. It's a facility I would lose with headphones and separate mic.
 

Grimezy

Prolific Poster
That's a point I didn't think of. My £24.99 headset has separate volume controls for the level of voice chat and the rest of the game sound. This is very handy. It's a facility I would lose with headphones and separate mic.

That's even more impressive than I meant, mine literally doesn't even have an overall volume control! I plug them into my Corsair SP2500's control panel though so I have an easily accessible way to change the volume as well as the control on my keyboard. If I was just plugged into the audio-jack on my pc I'd be relying on windows volume control though which is quite surprising for such an expensive set of h'phones.
 

Allan O'D

Bronze Level Poster
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the mic and the general performance from sennheiser 163D and PC350E. Very comfortable with excellent surround sound on the 163d which came with its own 3D USB sound card.. Mic particularly on the the 350E very good with plenty of people asking me about the mic used. Most people being surprised when found it was a headset and not a stand alone mic.
 

Spuff

Expert
That's even more impressive than I meant, mine literally doesn't even have an overall volume control! .

I've just found out that functionality is only available when connected to consoles. On PC you just have an overall volume control. (EX05)
 
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