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Gaming Headset

S

StraightG00ds

n00b
Joined
Sep 2, 2010
Messages
13
So I am going to be purchasing a new gaming headset in the next week or two and have been doing some online research, but have not been able to find a site that offers a large set of reviewed products.

I am leaning towards getting the FREQ 5 (http://www.cyborggaming.com/prod/freq5.htm), which has had good reviews on the limited number of sites that has reviewed it.

I figured I would get the thoughts of some of the community before committing to it (also note, in terms of hardware, my knowledge of sound-related components is limited). If there is a clear market leader in terms of quality and price it would be useful to know, or any other thoughts on gaming headsets would also be great.
 
There are 57 million threads on this same exact question.

My only fast comment is that your money is better spent on headphones and seperate mic / modmic.
 
Fair enough. I tried searching for FREQ 5 and didn't find anything (obvious ... most results looked like they were for a different topic) on the search results.

I'll look into separate headphones / mics though.
 
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StraightG00ds said:
So I am going to be purchasing a new gaming headset in the next week or two and have been doing some online research, but have not been able to find a site that offers a large set of reviewed products.
Click to expand...

Plantronics Gamecom 380 has fairly neutral audio and decent positioning, but like the Modmic and most "gamer" headset mics out there it has a cardioid capsule without very good noise rejection characteristics (can hear babies crying in the background, dogs barking in the neighborhood, spouses laughing at Glee, etc.) It's cheap though, performance-wise well worth the $40 asking price -- if it were a Logitech or Razer product, it'd be $139.

KOSS SB40 is another $40 option, that actually has a dynamic mic (which is better suited for a living environment, less background noise pickup) but the playback you hear in the drivers is most certainly not neutral. It's on the boomy side, and the high-end drops off at around 16k (which is typical for cheap consumer headphones.)

For headphones, I'd recommend Sony MDR-V6. They're closed (but leaky) and have a pretty good illusion of width, and a very neutral playback across most frequency ranges (slightly hyped highs, which is good for positioning.) Find some type of USB dynamic microphone, a mic shock mount and make a mic arm out of an Ikea lamp or something if you want ideal voice presence. People will think you're "right next to them", versus talking through an aquarium pump.
 
Farkle you know your audio but the MDR-V6? That sucker is ancient. A decent headphone but would you really buy one for $70 nowadays?

The Koss SB40 is a solid headset and has a lifetime warranty. I can vouch for it. Not the most comfy of all time but they do work well.
 
FYI, the cyborg products are totally garbage. From the RAT mouse to their mice/keyboards/flight sticks. Build quality is beyond sub-par. Granted they usually have nifty specs and they look spankin. I have owned a number of cyborg devices and they all feel cheap and last as long as unrefrigerated milk.
 
Droc said:
FYI, the cyborg products are totally garbage. From the RAT mouse to their mice/keyboards/flight sticks. Build quality is beyond sub-par. Granted they usually have nifty specs and they look spankin. I have owned a number of cyborg devices and they all feel cheap and last as long as unrefrigerated milk.
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That's good to know. They seem a bit gimmicky; though I did hear (though no good source) that the mice were decent. Either way, I find it difficult to imagine that a gaming branded head-set with a large marketing budget / focus is going to dominate performance.
 
StraightG00ds said:
That's good to know. They seem a bit gimmicky; though I did hear (though no good source) that the mice were decent. Either way, I find it difficult to imagine that a gaming branded head-set with a large marketing budget / focus is going to dominate performance.
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The mice are fancy and feature rich and they look cool, but loaded with problems from build quality to function.

Cyborg is made by madcatz...
 
spaceman said:
Farkle you know your audio but the MDR-V6? That sucker is ancient. A decent headphone but would you really buy one for $70 nowadays?

The Koss SB40 is a solid headset and has a lifetime warranty. I can vouch for it. Not the most comfy of all time but they do work well.
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MDR-V6, and 7506 are fantastic headphones used a lot in monitoring situations as the "de-facto standard". Check this out:
Headphone.com graph

$70 is a bargain.
 
I am not disputing freq response so much as they are closed and a bit sweaty and tight. I would prefer a larger, semi open or open headphone myself. The sound stage of the V6 is just cramped compared to such.

I think the Sennheisers make for a really excellent all around headphones personally. I would actually prefer the AKG 601s or 701s to my Senn 558s for strictly gaming though. Too bad their price is fairly high these days. I recall purchasing a used and modded 601 w/ Blue Dragon cable for $130 just a few years ago. I only paid $110 for my 558s btw.
 
spaceman said:
I am not disputing freq response so much as they are closed and a bit sweaty and tight. I would prefer a larger, semi open or open headphone myself. The sound stage of the V6 is just cramped compared to such.
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A lot of open headphones do produce a more believable illusion of width, but it also has a lot to do with the angle of the drivers, and the distance between the driver and your ear. I don't really think the MDR-V6 is that lacking in stereo image, or depth queues compared to any other closed headphones, but yeah compared to an open headphone... I tend to stick with things with better frequency response in recommendation, because more neutral drivers means they'll have better performance with HRTF and DSP functions (since they're basically equalization.) I've got a pretty big head, and I don't find the clamp tightness of the MDR-V6 to be problematic, but I have heard vocalists complain about that before.
 
spaceman said:
I am not disputing freq response so much as they are closed and a bit sweaty and tight. I would prefer a larger, semi open or open headphone myself. The sound stage of the V6 is just cramped compared to such.

I think the Sennheisers make for a really excellent all around headphones personally. I would actually prefer the AKG 601s or 701s to my Senn 558s for strictly gaming though. Too bad their price is fairly high these days. I recall purchasing a used and modded 601 w/ Blue Dragon cable for $130 just a few years ago. I only paid $110 for my 558s btw.
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The Q701's are actually about the lowest they'll likely get for retail right now. The rumor is they are being phased out soon, and after christmas they had their price drop to $220-$230ish. For $230 they are a great value, and for gaming are one of the best choices out there.
 
True but I am not paying twice as much for a slight upgrade over what I have. If I see a used one for $150 I would probably bite.
 
Mchart said:
The Q701's are actually about the lowest they'll likely get for retail right now. The rumor is they are being phased out soon, and after christmas they had their price drop to $220-$230ish. For $230 they are a great value, and for gaming are one of the best choices out there.
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yah, amazon.com vs amazon.ca has nearly $100 difference. In canada they run about $340 before tax.
 
spaceman said:
Look at Sennheiser 419, 429, 518, 558 and 598 + HDE clip on microphone
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I picked up a DT990 a couple of weeks ago and so far I'm enjoying it more than my HD598 for gaming. The soundstage is similar but the bass impact is more than welcome. Gunshots and explosions are just so much more impressive.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
I picked up a DT990 a couple of weeks ago and so far I'm enjoying it more than my HD598 for gaming. The soundstage is similar but the bass impact is more than welcome. Gunshots and explosions are just so much more impressive.
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Yes but that great bass also overwhelms the directional sounds like footsteps. The Sennheisers are the middle ground. Balanced bass and mids.

AKG is better for mids aka directional sound but has no bass. Beyer has lots of bass but the mid range gets drowned out. So pick your preference.

This is why some people have a bunch of headphones. You reach for what you are in the mood for.
 
I don't know, I haven't really found the bass to step on the mids but I'm not really that much of a competitive gamer either.

I was honestly expecting to be disappointed by the mids on the DT990 but I'm not.
 
I second Farkle, the Plantronics headsets have good mics with noise cancelling.

I've gone through both a DSP 500 and an Audio .655 DSP and both have been nice over the years. The Audio .655 DSP can be had for as cheap as $35 and the DSP contributes very nicely in games like CS for hearing foot steps.

I know of many CS'ers that swore by the DSP 500, have seen a lot of dudes in LAN parties with them or Sennheiser's. You can't go wrong with the Audio .655 DSP.

Sure, you can do much better with Sennheiser's, but not for the same price. Or you can also do a lot worse with Skullcaddies or something. :cool:
 
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