Sennheiser PC350

jstenuf

jstenuf

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 10, 2002
Messages
3,631
I need a set of gaming headphones/headset and I have been considering the Sennheiser PC350. Does anyone have any experience with these or and alternative recomendation. I am flexible on price up to $250 and I would consider an amp, but prefer to drive with the sound card.
 
the pc350 hasnt been getting good reviews. hard to drive, muffled sound.
what sound card do you have?

theres a headphone sticky at the top. for headsets get a koss sb40 or a steelsound. with your budget you could get some really nice headphones and a strong soundcard or portable amp
 
ourfpshero said:
the pc350 hasnt been getting good reviews. hard to drive, muffled sound.
what sound card do you have?

theres a headphone sticky at the top. for headsets get a koss sb40 or a steelsound. with your budget you could get some really nice headphones and a strong soundcard or portable amp
Click to expand...


I have a Creative Xtreme Gamer sound card.
 
i got tired of my desk mic, so i picked up a pair of these to replace my hd280s. They are a little queiter on my x-fi the the 280s, the the sound is better than any headset i've ever tried. I'd say almost as good as the 280s but not quite there.
 
ourfpshero said:
the pc350 hasnt been getting good reviews. hard to drive, muffled sound.
what sound card do you have?

theres a headphone sticky at the top. for headsets get a koss sb40 or a steelsound. with your budget you could get some really nice headphones and a strong soundcard or portable amp
Click to expand...
Where did you see bad reviews of the pc350? Every review I have seen has been very good about them. I haven't seen one negative review. I would also find it very unlikely a Sennheiser headset has "muffled" sound.
 
I've got the cheaper on ear Sennheiser PC135USB headset and they sound excellent.
I would choose Sennheiser first over any other brand.
 
tc93 said:
Where did you see bad reviews of the pc350? Every review I have seen has been very good about them. I haven't seen one negative review. I would also find it very unlikely a Sennheiser headset has "muffled" sound.
Click to expand...

lol

veil

You can do MUCH better than those 350 for $250. MUCH better.

Maybe look around head-fi?
 
I see where the ONE bad review is of the PC350. Its from headphones.com.au who have always had a biased hatred towards Sennheiser. Plus the guy sells the headsets on his website, so he has every motivation to promote the ones he makes the most money off of.

Funny how EVERY other review on the internet states how great they are, yet his one review is just the opposite.

They don't sell for $250 either. Dell has them for $169, as does another store for less.
 
ok i will retract until i hear them :)
i have heard other senn headsets and they are horrible-normal inline volume control messing with the sound style
 
tc93 said:
I see where the ONE bad review is of the PC350. Its from headphones.com.au who have always had a biased hatred towards Sennheiser. Plus the guy sells the headsets on his website, so he has every motivation to promote the ones he makes the most money off of.

Funny how EVERY other review on the internet states how great they are, yet his one review is just the opposite.

They don't sell for $250 either. Dell has them for $169, as does another store for less.
Click to expand...

They can be the best headset ever made TWICE over and still not match up against a denon 2000, akg 601, 701, AT 700, AT 900, Sennheiser 595, 600, 650, etc.

Speak not to the mountain, all you get is an echo. :p
 
I own the PC350's. Sound quality is on par, or tad better than the HD280's. Mic is crystal clear, and out of the way.

Paid 100 bucks on ebay. Definitely was worth the 100 bucks.

I also would choose Senn over any any brand. Just like their sound. So I am a tad biased.
 
spaceman said:
$100 is a different story. Were they new?
Click to expand...

Yes, they were new.

Even at lets say the DELL 170 dollar price I would say they are worth it. Very comfortable (they aren't vise grips on your head like the HD280's). They block out most of the outside noise (well muffle it pretty well). Very well made.

By far the best headset I have owned.
 
Very good headset. Don't compate these to the 595's or 650's, those are great cans, but their intended uses are different.
 
spaceman said:
They can be the best headset ever made TWICE over and still not match up against a denon 2000, akg 601, 701, AT 700, AT 900, Sennheiser 595, 600, 650, etc.

Speak not to the mountain, all you get is an echo. :p
Click to expand...

This is not a flame, but in IMO most of your recommendations appear to be based on how well the cans play music. I am not interested in cans that play music well, but I am interested in a good mic and image localization. I might argue that the frequency response in most games is optimized to bring out what the game designer feels maximizes the in game experience and cans that are optimized to deliver that experience are going to provide a more rewarding in game experience than one that offer a flat frequency response. I would agree that a flat frequency response would be best practice, but it is not reality. Are the requirements for gaming cans and music cans vastly different? IMO yes.
 
Jumping onto this this thread without trying to jack it...
I also have a Creative Xtreme Gamer sound card and I am starting to shop around for a decent set of headphones. Would it be ok to connect the headphones to the front panel hdaudio jack? Is there a loss of quality vs. plugging directly into the multijack on the soundcard itself? I ask because I currently have a mic plugged into the multijack, but I would definitely run the headphones off the multijack if the sound quality was better.

Also would the headphones mentioned in this thread sound ok running directly off the soundcard, or would a headphone amp be recommended?
 
Read my sticky again then.

An AKG 601 will bring the game to life. Flat response? Yeah they have that. Not much boom either. What does this do?

Would you like to have sound really be 3D? With the 601/701 there is top left corner and bottom back right aka sounds coming from every direction in a a sphere/bubble that surrounds each ear.

When I used a dedicated dac and powerful amp, I could change the sound signature. I still remember how different Bioshock sounded when I changed the components. Wicked sound in that game. The big daddy stomp was some serious thump.

Stax does this even better. Of course, they are a bit different.

I have put YEARS and thousands of $$s into gaming with headphones. Music was almost always secondary though important.

The difference b/w any gaming headset and real headphones with a proper setup is VAST. Not a little different, REALLY different. Gaming headsets are not optimized anywhere near the level that you can do yourself. The Koss SB40 is pretty great for what it is though.
 
OP I'm still a bit unsure if you're specifically after a Headset or are fine with headphones and a separate mic. If headphones are fine, then what spaceman says is reasonable. If it's specifically a headset you're after the the 350 is probably the best you are going to do for your price range. Personally, I JUST CAN'T STAND DESK/CLIPON MICS, and the tradeoff in better sound quality isn't worth it. It seems clear spaceman swings the other way (he can correct me) and would much rather trade for some better sound and use a clipon/desk mic.
 
bluntspoon said:
OP I'm still a bit unsure if you're specifically after a Headset or are fine with headphones and a separate mic. If headphones are fine, then what spaceman says is reasonable. If it's specifically a headset you're after the the 350 is probably the best you are going to do for your price range. Personally, I JUST CAN'T STAND DESK/CLIPON MICS, and the tradeoff in better sound quality isn't worth it. It seems clear spaceman swings the other way (he can correct me) and would much rather trade for some better sound and use a clipon/desk mic.
Click to expand...

My first consideration was the Sennheiser PC350 which is a headset.
 
hmm- if you could bypass the volume control in the pc350 to get the 'full' hd595 sound then these would be awesome
 
tc93 said:
I see where the ONE bad review is of the PC350. ... Funny how EVERY other review on the internet states how great they are, yet his one review is just the opposite.
Click to expand...

That doesn't of itself necessarily prove anything. Most reviews, especially audio reviews, are largely fluff and sometimes outright brown-nosing. If he has legitimate points that are well-written, I would be at least looking for responses. If it's just poorly written ranting, then who cares.

tc93 said:
a biased hatred towards Sennheiser.
Click to expand...

I myself don't like Sennheiser much, because their build quality is poor for many of the lower-end models. I wouldn't call it hatred, though - if they fixed it, I'd be fine with 'em.

jstenuf said:
This is not a flame, but in IMO most of your recommendations appear to be based on how well the cans play music.
Click to expand...

Music is arguably the most critical task audio devices are called on to perform. In the absence of specific criteria excluding it, it tends to be a strong basis for comparison (although not the only factor).

jstenuf said:
Are the requirements for gaming cans and music cans vastly different? IMO yes.
Click to expand...

With regard to image localization, not really. Also, what's good for music varies greatly by genre, so the degree to which the criteria overlap varies as well.

spaceman said:
When I used a dedicated dac and powerful amp, I could change the sound signature. I still remember how different Bioshock sounded when I changed the components. Wicked sound in that game. The big daddy stomp was some serious thump.
Click to expand...

Heh, thanks for reminding me - I should really go back and replay that once my sub gets here. :D

spaceman said:
The Koss SB40 is pretty great for what it is though.
Click to expand...

Exactly - for what it is.

bluntspoon said:
Personally, I JUST CAN'T STAND DESK/CLIPON MICS, and the tradeoff in better sound quality isn't worth it. It seems clear spaceman swings the other way (he can correct me) and would much rather trade for some better sound and use a clipon/desk mic.
Click to expand...

You're not wrong. But similarly, there are people that can't stand IEMs and so forth. It's just more information, and you exclude those things if it comes to that.

ourfpshero said:
hmm- if you could bypass the volume control in the pc350 to get the 'full' hd595 sound then these would be awesome
Click to expand...

Soldering iron and a quick recable. But looking at Amazon, the prices aren't really different enough to justify the trouble...and the HD595s have velour vs. pleather on the PC350s. :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top