Gaming Headphones cria 2014

[PapaXpress]

I wanted to get some opinions on gaming headsets. My Asus Vulcan are finally falling apart after 3 years (not sure if that is a good thing). Anyway its time to find a new pair.

Things I liked about the Vulcan
- Sound range was good
- Volume was good
- Mic was responsive

Things I did not like
- Uncomfortable over 30 mins
- ANC did not work as advertised (ie choked the sound).

Currently I have my eye set on either the Sennheiser PC 320 or the Turtle Beach Ear Force Z60, but I am not sold on either yet.

What do you like, what didn't you like?

[GSkid]

Well I'm a little biased towards Sennheiser since they are my favorite headphones in the world. I own a $400 pair. But I've never tried their PC gaming headsets. Turtle Beach has a decent history of making highly reviewed gaming headsets.

What is your discomfort with your current headset? Ears get too hot? Ears get numb from earpiece pressure?

High-end gaming headsets are usually sealed headphones as opposed to open-air style. The advantages of sealed are sound isolation (so you don't disturb others and outside sounds don't disturb you) and they usually have stronger bass sounds (very bass biased) cuz it effectively makes your ears a sealed bass speaker box.

The biggest disadvantages are mid-frequencies and ESPECIALLY high frequencies are not as clear or accurate. The other big disadvantage is sealed headphones tend trap the heat of your ears and make them hot and sweaty the longer you wear them. Open-air keep your ears cooler.

Another factor is over-the-ear or on-the-ear style. On-the-ear headphones put pressure directly on the ears (which can slowly make your ears numb or uncomfortable after awhile).... while over-the-ear distributes earpiece pressure on your skull instead of just your ears. Much more comfortable!

For the record... I prefer over-the-ear headphones that are open-air because of better comfort and more accurate sound reproduction across the frequency range. The extra soft, crushed-velvet padding of my Senheisers helps keep my ears cooler and more comfortable.


Looking at the specs of each.... the Turtle Beach appear to be sealed headphones while the Sennheisers are open-air. That means the sealed will have stronger bass. The frequency range is wider at 15Hz - 23KHz for the Sennheisers. Turtle Beach is 20Hz-20KHz. Turtle Beach also claims 7.1 sound while this particular Sennheiser model doesn't appear to.







Check Amazon and other sites for user reviews of each.

[PapaXpress]

Oh I have looked at the reviews. I like to research things and get opinions when it comes to touch and feel and in this case sound.

With the Asus two things happened. My ears would sweat, and the band would press into the top of my head and cause pain. I have used a set of cheap logitech over the the back, and they worked, but they don't seem to be in the same caliber as the over the head type.

Its tricky to find if the Sennheiser is surround. I have found two sites which mention 7.1 but don't show the specs for it.

[GSkid]

Yeah.... the Sennheisers don't indicate surround on these. Just references to stereo.

The Sennheiser PC 323D is 7.1 Dolby surround at $159.95 price....

http://en-us.sennheiser.com/gaming-head ... ne-pc-323d


Either model, the Sennheisers seem to have more comfortable padding on the headband and ears based on pictures compared to Turtle Beaches. But you get 7.1 for a cheaper price than Sennheiser. Lots of variables.

[PapaXpress]

$121.15 at amazon. This one perks my interest the most now.

Update:
Reading up on 7.1 and I am not sure I care for it. To get it I need to use their USB dongle which uses the CPU to do all the surround audio. I already have a nice dedicated audio card and I think I should stick with that. With that in mind I can knock a few bucks off my budget at look at the Sennheiser 320 for $100.

[GSkid]

$121.15 at amazon. This one perks my interest the most now.

Update:
Reading up on 7.1 and I am not sure I care for it. To get it I need to use their USB dongle which uses the CPU to do all the surround audio. I already have a nice dedicated audio card and I think I should stick with that. With that in mind I can knock a few bucks off my budget at look at the Sennheiser 320 for $100.

Where did you read it uses the CPU to do all the surround audio?

The PC 323D surround sound gaming headset comes with a USB sound adaptor with an embedded Dolby® system, so you’re no longer dependent on your PC’s on-board sound card for superior audio quality. The built-in sound card then gives your game the audio boost it deserves. As soon as you put on your headset you’re in the center of the game

Sounds like it's hardware based, so I doubt it uses the CPU. And even if it did, you'd be hard pressed to notice the performance hit. Sound decoding can be done by any CPU of the last 10-15 years in their sleep.

But your sound card might be better than the dongle's card. And if 7.1 doesn't matter to you, it's a moot point.


BTW....these and the 320s headphones are on-the-ear (like most lower to mid headphones are..including those turtle beach headset). So they aren't to the level of comfort as the over-the-ear cups I like.

You'd have to pay more...like these over-the-ear cups Sennheiser "Game One"...




On-the ear cups 320...



See the big difference in the size and shape of the cups?

But for on-the-ear.... the 320s are pretty comfy looking.

[PapaXpress]

Expert Reviews says this:

The sound card part of the bundle is a lightweight plastic box with 3.5mm mic and headphone ports to which you connect the headset. This is a big improvement on USB headsets that are permanently bonded to their sound card. It outputs stereo sound as soon as you plug it into your PC, but you'll have to install a driver to make its Dolby-branded virtual surround sound work. This is because it relies on your PC to do the relevant audio processing rather than having an integrated processor like Creative's Recon3D and Axx sound cards.

My Asus Vulcan was an over the ear headset. Not sure if I want to go down that road again.

[GSkid]

I stand corrected. But like I said, you'd be hard pressed to notice a performance hit.

I looked at pics of the Vulcan. Those cups look on the small side, which may have been the problem. I guess you are gonna see how on-the-ear will fare with your ear comfort. .

[PapaXpress]

I can wait, and read some more. $100 is a hard purchase these days so it will likely be a turkey day gift to my self.

[NYWhiskey]

I use Plantronics GameCom 780. They are 7.1 surround and very comfortable. They have gotten cheaper since I bought them so the price is right.

http://www.plantronics.com/us/product/gamecom-780

[simer4]

I know that this is an older thread, but for anyone looking at 7.1 surround sound headphones, don't buy that marketing scheme. If you look at the page, it almost always says "Dolby Pro Logic II," which is emulated surround sound, not real surround sound. As was quoted by PapaXpress a few posts up; "you'll have to install a driver to make its Dolby-branded virtual surround sound work." All it does is widen the stereo signal and change the sound using phasing to make it sound more directional, but you get absolutely no more directionality than stereo headphones do. They give you a good impression of depth, but not true directionality. You'd be looking for "Discreet 7.1 surround sound" headphones, if you are looking for real surround sound, which visually, you can tell they are true 7.1, as they are generally MASSIVE in comparison to regular headphones.

Thought I would say this to inform any possible future buyers out there looking at 7.1 headphones.

Just keep in mind - Dolby Pro Logic Surround is just modified stereo.