Gaming headset suggestions

Shadowless

Shadowless

Deez Nuts
Currently have a Razer Kraken Tournament Edition that has a microphone that has become self-aware, and will randomly decide what my teammates can and cannot hear.

I am looking for wired headsets that are good for gaming, music, and movies (I don't want to have two separate sets of cans at my desk). It needs to be wired, and I would prefer it if came with some sort of amp/DAC. I'd like to keep it below $200.

I am leaning towards the Astro A40 TR w/ their MixAmp Pro TR. Gamestop has it on sale for $200, and I have a $25 GameStop gift card so it's only $175 out of pocket.
 
I have a Sennheiser PC38X that I use for gaming on the Xbox and I like it enough to recommend it. You can pick up the Senn PC37X for about $50-60 cheaper. For PC gaming DAC-AMP I use a Schiit Hel which I really love. I think they just released a 2.0 version with USB-C among other small changes. If that $199 ish price range is a bit high you can go with the Schiit Fulla for $109.

I feel like I'm coming in suggesting something closer to $220-250 or a little over your $200 price point. But trying to suggest stuff I've used for years that I really liked. I used to pick up the Astro and Turtle Beach style headsets and found myself replacing them every other year or so. Never really happy with their build quality or durability or how they sounded. But I've been really happy with Schiit stuff and use their DAC/AMPs with either that Sennheiser headset I mentioned for gaming, or a few Beyerdynamics I have on my PCs.

Sorry if that's not helpful or what you were looking for.
 
shrike126 said:
I have a Sennheiser PC38X that I use for gaming on the Xbox and I like it enough to recommend it. You can pick up the Senn PC37X for about $50-60 cheaper. For PC gaming DAC-AMP I use a Schiit Hel which I really love. I think they just released a 2.0 version with USB-C among other small changes. If that $199 ish price range is a bit high you can go with the Schiit Fulla for $109.

I feel like I'm coming in suggesting something closer to $220-250 or a little over your $200 price point. But trying to suggest stuff I've used for years that I really liked. I used to pick up the Astro and Turtle Beach style headsets and found myself replacing them every other year or so. Never really happy with their build quality or durability or how they sounded. But I've been really happy with Schiit stuff and use their DAC/AMPs with either that Sennheiser headset I mentioned for gaming, or a few Beyerdynamics I have on my PCs.

Sorry if that's not helpful or what you were looking for.
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So the PC38X was the first headset I looked at. The problems I have with it are 1) It's expensive by itself @ $180, so when you couple that with a decent DAC, we're pushing $300, and 2) I'm not at all a fan of that volume control knob on the headset.

I'm not usually a fan of "gaming" branded stuff either (outside of Secret Lab). The only reason I got my current Razer headset is because I got it for like 33% off (some random Best Buy sale) and at the time I already had a separate set of headphones for music/movies (that set has since bit the dust after 6 faithful years) so I wasn't overly concerned about music/movies, and they are actually great for gaming. What I will say about Turtle Beach is my brother had a wireless Turtle Beach headset for his XBOX that he absolutely beat the piss out of, and that friggin thing just wouldn't die. It was literally held together by duct tape (his fault, not the headset), and lasted a year longer than we both thought it would last in the condition it was in. I bought him another nicer TB headset for xmas, so we'll see how this one works out.

But I digress...

The only reason I was shopping the Astros (and only specifically the A40 TR) was because of the mixamp and the features it provides, and also because every review I've seen for them has been extremely complementary to the audio and build quality.

It's times like this were I miss my old Xonar DGX and it's built in headphone Amp.
 
Shadowless said:
So the PC38X was the first headset I looked at. The problems I have with it are 1) It's expensive by itself @ $180, so when you couple that with a decent DAC, we're pushing $300, and 2) I'm not at all a fan of that volume control knob on the headset.
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I hear ya. That's why I was thinking maybe the PC37X. I think the volume knob on the side is one of the reasons I would recommend the PC38X because I've found it to be pretty handy. Do you do most of your gaming on Xbox, PC, PlayStation or all of the above?

Shadowless said:
I'm not usually a fan of "gaming" branded stuff either (outside of Secret Lab). The only reason I got my current Razer headset is because I got it for like 33% off (some random Best Buy sale) and at the time I already had a separate set of headphones for music/movies (that set has since bit the dust after 6 faithful years) so I wasn't overly concerned about music/movies, and they are actually great for gaming. What I will say about Turtle Beach is my brother had a wireless Turtle Beach headset for his XBOX that he absolutely beat the piss out of, and that friggin thing just wouldn't die. It was literally held together by duct tape (his fault, not the headset), and lasted a year longer than we both thought it would last in the condition it was in. I bought him another nicer TB headset for xmas, so we'll see how this one works out.

But I digress...

The only reason I was shopping the Astros (and only specifically the A40 TR) was because of the mixamp and the features it provides, and also because every review I've seen for them has been extremely complementary to the audio and build quality.

It's times like this were I miss my old Xonar DGX and it's built in headphone Amp.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I guess I didn't mean for it to sound like I was bagging on TB or the "gamer" stuff. I just feel like it's all I ever see, and my experiences weren't great. Like the Turtle Beach headset, once upon a time, that would sit on the docking cradle for the Xbox? I remember paying like $300 for that headset. But then when I would game on it, everyone said they could barely hear me unless I was basically eating the microphone. Then it wouldn't hold a charge within the first year so I had to have it plugged in all the time anyways. Then got suckered into another wireless "gamer" headset, I think a Corsair white wireless headset that also just stopped holding a charge at all. Would unplug it after overnight charging and it would be beeping within 30 minutes.

Anyways, if money wasn't as big an issue what would you pick up?
 
shrike126 said:
I hear ya. That's why I was thinking maybe the PC37X. I think the volume knob on the side is one of the reasons I would recommend the PC38X because I've found it to be pretty handy. Do you do most of your gaming on Xbox, PC, PlayStation or all of the above?
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This is for PC. I have a headset for my XBOX already, but it's wireless and there's too much interference near my PC so all BT headsets just crap out.



shrike126 said:
Yeah, I guess I didn't mean for it to sound like I was bagging on TB or the "gamer" stuff. I just feel like it's all I ever see, and my experiences weren't great. Like the Turtle Beach headset, once upon a time, that would sit on the docking cradle for the Xbox? I remember paying like $300 for that headset. But then when I would game on it, everyone said they could barely hear me unless I was basically eating the microphone. Then it wouldn't hold a charge within the first year so I had to have it plugged in all the time anyways. Then got suckered into another wireless "gamer" headset, I think a Corsair white wireless headset that also just stopped holding a charge at all. Would unplug it after overnight charging and it would be beeping within 30 minutes.
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Nah, TB used to be pretty crappy, and their <$100 stuff still is pretty crappy. Corsair's stuff sub-$100 tends to always get low markets, and their >$100 stuff tends to be middle of the pack at best. Most "gamer" stuff is not good, and you are right to not fall for it.

shrike126 said:
Anyways, if money wasn't as big an issue what would you pick up?
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If money wasn't an issue I'd get a $300 set of Senns, a real mic with an arm, a nice Headphone AMP, and a GoXLR :lol:
 
you can't go wrong with a Sennheiser, of course. Adding the amp would be the problem budget wise. There are some good amps out there, like the FiiO K3 (E30). As for the headphones, well, there's a giant market. Personally i'd stay away from (most of) the so called "gaming" headsets. Also i'm quite sure you will have problems finding a set that's equally good for gaming, movies and music. At least in your pricerange.

Maybe look into something midrange, like the Teufel Cage (it's currently down to 99 bucks). It does have the volume wheel on the headset which you don' like.
 
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Shadowless said:
This is for PC. I have a headset for my XBOX already, but it's wireless and there's too much interference near my PC so all BT headsets just crap out.
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Gotcha. If it's just a set of cans for the PC then your goals make a little more sense.

Shadowless said:
If money wasn't an issue I'd get a $300 set of Senns, a real mic with an arm, a nice Headphone AMP, and a GoXLR :lol:
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Okay I guess I should've asked if an extra $50 wasn't an issue what would you get? :lol:
 
If you are wanting an actual headset (mic and speakers) as unfortunate as it is the best is the Arctis 7 / pro.

I had some for years, and really the only way to get anything better was to go outside the headset realm and get headphones/mic.
 
CurrentlyPissed said:
If you are wanting an actual headset (mic and speakers) as unfortunate as it is the best is the Arctis 7 / pro.

I had some for years, and really the only way to get anything better was to go outside the headset realm and get headphones/mic.
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I liked my arctis 7 but i hated the surround audio until I installed the dolby atmos app. Ditched the arctis 7 for corsair virtuoso xt's the sound quality and mic quality are waaaaaay better, battery life not so much lol.
 
Update to this.


I haven't purchased anything. I fixed the issue with the Mic. I hate Razer Synapse with a passion.
 
Evileh said:
I don't like razer headsets
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For the most part I don't have any complaints about the headset. But I won't be purchasing anymore Razer products moving forward as they ****ed my over on a warranty claim on my Viper Ultimate, and Razer Synapse is just a hot piece of garbage and has caused me so many issues on this PC and my last one.
 
Silent-Runner said:
you can't go wrong with a Sennheiser, of course. Adding the amp would be the problem budget wise. There are some good amps out there, like the FiiO K3 (E30). As for the headphones, well, there's a giant market. Personally i'd stay away from (most of) the so called "gaming" headsets. Also i'm quite sure you will have problems finding a set that's equally good for gaming, movies and music. At least in your pricerange.
.
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I just got this Epos (was Sennhieser) H6Pro headset that I'm very pleased with. See the "What have you last purchased thread" Found some reviews that thought the Mike quality was very good, which was part of what I needed it for (remote work on occasion.)
https://www.amazon.com/EPOS-H6Pro-L...9FPFN78X/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=B09FPCVHVN&th=1



Pair it with this cheapish DAC/AMP/soundcard? I connect to my old sound card, myself. Goes a little over your budget but not tooo far. Dunno the quality of this one and whether it's too low-end for your tastes or not.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088FXH2G...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=


Bundled here, but I think it's a little cheaper seperately??
https://www.amazon.com/EPOS-H6Pro-L...9QMFK7F8/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=B09FPCVHVN&th=1


Edit: maybe not the DAC...l was reading some reviews of several people having it get flakey after a bit
 
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So I won a buncha money from the superbowl so I went out yesterday and picked up the Astro A40 TR with the Mixamp and wow, my old headset is TRASH. The sound is night and day.

With that being said, I'm not sure if I'm going to keep them. I find them to be less comfortable than my Razer headset, the 3.5mm port on the headphones is in a spot where sometimes if I turn my head to the left the wire/end of the plug kinda digs into my neck (but this might be fixable). Also, the in-line mute toggle sometimes toggles off if you hit the cord a certain way, so at the very least I'll be doing an exchange.

But I'm strongly considering ordering the PC38x and just using it without a DAC for now, and then getting the EPOS GSX 1200 pro later on.
 
Shadowless said:
So I won a buncha money from the superbowl so I went out yesterday and picked up the Astro A40 TR with the Mixamp and wow, my old headset is TRASH. The sound is night and day.

With that being said, I'm not sure if I'm going to keep them. I find them to be less comfortable than my Razer headset, the 3.5mm port on the headphones is in a spot where sometimes if I turn my head to the left the wire/end of the plug kinda digs into my neck (but this might be fixable). Also, the in-line mute toggle sometimes toggles off if you hit the cord a certain way, so at the very least I'll be doing an exchange.

But I'm strongly considering ordering the PC38x and just using it without a DAC for now, and then getting the EPOS GSX 1200 pro later on.
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I know youre not looking to spend a lot of money still but if you thought the jump from your razr to the A40s is a crazy jump.. its probably a bigger jump to a proper headset. My wife uses the A40s and I use the Senns HD650 and its night and day not even close.


If you really care about audio and probably not spending anymore money in the future after the next purchase I would def suggest a proper set of headphones.


Drop has got the Senns 6xx(basically the same headset as I have) for 240: https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-sennheiser-hd6xx


But that leads you down the hole of spending money for an amp + a mic of some sort. But in the long run will probably save your money cause shouldnt need another set of headphones as long as you take care of your stuff.
 
And note, you can get external DAC/Amp combos that will interface with things like a console from companies like Creative Labs. Giving you even more flexibility.

Some of Creative's portable/externals also let you do proper multi-channel SBX virtual surround with the consoles.
 
Astros.. I feel like I'm back in 2008 again on an xbox360.

Get a real pair of headphones, and leave the gaming marketing crap for the console kiddies. Grab the PC38x at a minimum.
 
You can also look into things like Antlion Audio mod mic's (or any other clip on mic). Then you can use whatever headphones you want :D
 
Trunks0 said:
You can also look into things like Antlion Audio mod mic's (or any other clip on mic). Then you can use whatever headphones you want :D
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I use modmic wireless, but I didnt want to suggest anymore things that cost more money :D
 
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