71 replies to this topic

[Freelancer]

Every pc gamer needs some sort of basic headset, whether its to play FPS games or keep the noise down in a household, you need a good pair of cans that are actually worth their price. The following 3 headsets represent 3 types of gamers, related strictly to cost. Keep in mind having a high-end headset will not be worth it if you don't have a decent sound card to back it up. Likewise, if you have a decent on-board setup, or even better, a discrete quality sound card, you won't be able to take advantage of it with a cheap headset. The choice is yours. These are our picks in the three categories.

Entry-Level: For those who don't have much to spend, or those who do not care for headsets in general, and perhaps rely on 5.1 surround setups. Not the best mic, or bass, but it will do the job.

Microsoft LX-3000 - Editor's Note** Honestly it was hard to find a good cheap headset that ALSO has a noise-cancelling microphone, that ALSO had a plethora of good reviews. This is the one however. The bottom line. If you've ever been in a teamspeak/raid with someone that doesn't at least have a noise cancelling mic, then you wouldnt understand.





Mid-Line: For those who want something that will last them past the first fall, or something that has the capability of decent clarity with a good sound card. Mic/Speakers have noticably deeper bass than entry-level models..

Sennheiser PC151


Enthusiast: For the enthusiast, quality is everything. They always have a dedicated sound card, and usually have a premium set of cans to go with it. There's no such thing as a pro-gamer that uses 5.1 surround sound speakers, and for a reason. When you have the sound card to back it up, a good headset will change the experience all around when playing games. Trust me when I say you'll never play L4D2 or Bad Company 2 the same way again with one of these setups.

Sennheiser PC350 - Razer "Banshee"






All of these were the TOP in positive reviews. Please do your research before criticizing harshly. Keep in mind there are many, many other decent headsets out there, but for the sake of this article, we chose the best in each price range. Thanks, and if you have any other picks, talk about it below!

[Bíalba]

This is something I should buy.

[Lockon]

what about the SC2 headset? I'm curious on that

[NoobieOne]

I should probably get the first one on the list its easily on my budget. Probably going to buy it once i make sure i can ship directly to my school otherwise i'll have to ship it to my house and have family send it to school

[actellim]

You recommended a high-end headset but no sound card to go with it. Saying I was interested in running top-end audio equipment, what sort of sound cards are there available and what would you recommend we buy?

[Freelancer]

You recommended a high-end headset but no sound card to go with it. Saying I was interested in running top-end audio equipment, what sort of sound cards are there available and what would you recommend we buy?

Ill throw up a sound card article now

[Bíalba]

can you show us some keyboards and mouse?

[Freelancer]

can you show us some keyboards and mouse?

In due time I'm spending a lot of time reading professional and personal reviews on each product, and there's a lot of products out there So these articles take time.

[Deft]

I'll definately look into picking up that microsoft headset. Nice price, and my current one is a piece of junk.

[Yue]

I have a Sony DR220DPVTM.CE7 Basic Stereo Headset. Its lightweight and not to big so its ideal for me ^-^ haven't had a chance to test the mic yet though. I like that i can put one side on my ear and the other behind it, i like being able to keep an ear out for people aproaching me. I dont like to be surprised when someone walks in. Also it has sound controle and mic mute on the cable whi h i really like.

[NoobieOne]

btw I bought the first one, any way to confirm if it went through to the account or not

[Freelancer]

Yes, it went through without issue, and we made 3 dollars

[NoobieOne]

cool so system works thats a good thing

[Lonniehaskel]

I bought a headset from the add, too.

[teraldent]

Will this get updated frequently with new headsets? If so, I would really recommend the Plantronics GameCom 367. The headset is the one I am using right now, they cost me about $26, and they are around $30 right now. (strange) This is a SUPER sturdy headset considering I've dropped dozens of times and it still works perfectly. It is a bit bigger than most but it is super comfortable even after 8+ hours of gaming. The mic is noise cancelling and when you push it up to hide it, it is literally invisible as it goes into the frame of the headset. For it's price I would suggest this headset to everyone as a starting one(it was my first).
I dont want to post any links because of the Amazon deal we have.

[Orz]

G35 is the best headset I've owned and I've owned the Razer one. It broke in 2 weeks. G35 has been going strong, and yes, it comes with a built in voice modulator so you can sound like a robot if you wish.

Games are so deafening when I put them on, the rest of the world becomes obsolete!

[Lockon]

G35 is the best headset I've owned and I've owned the Razer one. It broke in 2 weeks. G35 has been going strong, and yes, it comes with a built in voice modulator so you can sound like a robot if you wish.

Games are so deafening when I put them on, the rest of the world becomes obsolete!

The razer one as in the banshee? how did it broke?

[Lockon]

I guess i should give my own review on one of the recommended headset. I recently bought the Razer Banshee when it went on sale at my local store.

Razer Banshee
Pros: volume control + mute, mic volume control + mute right on the ear-piece, cushion for comfort, sound isolating, detachable mic
Cons: can be heavy due to the size.
Features (as posted on the razer site):

Circumaural Earcups for optimal sound isolation
Personal comment: My personal experience with this is just well done. I have used sound isolating earphones with my mp3 player whenever i go out and i can say the Banshee did a good job in making this headset sound isolating. You can still hear outside noise faintly but that's not a big deal because you'll quickly switch your attention back to the sound. The earcups are comfortable. It is made of fabric so you basically have a cushion earcup that fits over your ear for comfort.

My previous headset was a 5-6 year old logitech headset. It was a cheap one so the earcup doesn't fit over my ear but rather presses my ear. I wear specs so in-turn, a prolong use of my old headset pressing my ear with my spec will eventually hurt my ear. This headset goes over and does not press the ear so i am happy with this change in my headset use. Overall, it is very comfortable.

APM - lighting system
Personal comment: Nothing too special in that it looks cool and it's just extras in my opinion. However, it is a nice touch and addition for the headphone especially since it is geared towards Starcraft 2. In a dark room, the lights from the headphone gives off enough light for you to see around the room and your keyboard. By default, the light stays at it's default blue setting or a different color through changing the setting.

You can set the lights to turns off if you want but even with the lights turned off, It will turn back on when you play SC2 which then you have to manually turn off again after if you prefer. There are 3 different lights built into the headset: the main-side light, side-stripe light and the under-light. They don't show this much in a GSL broadcast when the players wear this headset but the light function more than just a an apm light-show. The lights will blink and change color depending on what's going on in a Starcraft game. For example, I'm macroing in my base while my army suddenly got flanked on the battlefield, the headset will blink to indicate to me that i'm under attack. This headset is a good one if you are a night player and mostly play in the dark.

Full equalizer functionality to individualize your audio
Personal comment: A nice way to customize this headphone is through the firmware/configurator which you can download at the razer site. I only quickly tried out a preset EQ setting and tried out the "Terran" EQ setting in game and i gotta say that setting focussed too much on the treble. I played 1 quick custom game with the setting and every battle with my MMM army makes my eye twitch. I quickly switched back to the "V" setting.

Score
Comfort: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Function: 7/10

Overall: 8/10

[StandBY]

Lockon, did you have any issues with the microphone? All the reviews on newegg have reported that the mic dies out after a few days of use.

[Lockon]

Lockon, did you have any issues with the microphone? All the reviews on newegg have reported that the mic dies out after a few days of use.

It still works. I don't use the mic much but i just used it to talk on TS last night. A common mistake is when ppl take off the headset, they could have grabbed and pressed the mic mute button without knowing it (made of rubber so it is common to not know it). The volume controls and mute buttons are situated behind the ear-piece (at the back of your ear) so that could be issue. The reviews could be those who has no idea how to check (razer configurator firmware).