Gaming headsets are really important as they help you figure out where people are shooting at you by sound. Tom’s Hardware had a roundup
- Corsair Vengence 1500. I’m still looking through those, but Tom’s Hardware had a good overview. They like the Corsair Vengence 1500 and say the virtual 7.1 sound is actually pretty good which is pretty surprising to me 🙂 Everything USB also did a review and they also thought the Corsair was great. The best USB headset they’ve heard. PC Perspective also loved it. However the Amazon reviews are only so-so with folks complaining about fit and also some incompatibilities. Tom’s does mention they are tight. Right now it is $86 at Newegg and $81 at Amazon.
- Razor Megalodon. How can you not like headphones called Megalodon’s. These are comfortable and light (8 oz) but they are relatively expensive at $127. They mainly don’t like the lack of an equalizer. But I’m from the school that says you shouldn’t need to do that and if you do get a PC application that does it. You just want something that is nice and flat and if you stare at the chart long enough you will see the Megalodon is. It has just two drivers and uses digital surround to add it.
- Existing headphones. This all makes me wonder if the right answer aren’t super high resolution and accurate stereophile headphones. I have a pair of Sendheiser HD747 that were remarkable a few decades ago, not to mention Etymotic ER4is. So need to investigate whether they work fine in the world of synthetic sound.
This is one of the times when Amazon reviews really differ from a review site. In particular folks really didn’t like the Corsair or the Razor. Instead the top headsets were the:
- Logitech G930. This is a true 7.1 speaker system that is wireless as well. $100. Their main problem is that they are not super durable.
- Turtle Beach X12. These are two speaker but people love the sound. Durability is also an issue.
- Plantronics Gamecon 770. Also virtual surround with two speakers. At $60 a good budget choice.
- Steelseries Siberia V2. These are the highest rated after the Logitech G930 and don’t seem to have durability problems and Tweaktown as did Hardware Heaven
From Newegg, we get yet another different view of people like although there are many fewer reviews but all were 4 stars:
- Logitech G930. Very popular but issues with the wireless connection.
- Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset. Popular but people didn’t like the fit.
- Logitech G35. Wired with virtual 7.1 sound
- Steelseries Siberia V2 USB. Main problem was that the headphones are a big small at the muff but comfortable otherwise.
- Corsair Vengeance 1500. Unlike the Amazon folks, Newegg folks seemed to like it. Most issues had to do with durability.
- Steelseries Diablo III. Also 50mm drivers and stereo only.
We had a chance to try the Turtlebeach X series and they are definitely nice. Comfortable and the surround sound is amazing.
Surprisingly at least in the Tom’s Hardware review, the frequency responses were actually pretty close. I guess have a headset makes it easier to build drivers that work well:
