"Univseral" Gaming Headset?

Hensler

I want to upgrade my gaming headset to something that is wireless and surround sound. But I play a lot of games... on PS3, Xbox, and PC. Is there any way to get a wireless surround sound headset that I can use for all 3 of these platforms for voice chat and gaming? It looks like the nice ones will be expensive, and I'd prefer to not have to buy 3 different ones. Anybody got any ideas or recommendations? Thanks.

Satsumomo

I was searching the market for surround headsets. One thing I never found was wireless true surround sound headsets.

If they were wireless, they were usually virtual surround sound. These Tritton headphones and these other ones were the best I found between quality/price/universal.

Hensler

Thanks, I'll check those out.

acidlacedpenguin

what do you mean true surround, do you mean like 6 little tiny drivers instead of two big drivers?

I was in a similar boat as OP just a while ago, I ended up getting a good pair of headphones (AD700) a Zalman clip-on mic, and I'm still deciding on what mixamp to go with. All told it'll have been between $150 and $250 depending on the mixamp I go with.

as far as cheap and wireless goes, you might want to look into Turtle Beach's offerings, I have two pairs of X11 (wired) they're comfortable and I know they work on 360 and PC, and they allegedly work with the PS3. The PX3's which are $150 are said to work on all three and are wireless

Hensler

acidlacedpenguin wrote:

what do you mean true surround, do you mean like 6 little tiny drivers instead of two big drivers?

I'm not much of an audiophile - I didn't even realize there was a difference between "true" surround sound and virtual, but the description makes sense. I guess if it sounds the same and actually gives you the impression of 360 degrees of sound, I'd be okay with virtual.

acidlacedpenguin

yeah, it's my opinion that I'd rather have two large drivers than a million little ones, having used a zalman 5.1 headset (6 drivers in them, 3 stereo plugs coming off the end) in the past.

you might want to take a look around the head-fi.org forums for people in similar situations, a quick glance and I found http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/566357/gaming-headphones-for-pc-xbox360-ps3 though take their advice with a grain of salt, they tend to exaggerate how bad some issues really are and are generally willing to spend over-budget to eliminate issues that many people can't even tell are actually issues.

Hensler

I think I've decided to go with the AX Pro's. Thanks for all the advice and links, guys.

Azio

You only have two ears. One driver per ear is enough to produce a convincing 3D effect.

Course, for games you need hardware and software with the capability to simulate the 3D sound field, and they don't all have that. So I get why multichannel headsets exist but from what I've experienced, they kind of sound like shit for the price you pay and they don't even provide a very good surround effect. Better off with a good pair of stereo cans, maybe with a neat mic attached, and one of those sound cards that can do the 3D thing.

Hensler

Have had the Triton AX Pro for a few weeks now. I think it sounds great, but I don't have much experience to compare it to. But I really wish I'd went with a wireless model now - the chords are pretty annoying. I'd also like some more bass, like some of the other headsets I've tried. Beyond that, I'm pretty happy with the purchase, but I think I'll keep looking out for a good wireless model.

TOGSolid

If you don't mind cutting out on the true multi-driver surround sound, Creative has these cans available that connect to the PS3, 360, PC, and Mac:
http://us.store.creative.com/Creative-Sound-Blaster-Tactic3D-Omega-Wireless/M/B0058D8D3K.htm

I checked em out at PAX Prime and they sounded pretty good. When my Roccat Kave finally bites the farm, I'll be considering that headset unless something better has come out.

I think it sounds great, but I don't have much experience to compare it to

That's actually what Triton is kinda banking on. I've never been impressed with the Tritons personally, they've always sounded muddled and hollow. Try out a better quality headset and you'll be regretting your purchasing decision in a hurry .

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TOGSolid

mcdermott wrote:

Also, while it's too late for you, for anybody else reading: multi-driver "true" surround speakers are a gimmick. Or, at least, more of a gimmick than "virtual" surround. You will get much better sound quality out of a pair of good 40mm drivers, and if you think you're getting a more "realistic" sound field out of a ton of tiny speakers all crammed within an inch of your ear, you be crazy. Dolby Headphone works.

My experience with my Roccat Kave has been that while the sound quality compared to a set of traditional, high quality cans is obviously not as good, it's good enough for video gaming and the positional audio, while obviously not as accurate as a full sized speaker setup, has still saved my bacon more than a few times. It's basically a solid compromise if you want something resembling positional audio and can't do an actual speaker setup. I've got no experience with virtual surround sound so I really can't comment on how the two compare.

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mspencer

(The following post might be a thiny-veiled immature way for me to say "hey everybody look at me, I spent $400 on in-ear monitors!" Apologies in advance.)

I bought Astro A40's at PAX 2008 because I was looking for the same sort of thing: good headphones AND chat built in. It's difficult to get a manufacturer-provided chat headset's microphone near your lips when wearing large "closed cans" headphones.

When my A40's died (first a speaker blew on the headset, and then using the mixamp with my Sennheiser HD280's I somehow blew the mixamp) I stumbled on another solution: Consider getting in-ear monitors and just putting a manufacturer-provided headset on over that. There are certainly cheaper ways to go about it, but if you get in-ear monitors that have a flat surface facing away from your head, you can just put a regular chat headset over top of it.

Possibly-irrelevant gushing about the C3Pro's follows:

I got Alien Ears C3Pro's ($395) last November. Alien Ears gives you free do-it-yourself ear imprint kits, but it'll be a cold day in hades before I stick something so deep in my own ear that you need a string to pull it out again. (The procedure is roughly: stuff a "cork" way down into your ear, past the second bend in the ear canal, fill the ear canal and external ear past the tragus with gooey impression material, wait for it to cure, and then pull it out.) I found a local audiologist who did ear impressions for $20 per ear, sent them in, and a few weeks later had my in-ear monitors.

These things work amazingly as earplugs: the web site says 26 to 30 db of isolation, but in practical terms: I can walk close to concert speakers -- permanent-hearing-damage close -- and the volume that gets through is loud but comfortable. With no signal someone can stand next to me and shout and I can sort of hear them. With moderate music playing, someone can stand next to me and shout and I can't tell they're there. The audiologist said these will be good for protecting my hearing, since I can listen to music much quieter. With almost zero background noise, you hear more dynamic range in your audio, especially if you turn music up loud anyway: quiet things like footsteps in FPS games, or noise (unintended voice?) left in the quiet parts of music by audio engineers who assumed nobody would be able to hear it.

Even though these are rather large (about the size of your thumb up to the first knuckle) because they fit snugly in your ear, the fit is extremely comfortable. I have definitely caught myself, dozens of times, forgetting if I have them in or not and reaching up and feeling my ears. The side facing away from your head is flat, and the cord comes out of the top/front part, sort of pointing toward your eyes, and then wraps around up, back, and down around your ears. So you can sleep with these in, if you have to, say, sleep in a room with a bunch of people, like hotel room sharing at PAX.

My strategy: If you have a smartphone with a noise generator, like Lightning Bug on Android, play a quiet (two or three clicks of volume) background noise with an alarm set on the phone. Set a regular (loud wakes-the-whole-room up) alarm clock for one minute later. (Anything over 80% volume on my Nexus One is painfully loud, so I set my alarm to 70% and use an old bell telephone ring as the alarm. Instantly awake when that goes off.) Put the in-ear monitors (IEM's) in with the cables meeting behind your head, and pull the little plastic tube thing up to the back of your head, so the cable doesn't get pulled if you roll over. Most likely the IEM's stay in all night, you are woken up by the phone alarm that nobody else can hear, and you have a minute to stumble over to the regular alarm clock and turn the alarm off. Or, less likely, you pulled the IEM's out during the night and the regular alarm wakes you up. Or, ahem very rarely ahem, your phone somehow locks up during the night, the background noise keeps playing but the alarm never goes off, and you wake up to people shaking you because the alarm is blaring / people think you died in your sleep / people are shouting at you and you can't hear anything. Not that I'd know anything about that. Ahem.)

Also, disclaimer: generally people who buy expensive audio equipment have compromised their judgment, and they tend to think the thing they bought is better than it really is. I am not immune to this. But those two tricks: total isolation for falling asleep in a noisy environment; and putting the IEM's in and a gaming headset over top of them, are definitely things I couldn't do before and seem to be worth the price of admission for me. Also I am not related to Alien Ears and I am receiving no benefits for making this post.