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Semi-budget headsets?
Drascin
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Well, my little old Natec HX77 headset is finally starting to show its age, after well over four years of constant service. It still works fairly well, and it remains comfortable as hell, but I'd rather have some idea of what to get when it finally gives up the ghost, because I'd rather spend as little time as possible with my headphones dead.
And I find myself utterly swamped by options. I landed this headset by near luck, at 36 euro, and it's been a great buy, so I considered just buying another set of the same thing... but now this same headset seems to cost over 65 and at that price I wonder if there aren't better options, even satisfied as I am. But I have no idea what these options could be, and there's about three million headsets out there. Does anyone have any suggestions for good, relatively budget gaming headsets?
And I find myself utterly swamped by options. I landed this headset by near luck, at 36 euro, and it's been a great buy, so I considered just buying another set of the same thing... but now this same headset seems to cost over 65 and at that price I wonder if there aren't better options, even satisfied as I am. But I have no idea what these options could be, and there's about three million headsets out there. Does anyone have any suggestions for good, relatively budget gaming headsets?
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Man, a Modmic costs more than the headphones would. The entire budget would go in the nearly seventy euros shops seem to ask for these!
I should also mention that both the g35 and the g930 are frequently discounted. If I weren't switching over to Astros, I'd be pretty tempted to pick up the g930 that Newegg had listed for $78(usd)
You can get a surprisingly decent mic from Ebay for like 2€, and those can fairly easily be attached to HD-330.
thomann.de/fi/superlux_hd_330.htm
Or Superlux HD-681 EVO, with them you get velour and pleather pads. Quite good sound, pretty neutral (330 is apparently more bassy). I'm thinking about getting those, velour pads are a must for me.
There is also something from Shure, Audio Technica (I think that was the on) etc.
Recommendation is that don't get "Gaming Headset", those have way inferior sound quality for the price you'll pay. Kingston and Q-pad have good headsets (same headset but different branding), but they will cost more, from 70€ to 100€.
Clas Ohlson has a very cheap headset for Skype etc. and it has pretty decent mix. Many have bought that kind of headsets and taken the mic out. You just have to make sure that the mic is kind of separate, not one of those that have the beam going inside the headset.
I have searched long time for good budget headphones (I most likely am not needing mic, small baby and angry wife) and Superlux is the best I've seen, at least for me. I like the look of them, they sound good and their sound is easily modded with different pads, cotton pads etc.
Also, what's the difference between the 681 and the 681 EVO? Because there's like 10 euros difference between the two.
This is the first time I've owned Superlux cans, so I can't comment on audio quality or difference between the headsets. You may want to check the Audiophile thread and see what they say.
For good directional sound you need neutral(ish) headphones, it will be easier to hear different sounds. In theory, the more neutral the better sound separation there is. But of course you'll want some zing to your sounds, so it is nice to have some bass in them. Those HDs have pretty decent bass (HD-330 more bassy, they might be semiclosed and HD-681 are open).
681 has some annoying features in sound stage, if I remember right there where too much treble or something. If you are willing to make some physical modding (some small soldering might be needed) 681 will have excellent sound quality in them. EVOs have different sound stage, it is more balanced right away.
And in my opinion EVOs are a lot better looking, and as I said they come with velour and pleather, while pretty much every else Superlux comes with pleather.
Apparently there are pretty decent closed cans too, can't remember the number, might start with 6... There is also a headset version, I think.
If you want good directional sound, buy Soundblaster Z or Audigy FX. ASUS soundcards don't have good directional sounds.
But you should get along with just these headphones, especially HD-330 are the most recommended headphones in gaming circles I am. Many compares them to Beyerdynamic build- and soundwise. Well, they have copied the look from the more expensive cans but their drivers are pretty good.
Oh, and please forgive me if I use wrong audio terms, I am not any kind of hifi-enthusiast. I've just searched cheap and good headphones for my gaming for some time now...
EDIT. Yeah, headphones themselves are not making any directional sound processing, they just bring the sound to your ear preferably as unadulterated as possible (software, games etc. process the sound).
Well, the 330 are relatively affordable at 50€ (though I'm also noticing the 660 cost like 1.50 euro more). Though from what you say, chances are I'd need a soundcard change, which would be a pain. When I get back home from the holidays I might try ordering them from Amazon, since they have a wonderful refund policy, and give them a spin.
I've used both (main desktop uses a SB Zx or something, guest desktop uses a Xonar STX (which I swapped out of my main desktop to replace with the SB)), and I'll be completely honest: I prefer the Creative.
I've seen a hell of a lot of people complaining about Creative's drivers over the last half decade or so, which is why I went with the ASUS when I built my rig in 2012. Maybe they've gotten better recently?
There is apparently some kind of echo chamber effect used in the Dolby thing, making it inferior to Creative stuff.
It might not bother most of the people, and the cheaper Xonar cards are, well, cheaper than Creative counterparts. (30€ to 40€, or something in that range in Finland). If you are content with what you already have I don't think there is any need to buy other sound card.
But I admit, I should've have said that the Creative have better positional audio thing going than ASUS. Bad wording, sorry for that.
My 7.1 set cost around $35 in a local computer store. They're awesome.