My venerable headset has started to fail on one side. It is easily the oldest thing on my PC. Over ten years maybe? I really can’t recall when I bought it except it was in a bricks and mortar store.
Enough rambling. I need a replacement. Last thread on this topic appears to be March 2016 so lots of new entries to the market since then I am sure.
I am happy to go wired with 3.5mm audio jack and a microphone. Would be a plus if the mic was detachable. Budget is up to £100.
Uses are gaming, VOIP calls, watching movies and occasionally listening to music on the PC.
In terms of aesthetics I prefer a plainer more functional look if possible.
So what are your thoughts?
People at work have recommended this but it USB. I would rather use the DAC on my motherboard, especially as I plan to upgrade my whole rig later this year.
Same as I always say: Fuck headsets! They are all crap.
Get a modmic, the V4 should be relatively cheap by now. It is a one time investment and you are basically free to choose any pair of headphones you like / can afford.
I use a Samson Meteor and some Beyerdynamic DT990’s, and they’re an awesome pair. I would definitely suggest heaphones vs. headset like others have suggested. Especially as you have said you would like to use them for music and movies.
In you price range I would recommend the Sennheiser HD558 or Audio Technica ATH AD500X. And the best mic you can get for your remaining budget.
My setup is a pair of Sony mdr ex110ap and a CAD U37 on a cheap mic arm. It’s around $60 for the lot and it’s hard to beat the amount of quality for the money. Headsets with built in mics or even a mod mic are a waste of time IMO. You can buy whatever headphones make your ear pussy wet and just get a USB interface condenser mic. It’s the best way to go.
open headphones tend to have a nicer sound stage so you might look at one of those. They leak sound, but sound better (generally).
Since you don’t need to be portable as a few others have suggested, id recommend a separate mic, there’s the modmic but I’ve heard of issues from them over time. id probably suggest a desktop mic. The blue microphones mics are generally very good for the money, the snowball is reasonably priced. Might ask @noenken about the snowball as he’s suggesting not that one…?
Audio-Technica make pretty decent headphones, I use the Audio-Technica ATH-M20X at work, there pretty good, i like them. (these are closed headphones)
I cant comment on possible other options as I’ve never used any other ones in your price range that you can get atm.
The snowball is meh. Literally any USB condenser mic is going to have similar performance and likely cost less. There’s only so much quality you can get from those USB based mics before you might as well just run an xlr setup. Most of the cheaper USB mics also come with a pop filter too, the snowball does not. It simply costs too much IMO. You’re paying for the name.
XLR with 48V phantom power is quite the undertaking for beginners. Decent components are going to blow the budget fairly quickly.
For cheap audio gear I worked with, the Miditech Audiolink II + Behringer C1U alone are ~90€ and that is fairly basic equipment.
The better stuff (Audiotechnica AE3000 + Behringer FCA1616) is upwards of 500€ and not worth it for voice chat or even live streaming (except if OP plans to do a podcast with 4 people, then the FCA1616 is a solid choice).
Just getting some beginner tier USB mic is going to save OP a lot of hassle and money.
Thomann has some studio beginner kits, if op wants to go all in:
