I have been looking over two headsets for gaming recently,The steel series siberian v2 or the corsair vengence 1500. I Really like the overall look and feel of the corsair vengence 1500 and it has 7.1 audio and 50mm drivers. Also the mic on it looks alot sturdyier than the siberian v2. Anyway was wondering if anyone could recommend any other headsets to look for that are under 120 dollars.
If you actually want good audio, then you're not going to want any of those.
Depending what games you want to play is a big factor. Is it 100% for gaming? Or are you using it also for music? What percentage do you use for both such as 50% game and 50% audio?
Your best option is to get a small decent pair of headphones such as AD-700's if you're mostly doing FPS games. I personally have HFI-580's which are really nice for movies and more "theatrical" games due to the very nice lows.
As far as a mic goes, just get a freestanding mic or clip-on, they're all about the same quality as any that you will find on a gaming headset.
Also 7.1 on headphones is a gimick term, you won't get true 7.1 on any gaming headphones, same goes for 5.1.
ALSO get a sound card if you don't have one, even a cheap one like the Asus Xonar DG which can be had for very cheap. This is essential if you wish to improve you sound quality experience.
I understand what you are saying but what your saying is going over budget your HFI-580's are 130$ while I might be able to swing an asus sound card the headsets I choose use a usb connection bypassing the sound card all together. Also it includes a mic if I were to get a free standing mic I might go with a blue yeti or something but thats like 50$ and up depending on which one you get. I wanted an all in one headset so I could chat with my friends on skype listen to music and play and record gameplay. I own speakers and a subwoofer sadly I cant use them all that much due to the fact that I live with other people and half the time im in a skype call with my friends.
Razer makes some nice ones. I have the carcharias and really like them.
http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-audio/
logitech make some good ones, steelseries too
I wasn't stating what I have is what you should get, mostly what I'm asking is what you are going to use the headphones for. Also are you saying you have a USB DAC? You also don't need a fancy mic, the mics on gaming headsets are about the equivilant to anything really, a $5 freestanding mic is about the equivilant to the Razer headset I had.
You can get a Used - Like New ATH-M50 for $113 shipped (prime) and a cheap mic for $5. This is assuming you already have a USB DAC from what it sounds like you may.
You would get much better sound from the krk kns 6400's, then just get a mod mic.
Generally gaming headsets are overpriced and have bad mics.
As mentioned above, I'd skip getting a headset itself.
But if you are on a budget, you can still get very good headphones and just get a 1$ Mic that you can attach onto the headphones themselves and they will still sound better to the people at the other end, as opposed to a "gaming headset".
A few that are under 120$ and still very good:
- Audio Technica ATH-AD700
- Sony MDR-V6
- Superlux HD68
Heres a whole page dedicated to your budget problem, you can save more money and buy something like a ModMic (http://www.modmic.com/collections/frontpage)
http://www.head-fi.org/a/headphone-buying-guide
Good luck with your purchase.
Avoid headsets at all cost. Like B-Rock said, get a proper pair of headphones and a stand-in or a clip-on microphone.
Stay with brands like Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser.
Avoid Razer, Steelseries, Logitech etc. any gaming peripheral manufacturer since they have no idea about audio.
SteelSeries is particularly bad since I know a lot of people who had Siberia V2s' and left channel went mute after a while, so did mine (although they lasted for 1 and a half years).
Yes consider the recommendations we give, but do not hold to them. Do your own research on what is stated. Do not particularly believe that this is bad or that is good. Peripherals are a very personal and subjective thing.
Personally I have went through hundreds of headsets and headphones in my years.
For what you are actually looking for I will give you a couple to look at, rather then try to give you an alternative and cause you to jump through hoops....
Steelseries 7H
Razer Kraken Black
^ For your budget.
If you want high end audio look at the PC350 or the HD800 (you shouldn't buy this anyway unless you know what you are doing).
Also whenever you get the opportunity make sure to invest in any type of xonar soundcard. I am sure you will be happy with any xonar card.
There are also a couple of fallacies I want to point out.
Regardless of what anyone else states, do not judge a product based on branding unless they have obvious terrible history. Otherwise if you get a bricked product, you got "a" bricked product and shouldn't form an opinion on the entire brand based on such.
The second I wish to point out is the situation with headsets; now, i'm going to be blunt and honest.. I don't know where the hell the idea came from but I suggest it gets dropped rather quickly.
Quality headphones with a quality standalone microphone will always be better then the two integrated anyday, but that is expensive. On the other hand, if you get quality headphones with most of your money, but you have to half ass the standalone mic. You will end up even more frustrated then you started off as.
You can't just throw a headset into market if it is going to be automatically terrible. People do not understand how much money it takes and the prodedures needed in order to place a headset into market, just like PSUs...
Now of course, most headsets have low quality mics, keyword "most" not all. And if you are on a budget, you would be better off doing "actual" research and buying a headset with good drivers and a good mic and still have possible funds to spare rather than go through more steps then you have to and spending more money then you have to as well as losing value in the long run based on having to decide whether to half ass the headphone or the mic.
Other than that, I completely agree with B-rock and you should definitely consider his advice.
Thank you all for your advice I will do some more research before buying anything.