After the rath of my dog dispelled unto misplaced Astros I an replacing them, but to what? I was under the impression now to stay away from gamer brand headsets so I looked at the audio technica m50xs however people said those weren't good for gaming. I also looked at the steel series 9Hs, but I'm hesitant to go towards gaming brands. What do I get? (About a $150 price range)
I am currently using the Sennheiser PC333D headset. I purchased them about a year ago so I feel qualified to give advice about them.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh4_9B5r8jo
That video should fill in any general information.
This headset is USB, so I realize it's not the 'audiophile' way to go, but at the time when I purchased it I did not know any better, and to be honest I don't think I would change that if I had to make the choice again. many people complain of USB headsets making fuzzy sounds or crappy interference. I have only experienced this once, but a quick change of the USB port solved this problem. I find that the USB hub gives more volume to the headset, meaning that I can better adjust to the level of sound I want. I found that with the 3.5mm jacks I just couldn't get them as loud as I wanted it. This could be a motherboard issue, but it's something I thought might be worth mentioning.
I primarily play games, though I do use my computers for school quite often. The sound quality is outstanding for the price, but I believe that you could find slightly better quality from headphones in this price range. The catch is that I do not believe you could find a better deal for headphones AND a nice microphone in this price range.
The microphone is VERY nice, though you must ensure that you have the microphone adjusted to the correct distance or you will have unwanted noise (your breathing) picked up, though if you move it too far away some applications will try to do some weird audio adjustment to compensate for the levels.
The most important thing I would warn you about is that they are VERY tight when you first get them. I mean... skull crushingly tight. This makes it nearly impossible to wear the headset for longer than an hour or two at first, but after about 2 months I had stretched the band and pads to the point where I can now wear the headset for maybe 5 hours at one given time, but it's incredibly rare that I will sit at the computer for more than a few hours anymore.
The 'DJ' feature is useless, don't even bother trying to use it. The joint is strong, but it's stiff to the point where it's just easier to slide the ear cup off your ear when you need to hear people in real world.
Hopefully this will help you make a more informed decision.