Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question
Solved

Headset vs headphone and attachable mic for gaming

Tags:
  • Peripherals
  • Headsets
  • Gaming
Last response: in Computer Peripherals
Share
March 11, 2014 9:30:44 AM

I read few threads about the same but I couldn't get a solid answer most of them were answered by a user named ssdx.
My motherboard is gigabyte ga-z87x-oc
So do i need a sound card ?
Gaming headset I was planning to buy was steelseries siberia v2
And the headphone
Ath - m50 and a attachable mic.
Which one should I choose ?
I will mostly be playing battlefield 4 , listening to music on iphone and watching movies.
In overall which would be better ? Or none ?

More about : headset headphone attachable mic gaming

Best solution

a b 4 Gaming
March 12, 2014 9:26:29 AM

sometimes posts get missed... that was the case of this one.

the ath-m50s are only around 35ohm resistance so can be driven by just your motherboard onboard sound.

however, if your onboard sound gives you distortion, crackling, static or other anomolies you could upgrade.

some claim the ath-m50 has a small soundstage. generally this plagues all closed designs and to get an open feeling soundstage you need open or semi open designs (which leak sound).

another model worthy of looking into are the beyerdynamics dt770 pro. they come in many ohm resistance models (32, 80, 250) and the higher the ohm the better sounding they are in that lineup. however, you might want a headphone amplifier for the 250ohm model (though from a thread i just read apparently someone used it on his laptop output just fine but results can vary depending on the power to the jack)

as for headsets... sound quality will be less but its an all in one type headset solution not two seperate items. if you want sound quality i would go for seperate headphone and mic.

as for surround sound... they do make real 5.1 or 7.1 headphones however most surround sound headphones are virtual only which can be replicated with software. sometimes this can make sound a bit muddy though compared with 2.0 stereo mode. true surround headphones have smaller cheaper drivers so while true they have surround (or at least the best a headset can actually imitate) the sound quality would be less than a pair of headphones with larger better quality drivers.

i just learned about a new product as well... the ath-m50x. same design as the m50s/m50 except it has an improved leather material for better wear and it comes with all 3 cables (short straight, long straight & coiled cables).
Share
March 12, 2014 11:59:10 AM

That was a very detailed and helpful answer , thank you.
After giving it a lot of thought ,
I decided that I need an all round headphone.
So I ordered ath m50 for around 170$
The m50s or m50x is not available in India.
I am still trying to convince myself that it is the right decision.
Which mic should I get ?
Antlion modmic -35$+12$ (shipping)
Or zalman for 8 bucks.
I am scared to order it from modmic as the total price comes to around 55$ with duty.
That's a hefty price.
So which attachable mic would be better ?
And do I really need a sound card for gaming ?
as you said my motherboard has a decent built in sound card.thanks.
And dt770pro is a no go
As it is priced at 300$ in amazon india.
My budget is uptill 200 $
m
0
l
a b 4 Gaming
March 12, 2014 12:55:14 PM

well, i have no way of knowing how good the audio is onboard your motherboard. from what i can see it doesnt look like the worst but it doesnt look like the best. what i said before was that i would suggest not worrying about it unless you start having issues such as those i listed above.

i do like the concept of the modmic as it allows you to add a boom mic to any headphones. boom mics seem to be the preferred style for most headsets so that is a plus i suppose. with that said, the modmic is only a mid-level product at best. it is only so-so in terms of performance. its better than something like the zalman clip ons (which i've heard dont last too long) however its not anything high end. good enough for daily use if you like how it sounds though.

sound comparison between zalman clip on and modmic (it does play... i had to refresh the page before it let me push play...)
http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5977077/zalman%20mic...

another alternative if to take the microphone from any headset which has a detatchable mic (you can often order these as a seperate part for repair purposes) and mod it onto the headphones with a 3.5mm female to male cable and some zip ties. benefits of this are that you can use any mic that is designed to be detacheable and use it so you have many more choices. essentially this mod is what a modmic is... except the modmic has a fancy little clip to hold the mic on with a magnet if i remember correctly. see this:
http://imgur.com/gallery/bKU4H/

another benefit of doing it yourself is that you dont need to wait on modmics if they are out of stock (since they often are out of stock)

as far as the m50 is concerned... they are good all around multi purpose headphones. in the usa you can get them as cheap as $99 however i paid about the same as you did ($160) in a retail store years ago so the price you paid isnt terrible its just almost full retail. for the price its hard to beat them if the DT770 and other comparable headphones are out of budget.

honestly its not worth worrying at this point if you made the right call or not. wait for them to come in, break them in for a good week and see what you think. they are a highly respected model of headphones with generally good reviews other than a few minor issues.

if you have any further questions or comments... post back here.
m
0
l
!