Headsets: Game One vs A40 and a Soundcard Q

twitch2120

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Basically my wife told me to spend money on a good quality headset and get some el cheapo speakers for the occasional youtubing.

I'm new to PC gaming in a relative sense so I'm not sure what I want/need in a headset. (ex console gamer rolling with whatever TV speakers). Anyways the reviews on these things seems to be the Sennheiser's have the best sound reproduction but zero 'tweaking'. The A40's seem like the 'Nike' of headsets. It does what its supposed to do but you are paying for the 'everyone is doing it'.

I can buy the sennheiser's with rewards points off my credit card or just use said points on the A40's when the bill comes in. Price isn't super important. I just want a quality headset. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Other question is if a soundcard is needed. Have an ASUS z87-A mobo. What is the benefit of a dedicated card and is there a good rule of thumb for what is needed?
 

thee_prisoner

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Do you need headset or regular headphones? The Astro's A40 are a decent headset but not worth the money. If you buy the combo of the headset with the mix amp, then what you get is an ok headset with a decent amp/surround sound processor which might eliminate the need for a sound card. In reality what the Astro's are is a convenient to use set up with a headset and mix amp for 250.00, if the whole setup cost 125-150.00 then that would more in line with quality of the headset and mix amp.

If you want to go the headphone route(and don't need a mic) or add a separate microphone: Sennies are good good option along with a bunch of others like Koss, Grado, AKG, Audio Technica, Shure and many others.

Like speakers, it's hard to recommend a specific model but generally a good brand will produce a good product, because sound is very subjective (measurements can give a comparison point) . What sounds good to me may not sound good to you.

Gaming audio isn't that high quality. Gamers are just mostly looking for some average sound with good directional sound(if you need it). Music is a whole other matter especially if you listen to jazz, acoustic, vocal and classical music in general.

The audio on that mobo spec wise sounds good. I suggest trying the on board sound and see if it works for you. If you decide to get a sound card, I would recommend the Creative Sound Blaster Z. You can pick one up for about 82.00 plus it comes with a very good mic. It also makes it easy to switch from headphones to speakers.
http://us.creative.com/promos/SoundBlasterZseries/

Happy gaming, the Prisoner...

 

twitch2120

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I should have specified, these really wont be geared towards music. Just need a quality headset and mic and if they are built in, great. If not then I need a serviceable mic and good headphones. I was eyeballing the Z soundcard but felt the mic would have been redundant if I had a headset. More research is in order!

Is there any benefit of USB vs. 3.5 jack? Or is it different mean same ends kind of thing?
 

thee_prisoner

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Do you need a microphone?

Yes the mic in the Sound blaster Z would be redundant, although it would give you future options if you decided to go with a headphone instead of a headset. I play with my GF and having the mic is nice to play side by side on our comps. Headset quality can be decent but gaming audio isn't really that high quality.

USB vs 3.5, generally is that some headsets have all the 3.5 jacks to plug into the 5.1/7.1 analog outputs of your mobo and use the USB as an amp/volume controller. Most headsets now plug into just(besides mic) 2.0 outputs and use the USB to power the headsets and have a surround processor built in like a sound card..

For a headset this one looks pretty wicked. http://www.turtlebeach.com/product-detail/pc-headsets/ear-force-z-seven/341

 

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