New headset (recomendations)

[Ack-Ack]

Headphones I use.  Great for gaming and with 5.1 sound.

Turtle Beach 5.1 headphones


ack-ack

[trigger2]

Been playing with a $20 head set for a year now.  Starting to have troubles with it now. 

Pardon the slight hijack, but maybe someone can explain it.

It is a two plug headset. One for the mic and one for the audio.  They're little round jacks; not sure of the exact designation.

Anyway, the audio is very muted unless I pull the audio plug about half way out.  Is it the computer's jack or the headset's plug that is the problem?

They're 3.5 jacks, it's the jacks, not your computer (most likely, rare cases of the computers jacks going out).
Time to upgrade to a USB headset...

I'll tell you what thought, this fata1ity is absolutly amazing... I think I'm in love.

[Fulmar]

Headphones I use.  Great for gaming and with 5.1 sound.

Turtle Beach 5.1 headphones


ack-ack

How do you get 5.1 sound when the speakers are inches from the ear drum?

[OOZ662]

Time to upgrade to a USB headset...

Careful with that, as most USB headsets circumvent your sound card and degrade performance (in the same way as an onboard sound chip) while sounding like crap. They revert all sound processing to a chip inside the little volume control or worse...through software. *shudder*

[Ack-Ack]

How do you get 5.1 sound when the speakers are inches from the ear drum?

From the review I posted...

"The reason these headphones are classified as 5.1 is because they use the four required ports on your sound card. While most other headphones on the market have one speaker in each earpiece, these have four. As you can see from the picture below, the Center, Rear and Front are kept in the very back of the earpiece while the Sub is kept in front of them. At louder volumes, the sub will actually vibrate but it's not something you will likely feel.



Because of the way the speakers in each earpiece are laid out, it should provide a rather true surround sound experience. The included microphone plugs into the bottom left earpiece only when you need it, which makes it rather convenient. The microphone cord is extremely flexible so that you can place it exactly where you want. It's definitely the most versatile microphone on a headset I have used."


Or you can just go to Turtle Beach's website and read the technical mumbo-jumbo.  All I know is these headphones work very well for what I use them for.


ack-ack

[Cobra516]

Another vote for the Turtle Beach X-52/HPA. 

I've got my X-52 plugged into my Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme card and it is an excellent combo.  It's extremely comfortable to wear, and sounds very nice.  I've had it for going on 3 years now I believe.  The only thing I needed to replace once was my microphone, can order a new mic from Turtle Beach for something like $12.  Can also order new earpads, cords, and other individual parts if needed.

It's the only headset I've used that really has some nice bass to it if you want it - good for listening to music/media. 

Most of the other gaming headsets I've tried over the years had a very flat and treble-ly tone to them, they were also stereo only, and none have been as comfortable as this one.

and now I want to upgrade to the HPA after reading that article, lol. 

Refurbished HPA2 for $59 - I may have to pick that up
http://www.turtlebeach.com/R/tabid/624/Default.aspx

[Lye-El]

Headphones I use.  Great for gaming and with 5.1 sound.

Turtle Beach 5.1 headphones


ack-ack

This is also the set I use. 

[Selino631]

Ya i use Turtle Beach X1. its nice, also you can use it with a Xbox 360, very helpful in shooters,you can hear peopel creeping up on you.

[Hajo]

Best Headset      Sennheiser.

Actualy used in aircraft , radio and recording.

I have a Sennheiser headset with a pigtail....it can be used with a soundcard or USB without.

Squadmates knew right away I had a sennheiser when they heard me speak the first time I used it.

For listening to music there is no equal.

[cpxxx]

I just use my David Clarkes with an adapter. After all, if I'm going to spend three hundred bucks on a headset. I might as well get maximum use out of it. Better still, they're bulletproof, my boys haven't managed to wreck them yet.

[Ack-Ack]

The only thing I needed to replace once was my microphone, can order a new mic from Turtle Beach for something like $12. 

I had a problem with my microphone too and looking around to order another one, I came across a forum that explained the issue with the microphones.  Seems there is a small design issue where two wires come in contact with each other.  By opening up the microphone, you can seperate the two wires and get it to work again.  You just have to take care when putting the microphone back together you don't get the wires to touch again.  I tried it myself, was surprised to see that it was a case of the two wires touching, seperated them and put the microphone back together and it works flawlessly.


ack-ack

[OOZ662]

Could you just insulate them? ie electrical tape? Just a thought.