PC360 Sennheiser headset

[ZetaNine]

My Tritton AXpc-hunk-of-crap headset is falling apart......and I was reading all these wonderful reviews about the new sennheiser pc360 headset......yet I can't find them for sale anywhere.  does anyone have this headset? and additionally......does 5.1 surround sound really make a big diff in this game?  really? I had it in the tritton...and I never thought it made a big dif.

I just want a solid headset that sounds great...with a good wrap around mic that sounds great...and built well.  I thought I had that in the Tritton...but it did not live up to it's promises.  I think this pc360 set has a two year warranty...

thoughts?  opinions?

[Reschke]

Don't know about these but if they are anything like my PC350's then you will not be disappointed in anything other than the wallet shock.

Here is a link from Belgium where they are being sold. Think I will pass on them since there just isn't enough difference between the PC350 and PC360 to justify another $150+ headset in the house.

http://www.gamegear.be/product_info.php?products_id=1423&language=en

[Ghastly]

I just want a solid headset that sounds great...with a good wrap around mic that sounds great...and built well.

I was blown away by the Turtle Beach HPA headset.  Solid construction, a good mike, and the difference in sound quality is quite literally like going from 2D to 3D.  AH sounds much better, but music is simply incomparable.

If you have 5.1 sound on your system, you will do yourself a disservice if you don't at least consider them.

<S>

[Tigger29]

.does 5.1 surround sound really make a big diff in this game?  really?

Four years ago I went from a nice stereo headset to a LTB Surround Sound headset.  I was blown away.  A couple of years later after its cord had been gnawed on and rolled over one too many times, I replaced it with a Turtle Beach headset AK-R8... which is basically a USB version of the HPA2.. and was even MORE blown away.

It's like going from a mouse to a joystick... or from hat views to track-ir... or from CRT to LCD... it's one of those things you never look back from and once you get used to it, you can't imagine how you ever played without it.  Imagine sitting in some trees in a GV and hearing an enemy tank coming near.  You can pinpoint exactly what direction it is, which way it is heading, and how far away it is.  Imagine gunning from the back of a bomber and having an enemy dip down underneath the plane where you can't see it.  You can actually hear him throttle up and pull up back to the bomber, and you can pull the trigger pointing at his location right as he pops back up into view.. based on sound.  I will admit, the sound positioning seems a little bit 'porked' since they reverted back from Miles, but once they get that up and running I anticipate only the best in surround sound quality.

I actually got my original LCD monitor at the same time as my original Surround Sound headphones, and I will have to admit, the surround sound IMO made the game 20X better than the LCD did!  And I was in awe at the LCD quality!  The SS just blew me away.

I have no experience whatsoever with Sennheiser, but I highly recommend the Turtle Beach ones... but regardless of brand and model, make sure you get TRUE SURROUND... as opposed to simulated surround.

[Kazaa]

Does this game even support 5.1? I think Skuzzy said not.

[Ghastly]

I think it might be more like "what the sound system used in the game" supports.  Miles supports "3D spatial positioning" which I would expect that 5.1 would enhance. And DirectX 9 added Surround Sound too IIRC, so that should be enhanced with 5.1 I would think.

Again, only surmises on my part - a lot depends on how these features are implemented in the API, and whether the programmer has to enable/provide information for them to work, and whether or not the game does so is not something I can do more than guess about.

What is not a guess however is that AH easily sounds 2 to 3 times better on the TB HPA2 Headset http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826502011 than it ever has on any other headset I've ever played it with, even though they cost only about $30 more than what the last pair I purchased cost (Plantronics).   And because they aren't USB, they don't have a negative impact on CPU utilization.  (The USB port is only used to power the amplifier - mine at least did not come with a seperate power supply for the headset as shown on Newegg)

Buf if your hardware isn't 5.1, then I'd be inclined to think that a person might make a good case for a good pair of regular binaural headphones instead.

<S>

[ebfd11]

The Logitech g35 is an awesome headset which incorporates 7.1 surround sound and if you have that capability then its the way to go.

Pros ... Built in 7.1 surround sound.
Multiple headpads for more comfortable fit.
Ultra heavy duty cord that has outer braiding on it.
Opposable boom mic.
3 funtion buttons on the side to operate different voice morphing to irritate your squaddies and fellow country men.

Cons:

A little pricey, I think I paid 135 dollars for them.

USB..nuff said

A little too thick for the trakir, but I was able to jerry-rig it so it works.

Surround sound with deep bass, scares the hell ouuta ya in 8 inch gun if they are turned up.

Other than that I have had aboulutly no problems with them and am genuinaly satisfied with them.

[Tigger29]

While AH may not support 5.1 directly, something is definitely kicking in surround sound on my TB headset while playing in game.  I can definitely hear in front of me, behind me, left to right, etc etc...  Skuzzy did mention something about 3d positioning.. maybe the sound drivers just do an excellent job of translating those into 5.1.. I dunno.

While I consider myself to be a computer guru, I'm pretty stupid to the whole sound system thing (on a software level).

I have noticed that ever since HTC reverted back from Miles (temporarily) it's a bit more difficult to judge distance based on sound.  A plane flying 3.0k away sounds exactly like one flying 500 away.  It isn't until it actually passes by that you can hear a difference... but I expect that to all be corrected with Miles (I wouldn't expect them to fix something on a temporary setup that doesn't really affect game play all that much).  Also GV's... it's out of sound range then BAM you can hear it.. and it isn't until it's right next to you that you can tell that it's close...

Anyway...there is definitely an improvement to be noticed using 5.1 surround headphones as opposed to stereo playing AH..

[ZetaNine]

All fantastic responses guys....thanks much.  I'm actually looking into every suggested headset. 

[ZetaNine]

well.......after some research...I did indeed purchase the Logitech G-35 head set.....and I wish I could say I got the same results ebfd11 had...but I can't.  perhaps it's the differences in our systems...but I find these to be horrible..at least on my rig.  I'm returning them.

I never had issues with my Tritton headset, sound-wise.  it was the construction that was bad.  the highs were crisp..the bass was full and rich....and the direction sound was magnificent with aces high.  

I think I've looked at over 30 diff headsets...and I'm still searching for the sound quality of the Tritton.......but with high quality construction...with a USB connector.  so if anyone has any additional recommendations.....I'm all ears (no pun)

starting to look at the Turtle Beach TBS-2114 Earforce HPA2 5.1 Surround Sound Headset again, tha Mash was talking about in another thread.