Shalamay

Hello, I read was much as I could and now I'm pretty confused. I have an i7 with an Asus rampage II extreme and it comes with a X-Fi card. I will not be able to afford a sound card or amp right now. I do have an external mic that I like, so a mic is not a must. I have a pair of Turttle Beach HPA 5.1 headphones that the plastic broke on. So, I've been reading on what to replace these with and I'm not sure what to do. I almost only game with my headphones and might listen to a little bit of music here and there.

I would like a set that is comfortable. I would like to stay under $150, but can go alittle higher if its close. I would like them to be closed (?) as I often have back ground noise and/or need to be quite.

I like the 5.1 thing and it sounded good to me and I could "hear" all around me, but it seems that alot of 5.1 headphones are not liked. Even so, I can't seem to find a pair that anyone agrees on. Then there is emulated or you have the speakers in the headphone. I'd really prefer another set of 5.1's, but the turttle beach is the first set of headphones that I bought and I don't really know if there is a much difference between 5.1 and 2.1(? or regular?) headphones. So, for a 5.1 set, what do you guys recommend in this area?

Next it seems that alot of people like the ATH-AD700, but they are open (I don't know how much sound they blead or let in). Then there are a few Sennheiser out there. There are a few others out there, so what would you guys recommend in this area?

Any help that you guys can give me would be great. Thank you.

0m3g4

seriously I have done my fair share of searching and I was really considering getting the medusa 5.1 headphones, but after googling around I found that in order for an rma you have to pay the shipping to germany! so that, and the fact that I read quite a few ppl had received duds and had to pay the shipping to the manufacturer, turned me away from those, then I was looking at the razers and reviews on those seemed more so that they were designed to break within a year... then I looked into the zalman 5.1's found a pair on here and bought them, very disappointed with the positional sound.
I have had a pair of the hpa-2's and REALLY liked them but I bought a 5.1 speaker set up and had no need for them, and lent them to a friend who broke them.
well I now need a set of headphones for at night, and I went ahead and bought a pair of the turtle beach HPA-2's and LOVE them.
I don't like the emulated 5.1 over 2 speakers they sound funky.
I vote true 5.1 over ANY stereo headset for gaming, I don't listen to music threw them hardly at all maybe like 3% of the time would be music, and they sound fine for music, I listen to mp3's on my comp anyway so high end headphones
wouldn't offer the best listening experience for my music/gaming needs.

I hope this helps you in your decision, the only other pair of headphones that I was considering was the trinity brand 5.1's.

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bebster

Well, you vote wrong.

5.1 "surround" headsets are a terrible gimmick that provide piss poor sound quality at an inflated price. Their positional audio is not even as good as some higher end stereo cans.

For gaming, I would highly recommend the Audio-Technica ATH-AD700s. They have a colossal sound stage, so you can pick the position of sounds in a huge radius around your head (unlike most "surround" headsets, where you can tell which direction sounds are coming from - but not how far away they are).

Anybody who tells you to buy 5.1 headsets does not know much about headphones.

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0m3g4

I have not owned any of the higher end headphones, so I cannot comment on them, have you listened to the hpa-2's?
you make a bold statement if not, I would much rather have physical speakers playing the sound than tricking the headphones to try and play it over a 2 channel output signal

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Xinoxide

then recommend speakers, not headphones.

i vote +1 for tha Audio technica's

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0m3g4

he said he was looking for another pair of 5.1 headphones, I gave him my recommendation and all the info that I have looked through, that is what this forum is about...

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Shalamay

Well guys, thank you for the responces. I did ask for recommendations in both areas, so thank you. So, if I go for 5.1 headphones, the medusa 5.1 headphones are most likely the best? On the medusa site they have these also or just get http://www.medusa-usa.com/roccat-kav...et-p-967.html? Are any of the Tritton headphones ok?

Or, if I go regular headphones the Audio Tech's or the Sennhieser for this price range? Or if I want to go alittle more, then the these or these?

So, nothing from Logitech or Razor is worth getting? It also seems that most of you guys seem to think and the regular headphones are better that the 5.1 headphones.

Again thank you for all the help and information.

bebster

Yeah, the general consensus among people who actually know what they are talking about is that 5.1 are inherently inferior. If I were you, I would go the AD-700s - as they really stand out as being "the best" for gaming in their price range.

Enjoy

d[-_-]b

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Shalamay

Weird, I thought I responed and asked some more questions...hmmm. Well, I have another question. I have a logitech z5300e 5.1 system and I just noticed that it has a headphone jack. Is that powered and should I use it? I do like the ATH-AD700s, but are there any headphones in the $150ish range that are closed and good for gaming? Thanks.

Chaos Assasson

Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 or sennheiser hd 555

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