Speakers or Headphones

[Skip]

I currently have speakers, logitech z-640. i'm no audiophile so i think these are pretty nice, i'm sure there are some people appalled by their quality, but for 45$$ i can't go wrong. I'm going to buy some 5.1 surround sound headphones though, constantly have parents telling me to turn it down.

http://www.medusa-usa.com/details.htm

after doing extensive research i found that these are the best 5.1 headphones you can buy, there is actually 8 minispeakers, 3 regular and 1 woofer in each ear.

[sky]

i actually prefer speakers, but tbh i haven't experienced 5.1 headphones, so i can't really comment on it. i expect a good 5.1 or 6.1 set of speakers to give a better 3dimensional experience of sound, but of course, cranking those up at night to play a shooter or a racing game with roaring bass isn't likely to be tolerated by anyone living in the house with you. also a good set of speakers isn't the cheapest thing to get.

so it comes down to budget and the people around you. i voted for speakers for MY situation, but in your case, i'd probably take the headphones as well.

[Noktar]

Both
For Shooters Headphones (curretly I have Sennheiser Pc-130)
For Music and other games Speakers (currently I have Creative Inspire 5300)

[craig588]

I used to love my Sennheiser 590s, but I recently bought a new speaker and amp setup. A 6 channel 800 watts per channel Adcom amp setup with 4 Polk studio monitors and 2 of Jensens absoloute highest end speakers from the 1960s. (The Jensens have 22" woofers, they are huge!)

Never buy "computer" speakers, calling them computer speakers is just their excuse for them being crap.

Edited for grammar.

[Peckers]

always game with my Beyerdynamics headphones, probably not optimal for gaming but they're ok and excellent for music.

[Siphilon]

always game with my Beyerdynamics headphones, probably not optimal for gaming but they're ok and excellent for music.

Same for me. I use Grado SR225's which probably aren't optimal for games, great for music though ;-)

Ive got a Klipsch 2.1 setup as well but it's very rare that I get to crank it to the preferred volume, sadly. So my vote goes for headphones.

cheers.

[LANjack]

I currently have speakers, logitech z-640. i'm no audiophile so i think these are pretty nice, i'm sure there are some people appalled by their quality, but for 45$$ i can't go wrong. I'm going to buy some 5.1 surround sound headphones though, constantly have parents telling me to turn it down.

http://www.medusa-usa.com/details.htm

after doing extensive research i found that these are the best 5.1 headphones you can buy, there is actually 8 minispeakers, 3 regular and 1 woofer in each ear.


Wow those look pretty badass.. I would get the USB ones myself. Anyone want to get a group order going haha.. with purchase of 3 USB ones we can get them for 117$ each. I'm down.. :D

[Pimp!]

few of my friends have those medusa's in UK, they got em from play.com, although not USB. they really like them for the price they payed (39 pounds)

me personnaly love my Sennheiser HD280pro's cancel out sound like nothing else.

[Disposibleteen]

heh, ill still take a nice set of Klipsch 5.1 Ultras over any headphones, i dont live with my parents and my neighbors dont care how high they go so i can play all of my games very loud, i especially love Half Life 2 in 5.1! did i mention the sub is HUGE!!

[mrnuke]

both, for fps i use only my sennheiser hd 590's and for sports games, such as madden, fifa or even nfsu2 i use my logitech z-5500's............ sooooooooooooooo amazing. Also it just depends on if i want to blow someone out of my room, or keep the sound to myself.

[iljs]

I've owned / read just about everything about all the speakers / headphones. For gaming obviously Headphones are better. Best headphones are easily any Seinheisser above pc150 and the zalman 5.1's.

[Maelstrom2160]

I'm using speakers, B&W CDM1 nt's on a pair of $750 stands (got em cheap) using a heavily modded amp to juice em and a audigy2

[lalPOOO]

I use 2 sets of 2.1 speakers currently, one for the front channel and one for the rear. Its not bad for gaming, but I imagine theres much better. Its nice for movies though, with the 2 subs(one right under my bed for that bedshaking explosions) I've recently been considering headphones though, as these speakers don't deliver a great surround effect, and can be a bit noisy at night.. I'm just afraid if I start using headphones people will call my a sissy :p:
Anyone tried those zalman 7.1 headphones?

[iljs]

There actaully only 5.1, and worked great at a friends with the external USB and his audigy2 :). Between them and the Seinheisser pc150's you cant go wrong

[Iridium192_217]

speakers all the way

[Skip]

i know a guy with the zalman's he says they are nice, but he's no audiophile, not that i am, like i said my 45$ speakers please me, its just they are on so low. suppposedly the spatial accuracy is good, but the bass isn't, because there is no subwoofer in the the headphones.

the reason i paid the extra for the medusa's is because they have the mic built in, and also supposedly they are just all around better, although they don't have much US recognition, only reviews i found are from the UK. Also they ship from the UK, i just got my order receipt and are being shipped via royal mail.

i'll have them by tuesday or wednesday i believe.

i wouldnt get the USB ones because i paid like 85$$ for my audigy 2 zs, i want to be able to use it, getting USB's all the decoding will be done through software.

there's a pretty good review showing sound cards effect on framerates. the creative's do the best, and then the m-audios which use an inferior gaming chipset, but i heard a better overall sound. and lastly integrated audio. THe creative's on a whole got around 10% better framrates i believe. If i find the article i will post it.

http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=464

this isn't the review i was thinking of, but it shows how the audigy 2 zs is the best for gaming as far as fps goes, and using integrated hurts framerates and increases cpu utilization, which is another reason why i wouldn't get USB and why i did get a sound card.

http://www.techreport.com/etc/2004q3/cssource-audio/index.x?pg=3

that shows the best for CS source are the creative cards. pretty impressive victory they had there. But supposedly the m-audio's do have better sound...

[lalPOOO]

I just wired up one of these http://www.sennheiser.co.uk/products.jsp?id=03374 last night. Havn't gotten the mic wired up yet though, as it needs a seperate powersupply. After testing them out I kind of prefer my 'crappy' speakers still.

[Torin]

Headphones are absolutely better for FPS, but for everything else speakers...

I would be wary about paying $130 for those headphones though... I had a similiar pair from a different company that uses that same amp, and had to RMA the amp twice in a year.

[Skip]

thats the first i had heard about that thing with the amp.

i paid for the OEM box, so only 96$ for me. i like how the amp though allows easy switching back to my speakers, since i do want to keep them.

[Skip]

got my headset, it is very nice. there are two modes, CD and DVD which can be selected on the thing on the wire, CD mode has pretty poor spatialization, the front sounds like its coming from the left. but on DVD it is perfect. also the rear, front and bass, all have individua in-line controls.

so far i have played battlefield vietnam, to get an idea of how good the sound was when planes and helicopters where flying overhead. Half life 2, and counter strike source. i am very impressed by how good the surround sound, i can pinpoint where things are coming from just as good as i can with my speaker setup, for some reason though, footsteps are much more pronounced with headphones on compared to my speakers, logitech z640's, i know they arent good speakers, but still i never really noticed footsteps too much. this is really a bonus for online games, as you can hear your enemy before you see him, something i really couldn't do with my speakers. Also the bass is very nice on these headphones, it can shake the headset. i should also play some doom3, as it used surround sound quite nicely.

the microphone is also very nice. i recorded my voice using my creative sound card software and it came back without hissing and distortion. it also works very well online.

one thing i found odd, was i ordered the OEM box and i didnt' recieve a 7.5V DC adapter for the amplifier, this didn't affect me because i happened to have one handy from an old ethernet switch. maybe they just forgot, or that isn't a part of the OEM packaging, everything else though i recieved just fine.

i would highly recommend these headphones for anyone who is looking for 5.1 gaming headphones w/mic. :thumbsup:

[drcrawn]

since i'm in an apartment building, I use my headphones for just about everything, but for gaming they are the only way to go. I almost only play Halo online anymore. Even the crappiest headphones will immerse you into the experience, unless of course you blast your speaker system...which is nice too.
of course you want really big nerdy looking headphones though, for good bass, and to impress the ladies on the street of course...

[the]

i ahve those headphione, the zalman theater 6 and the z680's 5.1 system
speaker all the way set it up right and its the best. at lan partys the zalmans do better than the speedlink as far as directional goes, BUT they speelinks have a much better sound. but either way the speaker beat it down hard in the rump with a large stick.

[Skip]

yea, i heard that the zalmans aren't that good for sound, but the spatialism is very good.


i'm pretty happy with these speedlinks. i can am to discern the differences in all the channels. which is all that really matters, and the bass is awesome on these. i have heard the zalmans don't really have any bass at all.

[9mmCensor]

I just use Sennhieser PX 100 stereo headphones. Cheap and good.

[the]

the zalman sounds suxass no doubt, i read a lot of reivews saying ther is no bass in them as well, when really ther is plenty of it. jsut more mids than one is used to hearing, gigine you a much different aureal impression. theyr not hte higherst quality speaker, as being a musician for a living if i was looking ofr a good all in one headphine the speedlinks woul be hte choise hands down. but since im all into audio gear i of course bought too many things. (again) i like to think of it in cheese burgers, 11 dollars buys 7 McDonalds cheeseburges, my staple food, so how long can i go without a cheese burger? it usually ocmes out to about 50 cheeseburgers :(

[Skip]

i'm actually starting to think, how important is surround sound when playing a game anyways? a lot of people at the big game competitions aren't aloud to have speakers, which really is the best sort of surround sound, so they are stuck using headphones, but i think that very few of them use 1 of the 4 surround sound headphones. most of them just use quality sterero headphones like something from sennheiser. some of the conclusions of those surround headphones was basically to just get some stereo headphones and use EAX if you have a creative sound card.

[MRip]

In games I put the setting on surround speakers and use headphones. Noises from behind sound much different. I have full surround speakers as well, but my frags go up noticably if I use the phones.

[sllywhtboy]

i have altec lansing atp3's that i use for most things most of the time. when i need to be quiet or at lan parties, i use my around-the-ear jensen(tm) headphones.

--slly

[the]

i would have to vote for surround sound, for one main scenario that happens again and again. is jsut you and your being slilent or trying to be, and your hunting one last guy, beign able to hear him and judge accuatly where he is based on sound is often the advantage gained.

[Skip]

see, maybe its my crappy z640's, but i was never able to hear footsteps when i played with my speakers, and i used to turn them up pretty loud. its just the sound never got through.

if i had maybe 100$ speakers instead of 50. maybe i would have been able to hear footsteps.