Sound/Headphone gurus : Need help choosing a headset

[Damien]

Well my cheapy logitech headphones are starting to cut out, so I need to buy some new ones. I've narrowed it down to 2 headsets:

iCEMAT Siberia w/ usb sound card combo

http://www.esportsea.com/global/images/product_images/75.jpg

HEADPHONE:
Frequency resp: 18-28.000 Hz
Impedance: 40 Ohm
SPL@1kHz, 1V rms: 99 - 104dB
Cable length: 1,0+1,8=2,8m.
Jack: 3,5 mm. + 6,3 mm. converter.

MICROPHONE:
Frequency Response: 80-15.000 Hz
Pick-up pattern: Sensitive uni-directional
1V/P@1kHz: 38dB

OR:
Sennheiser pc165
http://www.esportsea.com/global/images/product_images/73.jpg

(pictured are the pc160, they are basically the same thing except the 165 have a built in usb sound card)

* Freq response – 15 – 23,000 HZ
* Impedance – 16 Ohm
* Sound pressure – 114 dB
* Cable – 3m / 10 ft
* Connector – 2 x 3.55 mm for PC / Laptop

Microphone

* Freq response – 80 Hz – 15,000 Hz
* Pick-up pattern – Uni-directional
* Sensitivity – (-38) dB
* Impedance - ~2 k Ohm
* Compatibility - with virtually any sound card

The price difference is only $10, and are in my pricerange, so I need help deciding. I'm kind of pushing towards the icemat's because they look amazing and go over your ears, while the 165 are on the ears.

Anyone have any input on what I should pick? It'd be much appreciated, as I don't know much to anything about sound.

Thanks guys :jump:

[Brock Landers]

I have the senn pc-150s and I like them pretty well for what I need. I just wanted to step up from the $15 Labtecs that I had. Everything was too weak and thin with the Labtecs. The sennheisers are more detailed and crisp. The highs kind of remind me of MB Quart car speakers. Bright. They could use a little more low end for me, but who knows how screwed up my hearing is from working around jet engines. They image pretty well. For gaming, and I imagine from looking at your sig that's what you're looking for, they do very well. If I am on, let's say Piranesi, and you're near me and not walking, I will be able to know almost exactly where you are at.

For the money I spent, I couldn't be happier. Truth be told, I should have went for the 160s. The beefier cord and bigger earpieces would be fine by me. My only gripe is the volume control. It's poorly designed using cheap parts. If you turn down the volume it acts like a tone knob. It attenuates the high frequencies more than everything else on the way down. Just like a cheap guitar's volume knob. Basically, if I want to adjust my volume in-game, I have to do it from the console command. (Because CS:S's options screen blows. It applies all the settings. Resetting my x-hair to default and forgetting to load my autoexec after it execs the config.cfg.)

As far as the other headset goes, I don't have any experience with it. You may want to see if it's manufactured under contract by someone else. When it comes to sound reproduction I tend to only trust people that do sound for a living and who are well respected for what they do/produce.

Best of luck to you.

[cetoole]

I vote option C, neither. Get a decent pair of headphones, and a ~$10 mic, and you will have a much better sounding combination for the same or less than either.

[nn_step]

Get PureBred headphones and a seperate microphone..
and CandymanCan they will not make you lose your hearing..
That is only true if you buy :banana::banana::banana::banana:ty earplugs and crank the volume to the max...:rolleyes:

[nn_step]

Causes of hearing loss

There are many possible causes of hearing loss. These can be divided into two basic types, called conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.

Conductive hearing loss is caused by anything that interferes with the transmission of sound from the outer to the inner ear. Possible causes include:

* middle ear infections (otitis media)
* collection of fluid in the middle ear ("glue ear" in children)
* blockage of the outer ear (by wax)
* damage to the eardrum by infection or an injury
* otosclerosis, a condition in which the ossicles of the middle ear become immobile because of growth of the surrounding bone
* rarely, rheumatoid arthritis affects the joints between the ossicles.

Sensorineural hearing loss is due to damage to the pathway for sound impulses from the hair cells of the inner ear to the auditory nerve and the brain. Possible causes include:

* age-related hearing loss - the decline in hearing that many people experience as they get older
* acoustic trauma (injury caused by loud noise) to the hair cells
* viral infections of the inner ear (may be caused by viruses such as mumps or measles)
* Ménière's disease (abnormal pressure in the inner ear)
* certain drugs, such as aspirin, quinine and some antibiotics, which can affect the hair cells
* acoustic neuroma, a benign (non-cancerous) tumour affecting the auditory nerve
* viral infections of the auditory nerve (such as mumps and rubella)
* infections or inflammation of the brain or brain covering - eg meningitis
* multiple sclerosis
* a brain tumour
* a stroke

So if you buy Good Headphones, keep the volume at medium.. Nothing will happen!

and:
Often, she says, people also turn up the volume to ear-damaging levels.

A survey published this summer by Australia's National Acoustic Laboratories found, for instance, that about 25 percent of people using portable stereos had daily noise exposures high enough to cause hearing damage. And further research by Britain's Royal National Institute for Deaf People determined that young people, ages 18 to 24, were more likely than other adults to exceed safe listening limits.

[craig588]

It's important to always belive everything you read, I guess.


I like the Sennhieser HD 650s. They arn't great, but they are better than everything else listed here and arn't too expensive. You don't want a headphone mic combo.

[nn_step]

You do realize by medium levels I mean under 40decibles right?
it is intensity not how you get it...120 decibles thru speakers or headphones makes no difference
It will make you deaf.. it will only change how many other people go deaf because of you...

[craig588]

Just to be annoying; he could be referring to the fact that it takes less power to drive headphones so it's alot easier to push the volume up to damaging levels if you have a weak amp than if you were trying to power a whole set of speakers.

[Master X]

I bought the pc165's and the sound quality is amazing for its price but since you dont care about sound that much go for the Icemats if you think the design looks better. Personally I would go with the PC 165'S because of my experience with them and because I have never tried the Icemats. Go with the Icemats and see how they are.

EDIT: Oh and just to warn you the On/Off switch doesnt work on all of the sk headsets its just there for looks.

[Plague_oc]

overall sennheiser is the best manufac IMO, tried both and i prefer my PC150s, just sounds more pure

[mtx]

Icemat siberia is good for games like CSS. i have a set and they are really good quality. I hear sennheisers feel like paper.

[Turok]

Go read up on headphones, Playing games like shooters RPG's ect, the high pitch noises from gun fire or something like that can hurt youre ears, you dont need to have the volume up blasting, just normal usage. Its mainly a long term affect you can have a partial hearing loss, nothing really noticable but it still can happen.

Just telling you what i read. So before you become a smartass with the :rolleyes: comment go read up on certain things, headphones can also increase bacteria Growth in youre ear due to increase in Moister.

Yeah, true. Same with cellphones and the ear cancer thing :rolleyes:

If you go to Lan Parties, get a X-Fi card and a pair of nice noise canceling headphones, but for every day use, get a new 5.1 or 7.1 surround system.
I have the Logitech z-5500 and they sound great :up: , but I think Creative and other companies already released better speakers than what I have. Im a bit out-of-date with the sound systems, so you may have to google for the best 5.1 and 7.1 speakers tod date

[euclid]

i have senn 650 with full supporting home rig and there are much better options if you are running straight from a souddcard or headphone out of a portable player. 650 needs strong amplification and a very high quality source.

with that said i would look into an in ear monitor like the shure e4, sound is very good, isolation is very strong, and impedance will let you run them straight from a soundcard or DAP. then just get a clip-on mic for voice. those cheap headsets are going to sound terrible for games and worse for music

[craig588]

You don't need strong amplification, I run them through a little home amp rated for 500 watts. It's more than powerful enough for them.

Of course if you ever try running anything without amplification of course you're going to have quality issues.

[euclid]

You don't need strong amplification, I run them through a little home amp rated for 500 watts. It's more than powerful enough for them.



strong amplication in the headphone world is much less than 1watt. that 500watt amp is not giving your headphone 500watts... it has its own little headphone amp that delivers power in miliwatts. it will not even closely rival a headphone amp with its own dedicated circut and powersupply using high quality caps and resistors.

my point is that hd650 needs a dedicated high quality headphone amp to be worthwhile, their impedance is 300ohms which is difficult to drive.

if you cant afford to drive them properly then they are a waste of money, if you still insist on senns then just get the hd580, but youd be better off with a headphone with an impedance of less than 100ohms.

[euclid]

Of course if you ever try running anything without amplification of course you're going to have quality issues.

thats not true, if the impedance is low enough any portable player or soundcard will run the set just fine. in this case a dedicated headphone amp will yield very little, if any, gain in performance.

thats why i recommended a good IEM like the shure e4c, impedance is around 40ohms so anything can drive them, they blockout almost all ambient sound, and they will embarrass a set of 500$ headphones when the bigger drivers are not given enough amplification.

[KoHaN69]

i love my
Sennheiser Hd 570
headphones
not too much base, but thats what kill your ears anyway ;)

http://www.clubic.com/photo/00030401.jpg

[Damien]

What's really funny is I COMPLETELY didn't notice anyone replied.

As for headphones, I got the siberia's + usb sound card combo for $70. I absolutely love them. As for speakers, I can't because you can't exactly take speakers to a tournament =P