SOUND CARD AND GAMING HEADSET NEEDED

[Guest BagoPrince]

I am in the market for a quality sound card and headset and would love to hear suggestions from all with the hardware u have in your systems. These are mainly to hear footsteps and the necessary sounds for BF3/BF4. So far i am looking at the Astro 40 Headset - 2013 version and ASUS Xonar Phoebus ROG Gaming Soundcard. Thanks in advance for the assistance.

[Guest RET.CPT.xXAirBorneXx=US=]

I have an ASUS Xonar card, it's not the ROG one but when I installed it I did notice an improvement in sound quality when playing music through my speakers. However, I did not realize that since my headset is USB that it doesn't effect the sound in my headset. Here is the card I have http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132017.

 

I know that some of the creative cards have a feature called recon mode that is supposed to make it so that you can hear footsteps better but I have not been able to try it out. I didn't want to spend over 100$ on a card, it maybe something I look at getting in the future. Also you need to make sure you have enough room on you Mobo, My sound card is right underneath my GPU and it hasn't caused any overheating problems but if you don't have proper ventilation/cooling in your case or on your card I could see it causing a problem.

[Guest 112jesse112]

This information hasnt been hidden from us, doomdude spoke with myself and PO2.Sagi and we send it up through the chain to get it waived. But i fear that it didnt reach the destination in time and the denial of the application was already put through.

[Guest SamCaie]

Look up the Razer Carcharias Gaming Headset. It's the one I use, and it has basically as good sound as my 5.1 speaker system!

http://www.razerzone.com/ca-en/gaming-audio/razer-carcharias-for-xbox-pc

 

"Razer Carcharias for Xbox 360®/PC – Analog Gaming Headset for Xbox 360®/PC"

 

Headphones

 

Frequency Response: 20 - 20,000 Hz

Impedance: 32 O at 1kHz

Sensitivity (@1kHz, 1V/Pa): 102 ± 4dB at 1 kHz Max

Input Power: 200 mW

Drivers: 40 mm, with Neodymium Magnets

Inner Ear Cup Diameter: 50 mm / 1.97”

Cable Length: 3 m / 9.84 ft

Connector: 3.5 mm jack (headphone)

 

Microphone

 

Frequency Response: 50 – 16,000 Hz

Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 50 dB

Sensitivity (@1kHz, 1V/Pa): -37 ± 4dB

Pick-up Pattern: Unidirectional

Connector: 3.5 mm jack (microphone)

[Guest Ulauma]

I use a pair of iPhone 5 in-ear headphones, with the Razer 7.1 Virtual Surround Program. Microphones better than most out there, and the sound is almost equal to my 100$ Turtlebeach Z6A True 5.1 Headphones.

[Guest RET.GEN.Darmine]

I prefer this card. You also have a built in amp for headphones, and speaker connections along with optical.

 

I very much enjoy this sound card.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271006

 

Then for the headset I have Astro A40's they are well worth every penny.

[Guest RET.Capt.RUSHER16=US=]

Check this one.

 

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/search.asp?keywords=Creative+Sound+Blaster+Recon3D+Fatal1ty+Professional+%2870SB135600000%29+Sound+Card

[Guest RET.COL.SilverEupher=US=]

I'll paste what I wrote on LCpl.Cepwin's thread here:

 

I went through 2 G35's that lasted no longer than 1.5 to 2 years each due to the swivel of the ear cup breaking. I'm gentle with things like this, but that did not help the tension that is placed on the plastic piece as you pull the cups apart to put them on your head or take them off, which eventually wear them out. Logitech has been great to many customers and replaced mine for free twice now, but with this third set I received a while back I decided to sell them (they are in a factory sealed box and brand new) and move on to something better. I almost bought the SteelSeries Siberia V2's because many gamers rave about how comfortable they are, but realized I could get much better sound quality for the money.

 

So, I've moved on from gaming "headsets" that have the mic built on and I was interested in better sound quality than what you get with most of them. I ended up buying a good quality headphone and boom mic separately. I attached the mic to my headphones to get the combo that I wanted.

 

Also, I've found that the simulated 7.1 surround sound does nothing for you. Even with the few headphones that actually have more than 1 driver in each cup, it doesn't make much difference since they're right there on your head and not separated around the room.

Listen to this with your headset:

Or

 

Excellent guide that influenced my decision to go for better sound drivers and microphone separately:

Mad Lust Envy's Headphone Gaming Guide

 

Guides for each kind of interest (music, games, all-around, audiophile, etc.) Click on the spoiler links to view more info for each category within the post:

OCN's Most Recommended Audio Products

 

A guide based on price ranges and written by a gamer that has tried many many headphones and headsets:

Ultimate Gaming Headphone Guide

 

Another useful collection of guides in one thread that is about more than just your headphones, but guides for other peripherals and pc parts:

Teamfortress.tv Forum Guide

Some of it is out of date but still good info. Plus, you can find the updated versions of those guides elsewhere.

 

Can buy this microphone if you want to buy headphones and add a great quality mic to them without tedious DIY factor:

ModMic

It is noise-cancelling and omnidirectional.

 

DIY unidirectional boom mic nid with some velcro:

FraGTaLiTy's Audio-Technica AD700 boom mic Mod

 

I found this boom mic for FraGTaLiTy's mod on ebay for $9:

Labtec LVA7330 ClearVoice Head Microphone

Labtec LVA7330 ClearVoice Head Microphone Info

It records very clear and is unidirectional, so it won't pick up every sound in the room.