41 replies to this topic

[Morggo]

Sadly, my lucky headset finally transmitted its last battle this weekend.

SO, I'm in the market for a new set. Wanted to ask two things of the group:

1. MWO USB Compatibility.

Last searches I made found a forum post last August discussing USB issues with MWO. It was inconclusive at best but generally pointed to a fair bit of USB headset (the mic specifically) issues not working specifically with MWO even though they work with other programs.

That was a number of patches ago (one that actually dealt with audio) and I wanted to see if there were folks out there that have success with USB headsets.


2. Wireless.

The other thought I considered was a wireless or Bluetooth headset. Anyone have feedback on them (quality, battery life, MWO compatibility, etc)? It would be sorta nice to be able to stay on, even if I run to grab another beer or snack and just not have that wire in general... but wireless things have a habit of being lesser sound quality I've found.


Thanks all in advance!
I'll take any feedback today for sure, I'd like to order today if I can make an informed decision.

Morg, the Unmic'd

Edited by Morggo, 18 January 2016 - 11:43 AM.

[Bilbo]

I use a USB headset. The voip occasionally fails. No Idea why, because it can come back on with no intervention on my part. I used a wireless set a while back and found the battery life to be terrible.

Edited by Bilbo, 18 January 2016 - 11:56 AM.

[Morggo]

Thanks for the info. How often is 'occasionally'... we talking once a weekend or so or every hour or two? Also, how long does it stay off and/or is it easy to force it back on?

Thanks!

[Bilbo]

Morggo, on 18 January 2016 - 12:19 PM, said:

Thanks for the info. How often is 'occasionally'... we talking once a weekend or so or every hour or two? Also, how long does it stay off and/or is it easy to force it back on?

Thanks!

No voip for a game or two. Nothing I've tried will make it come back until it wants to. Some nights it's never a problem. I'm never particularly chatty so it's entirely possible it's out and I don't know it.

[Smidjun 1]

My headset stops though I think the mic is still working. It stays on for a few minutes then suddenly I can't hear anything.

I have to reboot the system to get it back. However just unplugging the usb headset restores sound to speakers, and mic from the cam. And yes I did change the stuff in settings.

[Morggo]

Not feeling super confident in a new USB headset, shame as the model I like is USB. They are sounding a but quirky so far.

Unless a few more folks post with smashing success stories using USB I should probably hit up Amazon again and find a good old fashioned 3.5mm plug set.

Edited by Morggo, 18 January 2016 - 01:10 PM.

[xSleeZyx]

I wouln't recommend USB-plugged ones, they tend to fail easier. And you can't use the headset with ur phone/mp3 if you so would like. (I always use my main gaming headset as regular aswell due i can take of the mic and still enjoy the great sound.)

Depending on your price range i'd recommend qpad qh-90 for mid segment, superb sound and great mic.
Sadly mine broke after 2 years of use(self inflicted, coord got stuck and i moved away to rapidly so some cable inside snapped), however i still use it for the microphone Just using the mic plug -> and another non mic headset into the sound as per normal. Reason for this is due the mic is so good and still working, so for me this works great until i can afford to either buy a new pair of qpads or another headset.

But i'm very pleased with the sound quality and the mic.

And this headset can also be used with your phone for music/calls with the extension cable that allows you to use both mic and headphones into 1 socket (to the phone 3.5) Otherwise its 2x 3.5m one for the mic and another for the sound itself.

Edited by xSleeZyx, 18 January 2016 - 01:35 PM.

[Fobhopper]

I currently use a Skullcandy Slyr (I got it for free when I bought my gaming laptop about 2 years ago) and it works pretty good for the most part. But its not a USB headset, 3.5 audio jack. But I wouldnt say its worth the money (I think at the time it was on sale for about $60 or $70) and the jack on it has started going on the fritz.

If you are looking a cheaper option, take a look at this: http://www.amazon.co...ailpage_o01_s00
I just ordered 2 (one for me, one for my wife) as replacement headsets. They are on sale on amazon for about $16 right now and highly reviewed. i can get back to you later today about whether or not they are worth the money (but for 16 bucks, you could do far worse for headsets).

Edited by Fobhopper, 18 January 2016 - 02:28 PM.

[dr lao]

lagatech usb head set plug and play $14 at walmart it has a thick wire cheap and it works don't go out and buy a $100 head set they will bust in a 3 months.

[Luminis]

I've been using a Corsair Vengeance 1500 for the last two years. Been using it with MWO as well, can't report any issues, actually. Granted, it might be very possible that I quite simply didn't notice VoIP failing, I can't vouch for that. Sound quality has been pretty neat, both for recording and playback.

Can't really fault the thing in regards to its durability, either. I've not been treating with extraordinary care and it's still working flawlessly after close to three years of continued use.

[mailin]

I use a Steel Series Siberia V2 which uses 3.5mm x2 jacks. Pretty nice headset overall. The only issue I had was one failed before a year was up. Because it has a 1 year warranty I contacted the manufacturer and they sent me another one free of charge. This one has been working great for the last 2 years. The only thing is that you need to be careful pulling the mic out too far. (I think that may be what did my first one in.)

[xSleeZyx]

mailin, on 18 January 2016 - 06:48 PM, said:

I use a Steel Series Siberia V2 which uses 3.5mm x2 jacks. Pretty nice headset overall. The only issue I had was one failed before a year was up. Because it has a 1 year warranty I contacted the manufacturer and they sent me another one free of charge. This one has been working great for the last 2 years. The only thing is that you need to be careful pulling the mic out too far. (I think that may be what did my first one in.)

I would realy stay away from trying to refer steelseries, they're quite bad, horrible *buzzing" when you're trying to use the mic. And the sound is so so aswell.
When you buy steelseries or skullcandy as mentioned above, you're paying for the brand. Not the quality.

Go for qpad or senheiser. You won't be disapointed.

Edited by xSleeZyx, 18 January 2016 - 07:15 PM.

[Spheroid]

Hyper X Cloud II. Excellent value and extremely comfortable. Can operate using USB or 3.5mm. Without USB mixer the analogue cord is a little short but I easily fixed that by using the patch cable from another cheaper pair of headphones I already had.

IGN had a review several months ago.

[mikerso]

Bluetooth has issues with in game voip as well. I have to verify settings every time I sign in to the game. Also you have to have your headset on and connected long before you boot the game.

Sometimes the mic just won't work at all.

Edited by mikerso, 19 January 2016 - 12:11 AM.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

Just something to keep in mind, unless you have a quality audio card as well, dont bother shelling out for the fancier headsets. You wont get what you are paying for.

xSleeZyx, on 18 January 2016 - 07:15 PM, said:

I would realy stay away from trying to refer steelseries, they're quite bad, horrible *buzzing" when you're trying to use the mic. And the sound is so so aswell.
When you buy steelseries or skullcandy as mentioned above, you're paying for the brand. Not the quality.

Go for qpad or senheiser. You won't be disapointed.

I actually find the sound quality of Steel Series to be quite good for the price range. The biggest issue is they do not seem to be very robust.

But Senheiser is a capital idea.

I recently picked up a Logitech G430 on sale to replace my broken Steel Series. For some reason it sounds incredibly thin and "digitally" on MWO. I had to almost completely EQ out the highs and really boost the bass and low mids to make it not sound like complete crap. The clarity and stereo spacing of frequencies is pretty good, just no oomph or power.
Yet, with other games a flat-ish EQ sounds great with em. Matter of fact, if I use my MWO EQ profile on any other game the sound is way too boomy and rumbly.

[mailin]

Boogie138, on 19 January 2016 - 01:57 AM, said:

I actually find the sound quality of Steel Series to be quite good for the price range. The biggest issue is they do not seem to be very robust.

But Senheiser is a capital idea.

I too find the Steel Series sound very good, especially for the price. I have had no issues with mine, and I haven't heard any buzzing. FWIW, I am a musician, so I am very sound conscious. Totally agree about the robustness of Steel Series though. I have been very careful with my mic so no issues in two years. Knock on wood.

Very soon I will be buying a Sennheiser Game Zero and giving my Steel Series to my 14 year old so that he can have a better headset than what he's using.

Edited by mailin, 19 January 2016 - 04:13 AM.

[Fat Jack Murphy]

i have a plantronics gamecom 788 - the usb 7.1 one.
works great with windows 7, good sound, good mike.

i dont use wireless stuff, ever since my wireless keyboard failing caused us a team league loss in another MMO.
would prefer 3.5 or 1.6 phone jack (THE Standard since the beginning of telephony), if anyone knows a good set with those, i rather toss that USB stuff out.

[Tom Sawyer]

Spheroid, on 18 January 2016 - 10:01 PM, said:

Hyper X Cloud II. Excellent value and extremely comfortable. Can operate using USB or 3.5mm. Without USB mixer the analogue cord is a little short but I easily fixed that by using the patch cable from another cheaper pair of headphones I already had.

IGN had a review several months ago.

I too use the Hyper X Cloud 2 and recommend it. It is light weight, USB and 3.5 Sound quality is top notch and the mic is clear.

[Rushin Roulette]

I used to find the Steelseries really good myself. Mine (Syberia v2) worked fine for 2,5 years (as long as it had warranty + a little bit longer), but then right speaker started to go staticky and then completely failed, then last week the same happened to the left side. The mic was always a little on the weak side meaning Id have to turn it way up in the settings causing an unpleasant hissing when it wasnt picking up anything).

A friend pointed me towards a good set of headphones and a clip on mic with good quality as well as a second excessively cheap mic with low quality but a flexible arm that had the possibility of connecting to normal headphones. Combine all together and I get a good quality headset with flexible arm and a good mic for just under 30 Euros (less than half price of the Cyberia and if one part fails I can exchange only that part without needing to buy everything in a package.

In the long range Ive looked at nearly every headset under EUR 100,00 and just about every one of them shows a definite trend in the negative reviews (For example my problem with the headphones not working or the Mic failing after X Months is definitely a well known problem with many of the Steelseries headsets. Good sound, very comfortable, but the wiring inside is very cheap and seems to have a built in redundancy.

[Irishtoker]

Have a Plantronics headset that I picked up rather cheap on Amazon. I use it for work answering and making calls, never received any feedback unless the person on the other end has a bad phone or signal...so not on my end. This is a USB device, that is bluetooth capable. Untethered; typically the battery will last 3-4 hours at a time, not an issue as it plugs into its reciever and charges very quickly. Been in daily use for about a year.

Without a hitch, I set it up as the VOIP device in game. and in any other game I tried: EVE, Armored Warfare, etc...

You don't need to spend a lot. I purchased this device used (previous owner had opened it and sent it back) for if I recall $17.99, roughly a quarter of its cost.

Good luck in your search.

Edited by Irishtoker, 19 January 2016 - 07:15 AM.