Soundscapes – Guide to speakers and headphones for your gaming setup

What kind of a sound setup do you have when playing games? No matter what you have there are some easy tweaks which could make everything sound significantly better. If you’re so inclined there are then some more elaborate things you could try in order to really get the most out of your speakers. If you’re looking to buy new speakers or headphones you might not have a clue where to start. The purpose of this guide is to help you decide which speakers to get and what to do in order to then get the most out of your purchase. Every room and every situation is different so you might not be able to do much in some cases to improve the audio, but even the most basic tweaks can do a lot.

[Dasteru]

Finally someone who knows what they are talking about.
I keep seeing articles recommending "surround" headphones and little tinker toys they try to pass off as speakers, from companies such as Logitech and Razor. Honestly they should just stick to making keyboards and mice. The know nothing of audio gear and it is plainly evident when anyone who actually does know anything listens to their products.

Exaggerated bass, Muddy mids, practically non existent treble and typical THD levels of 10%. Horrible.

If you want something for team chatting online or whatever, you are far better off with a proper pair of stereo headphones from a company like Sennheiser/Shure/Beyerdynamics /AKG/Grado etc or Active Monitors from M-audio/Swan/AudioEngine etc (Use Dolby Headphone or a similar digital surround processor for surround effects). Then get a standalone monitor or tv mountable mic. Not only will the sound you hear be vastly better but the sound others hear through the mic will be better also.

[camel_toad]

Just got the turtle beach px5s the other day and loving em. Cant wait to try out the new silent hill with em.

[cLiCK_sLiCK9]

Avoid Dr. Dre Beats, Skullcandy, and Bose headphones. Try some VModas, Shures, Senheiseer, etc. Far better sound quality than those mainstream brands.

[dark-hollow]

Love my hd650.
It just pure orgasms for your ears.

[Mr402]

I can't believe nobody here has mentioned the Audio technica series A700 or AD700? Those two headphones in my opinion for the price are bar none the best. Both can be purchased for around a 100 dollars and paired with the proper dolby amp are outstanding for gaming. In my case I paired them with a astro wireless mixamp 5.8 and I couldn't be happier. Trust me you can go with Senns or any other high priced options and still not match the sound and comfort of Audio technica.

[Dasteru]

I agree Audio Technica is another good one. Best headphones i have heard under about $300 are the Shure SRH-840s.

[Clayman]

So what do you guys think about the Astro A40's? I've heard they're really good.

[Dasteru]

I have never heard them so i can't really form an opinion but they are a "Gaming headset" and Astro isn't an audio company so i wouldn't expect much.

For just gaming they would probably be fine but for music listening they would most likely be severely lacking.

[Mr402]

Only thing I can say for the Astro product is that it has a integrated mic with all the built in functions. I love my AT's but I have had to mod them to have a boom mic and also I don't have the option for a mute. As to quality of sound I would say the Astro's are overpriced. Get the Amp and find your own headphone option you'll save some dough.

[Clayman]

Yeah, I heard some other people as well recommending buying only the mixamp and then using your own headset. I think I'll go ahead and do that. Thanks.