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Console players do you use a gaming headset or headphones?

Headset or headphones ?

  • Total voters
    165
Giallo Corsa said:
Hey Rof 😚

Everything being compared to the Maxwells...I don't know man, it's gotta be one of the most over hyped and overrated products out there (no need to mention all of its problems right now) and I never take opinions for overhyped products seriously (don't mean you in this case) since it's just another case of "it's expensive therefore the beeest®" - just like when talking about chairs - everyone and their grandmas have learnt about Herman Miller and now parrot the same thing over and over again in online discussions when it comes to chairs and frankly, it has gotten comedic...

Back to the Fractal designs now :
Since we're talking about a gaming headset and NOT headphones, the fact that they cost 200 Eurodollars and have BT but NOT simultaneous, in the year of our lord 2025...yeah.
The fact of being able to receive calls, listen to voice msgs or just being able to watch a YT walkthrough while gaming without having to take the headset off every G'damn time is not only a commodity but actually a very, very useful QoL feature to have...
That 40-50hours battery life also isn't something to write home about since there are headsets at half/the same price which exceed that/are about the same.

Again, I'm saying all this 'cause we're talking about a GAMING headset brother where features should be king, why bother otherwise from the moment that we can grab whichever set of headphones for a lesser price with much better sound (generally speaking) ?

I could have stayed either with my Senns HD560s or Philips XH2R for that matter if I just wanted good sound, alas, they were wired and didn't obviously have all the nice, cool features that my mid TB Stealth 700 Gen3 have.

Personally, if I was again in the market for a wireless headset and didn't care about BT/any extra features, I'd just go for the Cloud Alpha wireless since A) they still sound good and B) can't beat that 200hours battery life 😉

Cheers
Click to expand...
Maxwells are really amazing sounding. I had them. The sound was amazing.
But comfort was not good.

Headphones should be light imo.
 
Even though the mic isn't the best I still use the Pulse 3D from Sony, just because of the integration with the console, I'll upgrade in the future but for now it's good enough.
 
Giallo Corsa Giallo Corsa I got the new Fractals.... holy shit they are VERY quality with build...
...and holy shit they clamp like wtf is this. I am instantly hearing my own heartbeat in my head. They are CRUSHING my head.
wtf. back to pulse 3d for me then.
I mean... I will give them a good listen in few minutes. Death Stranding 2 is installing

xIxIfZM.jpeg
 
rofif said:
Giallo Corsa Giallo Corsa I got the new Fractals.... holy shit they are VERY quality with build...
...and holy shit they clamp like wtf is this. I am instantly hearing my own heartbeat in my head. They are CRUSHING my head.
wtf. back to pulse 3d for me then.
I mean... I will give them a good listen in few minutes. Death Stranding 2 is installing

xIxIfZM.jpeg
Click to expand...

Welp, f*ck, I guess 😬
Hope.you can return them easily 'cause that doesn't sound like fun, I mean, sure, most headsets/headphones mold to your head/get looser after a while but, being able to hear your own heartbeat brother, yeah, seems like the clamp force is excessive...
 
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Giallo Corsa said:
Welp, f*ck, I guess 😬
Hope.you can return them easily 'cause that doesn't sound like fun, I mean, sure, most headsets/headphones mold to your head/get looser after a while but, being able to hear your own heartbeat brother, yeah, seems like the clamp force is excessive...
Click to expand...
I am sensitive to this. I also head my own heartbeat in maxwells.
Pulse 3d remains my goat headset!
Yeah, I am able to return no problems... only delivery cost
 
rofif said:
I am sensitive to this. I also head my own heartbeat in maxwells.
Pulse 3d remains my goat headset!
Yeah, I am able to return no problems... only delivery cost
Click to expand...

Rofy, hear me out : it appears that you're in search of a new wireless headset so, if you got Amazon in Poland (I think you do) give either the HyperX cloud Alpha wireless (200hours battery life) OR, the Turtle beach Stealth 700 Gen3 a go, I know,.TB is a shitty gamey company but, trust me, the 70hours battery life AND simultaneous BT are game changers , plus, they come with TWO wireless adapters, meaning, you can hook up both your PS5 and/or a PC or Switch at the same time AND they also sound pretty good (nothing exceptional mind you, just "good").
The clamping force is also minimal which in your case would also be a plus.

Just my 2 cents, cheers
 
Giallo Corsa said:
Rofy, hear me out : it appears that you're in search of a new wireless headset so, if you got Amazon in Poland (I think you do) give either the HyperX cloud Alpha wireless (200hours battery life) OR, the Turtle beach Stealth 700 Gen3 a go, I know,.TB is a shitty gamey company but, trust me, the 70hours battery life AND simultaneous BT are game changers , plus, they come with TWO wireless adapters, meaning, you can hook up both your PS5 and/or a PC or Switch at the same time AND they also sound pretty good (nothing exceptional mind you, just "good").
The clamping force is also minimal which in your case would also be a plus.

Just my 2 cents, cheers
Click to expand...
Thanks for the recommendations
Absolutely nothing about gaming brands. I like them.
I had the turtle beach atlas air and I came to conclusion that I don't like when wireless headsets control volume in windows. That fractal headset also does that.

So pulse 3d is everything I would want. I upgraded it to wicked cushions too.
It's more cutiosity to check other stuff and maybe find something better. I try for years and always return to pulse 3d.
Sadly they discontinued it so I will have to look for real.

Does hyperx control windows volume or itself? I know TB does windows probably like atlas air.
 
rofif said:
Giallo Corsa Giallo Corsa I got the new Fractals.... holy shit they are VERY quality with build...
...and holy shit they clamp like wtf is this. I am instantly hearing my own heartbeat in my head. They are CRUSHING my head.
wtf. back to pulse 3d for me then.
I mean... I will give them a good listen in few minutes. Death Stranding 2 is installing

xIxIfZM.jpeg
Click to expand...
I got these also, think they sound fantastic, clamping force not too bad, put them on something to stretch them out. How did you find they sounded?
 
TrebleShot said:
I got these also, think they sound fantastic, clamping force not too bad, put them on something to stretch them out. How did you find they sounded?
Click to expand...
I think they sound really good. A bit more nice full. Ass than pulse 3d but honestly not that much better.
And did not impress me as much as maxwells did.

So all in all, pulse 3d is staying with me. If anything, this reinforces my feeling that maxwells are king of audio if only I could suffer through the clamp which was less than fractals so far. I have a big head :p
edit: Having said all that, pulse 3d is best combo of good sound quality and comfort for me. I don't want isoaltion, I don't want clamping and accidentally, pulse 3d is so shitty, that it doesn't provide these 2 things :P If only koss porta pro was made with 2.4ghz gaming dongle....
 
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rofif said:
Thanks for the recommendations
Absolutely nothing about gaming brands. I like them.
I had the turtle beach atlas air and I came to conclusion that I don't like when wireless headsets control volume in windows. That fractal headset also does that.

So pulse 3d is everything I would want. I upgraded it to wicked cushions too.
It's more cutiosity to check other stuff and maybe find something better. I try for years and always return to pulse 3d.
Sadly they discontinued it so I will have to look for real.

Does hyperx control windows volume or itself? I know TB does windows probably like atlas air.
Click to expand...

Don't know about the Cloud Alphas but yes, TB Stealth 700 do control Windows volume.

Forgot to say, the Stealth 700 Gen3 are preeeetttyy loud on PS5 compared to other headsets (even when compared to the 250€ ROG Delta 2).
 
I used to, when I had no responsabilities.. I need to hear the game, but I also need to hear the door, the phone..everybody else in the house. Etc..
 
Question for PS5 users :
Has anyone tried a USB Bluetooth transmitter like the Avantree or the Ugreen one + BT headphones ?
I'm curious about the audio quality AND lag...

The reason I'm asking is that if this combo works well, it could eliminate the need for typical gaming headsets with their proprietary dongles allowing you to use your favorite wireless or Bluetooth headphones instead.
 
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Giallo Corsa said:
Question for PS5 users :
Has anyone tried a USB Bluetooth transmitter like the Avantree or the Ugreen one + BT headphones ?
I'm curious about the audio quality AND lag...

The reason I'm asking is that if this combo works well, it could eliminate the need for typical gaming headsets with their proprietary dongles allowing you to use your favorite wireless or Bluetooth headphones instead.
Click to expand...

I use a Creative Labs USB dongle. Link below, although the one I have is the older version. Works fine. I don't notice any lag. Quality is great. Beats having to have officially licensed shit

 
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Topher said:
I use a Creative Labs USB dongle. Link below, although the one I have is the older version. Works fine. I don't notice any lag. Quality is great. Beats having to have officially licensed shit

Click to expand...

Beautiful, exactly what I was looking for Toph !
What BT headphones are you using btw ? Also, do the headphones also have to support Atpx Low latency/adaptive and Aptx HD as to reap the benefits ?
 
Giallo Corsa said:
Beautiful, exactly what I was looking for Toph !
What BT headphones are you using btw ? Also, do the headphones also have to support Atpx Low latency/adaptive and Aptx HD as to reap the benefits ?
Click to expand...

I use two pair. Seinheisser Momentum 4 and my old Sony XM2's as a backup. I'm really not sure about the atpx stuff my man. Also not sure how mics work with this if you want them for online chat
 
Speakers most of the time and IEM's with a mic cable for online play.
Usuallly the Xenn's top .
I really dont like headphones.
 
Topher said:
I use a Creative Labs USB dongle. Link below, although the one I have is the older version. Works fine. I don't notice any lag. Quality is great. Beats having to have officially licensed shit

Click to expand...
I was gonna go this route one time as I really prefer earbuds versus like over ear headphones and wanted to just use my AirPods Pro but ultimately ended up just buying the Steelseries Arctis earbuds because they worked on everything including Xbox.
 
Really headphones when games call for it, or their is to much noise in the main room in the house when playing playstation. When i take switch out and about i sometimes will use headphones. Gaming headsets are boring usually and i don't play enough online games to warranty a microphone. If I use a mic no joke I use the on board mic on the dual sense controller and now my switch 2 microphone. Also headphones are underrated in single player games. Silent Hill 2, Breathe of the Wild, Red Dead 2, and Pikmin 4 were elevated experiences when i had my headphones on.
 
619NnSrYabL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg


I'm sure they are better headset out there but for its price I would say these more than good enough for me.
 
I skipped all the posts to point out - why isn't "neither" an option? Do you guys not realize there's a sizable portion of users that want to play games, but have zero interest in online multiplayer?
 
Camera...hear me out

I'd just use the PS Camera as a mic, put the audio to the tv and this is what I've done for years and many generations.

hands free and I don't get why I would need to have you talking in my ear lol
 
For me, it's more because I want to hear surround sound at its fullest without disturbing my neighbors. Headphones for me. Apple Airpods Max and a set of Sennheiser DT 990 Pro's.
 
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417Tk8Zw9AL.jpg


The 360 headset set the standard


images



Bluetooth headset was unquestionable bad on PS3

Certainly today's headsets are better but respect to Sony for bundling a headset with the PS4.
 
At this point I really see gaming headsets the same way as gaming keyboards...they have no real advantage anymore outside gimmicky crap that doesn't matter outside maybe some esports nonsense.

Regular mechanical keyboards have a good enough amount of responsiveness + other factors for games, but function better for everything else at a lower price point.

Actually good headphones for music are now easily within the territory of gaming headsets or for less, and if you want a good gaming headset with actually nice audio it's going to have some form of DAC/Amp anyway. I just use a pair of Sennheiser HD 6XXs with a combo dac/amp, and rodecaster podmic I got on sale for console and PC.
 
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Durin said:
At this point I really see gaming headsets the same way as gaming keyboards...they have no real advantage anymore outside gimmicky crap that doesn't matter outside maybe some esports nonsense.

Regular mechanical keyboards have a good enough amount of responsiveness + other factors for games, but function better for everything else at a lower price point.

Actually good headphones for music are now easily within the territory of gaming headsets or for less, and if you want a good gaming headset with actually nice audio it's going to have some form of DAC/Amp anyway. I just use a pair of Sennheiser HD 6XXs with a combo dac/amp, and rodecaster podmic I got on sale for console and PC.
Click to expand...
I'd say most would probably prefer to use a headset on console for convenience, if anything. Them being mostly wireless and having a mic for an option to chat. Despite some audio sacrifices on a large portion of them.

As for gaming keyboards.. They've come a long way the last few years. Particularly the gaming orientated ones with hall effect/TMR tech; constantly improving and innovating. You can get a decent hall effect keyboards on a budget at $30 and under now. No reason to not get one if you're into gaming on PC and mostly use keyboard and mouse. They're objectively superior in performance and add so many customization options for most if not all keys with analogue precision. Even if playing some single-player games you'd 100% be able to feel the difference in play. One way I could probably explain it would be like using a mouse on bluetooth verses a modern (RF) wireless gaming mouse with 1 to 8K polling to play games.

Fyi, I do play on a DAC (via display) and headphone amp for my PS5.
 
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I use a 5.2 surround sound home theater system when I game, but I use headphones over headsets because I feel they are higher sound and build quality.
 
hinch7 said:
I'd say most would probably prefer to use a headset on console for convenience, if anything. Them being mostly wireless and having a mic for an option to chat. Despite some audio sacrifices on a large portion of gaming headsets.

As for gaming keyboards.. They've come a long way the last few years. Particularly the gaming orientated ones with hall effect/TMR tech; constantly improving and innovating. You can get a decent hall effect keyboards on a budget at $30 and under now. No reason to not get on if you're into gaming on PC and mostly use keyboard and mouse. They're objectively superior in performance and add so many customization options for most if not all keys with analogue precision. Even if playing some single-player games you'd 100% be able to feel the difference in play.

Fyi, I do play on a DAC (via display) and headphone amp for my PS5.
Click to expand...

The convenience part I get, especially as just buying something all-in-one.

I've honestly enjoyed hall effect and tmr sticks in the first few gamepads I've tried because I can feel the fluidity improvement, and I can feel the higher polling rate on those + on mice...but I haven't liked a single hall effect or analog switch I've tried at all on a keyboard. They all are essentially equivalent to a linear switch in feel, which ruins the comfort and tactile response I even like from a mechanical keyboard. I can barely even feel the difference in performance either outside of twitchy shooters, and the comfort drop + lower actuation just have me make more mistakes than add value for me. I just think polling rate and precision bumps are felt way more in sticks, mice or gyro where you're making more constant fine adjustments.
 
Durin said:
The convenience part I get, especially as just buying something all-in-one.

I've honestly enjoyed hall effect and tmr sticks in the first few gamepads I've tried because I can feel the fluidity improvement, and I can feel the higher polling rate on those + on mice...but I haven't liked a single hall effect or analog switch I've tried at all on a keyboard. They all are essentially equivalent to a linear switch in feel, which ruins the comfort and tactile response I even like from a mechanical keyboard. I can barely even feel the difference in performance either outside of twitchy shooters, and the comfort drop + lower actuation just have me make more mistakes than add value for me. I just think polling rate and precision bumps are felt way more in sticks, mice or gyro where you're making more constant fine adjustments.
Click to expand...
Yeah I don't think most people even think of using headphones on their consoles. Even though there's a DAC/Amp and a 3.5mm jack included with every PS console + controller since the PS4 (DS4/DualSense).

I would say the heavily reduced latency and tweak-able deadzones and actuation points makes a massive difference to movement in games. Things like rapid trigger is a game changer, but I guess HE/TMR isn't for everyone. Linear switches are far less satisfying to press than tactile switches and if want some feedback on a press. Like for games like WoW I quite really enjoyed using my old Logitech keyboard with Cherry brown switches. For accidental presses and actuation you can change it to lower settings I have my WASD to a 0.2mm and the rest a a lot higher.
 
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EverydayBeast said:
417Tk8Zw9AL.jpg


The 360 headset set the standard


images



Bluetooth headset was unquestionable bad on PS3

Certainly today's headsets are better but respect to Sony for bundling a headset with the PS4.
Click to expand...

Respect to Sony for including USB audio output so folks have more options.
 
For playstation I have this combo. Its unironically still amazing and cost much less( £35 headphones new, £22 mic new) than even basic budget headsets and these have far better sound and voice quality. I have another vmoda mic i use with Phillips Fidelio X2 for pc through soundcard
20251106-070025.jpg
 
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I don't usually use either of them unless the game I'm playing relies heavily on sound design, like Silent Hill 2 Remake, Alan Wake 2 or Dead Space Remake. For a game like Dragon Quest XI TV speakers are more than enough.

When I do use a headset or headphones I actually use both, sometimes I use the Pulse 3D, sometimes my Sennheiser Momentum 4 which aren't meant for gaming but are very comfortable and sound great. I love Pulse 3D's integration with PS5, but the Sennheiser Momentum's battery last 60+ hours... 🙄

Sound quality wise I don't hear much of a difference between them if I'm honest. I don't plug the Sennheiser directly to the Dualsense controller, but I use a BT dongle and select a low latency codec (Aptx Adaptative).
 
I got recently audeze maxwells. Initially weight was issue for my neck but it got better in week or two.

+ Sounds really good
+ Wireless is really good compared to wired in terms of comfort

- No dual audio
- Condensation builds quite easily in humid and causes fizzing
- Dongle needs constant replugging when waking from sleep
- No manual source selection

I can live with the downsides but there could be still room for improvement.
 
I refuse to play online on consoles so a headset/headphones is not necessary. Just use my speakers.

For PC I use my Sony wh-100mx3 and some old Blue Yeti USb mic. Still works very well.
 
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