[Cause]

I have bought the parts for a new gaming pc that I'm hoping to put together this weekend.

My first desktop in close to a decade! Should have some real power. I got a lot of lucky breaks so I'm well under budget. Thinking some immersion surround sound headphones might be a a good idea.

So many options on the market. Thought I'd ask here for some advice.

Thoughts:
Have a ps4 so compatability would be nice
Wireless?
Surround sound virtual vs actual
Build quality- no such thing as heirloom electronics but I'd like it to last a long time

[Malankazooie]

Astro Gaming and Turtle Beach are leaders in this space and have options for all price points. You can't go wrong with either, for the most part. Shit, Turtle Beach has been in this game for many years.

[Silencer]

Whatever you do, don't buy a gaming headset.


Save yourself money and pain, and buy a good set of quality headphones, then add a mic if you need to for chat (say the AntLion ModMic for example - brilliant piece of tech and just sticks to the side of your headphones to make like a real boom mike).

Especially for a pc, real headphones will sound better, be lighter, and cost you less than that gaming trash they sell.
If you really, really want a "gaming headset" specifically, go Astro. But go high up in their range.

Also regarding fake surround sound - and yes, it's all fake surround sound - you get the benefits of it without any of the drawbacks by buying what is known as an "open back" style headphone. Means more sound gets out, and more external sound gets in, but it basically lets you hear what 'direction' the sound is intended to come from all the same. If you live in a noisy place or in close proximity to people who will be disturbed by the sound, it might not be ideal for you, but even so, you're better off with a regular set of headphones than gaming grade fake surrounds.


Anyway, that's just my two cents. Oh, and avoid Turtle Beach like the plague. If you want decent sound with an integrated mic on a budget, get the Sennheiser PC350 - I used them on my xbox for ages (still do) with one of the Y adapters to connect the twin cables to the single 3.5mm jack on the controller. They're good, but they aren't half as good as my AudioTechnica ad700x +ModMic combo I use on my pc (only reason I don't use them on the Xbox is because I'm tired of unplugging and transporting headsets between the two places and/or not having them handy because I left them attached to the other device) and they cost basically the same.
Friend of my has the Astro M50s for his xbox and he likes them enough, but they keep having issue dropping connection and such, so I'd avoid the wireless if possible. He also reckons they're about as good as my sennheisers but they cost more than twice the price so...

[Malankazooie]

I've used Turtle Beach gaming headsets on my Xbox 360 for 8 years now and they work great. I loved the "footsteps" option when I used to play Blops multiplayer but felt guilty because I used to get the jump on players all the time when I hunker'd down in corners. So I guess I have a different experience and opinion on whether they are worth it.

Yeah, you'll probably pay more for pair of gaming headsets, but you won't save yourself "pain" or headache if you go the route of buying cheaper headphones and a separate mic, because you're going to have to do more setup to get it to work. And I'm guessing this setup aggravation is amplified if you want to switch back and forth between your PS4 and gaming PC.

I suggest you do the research on all options and make a decision that best suits you.

[Silencer]

There's literally zero setup required for making a pair of headphones work on an xbox. It's plug and play. If you need the mic then plug that and the headphones onto a Y adapter, then straight onto the back of the controller/chat pad. XD

It's arguably more difficult if you have something like the Astro A50s where you need to setup the wireless, or charge the headset, or plug the dock into the back of the Xbox (can be a pain if you don't have a great deal of access to the back of your console). Not sure if this is true if all Turtle Beach headsets but the pairs I have owned have had clunky extra boxes to plug into which I'd both unsightly and annoying if you have to mess around with the knobs on them. Plus the sound quality is average at best (for a gaming headset - and therefore terrible by headphone standards). Oh, and one pair was uncomfortable as hell for more than 20 minutes use - wireless ones are always needlessly heavy but these ones had way too much clamping pressure.

I definitely second doing the research, but for the love of God don't just read reviews on gaming headsets. They very rarely compare them with actual headphones (hint: there's a reason why, and it isn't ease of setup) and they are way too caught up in the brand hype most of the time.