Headphones Discussion and Recomendation Thread

BlueMak · Mar 23, 2007, 12:24 PM

Ok, so for the last 2 days I have the Razer Baraccuda. Excellent purchase. Well worth the money. First of all they are the most comfortable headphones I have ever used. As I am typing this it has been about 18 hours of wearing them (with bathroom breaks in between). Still no pain or anything like that.
It took me about 5 min to set them up correctly. First I had to push harder inside the soundcard (x-fi fatality). Then I changed the options from the console to 5.1 speakers, enabled Bass Redirection at 90Hz and ticked on subwoofer gain +15dB. I also had the Synchronize with the control panel cleared and lowered the volume from the mixer to about 75%. Put some music on and slowly increased the volume on the headphones. Wow.
Some reviews complained about the lack of bass, well, they either have crappy soundcards or wrong settings, cause the bass on these is incredible. Also the clarity of all sounds is something I have never heard before from headphones or speakers. I can hear sounds that couldn't before, from movies to games to music.

The one thing that I am not sure yet is the forward left and right speakers during games. I have only tried them with one game that supports "surround sound", Renegade, which is not the best. Later today I will try some other games like Far Cry, Battlefield 2 Area 51, that IIRC have options for 5.1 configuration. I will let you know about the results later.
Oh, I did try them on Zero Hour (RTS game) and worked great there.
I haven't tried the mic yet, but I am worried because it is so short. Too short I am worried.

Zelig · May 10, 2007, 12:05 AM

I was unable to bring my speakers to my parents' for the summer due to a lack of room in my car, and all I had for headphones were a free pair from a garbage bag full of overstock headphones.

Settled on the Grado SR60 after doing some research and listening to a bunch of sets in the store. Great cans for the price, and the straight output from my Audigy 2 ZS sounds surprisingly good.

I have a large head, and the headphones weren't particularly comfortable at first, but I left them stretched over my computer case overnight, and they're good now.

BlueMak · Jul 22, 2007, 10:53 AM

The headphones worked for a couple of weeks. Then the back left channel stopped responding at times. Then at all. The only way to make it work properly was to twist the cable near the little "box" it has and wrap it around it counter clockwise (I am not kidding).
After one more week the headband broke...
I contacted Razer and after three days I think they replied with RMA number.
Great support, right?
So after few days (was very busy) I sent it to them. A few more days after that and I received a brand new box with a brand new headset. Talk about service. So I plugged it in and wow, the back left channel was broken from the start. Was MUCH lower volume than the rest of the channels and if I moved the cable near the "box" it would sort of work. I couldn't believe the same exact thing was happening again. Then I thought, perhaps it is a problem with my PC, but I had a brand new PC, apart from the soundcard. So, perhaps it is the soundcard, so I tried the on board soundcard, same results. After 1 day both the right back channels were hardly working.
So I sent an email to Razer. Several days after, no reply.

AVOID RAZER BARRACUDA 5.1 HEADSET.
So now I am searching for a new 5.1 headset, and there aren't many out there.

niceguyrichy · Jul 22, 2007, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueMak

So now I am searching for a new 5.1 headset, and there aren't many out there.

have a looksy at the review link in this news thread

as I said there, the medusa's kick ass for gaming, and take a hell of a beating as well (mine fall off the desk/computer all the time, still work like a dream)

BlueMak · Jul 22, 2007, 11:58 PM

Yes, the Medusa Home Edition are in the top of my list for new headphones. I spend an hour or two searching various forums and when some poster asks for them you usualy get 1-2 people who have them and say they are quite good, and a horde of people saying how all 5.1 headphones suck and it is better to get a "normal" headphone instead, with one of the usualy recs being the DT-770 pro or some SH model. In fact most if not all of the posters bushing the 5.1 headsets in general never actualy USED 5.1 headsets and instead relying on the logic of 2 drives are better than 6 for the same sie and price. I don' tknow why but it made me want to not get a normal set.
The Razers I had (and still have since Razer still hasn't contacted me) when they worked were great. Perhaps not definetely better sound quality from a good other 2 drive set, but the difference they make in movies and games is just so much more important.

Mar 23, 2007, 12:24 PM	#61
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,246 Rep Power: 326 System Specs	Ok, so for the last 2 days I have the Razer Baraccuda. Excellent purchase. Well worth the money. First of all they are the most comfortable headphones I have ever used. As I am typing this it has been about 18 hours of wearing them (with bathroom breaks in between). Still no pain or anything like that. It took me about 5 min to set them up correctly. First I had to push harder inside the soundcard (x-fi fatality). Then I changed the options from the console to 5.1 speakers, enabled Bass Redirection at 90Hz and ticked on subwoofer gain +15dB. I also had the Synchronize with the control panel cleared and lowered the volume from the mixer to about 75%. Put some music on and slowly increased the volume on the headphones. Wow. Some reviews complained about the lack of bass, well, they either have crappy soundcards or wrong settings, cause the bass on these is incredible. Also the clarity of all sounds is something I have never heard before from headphones or speakers. I can hear sounds that couldn't before, from movies to games to music. The one thing that I am not sure yet is the forward left and right speakers during games. I have only tried them with one game that supports "surround sound", Renegade, which is not the best. Later today I will try some other games like Far Cry, Battlefield 2 Area 51, that IIRC have options for 5.1 configuration. I will let you know about the results later. Oh, I did try them on Zero Hour (RTS game) and worked great there. I haven't tried the mic yet, but I am worried because it is so short. Too short I am worried. __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*

May 10, 2007, 12:05 AM	#62
Zelig HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 3,187 Rep Power: 69 System Specs	I was unable to bring my speakers to my parents' for the summer due to a lack of room in my car, and all I had for headphones were a free pair from a garbage bag full of overstock headphones. Settled on the Grado SR60 after doing some research and listening to a bunch of sets in the store. Great cans for the price, and the straight output from my Audigy 2 ZS sounds surprisingly good. I have a large head, and the headphones weren't particularly comfortable at first, but I left them stretched over my computer case overnight, and they're good now. __________________ -- Last edited by Zelig; May 10, 2007 at 12:11 AM.

Jul 22, 2007, 10:53 AM	#63
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,246 Rep Power: 326 System Specs	The headphones worked for a couple of weeks. Then the back left channel stopped responding at times. Then at all. The only way to make it work properly was to twist the cable near the little "box" it has and wrap it around it counter clockwise (I am not kidding). After one more week the headband broke... I contacted Razer and after three days I think they replied with RMA number. Great support, right? So after few days (was very busy) I sent it to them. A few more days after that and I received a brand new box with a brand new headset. Talk about service. So I plugged it in and wow, the back left channel was broken from the start. Was MUCH lower volume than the rest of the channels and if I moved the cable near the "box" it would sort of work. I couldn't believe the same exact thing was happening again. Then I thought, perhaps it is a problem with my PC, but I had a brand new PC, apart from the soundcard. So, perhaps it is the soundcard, so I tried the on board soundcard, same results. After 1 day both the right back channels were hardly working. So I sent an email to Razer. Several days after, no reply. AVOID RAZER BARRACUDA 5.1 HEADSET. So now I am searching for a new 5.1 headset, and there aren't many out there. __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*

Jul 22, 2007, 11:58 PM	#65
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,246 Rep Power: 326 System Specs	Yes, the Medusa Home Edition are in the top of my list for new headphones. I spend an hour or two searching various forums and when some poster asks for them you usualy get 1-2 people who have them and say they are quite good, and a horde of people saying how all 5.1 headphones suck and it is better to get a "normal" headphone instead, with one of the usualy recs being the DT-770 pro or some SH model. In fact most if not all of the posters bushing the 5.1 headsets in general never actualy USED 5.1 headsets and instead relying on the logic of 2 drives are better than 6 for the same sie and price. I don' tknow why but it made me want to not get a normal set. The Razers I had (and still have since Razer still hasn't contacted me) when they worked were great. Perhaps not definetely better sound quality from a good other 2 drive set, but the difference they make in movies and games is just so much more important. __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*