#6

i suppose we should ask your price range first.

#7

Why are most of you recommending wired headphones ween he specificaly asked for wireless ones?

Anyway if you don’t care for an included mic th RS series (RS160 and above) from Sennheiser is a good choice.
They are handy if you move around a lot in your house to for example go from the pc to watch a movie on the sofa.

#8

i actually started to reply with these. rs 185. 100 bucks off right now.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sennheiser-wireless-over-the-ear-headphones-black/3304028.p?id=1219579614166&skuId=3304028&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=3304028&extensionType=pla:g&s_kwcid=PTC!pla!!!104635439559!g!!84769357479&kpid=3304028&k_clickid=9349fcf1-06a2-46cb-96f9-d21fdefda620&lsft=ref:212,loc:1&ksid=9349fcf1-06a2-46cb-96f9-d21fdefda620&ksprof_id=11&ksaffcode=pg8862&ksdevice=c

#9

Probably because of that. I’m mostly interested in Wireless headphones for my PC (A mic isn’t a problem at all, as I plan on having a higher quality external one), although, if a wired one somehow ends up being totally worth it, I think I can manage.

Anyway, you guys want a bit more details, so here you go. I’d like to see about 5.1 surround sound headphones, but I’ve always had stereo headphones, and can deal with that. As for open or closed headsets, something closed would be preferred, as long as they’re larger than a lot of gaming headsets I’ve seen.

#10

Wireless closed ones: RS 165/175/195
Wired closed ones: Momentum 2.0, GAME ZERO (built in mic), Q701 (semi open).

Can’t think of anymore atm.

#11

Advice: Don’t bother. There are four products on the market that do this well, ranging in price from cheap to way out of most gamer budgets, and now that myears seems to be defunct there are three ranging from expensive to way out of most gamer budgets.

I own them all, and frankly only one does the job superbly. Bottom line - without having a customized to you HRTF, headphone surround is a crapshoot, at best a crapshoot with loaded dice if variable but not custom HRTF are used.

Run away from the “virtual surround/Dolby surround” nonsense spewed for gaming headphones (sadly, Sennheiser included, but you need not use that aspect of their otherwise excellent gaming line headphones) if you really care about audio quality.

Stick with a quality stereo headset…

#12

Thanks for that advice, I’ve had no experience with surround sound headphones at all, so I guess I’ll stick with stereo.

#13

get yourself a set of abyss AB-1266’s.

#14

The high treble range on those blows. I traded mine two weeks after purchase for an amp I don’t need, disliked them so much…

#15

I’m looking for good clarity, not much of that cinema style bass (Way too much bass for my tastes). So, something with good treble clarity, but enough bass to give sounds some “oomph”, but not too much of that.

#16

it was a joke. you actually bought $5000 headphones?

#17

Sure, and no one pays retail for something like this, particularly when a regular for the dealer. It’s a very good phone, in some areas as good as they come (for now), but fails in too many for my tastes, hence one of the very few I’ve dumped.

#18

Then the Senns warrant your review, whether corded gaming or just their wireless music phones - they do a fine job for the $ across the board.

#19

I’ll definitely give them a thorough look then.

#20

i’ve never tried them. Ize just a poor audiophile.

#21

Hey - a little update re: surround.

A buddy told me about some software that came with their Razer headset (all of their headsets I’ve bought were turds as far as audio quality, but big fan of their mice here). It’s called Razer Surround Pro - and can be bought separately (don’t need to have their phones - but some of their models apparently include it).

I am fairly sure this is the myears software I mentioned, or at the very least they licensed it, because the training mechanics to semi-customize it to your phones/ears is pretty much the same, with the usual razer color/interface over-embellishment.

But here’s the deal - it’s pretty good. By that, I mean it is head and shoulders above the usual “virtual surround”, “Dolby surround”, and the whatever-the-heck turd Creative calls their system.

It works as well as myears (I compared it), in fact pretty much the same (makes sense if it is the same/licensed), and the only things I have that beat it for surround realism are hardware devices that cost much much much more and are either more customizable or really customizable to the ear/phone combo.

Worth the 20 clams if you want surround, IMO, best I’ve heard (along with the defunct myears) without spending serious shekels.

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#22

That’s rather interesting, actually. I can go give it a look, I suppose.

#23

Not sure if you’ll read it, but I wanted to mention Samsung Level Over.

I got them half a year ago and they’re perfect for me. I use them for gaming and music.

  • Connection: Bluetooth, with all the necessary profiles supported.
  • Battery lasts for 25 hours. It’s ridiculously long, and I think I have heard the “low battery” indication sound only twice so far. I just recharge the headphones once in a while and they keep playing on and on.
  • Active noise cancelling that actually works. Coupled with passive one (they’re over ear), I can play even if my roommates yell to one another. In noisy public transport it pretty much nullifies 90% of ambient sounds; it’s almost dangerous, and I need to take them off when walking so I can hear vehicles approaching.
  • Built-in microphone, though it’s mainly for calls, as the Bluetooth profile will switch to HFP. This profile is for hands-free calls, and the audio quality drops a lot. It’s necessary to use an external one if you want to game and talk at the same time - otherwise the profile will keep jumping between A2DP and HFP whenever you speak. This is the only downside I found in them.
  • You can connect the headphones via 3.5 mm cable (included) if you wish. They won’t need Bluetooth or charged batteries then, though you won’t be able to use…
  • …The built-in touchpad on the right speaker. Allows you to control music (play/pause by double tap, prev/next song by swipe back or forward) and volume (swipe up/down).
  • Comfy on the ears and head - I can wear them for hours with no problems.

Overall, if you don’t mind the need for external mic (or don’t use a mic at all), I recommend these. Noise cancellation is awesome, the battery lasts forever, and sound quality is great.

#24

Hmm… it’s gonna be a little while before I actually buy anything, but this does interest me. Do the majority of the reviews feel like you do? Any real problems with it?

#25

Two things come to mind, but they’re not problems, just slight disappointments.

The first was when I realized the built-in microphone doesn’t work with A2DP, so the headphones need to switch to HFP for the duration of your speech. I just used another mic as a workaround.

The second is that the bass could be sliiiightly more powerful. My ears adapted to it quickly, so that went away after the first hour of listening. It’s not really a big deal, but still, you expect more in this price range.

As far as I can see, reviews say the active noise cancellation isn’t top notch, and that the product is rather pricey, with better ones costing less. As it’s my first pair with ANC I was just blown away with its performance, so that makes me wonder how good the others are. Reviews complain about audible hiss when ANC is enabled, but I don’t hear anything really. It just bleeps for 0.1 s when enabling ANC and silence follows.

I agree with the price complaint if there are better pairs, but from what I see, they are all either wired or don’t have active noise cancellation. In my case I was recommended these by a coworker and found a nice deal (250 USD), so I went for these and am completely satisfied. It’s one of the very few pairs with both ANC and Bluetooth, which may justify the price.

They also aren’t foldable. You can adjust the basic length, but that’s all. You get a nice sturdy case to carry it in though.

Besides this, I’m constantly impressed how long they work on a single charge. The other cool thing I just remembered is that the LED that indicates connection is small enough not to bother others with its blinking. The previous Bluetooth headphones I had (Dell BH200) had a large diode that flashed so bright it briefly lit the room at night every 5 seconds. It’s a small detail, but can definitely affect the experience.

They also have NFC in the left speaker (the right one has touch controls). As with NFC, it’s nice to have, but I don’t think I used it more than half a dozen times. Your mileage may vary.

Once you go wireless, it’s impossible to go back to wired headphones. I can’t imagine there being a better wireless pair with these features. Looks like there’s a better pair, cheaper! Bose QC25: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2468872,00.asp - it also has removable batteries, which is a plus, but PCMag put it in the cons section for some reason. Try googling these instead.

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