Help Buying a New Pair of Headphones

[LawlMan]

So, recently, the right leather ear cup to my headset has broke In under 6 months of heavy use. I'm hoping to buy a new pair, but I'm worried about sound quality and compatibility for the most part. I'll admit, I'm a poor audiophile. I can't afford a 400$ pair of Sennheisers nor a 1000$ pair of Bose headphones. So that's why I'm coming to you for recommendations and options TnB!

Budget - 80$ USD. Hard limit. Maybe 100$ but that's pushing it.

Source - 3.5MM audio jack, and only that. I can't use USB or any headphones that use a headphone and microphone jack only.

Requirements for Isolation - Nothing insane, just good isolation to block out the majority of noise. Closed back preferred.

Preferred Type of Headphone - Closed back, over ear. Something that will go around my ears but still have good isolation. It also must come with a microphone, or able to support a modmic/v-moda mic.

Preferred tonal balance - Balanced all around. This isn't the biggest priority at all. I really just want stuff that sounds crisp and clear, as well as high quality.

Preferred Music - Punk Rock, electronic music. Mostly rock.

What would you like to improve on from your set-up - Overall sound quality and soundstage. I'm rather concerned about being able to hear the little things in video games, but also being able to use them for music and watching videos with high quality audio.

Here's some info that might help, and a bit of a buying guide for me. Right now I have my eyes on the HyperX Cloud Core headset. Though I'm not sure if that's truly compatible with just a 3.5MM jack(For example: the port the PS4 controller has. The only reason for the need for a 3.5MM jack, is because that's what my PS4 controller takes and only takes). A lot of companies like to advertize that it will work with just that, but in actuality, it has some problems or doesn't work the same as if it was connected to it's amplifier, or whatever.

Thanks for reading guys. Hope you can help me on this one!

 

[snuggles]

nonsenze

 

[Wiz]

I should get a new headset too since one of the speakers in my old one died so I'm using one that is so awful makes my ears physically hurt.

Try turtle beach. They might be just above your price range though.

 

[snuggles]

turtle beach are dumb unless you pay for their far too expensive headsets

is your "no usb only headsets" rule a preference or an actual impossibility, because if it's a preference and you can get over it then i might have a suggestion

 

[Duaine The Rock]

steel series is killer for that price range but its USB and the cord can be a little short
although theyre HELLA durable and SUPER COMFY

 

[nonsenze]

are u sure u cant stretch ur budget to get a pair of good headphones and a separate microphone?
in my experience headsets (headphones and microphone) break easily, right now i use a audio-technica ath-m20x and a blue snowball microphone. lasted me longer than any other headset

 

[Zigafu]

audio technicas my fav but a bit pricey

 

[nonsenze]

audio technicas my fav but a bit pricey

even the cheaper audio technicas still perform well, my pair were £45. the pricey headphones are good but then ur going into diminishing returns territory and aren't really worth it when compared to cheaper versions

 

[doog]

I agree w/ nonny that a much better idea is getting a decent pair of headphones + a decent mic for the same / near same price as an all in one headset, they seem to break a lot faster

 

[LawlMan]

For me, headset is a must because I do all of my gaming(minus GMOD obviously) on the PS4 and the majority of my friends that I play with are also on PS4. If I had a PC that could run games, I'd just easily get a good pair of headphones and a blue yeti mic or something and roll with that. Though that's not an option.

are u sure u cant stretch ur budget to get a pair of good headphones and a separate microphone?
in my experience headsets (headphones and microphone) break easily, right now i use a audio-technica ath-m20x and a blue snowball microphone. lasted me longer than any other headset

Yeah, this is a pretty hard limit. I'd have to wait a good few weeks or so to get a 200$+ pair and I can't really afford that as it urks me immensely with the way my headphones are currently. They're also very uncomfortable. Plus they sound bad due to the ear cup being fucked.

steel series is killer for that price range but its USB and the cord can be a little short
although theyre HELLA durable and SUPER COMFY

I tried the steelseries in my usual price range(Arctic 5's) and they were absolute garbage. The only good thing about them was the comfort and the microphone. The sound quality was bad, and they had zero noise isolation. So I don't really wanna go steelseries by any means. Plus, they're USB. Which is a no go.

turtle beach are dumb unless you pay for their far too expensive headsets

is your "no usb only headsets" rule a preference or an actual impossibility, because if it's a preference and you can get over it then i might have a suggestion

It's a actual impossibility. The PS4 doesn't support USB headsets and both of the USB ports on my laptop are taken by my external keyboard and mouse. I'd have zero way to use it.

I should get a new headset too since one of the speakers in my old one died so I'm using one that is so awful makes my ears physically hurt.

Try turtle beach. They might be just above your price range though.

I tried turtle beach. I had the Z11's for awhile but then upgraded to the razer kraken pro which ultimately got fucked. Though originally after the Z11's I got the PX22's. Funny enough, they advertised them as PS4 compatable when they weren't really compatable. They came with a amp that you couldn't use and that was the only way they sounded good in anyway. Plus, when you'd just use the 3.5mm prong there wasn't even volume/mic control. It was terrible. That's why I'm so worried about anything that doesn't connect JUST through a 3.5mm jack.

 

[Duaine The Rock]

For me, headset is a must because I do all of my gaming(minus GMOD obviously) on the PS4 and the majority of my friends that I play with are also on PS4. If I had a PC that could run games, I'd just easily get a good pair of headphones and a blue yeti mic or something and roll with that. Though that's not an option.



Yeah, this is a pretty hard limit. I'd have to wait a good few weeks or so to get a 200$+ pair and I can't really afford that as it urks me immensely with the way my headphones are currently. They're also very uncomfortable. Plus they sound bad due to the ear cup being fucked.


I tried the steelseries in my usual price range(Arctic 5's) and they were absolute garbage. The only good thing about them was the comfort and the microphone. The sound quality was bad, and they had zero noise isolation. So I don't really wanna go steelseries by any means. Plus, they're USB. Which is a no go.



It's a actual impossibility. The PS4 doesn't support USB headsets and both of the USB ports on my laptop are taken by my external keyboard and mouse. I'd have zero way to use it.



I tried turtle beach. I had the Z11's for awhile but then upgraded to the razer kraken pro which ultimately got fucked. Though originally after the Z11's I got the PX22's. Funny enough, they advertised them as PS4 compatable when they weren't really compatable. They came with a amp that you couldn't use and that was the only way they sounded good in anyway. Plus, when you'd just use the 3.5mm prong there wasn't even volume/mic control. It was terrible. That's why I'm so worried about anything that doesn't connect JUST through a 3.5mm jack.

bruh its 2017 why dont u have usb? and those are the shitty ones leme show u the ones i have once i get home, yes they're noise blcking in shit

 

[LawlMan]

bruh its 2017 why dont u have usb? and those are the shitty ones leme show u the ones i have once i get home, yes they're noise blcking in shit

I don't have anyway to use them as I'm on a laptop with merely TWO usb ports that are both used. And the PS4 does not support USB headphones.

 

[Duaine The Rock]

LawlMan
what sort of jack do u have

 

[LawlMan]

LawlMan
what sort of jack do u have

A regular 3.5mm one. Think of the one on the PS4 controller or your regular phone headphone jack.

 

[snuggles]

the ps4 does support headsets through usb but i don't think it does mic

 

[LawlMan]

the ps4 does support headsets through usb but i don't think it does mic

To me that's the equivalent of not supporting it, at least not truly. Plus the way my setup is I can't be that close to my PS4 unless I want a multiple feet long extension cable which is just ridiculous. I've also heard of some usb headsets having trouble.

 

[Duaine The Rock]

m8 you're asking for a very specific piece of gear, cut back on ur expectations

the majority of people go 'it sound good mkay buy'

turtle beach although ive had AWFUL experiences with them
heavy headset very sweaty and digs into ur skull not something u want to be a professional neet with

 

[LawlMan]

m8 you're asking for a very specific piece of gear, cut back on ur expectations

the majority of people go 'it sound good mkay buy'

turtle beach although ive had AWFUL experiences with them
heavy headset very sweaty and digs into ur skull not something u want to be a professional neet with

That's a fair point, but I'd at least like decent sound quality. I'm not asking for anything super duper insane like perfect sennheiser level. I'm just asking for something that I can hear crisp sound with. The steelseries headsets, I couldn't hear anything with them. I also try and hear footsteps and stuff like that in video games as it helps a lot when playing games like Overwatch or FPS games. The steelseries didn't really provide any of that.

 

[Mid]

I've found from experience that the absolute need for a microphone severely limits the amount of good quality headphones available to you.

 

[LawlMan]

I've found from experience that the absolute need for a microphone severely limits the amount of good quality headphones available to you.

Yeah, sadly that's the way it goes. Hopefully in the next year or so once I can save up enough for a proper gaming rig I won't have to use a headset as then I can just use a separate microphone. Though Im stuck with headsets for now.