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Sennheiser Exits Gaming Headphone Business
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this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2023
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I never understand why we need gaming headphones when normal headphones already do the job well.
Because "gaming" headphones often aren't "just" headphones. They are headsets with a built-in boom mic
And a boom-mic is often way better than a crap wire mic or bluetooth headphone non boom mic.
There are still the trash ones, but there are also very good ones.
And a built-in mic is extremely useful on multiple situations : console gaming, tight space gaming (no place for a mic), or when there is only a single port on a device (tho a splitter, or hub could be used for a jack port or usb). There is also the convenience of just having a mic.
The issue now with all these headsets being "gaming", is because of the marketing.
Some headphones brands have put mics on theirs, to make them headsets :
Beyerdynamic with the mx300 : the tight clamp makes it a bit of a no go for me. The mic is as just between ok and great. The voice is full, but there is a lot of noise in there from the reviews I saw.
Audio technica : they have multiple of them. Latest one the ath-m50xsts. It looks like a circum aural headset, but is not. It's a on ear headset with ear isolation like a circum aural. Which is pretty bad for me. Tho the mic is the best I've ever heard on a headset.
They are both wired only.
And other brands not marketing as "gaming" headsets are either extremely expensive with strange mics, or have most of their production budget into audio and they pair the headphone with a trash mic to make it a headset.
In gaming headset brands, there are multiple ones providing software, mic, and wireless features enhancing the experience of the user. For example low latency high bandwidth wireless (proprietary, wifi-like 2.4ghz) connexions only exist in gaming branded headphones/sets. (high bandwidth = higher than bluetooth for the same latency).
I'd take a proper lavalier mic with proper studio headphones over an unwieldy and crappy gaming headset with boom mic any day.
Or better yet, a proper THX reference level capable surround sound system and tactile transducers over any headphones.
Sure with the budget, space, and maybe even enough noise isolation or when you can get open headphones...
But how much would a good enough studio headphone cost? Because from what I understand from studio headphones it's perfectly calibrated headphones?
Now image your someone without the proper budget to get 1k$ headphones, and no space for open sound. what would you buy?
Maybe beyerdynamic? But for me the clamp force is too high.
Akg? They are cheap, but damn it was impossible for me to wear the akg371 as they were too shallow and had no protection for the driver plastic, and the way they were build made sure I had holes for the sound to get out...
Sadly audio is very subjective, on comfort, space, and sound.
Good studio headphones are around 200€ and you can get decent ones for 100...150€. And generally they are closed back, not open headphones.
Or even just dt-990s + modmic. Still better than any gaming headset ever built.
But that combination costs around 230 Swiss Franks versus 75 Swiss Franks for a Hyperx Cloud Alpha.
Superlux HD 660 Pro / Samson SR850 / AKG K240 + 15€ Lavalier Mic = Better than HyperX Wolkendingsi.
An omnidirectional mic 20 cm downwards from the persons mouth is supposed to sound better than a little boom mic right in front of them? That's not very convincing.