Recommendations for HEADPHONES - for SL's upcoming 3D voice?

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a pair of headphones that work well with 3D sound.

SL's 3D voice is soon coming, and, I know a lot of people are cringing about this, but an equal amount, like me - CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since I am a Language, teacher, 3D audio is just what I was looking for!

So, if you can recommend a pair of headphones with a mic that work particularily well with 3D - share your knowledge with the community!

Thanks in advance!
Cheers
Fire

Any good quality stereo headphone with and intergrated mic would work. The 3D part is nothing more than how the sound is delivered in stereo............nothing fancy required for it.

Sony might be a good start, Panasonic, Bose...........heck any stereo phones that are more than maybe 20 USD. And just a mono mic for your chat.......it's going to a single channel anyway. Spend what you want.........but you don't need the best out there because you won't be recieving CD quality stuff anyway.

I reccomend Plantronics. They're call-center grade so they're durable and have excellent mics. A lot of headsets have good sound, but terrible mics.

These are the set I reccomend: Plantronics Audio 340

They are comfortable, durable, with good sound and a great mic, and inexpensive. Unless you're an audiophile that wants to listen to music through these, I think they're the best price/performance out there.

seconded. plantronics even put their headsets on the moon in the late 1960s. (they made them for nasa) i have only good things to say about my .audio 550 DSP headset but it is at the top of its particular (the dot audio) range.

excellent audio separation with independent volume control makes it good enough for music and gaming; noise cancelling on the retractable mic stops background clamour interfering with your voice; very comfortable to wear due to soft cushioning and speakers that move cleverly to envelope any size/shape of ears. really impressive. =)

Agree -- but on another hand, you should care more about getting the SL grid less tempermental and stable before hoping for voice - its only going to add to lag and packet loss.

That's for the Lindens to decide. I doubt they're waiting on Fire Centaur to embrace Voice before going ahead with it.

Plantronics hands down. I beat the crap out of mine and they hold up to a lot of abuse. My first set was the behind-the-head model (A340) and it lasted a good solid 3 years of internet gaming and being thrown against my desk many many many times in frustration after some 13 yr old fragged me in some game.

I got a new set last year an over-the-head model (A350), the middle-expense ranged model Plantronics has and I love 'em. I use them with SAM2, Skype, Trillian, Yahoo IM, and Teamspeak, all with equally good results.

PEACE!

Arti


PS: Ketra, nice quote in your siggy! one of my favorite Clutch songs!!!!

"Did you not know that the royal hunting grounds are ALWAYS forbidden!"

One other thing... many systems with integrated audio have lousy microphone inputs, so you'll get better sound quality if you spend the extra money for a USB headset. (They're also a touch handier to use, because you only have to plug in one cable.) Plantronics, which many people mentioned, makes them. Logitech is another company that makes good headsets, including USB models.

USB headsets have their ups and downs as well. It is nice that they plug into any USB port. But they also compeltely bypass your sound card, because they have their own soundcard built-in. This can cause issues with some software because it may default to the sound card already in your machine. Additionally, if you have a good sound card already, using a USB headset will bypass any benefit that internal sound card may give you, redering it useless.

If you are serious about the 3D aspect of the audio, then you need a headset that supports 5.1 sound. There are a few out there. I personally use my Plantronics DSP-500's (not 5.1).

Zalman makes a good 5.1 headset as I recall.

(P.S. as far as you're concerned, trust me, USB headsets are exactly what you are looking for. Don't be confused by people telling you about 'bypassing' your internal soundcard. As far as 3D sound + headset goes, you want a USB card. I personally 'bypass' my internal X-Fi sound card when I'm on the headset. But I am serious about my audio.)

Well, I hear nothing but complaints about USB headsets when used with chat programs and my sister who is a professional DJ finds they don't work with many sound set ups. YMMV but if you have a sound card get the type that plug in because there is no doubt it will work. You can try the USB but you may have to take em back like my sister did.

Also, it is utter lie that Plantronics head sets were used on the moon. Yes, they went to the moon but they were part of the sealed recovery kit to be used for communication after splashdown and were never used on the moon, space nor even in the space program for the most part. David Clarks were and still are the headsets of choice for NASA and in only a few instances have astronauts traded their David Clarks for a Plantronics.

Not to say they are bad headsets, they are probably the better retail sets available and I have several. Unfortunately all headsets with the volume control/ mic switch on the cord I have owned have had the cables fray around the switch or the switch broken when I accidentally step on it. You can't seem to buy any headsets without the switches anymore so I end up buying a new set every six months or so, my last one got the cord sucked into a vacuum cleaner.. it was ugly.