What headphones to get?

[blind_synergy]

I'll be going to university in September and would like to buy a set of headphones. Hopefully mic included (I haven't played online pc games in ages, mostly 360, do most people have headphones online nowadays?). I'd like emulated surround sound since I like FPSs. Fairly good sound. I can't break the bank (less than $100 please, may be I could borrow money from my parents if I must; stupid strike killed my summer job and can't find employment anywhere else). Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[AFG34]

whatever sennheiser headset fits your budget

[SugarJ]

I'll weigh in here, and heartily recommend the Sennheiser PC151's. I absolutely loved mine, until I just broke them about an hour ago while vacuuming my mancave. Cord fell off the desk, wrapped around the beater brush, and whammo, no more headphones.

[blind_synergy]

They look very nice SugarJ and reasonably priced to boot. I love my sound; will they give me the illusion of surround sound (ie; someone sneaking up on my left, a helicopter flying overhead, zombies running at me from behind, etc.)? I've never really had to use headphones before. Also, do a good majority of players use mics in PC games? Been a while since I played shooters online on my PC (ancient, could barely run Warcraft III, just replaced it). Thanks.

[Squeetard]

I've never ever used a pair of 2 speaker headphones that can properly give you positional audio

[JMCD]

Originally Posted by Squeetard

I've never ever used a pair of 2 speaker headphones that can properly give you positional audio

Yeah I agree. I bought a pair of Plantronics for 15 bucks on ebay, brand new. They seem to be very accurate for L/R and ok for knowing whether something is above or below me. I'd get something like what I've got for now until you can afford to go full out.

Also someone gave me this link before - Psyko Audio Labs, Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming Headphones - Home

I'd wait and see what the reviews are on this first.

[SugarJ]

Originally Posted by blind_synergy

They look very nice SugarJ and reasonably priced to boot. I love my sound; will they give me the illusion of surround sound (ie; someone sneaking up on my left, a helicopter flying overhead, zombies running at me from behind, etc.)? I've never really had to use headphones before. Also, do a good majority of players use mics in PC games? Been a while since I played shooters online on my PC (ancient, could barely run Warcraft III, just replaced it). Thanks.

If you've got a good sound card, they do very well at the surround sound faking. I got way better at COD4 and 5 when I got the DX and my Senny's, just from being able to pick up footsteps. And if you play online at all, a mic is not mandatory but really handy. For example, I just did 2 races in iRacing. Normally, I'll tell a lapped car when I'm about to pass. Couldn't tonite, got taken out while running 2nd with 3 laps to go. I'm about to bust out my soldering iron to see if I can make some repairs.

[blind_synergy]

I don't have a sound card, and I don't think I could afford one at this point; however, by all regards the p6t mobo can handle sound very well (think so?). Maybe I should just buy them from a place with a liberal return policy and return them if I don't like them.

[acameron56]

I have never had any 5.1 headphones, but all my stereo headphones have done a very good job positionally. You're gonna need to have some type of dedicated soundcard/dac though. Just for a heads up, if you plan on listening to any type of music with the headphones, the stereo will sound than the 5.1. Also, finding a headset isn't mandatory, as you can pick up the zalman clip-on mic for very cheap at ncix. (would post a link but I'm currently on dial-up XD). The audio-technica ATH-AD700's are supposed to be fantastic for gaming.

[blind_synergy]

Sorry about the saying 5.1, I made a mistake. I don't know very much audio. I guess what I wanted to say was directionality, or 3-D sound. This is what Asus says about the integrated card:
"High Definition Audio
Enjoy high-end sound system on your PC!
The onboard 8-channel HD audio (High Definition Audio, previously codenamed Azalia) CODEC enables high-quality 192KHz/24-bit audio output, jack-sensing feature, retasking functions and multi-streaming technology that simultaneously sends different audio streams to different destinations. You can now talk to your partners on the headphone while playing a multi-channel network games. All of these are done on one computer."

I guess I can try out the integrated soundcard, and see if I need to geta dedicated card or not.