Many gaming headsets and sound cards come with a “virtual surround” feature, which aims to provide a more accurate sense of space to your gaming audio. If you’re on the fence about whether the feature is worthwhile, though, there are virtual surround apps that will add the feature to your current headphones, for free or a small price. Sadly, the mic is your fairly standard affair and while it will work just fine for chat in games, it's very basic and uninspired when it comes to sound quality. Why settle for just one type of surround sound? The JBL Quantum One may be pricey, but it has a lot to offer in the sound department, including JBL's QuantumSPHERE 360 technology as well as DTS Headphone X: v2.0 surround sound. The latter is a high-quality digital surround sound that can make your game worlds and movies feel that much more engrossing. QuantumSPHERE 360 is a bit more involved, and actually takes into account the position of your head, so you can turn your head in the real life and all the sounds around you will shift to maintain their relative position. The microphone sounds great, anyways, and that's what really counts here. I'm really impressed with just how clear the HS55's microphone is: the subtle tones and nuance of my voice's luscious timbre (in my opinion) come through accurately in testing, which you can listen to below. There's a surprising level of clarity in this mic, even in the lower ranges, and it's a really great solution for a budget headset. The DT 900 Pro X is almost surgical in precision, allowing me to hear layers of bass that hits just right.

Compatibility: Xbox Series X/S, PS5/PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac | Connectivity: wired | Drivers: 50mm Neodymium | Surround sound modes: Dolby Audio 7.1 | Weight: 282g Compatibility: (Wireless) PS5/PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch, Android wireless; (Wired) Xbox Series X/S, Mac | Connectivity: 2.4 GHz Wireless, Wired | Drivers: 40mm TriForce | Surround sound modes: 7.1 | Battery life: 50 hours | Weight: 250g The headsets on this list are chosen from the dozens the PC Gamer hardware team and myself have tested. Between us we've got decades of experience of the best and worst audio gear ever made.The top headsets offer the best sound for gamers at each end of the budget spectrum. Quality drivers ensure you get the best audio, and we're against gaming headphones that overdo low frequencies, as it provides terrible bass response in most cases. The best gaming headsets offer more balance drivers that require minimal tweaking on your end, and you won't need to spend hundreds of dollars. Compatibility: Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, PC/Mac, Nintendo Switch, Mobile | Connectivity: wired | Drivers: 40mm neodymium | Surround sound modes: 2.0 | Weight: 348g The microphone is the real star here. It's superbly clear and offers a great end result. You shouldn't struggle to be heard on Discord or in chat in-game, and you won't be that player with the muffled and scratchy microphone no one wants to play with. While the mic's design isn't quite bang-on how I'd like it, it's both convenient and sounds great. That really puts the HS55 in contention at this price.Freely posiotionable "audio objects" including sound formats like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X would definitely help to current state.

Each headset that we test we use as our daily drivers for at least a week, that way we get to experience not just the sound, but what it's like to use each set of cans on a daily basis.As an added benefit, the sound card enables audio tweaks through Razer Synapse that aren't available on headsets connected only through a 3.5mm cable. It enables many headphone and microphone audio tweaks, so you can get the best sound in both directions. That said, the V2 sounds excellent out of the box. Who It's For The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro is simply one of the most powerful and feature-filled wired gaming headsets available. It feels luxurious, sounds excellent, and its PC software has strong spatial audio and many granular adjustments for anyone who wants to dive into them. It also works with every major game console (you must choose between PlayStation and Xbox versions, though; there's no model that works with both) along with PCs, and can even connect to two devices over USB-C at once. It's also one of the few gaming headsets that supports High-Res Audio, so if you're an audiophile who uses a top-tier streaming music platform, you can fully enjoy the tunes. But just because the surround sound you hear on a gaming headset is fake, doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy it or doubt its ability to create an immersive environment. Even our absolute favourite gaming headsets fail to go toe-to-toe with an ok quality desktop microphone. Audio Technica's new ATH-M50xSTS StreamSet headset says hell no to that, spend all that money on me instead. We often focus on improving our gaming experience with visuals by grabbing a better gaming TV or a beefier graphics card, but your game’s sound is just as important. So, when you're shopping for a gaming headset there are a few key specs you should look out for.

When you’re competing, you need every advantage you can get, and audio clarity is one piece of the puzzle. The SteelSeries Arctis Prime is built to give you clear audio both going in and coming out. Your teammates in esports will hear you loud and clear thanks to the ClearCast microphone, which has consistently delivered on SteelSeries headsets. Connectivity: The best wireless gaming headsets offer a 2.4GHz dongle that’ll slot into your PC or gaming console, delivering a latency-free connection to ensure you never miss audio cues in a game. Beyond the dongle, you’ll also often get Bluetooth to listen on other devices, and many offer a wired lag-free connection, too. As for wireless headphones, you’re usually just limited to Bluetooth, and there’s always a bit of latency that comes with it, which could make or break you in a gaming setting. However, some higher-end headphones do offer a wired connection to devices, making lag less of an issue, but you’ll be tethered to the device.Don’t like the look and feel of a traditional gaming headset? Razer has you covered with the Razer Hammerhead Pro HyperSpeed Earbuds, a slightly suped-up version of the Razer Hammerhead Hyperspeed. These wireless earbuds are compact, lightweight, and secure in-ear but still deliver impactful sound and even active noise cancellation to keep you focused on the action. You also get directional audio, customizable EQ settings, and remappable touch controls—all features of higher-end headsets. There are a few console-specific headsets and variations you can consider, like the Xbox Wireless Headset, which offers strong performance. Still, you generally won't find a "best" headset unique to a console; the top models usually have multiple, system-specific versions.

The Razer Barracuda X isn't the fanciest or most luxurious-feeling gaming headset, but it's one of the most inexpensive and flexible in terms of delivering high-quality audio. The 2022 model uses a nearly identical USB-C transmitter to its predecessor that lets it work with any PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, or Android phone with a USB-C port (Xbox isn't supported), and has the same 3.5mm wireless connectivity. Razer added a big feature to this version, though: Bluetooth connectivity. You can pair it with your phone (or Nintendo Switch, since Nintendo added Bluetooth audio) and listen to music without the transmitter, making it work as a standalone pair of wireless headphones. Frostbite sound files are produced at source 24 bit 96khz uncompressed PCM, dithered down to 16bit 48khz and compressed to .cas files in the engine to keep all the sound files at realistic sizes. You can extract the raw files with Python 2.7.6 as per here instructions here https://forum.xentax.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19074 if you want to confirm for yourself and then analyse them with any modern capable DAW.

Series

One of the most limiting factors of wireless earbuds is lag, and Razer has you covered, offering a low latency 2.4 GHz dongle that connects seamlessly with your PlayStation 5, PC, Switch and Andrioid phone. If you’re looking to listen on other devices, there’s Bluetooth. Given these headphones are only wireless, battery life is a concern, but you can get up to 6.5 hours of use plus additional 24 hours in the case. However, when you turn on features like RGB lighting—the earbud’s Razer logo lights up—its battery life drops. Gaming Headset FAQ What Type of Headset is Best For Gaming? If you prefer single-player games and live alone, you don't need a headset at all. You can use speakers to enjoy the room-filling atmosphere, and shout into the inexpensive and mediocre monoaural headsets bundled with many consoles. In my testing, DTS:X seemed to expand the sound stage more than Windows Sonic and Dolby Atmos. You still get a good sense of directionality, but it doesn’t amplify those ambient sounds the way Sonic and Atmos do. Some may like this more subtle approach, while others might prefer those sounds to be more audible in the heat of battle—it’s all personal preference. Microsoft's adoption of spatial codecs is linked to their Xbox One. It is over simplification but both current consoles seem to utilise a small part of their Jaguar CPU (Sony's Mark Cerny during the PS5 unveiling talked about currently having half a Jaguar CPU core or less for their current 3D audio solution, itself less power than they had for audio with the PS3's cell processor - something Digital Foundry mentioned). Microsoft's 3D spatial solutions (Sonic/Atmos) are limited to a small number of 32 objects due to CPU limits. The approaches have been different though; Sony's hardware only 3D audio Platinum Wireless Headset for Days Gone, Horizon ZD or Uncharted 4. With Microsoft selling licenses for third-party technology beyond their own free solution; Dolby Atmos/DTS. All seem to produce similarly impressive results but the number of games supported has generation has been dire. Compatibility: PS4, PS5, PC | Connectivity: Wireless dongle | Drivers: 50mm | Battery life: 16 hours | Weight: 256g