My faithfull old Plantronics DSP300 USB was getting bad connections and so I looked for a replacement.
I like Plantronics usb sets as they are light and have their own usb “soundcard” so I can recieve coms through the headset and games through my speakers, giving me independant volume control for the right balance of coms and game sounds.
I prefer the light foam type ear pieces , i don’t like the enclosed jobs, for 2 reasons, firstly so I can sill hear whats going on around me, and secondly in the summer its uncomfortable and hot for me to have something “clamped” to my ears
The noise cancelling mic also does a good job of broadcasting my voice and filtering out game sounds from the speakers.
I got the Plantronics DSP400 from e-buyer for £36 delivered, 2 year warranty and free 3 month trial of skpe for those that are interested in that sort of thing.
They are also foldable and sound quality is excellent for coms, though I wouldnt expect music/ bass sounds to be that good.
Also enough room on the Mic foam to put one of the Track IR big reflective squares
The noise cancelling mic also does a good job of broadcasting my voice and filtering out game sounds from the speakers.
…allegedly
Another good Headset is the Medusa 5:1 from Overclockers. Had mine over 6 months and am still loving them. The non USB sets are supposedly better in terms of sound quality from all the reviews I’ve read.
Well no-ones mentioned they hear engine noise (yet), and during set-up testing it seems “clean” to me
Certainly, they would lack bass for music and game sounds, the medusa set would probably far superior for that scenario, but for coms use they are very clear, to me at least
I also used to use a DSP-300 Plantronics headset for 3 years, purely for comms and had the game sounds coming out of Desktop speakers. When I bought the headset it was more than the Medusa’s at something like £70, the benefit here was I needed a headset for my VoIP phone for work.
I enjoyed this setup as the comms volume was independant of the game sound.
Eventually one of the headset speakers gave out, or more the connection did and I only had comms in the one ear. It was still ok and served another six months until I decided to plump for the 5.1 Medusa’s. I still use the headset for work.
Having used both setups they both have their merits, the Plantronics was light and I used to use the mike boom as my TIR1 pickup On pure sound (in game) the Medusa’s win it, even though you need neck muscles like Arnie.
Have to admit I finally gave up on the Medusa. First I got a lot of conflicts - which to be fair could no doubt have been sorted. But it was the weight that decided it for me, I really did find it very uncomfortable after an hour or so.
I’ve currently gone back to a speaker pair + sub-woofer, and an ultra lightweight cheap headset.
Weight!! Mine way as much as any other headphones I’ve owned. Sennheiser had always been my make of preference. (BTW thanks for the Link Bear, very interesting) The medusa’s aren’t much heavier than my last set of Senny’s.
PeeGee, pint of milk and 2 bananas everyday from now on, you need building up mate
I’ll sign off on that. I have both versions, and the USB suddenly gets crackling noice at times. Which I have to quit the game, and turn the headset off and on again to fix. Quite annoying.
Bought the non-usb Medusa a while back, but everybody complained how bad my comms was, so went back to my Sennheiser’s for comms and in-game sound and it worked very well out of the box and haven’t used my Medusas since, thought about hooking them up to my dvd player though.
Is there a correct way to set these up then Painter?
