Headset and Microphone for gaming

[marksmith22]

As you all have probably learned from my posts, I am extremely new to the gaming world so sorry for the "simple" questions. I am trying to outfit myself with a good gaming system. Are headphones and a microphone necessary? If so, do you prefer the wireless headphones and microphone in one piece, or as two separate entities? Are the headsets used just to keep background noise out? Thanks in advance!

 

[fishsgood]

well, you would only need them for online gaming, and even then you dont need them unless you want to communicate with your team or the other players. if you are fine that then there is not really a reason to get them. i enjoy using it on my xbox, but you dont need them. it all depends or your preference. and if you do get them in one piece.

 

[gordanfreeman]

depends on the games u will be playing and if u like wearing headphones while playing. mic will mostly be useful for shooters. however i have been playing voice capable shooters for years w/out a mic and its not a big problem. sometimes it is harder to tell a teammate somethign as quick while typing but you get used to it. personally i dont enjoy playing w/ headphones, i would rather use my nice speakers instead. so if i were to get a mic, it would likely be on a stand.

its really all up to you tho, what you prefer. i would wait until you find a game that you want to use voice on first, tho, before buying a mic/mic-headphone set.

 

[Erehwon]

Usually 1st person shooter games lend themselves to voice coms very easily. I play Americas Army and we all use Teamspeak and talk while we play. It's an invaluable too for that game as we use it to play matches and juse generally BS when we play. Headphones are good if you are in a tight space where loud gaming noise might bother other people. I play with headphones on because I don't like to be distracted by other things around me. I current use the Zalman 5.1 surrond headphones. Their not the best when it comes to surrond sound, but they have great sound quality for a modest price point.

In the end, just like everyone has said, it's up to you and what games you play.

 

[1sikbITCH]

If you plan to get good, and join a team or "clan", you'll need voice. You'll also need a headset to go with your microphone, otherwise everyone will hear your speakers over the microphone, meaning not only your game sounds but also their own voices will be played back to them the whole time.

The days of trying to type messages while being shot at are over. Even keybinds are obsolete. Now any clan that seriously expects to compete is on voice. You can just yell into your mic "I'm waiting under the steps in the middle, tell me when to go!" and your buddies can tell you how many enemies are coming and exactly where they are. Much better than "need help kthx" from some undisclosed location.

And now games are coming with Voice built right in. In UT2k4, you join the server and the voice channel at the same time, and are automatically talking to your teammates, and can even talk to people on the other team. I find that annoying though. I never talk in pubs, and my team uses Teamspeak to communicate, although I'd prefer Ventrilo.

 

[Soulkeeper]

the head phones and mic are great if you play online with a few friends in a team game
team speak is a nice program that lets you talk to other people and can be set to only kick in when you speak at a certain volume

not necesarry tho, i just started using it a month or two ago

 

[manzana]

I notice a (very) big difference in my performance when I play with headphones (Koss UR-30) rather than speakers (Creative i-Trigue). With my headphones I can almost hear every footstep, weaponchange or reload nearby in Call of Duty. Plus rest of the house doesn't get to hear all the explosions, gunfire etc. So, headphones are a plus; mic is handy when you play with your mates on voicecoms.