Unless you want to wake up your family, roommates, or neighbors with the sound of explosions late at night, most of us will need a gaming headset or headphones at some point. When choosing a gaming headset, there are more choices than ever before, and finding the right model for your preferences and devices can be frustrating. Deciding on the right headset involves either going wired or wireless, and ensuring that the headset can connect to all the audio sources you use.
How A Microphone Can Change Your Buying Decision
Most gaming headsets will include a built-in microphone that can adequately communicate instructions or requests to teammates in multiplayer games. However, the fact is that no gaming headset microphone will match the audio quality of an external wired USB device like the extremely popular Blue Yeti. Many game streamers or people who regularly record YouTube videos opt for external microphones. Gaming headsets are a sensible choice if you simply want to play multiplayer games without larger audiences hearing your commentary. Otherwise, using an external microphone allows you to choose from an even wider range of traditional headphones without a mic, or you can just remove the quality of the built-in mic as a consideration when shopping for a gaming headset.
What Can Wireless Gaming Headsets Offer vs Wired Options
If you are determined to find the ultimate gaming headset, the next major decision is whether you need a wireless option, or if wires won't be a burden in your current gaming setup. While wireless headsets have become increasingly popular, many gamers stick with proven wired models like the proven Razer BlackShark V2. In many cases, even lower-priced wired headsets will beat more expensive wireless alternatives in of overall sound quality. However, you may not be excited about the prospect of constantly dragging a wire around that is connected to your head. Also, your PC may be positioned too far away from a seating area to make a wired headset feasible. In these cases, the best gaming headsets such as the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless won't sacrifice much in the power or crispness of the audio signal.
Why Connectivity Matters With Gaming Headsets
You might find a gaming headset that seems perfect for your needs until you discover it won't actually work with your PC or console. As far as wired headsets go, it's simply a matter of ensuring a device has a 3.5mm audio jack. PC and notebook computers almost universally have a compatible analog audio port, and even the PS5 and the Xbox Series X offer 3.5mm connections on the controllers themselves. On the other hand, it's becoming increasingly common for other devices like smartphones, TVs, and various media players to not allow for analog audio connections. When deciding between the best gaming headsets with wireless capabilities, the connectivity options become more complicated. Some wireless headsets will include Bluetooth connections which ensure compatibility with a wide range of modern sources. The majority of wireless gaming headsets come with wireless USB dongles, and it's generally believed that audio ed over RF signals is of superior quality than that of Bluetooth. The problem is that with models like the Sony Pulse 3D Headset that are designed for the PS5, the included dongle is intended for one device, and may not work if plugged into other sources.
Why Features And Style Are Important
When buying gaming headsets, one of the main considerations is determining what audio formats they . 3D or spatial audio has become more standard with FPS or racing games and can allow listeners to determine the position of enemies or competitors with increased precision. Some headsets may be limited to traditional stereo sound, while others some form of 3D audio. Some models are even compatible with Dolby Atmos. Another consideration is whether you need a headset to have noise isolation or noise cancelation which can help to block out background noise. Finally, gaming headsets now come in all shapes and colors with RGB effects available with some options, so when choosing a gaming headset, make sure it sounds and looks the way you want it to.