Yet another headphone thread

EverythingsTentative wrote:

How is he ruining them?

he tends to run over the cord, or move away from his desk with the cord wrapped around the chair, or yank it out of his computer by accident and bending the plug or ripping it off. I'm sure we've gone through 7 or more pairs of headphones with this kid. His wireless ones bent the wrong way at the "fold".

Anyways, he's a bit more mature now so we're hoping he'll look after this set.

BagelMage wrote:

I have the corsair voids and loved them, and kind of out of nowhere they just started cutting in and out. Tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers, different ports for the dongle it came with, nothing. Still not sure what the issue is with em.

How long have you had them? They were my go-to set as the Logitech appears to be more money.

I hear the battery is really good in the Void set. Logitech not so much.

I had them for about 6 months. They worked flawlessly, had great battery life, super comfy, just all around great. And then this weird issue. I heard it could have something to do with realtek drivers but I just got tired of troubleshooting and put back on my wired AKG cans after a bit.

BagelMage wrote:

I had them for about 6 months. They worked flawlessly, had great battery life, super comfy, just all around great. And then this weird issue. I heard it could have something to do with realtek drivers but I just got tired of troubleshooting and put back on my wired AKG cans after a bit.

Have you flashed the firmware recently? Reading in the Corsair Reddit some guy has had his for 6 months and has just been making sure to use the latest firmware. {shrug}

Fingers crossed I can find a good deal and that they last longer than 6 months.

I've been using Logitech G930s for at least 4 years. When I first got them, battery life was supposed to be 10 hrs. I don't know what it is now. I don't ever use them for more than 3-4 hrs in a row, tops, on a good day and I charge them each night.

That being said, I really like them. They fit comfortably, aren't too heavy, and have decent sound quality (for gaming -- can't speak about music since I don't use them for that).

The only problem I've had is the microphone boom getting loose, so that when I push it up, it falls back down. It's easy enough to pull off the ear cushions and tighten the screw that holds the mic boom, so that's what I do.

groan wrote:
BagelMage wrote:

I had them for about 6 months. They worked flawlessly, had great battery life, super comfy, just all around great. And then this weird issue. I heard it could have something to do with realtek drivers but I just got tired of troubleshooting and put back on my wired AKG cans after a bit.

Have you flashed the firmware recently? Reading in the Corsair Reddit some guy has had his for 6 months and has just been making sure to use the latest firmware. {shrug}

Fingers crossed I can find a good deal and that they last longer than 6 months. :)

Oh man, thats a good point I dont remember the last time I actually plugged them in to update from the app, I usually charged them with my phone charger. HUH. okay guess I have something to do tonight haha!

Thanks DonD, I'll keep that in mind. I see they have a new version out now the 933.
My son uses a Blue Yeti so the mic isn't even required. The problem is that I can't find a decent non-bluetooth option for audio only. I don't want bluetooth because when I was looking for a wireless headset myself I had terrible results from bluetooth options.

Updated the firmware on the headset and reinstalled the corsair drivers and it seems all good! Also had a 80% charge from when I used it last several months ago!

That's great.

after all the wireless talk, we went wired and i'll just make sure his cord comes off the desk level instead of down by the floor.
SteelSeries Siberia V3 Prism

I am currently looking for a headset to use with my laptop while traveling, so I would like something that is portable, with decent sound quality and a good microphone. I prefer the headset to be corded with 3.5mm jacks, but am open to a USB headset or wireless but not bluetooth (laptop does not have bluetooth built in). Until recently I had been using Logitech Notebook Headset but the sound started cutting out unless the cord was situated just right and if I moved at all it could potentially drop all the sound. Something similar would be nice as I could just leave it in the case in my backpack for whenever I traveled.

Any recommendation for a good travel headset under $100? Thanks in advance!

Best Buy has the Sennheiser HD558's for $80. I use these with an ModMic for gaming, and they're really comfortable and sound good for the budget price.

I have the G930 from probably 5 years ago. Around a year ago the mic got cracked and I eventually just cut it off after I got sick of taping it every week. The battery life is down to around to around 20-30 minutes so I have to keep it plugged most of the time. The ear cup pleather is also peeling off. Pretty much what I'd expect after 5 years.

I was expecting that when I looked for a replacement there's be a new Logitech model and lots of other options, but there are surprisingly few and the Logitech still has the G930. The Razer Man O'War looks cool but I actually like the macro buttons on the G930 to pause and go back and forth between songs while listening to music. None of the other headsets seem to have macro/multimedia buttons other than volume controls. The G930 is way cheaper than 5 years ago so maybe it'll just be a $60 battery replacement.

Well crap. I've been trying not to buy Sennheiser gaming headphones, and just live with my HD558's + modmic.

Massdrop is doing a special edition of the PC 373D called the PC37XX. Not bad at $120.

While my setup works, the Modmic is a slight hassle. Normally, if not gaming, I just leave it hanging on the side, disconnected from the magnet. The integrated solution would be more integrated and natural to flip up out of the way.

Not a huge deal, just a quality of life thing.

Is that cable on the PC373D removable?

EDIT: Yep. Found one that's designed to plug into consoles. Grrr, tempting.

I'm sure this has been answered a hundred times in the last six months, but I want to buy my wife some noise cancellation headphones for our flights to chess tournaments with our kids (all the explanation needed, really). Not trying to break the bank, but would like something effective. Thanks!

IMAGE(https://media.giphy.com/media/wnCR4WF5WpEZy/giphy.gif)

Picked up some Comply earphone tips, and I have to say they're pretty awesome. Super comfy, stay in real well, and improved the sound a bit I think.

Recommended if you have earphones.

Natus wrote:

I'm sure this has been answered a hundred times in the last six months, but I want to buy my wife some noise cancellation headphones for our flights to chess tournaments with our kids (all the explanation needed, really). Not trying to break the bank, but would like something effective. Thanks!

Bose is pretty much the way to go for noise cancelling headphones. They tend to be expensive, but I think there's a model around $100?

Citizen86 wrote:

Picked up some Comply earphone tips, and I have to say they're pretty awesome. Super comfy, stay in real well, and improved the sound a bit I think.

Recommended if you have earphones.

Their biggest downside is they're pretty consumable. They don't last that long for what your paying.

But if you're good with rebuying, they're nice.

I clean my Comply tips pretty much constantly and they hold up fine for me. The current pair on my bluetooth set is I think several months old.

Thin_J wrote:

I clean my Comply tips pretty much constantly and they hold up fine for me. The current pair on my bluetooth set is I think several months old.

I've kept them clean, but they eventually get to where they won't re-expand right. I think I even saw a pair start to tear, but that may have been a knock off.

I've seen others complain about them not lasting that long, too.

So YMMV I guess.

Saw a message from a Comply rep once that said the tips are supposed to last at least 3 months. Of course, they also say that gently washing the surface in lukewarm water will keep them clean (nope). I saw quite a few messages on head-fi from folks that swear by a short hydrogen peroxide soak (not submerged) followed by a gentle wipe and overnight drying. Definitely don't use anything alcohol-based or mineral spirits to clean them though, or they will dissolve.

One pair never seemed to last much more than a month for me. The warm water rub did absolutely nothing to remove even slight cerumen buildup, and eventually the surfaces start crumbling (requiring an ear rinse to remove foam bits, one time). I haven't tried a peroxide bath for the tips yet.

complexmath wrote:
Natus wrote:

I'm sure this has been answered a hundred times in the last six months, but I want to buy my wife some noise cancellation headphones for our flights to chess tournaments with our kids (all the explanation needed, really). Not trying to break the bank, but would like something effective. Thanks!

Bose is pretty much the way to go for noise cancelling headphones. They tend to be expensive, but I think there's a model around $100?

This stinks. I bought the LG HBS-800 "noise-cancelling" headphones with "good sound" and they fit neither of those qualifications. They don't sound as good as the basic Apple EarBuds that have come with any of my iPhones, and they don't cancel any noise. The product manual suggests that they don't provide any benefit in a quiet environment, which makes sense given that they're active cancelling noise; but when I can still hear my son watching Futurama and my other son banging on crap in the kitchen while writing the product review, they just don't work. I'm returning them.

I'd like a decent pair of Bluetooth headphones that cancel noise. Moar shopping ahead.

Active noise cancelling basically sticks a mic on the outside of the headphones, listens to ambient noise, and plays an inverse of that on the speakers to neutralize it. This works amazingly well for repetitive noise like on an airplane, but not particularly well for random stuff like kids being kids. For that you want sound isolation, which is just some closed-ear design with a good seal. Earbuds or a circumaural set is your best bet there.

Following up, I am returning the LGs and bought the Anlo Bluetooth earphones. They're less-expensive and there's no sound conduction from friction against a shirt collar or wind. They sound better than the LGs, too.

But the cable hanging on my neck catches on my shirt or even on skin. The rubber/plastic sheathing is fairly grippy, and turning my head may result in the ear piece pulling away from my ear, if only partially. And they hurt my ears.

0 for 2.

I'm a filthy skimmer but what're y'all using?

I'm looking for basically the same thing muraii is so I'll bump this. Any recommendations?

complexmath wrote:

Active noise cancelling basically sticks a mic on the outside of the headphones, listens to ambient noise, and plays an inverse of that on the speakers to neutralize it. This works amazingly well for repetitive noise like on an airplane, but not particularly well for random stuff like kids being kids. For that you want sound isolation, which is just some closed-ear design with a good seal. Earbuds or a circumaural set is your best bet there.

I just bought a pair of the Cowin E7s off Amazon for $40 for mowing the lawn. It is weird because it mostly eliminates the low bassy rumble of the engine but you still hear the louder banging sounds and chopping noises (which is fitting with your example). I can listen to it at a much lower volume level with it enabled though so it certainly works for engine noise, just not as I expected. For example I can listen to an audiobook at about 60% volume with ANC engaged opposed to 90% without.

Can anyone recommend any non-bluetooth wireless headphones for pc... that aren't huge over-the-ear gamer style?

I'm looking for something a little more subtle to wear at work for use on multiple pcs. Bluetooth with multiple device pairings is a chore. I'd rather just move a dongle.

I'm prepared to buy another set of Sony Golds (take a drink!) but I thought I'd check if anyone knew of anything without the huge ear-covering cans. I've scoured the interwebs to no avail so this thread is my last resort.

I don't believe I've ever seen a set of wireless headphones that wasn't bluetooth that wasn't also a full size circumaural design.

Possibly ear buds, I think ear buds like the Jaybirds can accept multiple sources, although that might top out at 2.

I've never used one but don't they make a Bluetooth dongle that plugs into the 3.5 mm jack? Could that work?

EverythingsTentative wrote:

I've never used one but don't they make a Bluetooth dongle that plugs into the 3.5 mm jack? Could that work?

So the headphones are only paired to one device? Interesting. I've not heard of anything like that before. Will give it a go.