I don't understand why you guys pay 120+$ on a headset when you could get a surround system for the same price...strider_ATI
Because my $100-$130 ATH-AD700s have better sound quality and superior positional audio (good soundstage is very important for FPS games) to anything else remotely in that price range. (In terms of both speakers setups and headphones/headsets.)
I guess it's not so easy to understand until you've put on and used an excellent set of headphones. I've owned numerous ~$50-$70 headsets (i.e. with mics attached), and a few speaker setups, but none of that has even come close to my current headphones. The AD700s are much more immersive than any speaker setup I've ever experienced, and it's in an enormous step up in sound quality from any of the Sennheiser/Plantronics headsets in my closet. In games with good audio quality, you can make out many things that you simply can't with many lower-end headsets or speaker setups..which can alter your play completely (for example, hearing distant footsteps and being able to figure out exactly where an opponent is heading by sound alone.) In music, with a good set of headphones, you'll also clearly hear many details that you'll have a very hard time making out with other setups. The pronounced difference varies pretty widely between genres/bands/albums, but with well-mastered albums, the difference in a side-by-side comparison can be quite enormous.
Only problem with the AD700s is that they are open-air and therefore have a ton of sound bleed (turned way up, you can literally hear them from the other side of the house if it's completely quiet.) That's only a minor problem in that the sound bleed can be picked up by your mic if you have the sensitivity up high. Not really a problem if you put the mic on your desk or something, which is what I do. You can't really have it right next to the ear cup.
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