Looking for a good all around headset.

Hey all, I am in the market for a new headset. I was going to get an Astro A40, but man, they are pretty pricey. So, I thought I would ask around here to see what you guys might recommend that might be as good as that headset, but not as costly. Thanks guys for the help.

I got a thermaltake esports shock headset not long ago. It has very nice sound quality, a good build in mic, and I grabbed it for 50 bucks off of amazon.

Do yourself a favor and get the Razer Carcharias. Hands down the best headset I have ever used. I bought my first pair a few years ago and recently purchased a second pair. I have to admit I was not the most careful person when it came to my headset and after a few years I started having issues with the in-line controls. Some loose wire at that connection would cause the sound in the right ear to cut out.

That is the most common piece to fail on any headset outside of someone blowing out the drivers due to their volume being turned up way too high. But even still it was still partially my fault as I let that piece get banged around a bit over the years.

So a few months ago I was shopping around and I made the mistake of trying to save myself a few bucks. I tried the Tt eSports Shock headset mentioned above it is a total PoS! Someone who has not ever tried something as nice as the Razer Carcharias may not notice the the Tt eSports is junk but I used it for less hen 5 minutes and knew it was no good.

The Tt eSports Shock has terrible sound quality (quality is subjective, it's better then some $5 Walmart brand but is in no way "good") and they were extremely uncomfortable. The ear-pads were very stiff and the metal band across the top was too tight. You could extend it like any headset but it still squeezes you head.

The Razer Carcharias are super light with ultra plush ear pads, better then anything I've ever used or tried. I wear them all day every day (I'm cool enough I get to work from home) and they never get hot or uncomfortable and the sound quality is fantastic.

The only negative I will give the Razer Carcharias is you have to speak at a decent volume to be heard over the mic. It's not a program issue as I have to speak up on anything, Vent, TS3, Steam, but at the same time it's not really a "bad" thing either. As I have to make sure to speak up to be heard the mic does not pick up any background noise. I do not have to shout or anything but at night I have to be mindful of my voice just a little.

They retail for $79.99 from Razer but Amazon and Tiger Direct have them on sale all the time for $10-$15 off.


Edited by jmaster299 - 17 Nov 2011 at 12:00am

Originally posted by Wonberger Originally posted by jmaster299 The Tt eSports Shock has terrible sound quality (quality is subjective, it's better then some $5 Walmart brand but is in no way "good") and they were extremely uncomfortable. The ear-pads were very stiff and the metal band across the top was too tight. You could extend it like any headset but it still squeezes you head. I really have to disagree with this. I've had several nice head sets over the years and the esports has very nice quality for what you pay. PC gamer magazine gave the esports an editors choice as well.

I had my Razer and the Tt eSports in hand at the exact same time and switched between them for both music and games. Listening to the exact same thing each time. The Tt eSports had a muffled sound to it and you lost several of the various noises.

For example with the Razer in WoW with the in game music going I could hear EVERYTHING, every foot step of other players, every background noise like noise from water sound effects (in Goblin Slums as there a ton of noise around there) and spell sounds were nice and clear. For music I tested listening to Korn because they have a nice deep bass.


Compared to the Tt eSports and again everything gets muffled. I hd to strain to pick up the sounds like the BS vendor striking his anvil and had to crank my volume to twice what I use with my Razer headset to hear things in general. As for listening to Korn...it was like listening to them through a tin can.

Like I said before the Tt eSports is better then some cheap store brand that you get a Walmart but it's a long way from the Razer.

Great stuff guys, thanks for all the help.