Best headset for working from home, gaming , music and general headphone use
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Should I buy an external microphone?
If you’re looking to produce a gaming voiceover or just really want your voice to come out crystal clear when talking to your teammates, you might want to consider one of our best gaming microphones or even one of our best podcasting mics. An external mic will almost always give you a better sound simply because they’re designed to produce high-quality audio and reproduce a natural frequency response. Depending on the type of microphone you buy, you may need to purchase additional equipment in order to power it. If you just need the mic to do the job of administering communication between you and your teammates and don’t want to spend too much, a headset with a mic will do the trick. Additionally, because a headset mic is often physically closer to your mouth than an external mic, it can be better for canceling out keyboard-clicking sounds.
Are gaming headsets good for voice recording?
Gaming headsets are generally okay for basic communication and in-game chat but fall short of dedicated microphones in terms of audio quality. For professional voice recording, opt for an external microphone specifically designed for high-quality audio capture.
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I'm making a post for this because I did a lot of research and didn't really find a whole lot on this topic, particularly with the gaming aspect.
I like to buy quality products that I can get a large amount of utility out of. I don't like buying a lot of different stuff for similar tasks. I'm also a big proponent of buying high quality products so you don't have to repeat buying things every year or so, but I'm also a bargain hunter.
I like to listen to music, I game casually, I travel occasionally and I work from home 10 hours a day, 4 days a week and have a headset on most of the day. I went out and did a bunch of research and I settled on the Steel Series Arctis Nova Pro Wireless headset.
It is a pretty freaking expensive headset at about $350, but I found a set on eBay new without a box for $180. My credit card had some promo and I was able to get another $30 off too. Total delivered to my door was about $160, which is only about $50 more than my last gaming headset (that still works) I bought 3 years ago.
Here are the main bullet points of why I bought it:
Can connect to 3 devices at once.
2 via USB and 1 Blutetooth.
USB devices connect to a bluetooth transmitter, which broadcasts to the headset.
1 USB connection and 1 Bluetooth connection can be streamed SIMULTANEOUSLY (yes, it works and its great). I have them connected to my phone all the time while I'm working or gaming.
Transitioning between 1 USB device and the other is pretty easy and can be done via the headset itself or on the desktop transmitter (which is also pretty neat).
It has easy to use software to adjust equalizer settings
Con is those settings only work with the device you have the software on.
The transmitter device has an equalizer as well with a ton of presets for different games and can customize settings. I haven't played with this too much yet.
Retractable Microphone
The mic is actually pretty neat and a major reason why I made this purchase. It is stored in the left ear can and you can easily push it in or pull it out. It is flexible. Great for when you want to just use these as headphones and don't want to have a mic sticking out.
Con is the mic is directional and doesn't work super great when its pushed all the way in. Not the end of the world, but would be better if the mic was better when retracted.
It also has an LED light on the mic to remind you if you have the mic muted. The light brightness is also adjustable.
My coworkers have also said the quality of my mic has significantly improved.
Hot swapable batteries
It comes with 2 batteries. The desktop transmitter has a slot for charging one at a time, which is pretty cool.
The headset also has a USB C charging port under the cover on the right ear can if you're traveling with them and don't have the desktop transmitter.
Active Noise Cancelling and Transparent Sound
My ears are still getting used to this, but the ANC is good and there is a transparent sound feature as well. You can turn the ANC on or off either on the headset or on the transmitter.
There are also a couple microphones on the ear cans which transmit sound from your surroundings into your headset. You can turn this feature on or off and even adjust the volume. Great if you have kids and need to keep an ear out, but stay in your working world at the same time.
Those are the hilights. The most disappointing thing with these so far is the sound quality, but it isn't the worst sound quality.
The sound quality isn't even close audiophile quality. I tested a Sennehiser Momentum 4 Wireless (which holy fuck they sound amazing) headset which have infinitely better sound quality, but that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. The Arctis Nova Pros have fine audio quality, but could definitely be better. Hopefully the next gen will be better at this price point.
I looked into Epos Gaming Headsets since they used to be apart of the Sennehiser family, but the fixed microphone turned me away. The Senneheiser M4W I tried were great, but switching between devices was not ideal and I couldn't game with them (realistically).
I also looked into the Bose QC35 II Gaming Headset, but opted to not try it because the mic for gaming is wired. Also, reviews stated mic sound quality for calls on Teams/Zoom/ other WFH apps was poor. Switching between devices was also a reason.
The SteelSeries Arctric Nova Pro Wireless headset is comfortable. I've worn them for 12 hours straight. I'm still using the original earpads, which are a faux leather and can make my skin a little sticky/sweaty, but it isn't the end of the world. I'm going to get different ones soon.
SteelSeries Arctric Nova Pro Wireless Con List:
Subpar sound quality for the price point
The bass is pretty disappointing, even after adjusting the levels on the equalizer software.
Directional microphone/no omnidirectional microphone to use while microphone is retracted for phone calls while on the go (not in the house). Not a huge con, but a con.
No hard case
Only came with a soft bag made of sports jersey material
Setup was mostly easy, but ran into issues that were not covered on the support page and had to do more digging.
Turns out if you have the desktop transmitter plugged into a less powerful USB port on a device, you can still be connected, but no audio will be transmitted. The fix is to plug it into a different USB. I haven't had an issue since.
Overall I'd rate the SteelSeries Arctric Nova Pro Wireless headest an 8/10 for an all around use headset.
I know these are actually made for gaming and there is no device that can actually do everything, but these are pretty damn close.
If they can improve sound quality and add an omnidirectional microphone so I don't have to have a mic boom in my face all the time, these would be a homerun.