Search Wirecutter For: Search Reviews for the real world Browse Close. Browse Close. After a combined 200 hours of testing over the course of nearly two-and-a-half years, including listening to 10 new models this year, we still think Kingston’s original is the best gaming headset for serious PC gamers.

The HyperX Cloud offers the best mix of audio performance and comfort for the money. It’s beautifully built and comfortable on a wide variety of heads, and its sound quality holds up against some of the best dedicated headphones in its price range.

You won’t find a more neutral-sounding and versatile gaming headset unless you’re willing to spend at least $40 or $50 more. Perhaps most importantly, the is impressively comfortable—you can wear it for hours on end without cranial distress, plus its aluminum construction makes it durable despite its light weight. That, plus the headset’s great audio performance, made it a clear winner in our tests.

It features a nice balance of atmosphere-enhancing high-frequency sounds, a clear sense of the direction that sounds are coming from, and good low-end rumble. Features such as a removable boom microphone, interchangeable leatherette and velour earpads, and in-line volume and microphone mute controls are really just icing on an already-delicious cake. Some gamers simply love boosted bass, especially when playing shooters and other action-heavy games. If you fit that bill but find yourself disappointed by the fact that most bass-heavy gaming headsets also rattle and shake and distort far too easily, the newly redesigned might be just what you’re looking for.

The V2 delivers rich and robust bottom end and is also the most comfortable (and seemingly durable) Razer headset we’ve tested to date, especially with the optional oval ear cushions. While our testers preferred the more balanced sound of our top pick with a wider variety of games, the Kraken Pro V2 is a very compelling alternative if you want low end. If you’re seeking even better audio performance, a far better microphone, a more engrossing gaming experience, and superior long-term comfort, all of our testers agreed that the remains the best pick for both audiophiles and hardcore marathon gamers. But you’ll pay about 50 percent more for it.

Unlike most gaming headsets, the Game One has an open-back design, meaning that the earcups surrounding its drivers are vented, not solid shells. This design not only makes the Game One sound more open and spacious but also makes the headset lighter and cooler to wear for extended periods of time, though it does mean that people sitting next to you may be distracted by the sound of your games. Also, the headset really doesn’t reach its full sonic potential without a bit of extra amplification, so you need a good dedicated sound card or a headset amp. We run the risk of appearing to be in the tank for Kingston, but even before I pointed out the brand of the, all of our testers agreed that it was the new budget gaming headset to beat.

Unlike the company’s previous low-cost headsets, the Cloud Stinger isn’t just a neutered version of the original Cloud. This model includes a fantastic new lift-to-mute mic that sounds great, and it’s big enough to fit the largest of noggins comfortably for hours on end. Despite its all-plastic construction, the Cloud Stinger feels more solid and durable than many of its high-priced competitors. And while its sound isn’t as neutral or impactful as our pick’s, the results are far better than you might expect, with good detail, solid bass, and midrange that doesn’t sound nasal or quacky. I’ve been fortunate enough to review affordable headphones, speakers, receivers, and home theater gear, as well as high-end audio gear, for more than a decade now. I served as East Coast contributing editor for Home Entertainment magazine and editor in chief of, and in the past I’ve contributed to, Digital TV & Sound,.

I write about all manner of audio gear here at Wirecutter, as well as at. But perhaps more important for the purposes of this guide, I’ve been a hardcore gamer since 1980. I’m primarily a PC gamer these days, although I do dabble in consoles from time to time (when a new Gran Turismo game is released, for instance, or for the occasional round of Worms).

And whether I’m playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), strategy games like Civilization VI, shooters like Doom, or the latest version of Magic: The Gathering, chances are good that I’m logged in to my private chat server, either to coordinate group attacks or to chew the fat with my gaming friends and guild mates. Granted, I’ll probably never break the personal record I set back in October 2011, when I played Rift for 24 straight hours during an charity event, but I tend to spend at least 15 to 18 hours per week wearing a headset. Who should get this. The communal nature of gaming, even virtual communities, makes it essential to have a good gaming headset—that is, headphones plus a microphone and usually some sort of volume control, all built into one device.

Although a good gaming headset usually costs a little more than dedicated headphones that deliver equivalent audio performance, most gamers I spoke with in the past year or so expressed a preference for the convenience, the often-enhanced bass, and in some cases even the aesthetic of gaming headsets with built-in microphones and easy access to volume controls and microphone muting. How we picked. Digging through the hundreds of currently available gaming headsets in search of the right model is a daunting task. I know this because it took me more than 40 hours just to compile a list of currently sold gaming headsets and weed out the obvious losers by reading owner reviews on Amazon.com and posts on.

I then turned to expert sources such as Tom’s Guide, Digital Trends, PCWorld, PCMag, TechRadar, and the forums at Head-Fi.org for help in whittling down the 237 potential candidates to the 37 headsets we listened to in the first round of testing in 2015, plus another 12 in 2016, 11 new models at the beginning of 2017, and 10 at the beginning of 2018. A good gaming headset usually costs a little more than dedicated headphones that deliver equivalent audio performance. For the first version of this guide, we conducted a survey of Wirecutter readers that helped us narrow down our understanding of the most important features in gaming headsets. Over the course of several updates over the past three years we’ve relied on the same criteria:. PC compatibility: We focus in this guide on PC-compatible and cross-platform headsets. We’ve written about separately and plan to look at other console-specific headsets separately. Comfort: We paid close attention to notes on comfort when scouring customer reviews but also divided our hands-on comfort testing into two distinct categories: instantaneous comfort, and long-term comfort on a wide variety of head shapes and sizes.

Performance on games is more important than on movies or music: We looked first and foremost for usable representation of game audio more than realistic reproduction of music; we considered music performance only as a bonus. Only 18 percent of respondents to our initial survey said they cared how their gaming headset performed with music and movies at all. With microphone quality, intelligibility beats fidelity: When evaluating microphones, we prioritized whether our teammates on the other side of the Ventrilo connection could understand what we were saying in the heat of battle, not whether our voices sounded broadcast-quality on the other end. How we tested.

We primarily relied on two PCs for testing: a custom-configured Maingear PC, which is built on an gaming motherboard with an integrated headphone amplifier, and a highly upgraded Frankenstein machine, which started its life as a Dell Inspiron 560 and whose onboard sound performance can best be summed up as pretty average. We also added high-resolution USB DAC and portable headphone amplifier to the mix just to ensure that any power-hungry headsets had sufficient amplification. For USB headsets, we relied exclusively on direct back-panel USB connections rather than routing through hubs. Once we had our potential top picks in each category, we went on to use them in extended gaming sessions, during which we sometimes wore the same headset for as long as 12 hours at a stretch. Our testing panel, which included people with various head and ear sizes, tried the headsets on a variety of games from massively multiplayer online role-playing games like Guild Wars 2 to 4X games (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) like the Civilization series as well as on puzzle, strategy, and action games. I also relied on the assistance of the people I play online games with the most, including a number of old guild mates and gaming friends, who have great familiarity with the sounds of one another’s voices and were able to provide extensive feedback on microphone performance during real-world testing. Our pick: Kingston HyperX Cloud.

If listening to well-recorded music on the HyperX Cloud revealed one sonic downside, it’s that some high-pitched sounds in certain songs tended to be slightly overemphasized. This effect didn’t bother all our panelists.

And the issue didn’t crop up with any of our games, so since the HyperX Cloud is a gaming headset, we couldn’t really hold that against it. Other potential drawbacks include the fact that the HyperX Cloud doesn’t fold down in any way.

Its earcups do retract into the headband, of course, but they don’t swivel, so you can’t fold the headset flat and stick it in a pocket of your. The one performance criticism we all had was that its flexible boom microphone was only good, not great. It delivered voices clearly (with no distortion and very little noise), but all of our online testers who have met me in reported that my voice sounded a little high-pitched and nasally through the Cloud’s mic. My regular Magic Duels opponent, who graciously tolerated constant pauses to our matches so that I could swap out headsets, summed it up: “You’re coming through loud and clear; it’s just that your voice is missing that booming radio-announcer quality that makes you sound like you.” Still, in terms of clarity and overall ability to communicate with friends and teammates, the HyperX Cloud’s mic ranked pretty high among the headsets we loved overall. Who else likes our pick. If everything about the HyperX Cloud sounds appealing but you just need some extra oomph in your action-gaming audio, you’ll find a lot to love about Razer’s revamped.

That distinction is important, by the way, because the Kraken Pro V2 comes with round ear cushions in its default form. The larger oval alternative, whose opening measures 60 mm by 70 mm, gives the headset more room to breathe and makes it more comfortable on a larger variety of heads. And if you’ve purchased the Kraken Pro V2 in its default form, with its 56 mm round cushions, the oval replacements add an.

So if you’re at all concerned with long-term comfort, and especially if you have larger ears, we cannot stress enough the importance of purchasing from the get-go. In this configuration, the Kraken Pro V2 is actually a little more comfortable than our top pick HyperX Cloud, at least for shorter gaming sessions. When we used it for marathon gaming, we did find that it ran a little hotter, but not abnormally so. In terms of sound, most of the Razer headsets that we’ve tested in the past have been quite bass-heavy, and the Kraken Pro V2 continues this trend. What sets it apart from its brethren is that it’s never overwhelmed by its own bass.

We never noticed the distortion common to other Razer offerings, even when subjecting it to heavy explosions and raucous gunfire. Make no mistake about it, though, this is probably too much bass for games that rely on atmospheric music or have a lot of dialog. While all of our testers loved the effect with big dumb action games like DOOM, we found that the deep bass tended to make dialogue in games like Battlefront 2 a little too chesty, and it did no favors to orchestral game soundtracks, like those of the Civilization games. Tweaking the EQ settings in the software helped a lot, and also brought out a good bit more detail, but access to that feature does add another $20 to the cost of the headset. Only long-term testing over the next few months will reveal whether or not the Kraken Pro V2 is as durable as its lightweight aluminum frame makes it feel, but so far we have no real concerns there. One thing we all definitely loved, though, is the retractable nature of the headset’s mic.

In terms of sound quality and volume, it’s pretty much identical to that of the HyperX Cloud—in other words, it’s good enough—and our online testers never reported hearing any sound bleed between the headset and mic. If your budget allows: Sennheiser Game One. While the HyperX Cloud is a great headset for most gamers, no headset is perfect for everyone. If you’re more discerning when it comes to sound quality in games, movies, and music, or if your gaming sessions run a little longer than the norm, consider the.

This headset was by far the favorite of all our testers (even our online helpers) due to its stellar audio performance, exceptional long-term comfort, and fantastic noise-cancelling microphone, but you’ll pay at least 50 percent more for that performance. Also, you might need to upgrade your sound card or headphone amp. Perhaps the most significant feature that sets the Game One apart from most of its competition is that it sports an open-back design. The earcups of the headset are vented, leaving the back side of its drivers open to the air instead of encasing them in a solid shell of plastic or metal. You’ll often see this design in high-end headphones such as the, from which the Game One derives its drivers and “Eargonomic Acoustic Refinement” sound-channeling technology. But you rarely see the design in headsets in general, primarily because it comes with one disadvantage: Open-back headphones and headsets don’t offer a lot in the way of noise isolation, either incoming or outgoing. Anyone sitting in the room with you can hear what you’re hearing to some extent, and you can hear, to a lesser degree, the sounds of people and things in the room with you.

I assumed at first that this effect would be a major downer for our testers, but we all ended up loving this aspect of the Game One. Sounds from around the house didn’t end up being nearly the distraction I worried they would. When we played games, we couldn’t hear the air conditioner, for example, nor the ceiling fan in my office. We could, on the other hand, hear the ringing of the phone or a knock at the front door. In other words, the only things that really distracted us from our gaming experience were the things we actually wanted to be distracted.

Keep in mind, however, that your non-gamer housemates may be a little annoyed by the game sounds leaking out of your headset if they prefer absolute silence. The Sennheiser Game One was by far the favorite headset of all our testers (even our online helpers) due to its stellar audio performance, exceptional long-term comfort, and fantastic noise-cancelling microphone.

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The open-back design of the Game One had several other key impacts on our gaming experience. For one thing, it made everything sound absolutely awesome. One of the reasons audiophiles enjoy open-back headphones is that they offer a spacious, outside-of-the-head quality. I never found myself inclined to engage any sort of surround-sound processing when gaming with the Game One; its expansive, detailed sound was enough to transport me into the environment of whatever game I was playing, whether that be Guild Wars 2 or Dying Light. With Star Wars: Battlefront, in particular, I loved the way the headset generated a genuine sense of aural depth. Blaster fire and explosions in the distance actually sounded farther away, not merely quieter and more diffuse.

Our panel loved the way this headset enriched the expanded soundstage of the music in Civilization V. As much as all of our testers enjoyed using Razer Surround Pro fake-surround processing with a variety of other headsets, it didn’t add much to the already engrossing, “room-filling” sound of this model.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the audio performance of the Game One was just how staggering and hard-hitting its low frequencies were when necessary. Dying Light, for instance, is a particularly tactile game that mostly consists of the player thwacking zombies in the head with large metal pipes and other blunt instruments. Few headsets in our roundup came close to matching the visceral thuds the Game One rendered. In our Star Wars: Battlefront sessions, the that occasionally wreak havoc on the battlefield felt and sounded as if they were cranked out by a good subwoofer. Regular Wirecutter contributor Brent Butterworth also helped me articulate a distinctive aspect of the Game One’s comfort. It doesn’t feel special the instant you put it on; the velvet earpads are nice, and the headset is notably lightweight, but it isn’t as cushy or soft as other headsets or headphones. The strange thing is that it feels pretty much the same after hours of use, even when you’re wearing glasses.

Its comfort doesn’t degrade over time, as the comfort of so many other headsets does. The other consequence of the open-back design of the Game One is that it never gets too warm—it’s well-vented, allowing your ears to breathe.

The other big advantage of this headset is that we all found our own voices easy to hear, even without the benefit of mic monitoring. The Game One doesn’t mix the input from its microphone into the output of the headphones, as some gaming headsets do. Instead, its open-back design allowed our voices to reach our own ears with very little encumbrance and no delay. Our online testers also loved the way our voices cut through the sound mix on their end. The Game One’s mic uses active noise cancellation, which does a good job of taming room noise but creates a slightly thinner tone that make it less than ideal for recording voiceovers, podcasts, or other professional audio material. But again, clarity of communication was our primary consideration when we were gauging the quality of the microphones, and this Sennheiser headset excelled on those grounds.

Another bonus is the fact that you can activate mic muting by simply rotating the boom mic up and out of the way. In terms of controls, though, that’s just about it; the only other thing you’ll fiddle with is the handy rotating volume control on the right earcup. Like all other analog headsets, the is compatible with PCs, Macs, and consoles alike, and the newest version comes with both dual and single 3.5 mm cables, so you won’t need to purchase a separate adapter. You will need if you want to use it with the original Xbox One controller, though. One final caveat: The Game One reaches its full potential only with extra amplification, so it’s not the best pick if you game exclusively on consoles. When powered by the onboard analog audio output of my wife’s computer, it sounded good enough to become her favorite headset by far in terms of audio performance, and it was even better with the onboard sound card of my computer, although we had to crank the volume quite high. It didn’t reveal all of its nuances or its powerful bass capabilities until we connected it to the DAC/amp with the amp’s high-gain mode engaged.

In other words, the more power you give the Game One, the better it sounds, so if it seems like the right headset for you, consider adding a dedicated sound card or an external amp to your gaming PC. An alt pick for audiophiles: Beyerdynamic Custom Game. Beyerdynamic’s new delivers excellent sound that complements games of all genres and ships with a vastly superior microphone, as well as a handful of welcomed accessories, like a y-splitter extension cable for use with PC sound cards and a larger quarter-inch adapter for use with high-performance headphone amps and receivers.

When we tested the with for the original iteration of this guide, we all loved its comfortable, roomy fit, as well as the fact that its bass performance could be tuned acoustically, without software EQ, via sliders on each ear cup. Unfortunately, the Custom Headset Gear shorted out on us right out of the box, and user reviews indicated that this was a startlingly common problem. Thanks to its closed-back design, the new Custom Game delivers the sort of sound isolation that’s missing from the open-backed Sennheiser Game One, so if you’re concerned about disturbing anyone else in the room with you while you play games, it may be a better pick. Unsurprisingly, it also does a much better job of blocking external noise from reaching your ears, making it a great pick for noisier environments. It also, of course, leads to a sound that’s never quite as open or expansive as that of the Game One, nor as detailed.

But compared with other closed-back alternatives, the Custom Game delivers smoother midrange, more natural-sounding dialogue and music, and superior dynamics that benefit virtually any genre of game, from music-driven offerings like the Civilization series to cinematic shooters like Battlefront 2. The other drawback of its closed-back design is that the Custom Game isn’t as breathable as the Sennheiser, which means that it gets a bit warmer after hours of wear. Still, the spacious ear cups and ample padding were appreciated by all of our testers. As long as you’re not planning on wearing your headset for more than three or four hours at a time, comfort shouldn’t be an issue. Thankfully, the headset also feels as durable and well-built as its $200-ish retail price would suggest. And if you should happen to wear out or otherwise damage the padded headband, it’s easily replaceable, which is an appreciated feature that we don’t see nearly often enough.

For gamers on a tighter budget: Kingston HyperX Cloud Stinger. We’ll likely be accused of playing favorites with this one, but after thorough testing in which only one of our testers was aware of the brands involved, we all agreed that Kingston’s new is the clear choice for gamers looking to spend $50 or less on a new headset. Compared with most budget headsets, the Cloud Stinger is surprisingly well-built and comfortable thanks to its cushy headband and relaxed fit. In our tests, its audio performance was noticeably better than that of anything else in its price range, thanks to its beefy 50 mm drivers and well-balanced sound. Our testers also went gaga over the Cloud Stinger’s new microphone, which is a substantial upgrade over the mic of even our top pick: Not only does it sound better, but also you can mute the mic just by raising the boom into the vertical position. This design does mean that the mic isn’t removable, which has long been a selling point of our top pick, the original HyperX Cloud, but the mic is especially sturdy, and it stays locked in place and out of the way when not in use.

Compared with the results from its larger siblings, the Cloud and the Cloud Revolver, the overall tonal balance of the Cloud Stinger isn’t quite up to the same standards. In our tests the bass wasn’t quite as rich and impactful, and the treble exhibited a comparative lack of smoothness that two of our testers described as “slight harshness.” That said, this slight edge to the higher frequencies wasn’t as bad as what we heard from some other headsets costing considerably more. Unsurprisingly for a $50 headset, the HyperX Cloud Stinger is all plastic in its construction, but unlike most plastic headsets—even those costing two or three times as much—it doesn’t feel fragile, and its joints don’t creak when you adjust the rotation of the earcups or the length of the headband. In the end, we all agreed that you’d be better off saving up the few extra bucks for the HyperX Cloud (or the HyperX Cloud Revolver if you want improved comfort and a bit of extra kick for action games), but if you refuse to spend a penny more than $50, you’ll find a lot to love about this overachieving budget headset.

A pick for those who hate wires: Kingston HyperX Cloud Flight. We’ve never made any secret of the fact that most of our testers either went into this guide with a bias against wireless gaming headsets or learned to loathe them throughout the course of our testing. If you absolutely, positively can’t abide wires, though, we recommend the. It doesn’t feel quite as durable as our top pick wired headset, but it’s still a well-constructed headset that doesn’t creak or rattle or otherwise feel flimsy in any way. Two things made it a real standout as compared with all other wireless gaming headsets we’ve tested. Firstly, it just sounds fantastic. While it doesn’t play very loudly—a criticism that applies to virtually all wireless headsets—its audio is well balanced and clear, and it delivers a nice mix of detail, positioning, and impact.

And even when cranked to full volume, which we had to do to really immerse ourselves in Battlefront 2, it never distorts. The other major benefit of the Cloud Flight is that it’s just so very comfortable. True, its clamping force does feel a little strong, so when you first put it on you may be inclined to think that it would be a headache-inducer after a few hours. But we found that no matter how long we wore it, it never became unbearable.

The HyperX Cloud Flight is also super easy to setup and configure, since it merely requires plugging in a USB dongle and waiting for drivers to load. There are no software packages to install, no settings to tweak.

It’s the very definition of plug-and-play. It’s worth noting, though, that this is only the case with PC and PS4 platforms. For Xbox and mobile devices, you have to use the included 3.5 mm audio cable, and that does disable the headset’s chat functionality.

Since we’re only really concerned with PC performance for the purposes of this guide, that wasn’t an issue, but it’s still worth noting. We do have a few PC-relevant nits to pick with the HyperX Cloud Flight, though. For one thing, its generous 30 hours of battery life only applies if you turn off the headset’s LEDs, which you’ll have to do every time you power the headset on, by double-tapping the power button. Why the headset doesn’t remember this setting is a bit of a mystery.

We also missed some of the features found on other wireless headsets, like audible confirmation of battery life, and some sort of indicator of whether the mic is muted or not. Muting is accomplished by tapping the left ear cup, and the headset does beep when going in and out of mute mode, but some other indicator would have been appreciated. Especially given that the Cloud Flight’s mic is so hot that it does pick up the slightest bit of audio coming from the headset.

In other words, unless you use push-to-talk, you’ll likely want to mute the mic on occasion. The other concern we have is that the Cloud Flight’s battery isn’t user accessible or replaceable, which means that at some point the headset will become disposable. Still, none of these concerns kept it from being out favorite wireless headset, at least for now. We were able to walk nearly anywhere in the house without losing a connection with the USB wireless transmitter. Only when we were about 40 feet away, with four walls between headset and transmitter, did it start to drop connection. At a suggested retail price of $160, the HyperX Cloud Flight isn’t cheap. But if you refuse to use anything other than a wireless headset and if you’re okay with its control quirks, we think you’ll find the fantastic audio performance and exceptional comfort of this one to be worth the cost.

A note on surround sound. We tried our best to find a headset with surround performance that impressed us, but for the most part, we weren’t able to. We tested one headset with multiple drivers in each earcup, plus a number of USB headsets with built-in Dolby, DTS, or Creative surround technologies (which create a surround-like experience using only two drivers, through a combination of delay and other audio processing). None of them sounded great. In fact, most of them sounded appreciably worse than standard stereo sound. Of all the headsets we tried, the created the most convincing surround experience, which didn’t surprise us since it includes five distinct drivers in each earcup: a 30 mm front-channel driver, a 30 mm center-channel driver, 20 mm surround and surround-back drivers, and a 40 mm low-frequency effects driver.

Still, the surround-sound experience wasn’t entirely convincing, and the Tiamat 7.1 failed to create a satisfying front soundstage. In our tests, most of the surround-sound processing technologies included with the virtual-surround-sound headsets fared even worse, coloring or distorting the sound without offering any real advantage in aural positioning. There are two exceptions. The first is another Razer product——a software download that adds surround-sound processing to any stereo headphones or headset. It comes in two versions: a basic free download that offers surprisingly convincing “7.1-channel” surround effects, and a Pro version that adds selectable bass boost, adjustable dynamic range compression, voice-clarity processing, an equalizer with 11 presets as well as custom settings, and (most important) the ability to calibrate the surround-sound experience specifically for your headset, your head, and your ears. The Pro version is a free download for anyone who purchases select Razer headsets, or you can buy it standalone for $20 (at the time of this writing). The other option worth looking into is Windows Sonic for Headphones, a free feature included in the Windows 10 Creators Update released in 2017.

While not quite as convincing as Razer Surround, Windows Sonic does add a nice sense of space to games, and also allows for more precise positioning, which we very much appreciated. Windows Sonic can also be upgraded to support Dolby Atmos for Headphones for around $15. We found the latter to sound slightly more processed and unnatural, but if you want to try it out, there’s a free trial available. What to look forward to.

We’re excited to test the, a new gaming headset with head tracking and ambisonic processing. We’re working on getting a review unit to test, and we plan to update this guide after the Mobius has shipped. Logitech has the G533 Wireless Gaming Headset, a model designed solely for use with Windows PCs. It has a noise-cancelling, foldable microphone, as well as volume controls on the left earcup, and it uses Pro-G audio drivers.

Logitech claims the headset has a 15-hour battery life and a wireless connectivity range of about 49 feet, but we have to test those things ourselves. The G533 is, and we hope to add it to our next update. Two other, the and, promise a comfortable, lightweight experience with the support of high-quality Pro G audio drivers. Both headsets offer removable microphones, but only the G433 headset comes equipped with 7.1 surround sound, an extra pair of earpads, and a. The prices for these models fall around and above that of.

When we test these headsets, we’ll examine the durability, the fabric finish, the removable mesh earpads, and the differences in quality across use. Logitech claims its headset—designed in collaboration with pro gamers—has ear pads with “50 percent more sound isolation than other ear pads” and a pro-grade microphone designed for improved clarity. We’re also planning on bringing in a few headsets that I had dismissed for various reasons but that readers compellingly lobbied for, namely the (as well as the that became available in February 2018) and the Corsair Void in both its and configurations. The competition. No roundup of gaming headsets would be complete without a look at Astro’s offerings, so we brought in the, the, and the for the first iteration of this guide. None of us were overly fond of the on-ear design of the A30, but I was smitten with the hard-hitting sound of the A40 and A50, especially with games like Dying Light.

But noisy mics and the MixAmp Pro’s constant background hiss bothered all of us. After we wrapped up our original round of testing, Astro introduced and a new version of the; we plan on giving them a listen for a future update to this guide. Kingston’s newest model, the, resulted in the most heated debates among our testers of any headset in the roundup to date.

The Alpha is based on our top pick, the HyperX Cloud, but its earcups have been substantially modified with dual chambers that tune the bass and mid/upper frequencies separately. Undeniably better bass performance than the original Cloud.

The Alpha is also significantly heavier and hotter than the original Cloud, making it much less comfortable during marathon gaming sessions. If you’re looking for comfort and bang-for-the-buck, we still like the original. If you want some extra bass kick and a better microphone, we recommend upgrading to the, which might be a little heavier than the Alpha, but still manages to be more comfy (especially for larger noggins) due to its self-adjusting suspension headband and roomier earcups.

We also tested the, Kingston’s updated version of our top pick, which features a USB sound card, surround-sound processing, a slightly superior microphone, and better padding on the headband. If you’re a laptop gamer without access to good analog audio jacks, it’s a smart buy. For most people, though, none of those enhancements justify the extra price. Price is also the biggest reason Kingston’s new failed to make our short list of recommendations.

Its USB connection is the quietest and cleanest we’ve yet tested, and the Dolby Headphone processing is actually shockingly good, but this model costs too much. Our previous runner-up pick, Kingston’s, is still a favorite amongst most of our testers due to its great mic and lively sound. Although not as neutral as the HyperX Cloud, it’s great for action games, and the auto-adjusting headset was popular with all but one of our testers. Only the fact that the Kraken Pro V2 delivers much the same audio performance and similar comfort at a much cheaper price bumped this one off our list of top recommendations. The impressed all of our testers with stunning design and wonderful sound quality when used without EQ and DSP. The surround sound processing of the headset let us cold, though, and we just didn’t find the headphones to be very comfortable when worn for any extended amount of time. The new and impressed us with their build quality and audio performance, but their fit doesn’t accommodate as wide a range of people.

Our previous low-budget pick, the, is still a great buy if you want to save a few extra dollars, but we like the HyperX Cloud Stinger a bit better in pretty much every way. All of our testers loved nearly everything about the, especially how every piece can be swapped out, including your choice of ear cushions. But it costs twice as much as our top pick, the HyperX Cloud, and its performance does not warrant that steep price increase. The stood a real chance of dethroning our top pick, but we found that its build quality and padding didn’t match those of the HyperX Cloud. In our tests the sound was definitely tuned for action gaming, but the emphasis on midrange frequencies cost this headset a few points with atmospheric games like The Witcher 3 and orchestral-music-heavy games like Civilization VI. All our testers liked the. It’s comfortable, with a hard-hitting, visceral sound, and it boasts a solid mic.

The problem is that if you want to get the most from this headset, be prepared to be nickel-and-dimed half to death on accessory upgrades. If you already have a powerful headset amp, you might consider the Elite Pro, but just know that the box doesn’t even come with a pink-green. The new addresses many of our concerns about necessary upgrades thanks to its included USB amp. Unfortunately, the PC Edition just didn’t play loudly enough compared with other wired options. Two of our testers loved the gaming headset, but one simply couldn’t abide the fit. If you have a larger head, steer clear. All of our testers adored the fit of the.

We loved its self-adjusting headband, and the fold-flat design was a big hit with everyone. Sadly, its sound quality was lacking. We brought in the to go along with my over-ear headphones.

We all found the sound performance to be good, although not especially fun with more action-oriented games. More important, this pair was far less comfortable than much cheaper alternatives after hours of gameplay, and the mic was disappointing. The Audio-Technica and —functionally the same headset, though the former is an open-back model and the latter is a closed-back version—were without question the most comfortable headsets any of us had ever tested. But they’re voiced to appeal to audiophiles, with lots of emphasis on high frequencies, which doesn’t play well for games. We brought in both the and the with as potential upgrade picks.

Although we all loved the comfort of the MMX 300, as well as its neutral, balanced sound and its overall design, we found that it required too much amplification to be a viable recommendation. The Game One delivered more bang for fewer bucks.

The Custom One Pro Plus was a crowd favorite thanks to the ability to tune its bass performance on the fly without resorting to software equalization. We liked, but didn’t love, this pair in tests for our guide. Out of the box, however, our pair’s mic cable had a short in it, causing the sound to cut out if the cable wasn’t positioned just right. Judging from owner reviews, this problem is disturbingly common. Our testers found the headset bundle to be too midrange-heavy, and we didn’t think it was nearly as comfortable as the SteelSeries H Wireless or the LucidSound LS30, especially when we wore glasses.

It also felt quite fragile for the price. The and were among the first models we researched for this guide, since my wife and I have owned them for years. The two of us agreed that we would trade them for the and, respectively, due to those models’ superior audio and build quality, even though both Logitech headsets boast superior microphones. We also tested the company’s, which represents a big improvement in styling and especially the layout of the controls, but a step down in build quality and potential long-term durability.

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The design of the new is very reminiscent of Logitech’s G230 and G430, which we liked. The only problem is that it’s not significantly better than the HyperX Cloud Stinger, which sells for a lot less. Our previous wireless pick, the, simply hasn’t proven to be as durable as we had hoped, although we still love its audio performance and it’s super intuitive controls. The and made the long list since they were a perfect match for my. (We gamers do like to accessorize, after all.) Our testers, however, found them to be unbearably uncomfortable in the long run.

While the sound of was tuned well for gaming in our tests, the small earcups were too compact to work as over-ears for our male testers but too large to really work as on-ears. They also got very hot very quickly. The and (nearly identical headsets, except that the latter has USB connectivity and surround processing) impressed us with their light weight and good sound quality, but they didn’t feel very comfortable over long gaming sessions; they also prompted concerns about build quality and durability.

Also from Plantronics, the split us. I adored the sound and loved its build quality, especially for the price, and I also found it quite comfortable despite its small size. But Bethany absolutely hated the way the earcups fit on her ears. We felt the same about the, but we all agreed that its connectivity arrangement was more of a fuss than most gamers would willingly put up with. The newer could have been a contender in the budget category, since we all loved its modular design and audio performance for the price. Concerns about cumbersome connectivity and iffy durability kept it out of the running, though. Except for the addition of USB connectivity and surround-sound processing, the is quite similar to the RIG 500.

The surround was sorely lacking, which made it hard for us to justify the extra expense. The, also a modular design, comes with almost enough pieces to build two complete headsets; you would simply need an additional headband. Like the 500HD, though, it offers only lackluster surround-sound processing.

In our latest round of testing, we really found ourselves torn over the. The lift-to-mute mic is nice, and we found the performance of the mic to be superior to the HyperX Cloud Flight.

Audible voice cues about battery life were also much appreciated, as was the headset’s modular design, which allows you to tweak the fit. Unfortunately, the 800LX is tuned to deliver more bass than its drivers can really handle at any appreciable volume, which led to a lot of distortion when we played action games. The (now known as the ) was our previous top pick for cord haters. But the problems with its overly sensitive microphone can’t be fixed with a windscreen due to its retractable nature and slim design, and it sells for a lot more than the LucidSound LS30. The proved very similar to our previous wireless pick in many respects, but we all thought it was overpriced for what it delivered (especially given the quality of the mic), and Bethany found the included software package to be a constant source of frustration. She had similar complaints about the, and we all agreed that this model was far too quiet to provide a satisfying gaming experience.

The didn’t make the cut due to a number of reviews that described it as a huge step backward from its predecessor, the popular. The new SteelSeries and, which were designed to mimic the aesthetic of less flashy headphones, impressed us with their light weight, though not necessarily their build quality and high price.

The, meanwhile, is priced very attractively for a wireless headset and gives the LucidSound LS30 and HyperX Cloud Flight some stiff competition, but in our tests we found its microphone frustrating, and long-term comfort was an issue. The new impressed use just as much as much as the rest of the Arctis line. We love that you can use its wired and Bluetooth connections simultaneously to keep tabs on both gaming audio and mobile communications. Its Bluetooth connectivity doesn’t work with games, though, and we found it too pricey for what it delivers. For in-depth thoughts about the, see the section above about.

We also tested the, and we all found that headset to be way too bass heavy; all of us had concerns about its build quality, as well. I found myself unable to spend much time with the original or at all—in both cases the earcups weren’t very comfortable, especially with glasses, and the bass was overwhelming, sloppy, bloated, and indistinct. One tester enjoyed the, at least in terms of its looks and performance, but the others had trouble adjusting the headband such that both ear cups comfortably covered our ears. In our third round of testing, we added the, immediately falling in love with its comfortable fit, solid audio performance, and great surround-sound processing.

The problem with the ManO’War 7.1 is its design: Owners report frequently broken headbands, and we have our own worries about that, as well. Given its price, we were all pleasantly surprised by the audio performance of the. Those of us with larger heads found it to be far too small and way too tight.

The simply didn’t feel durable enough to justify its price. We have concerns about its longevity, especially its headband adjustments. The is a more gaming-oriented headset than our audiophile pick, the, thanks to its foldable design and flashy accents. The Game Zero’s bass performance was disappointing in our tests, though, and we really missed the open, spacious, immersive quality of the Game One’s sound. The company promotes the newer as an upgrade to the 363D, but we preferred the earlier model. In most respects they’re identical, and they sell for roughly the same price, but the software necessary to get the most out of the 373D left us underwhelmed.

We all loved the new for its simple design, onboard controls, and spacious sound, but it cost $20 more than the HyperX Cloud, which sounded better. Sennheiser’s wasn’t quite so universally loved among our testers as the GSP 300 was. Compared with other USB-powered headsets, the GSP 350 was quite noisy in our tests, and its Dolby Headphone processing is among the worst we’ve heard. The Sennheiser is one of the best-constructed and best-designed headsets we’ve seen to date. Audio performance is also simply stunning, with perfectly balanced and detailed sound that enhanced our gaming experiences no matter what sorts of games we played.

It’s a pricey headset, no doubt, but we all felt it earned its price tag without hesitation. The only problem?

Those of us with larger heads simply couldn’t bear to wear it for long. Although the GSP 600 comes with a tension adjuster atop its headband, even at its most relaxed setting it hugged larger heads too tightly, especially for those of us who wear glasses.

The surprised our testers with its quality, especially for the price. The only things holding it back from being our budget pick were its build quality and its unwieldy rat’s nest of cables. The was unbearably uncomfortable from the moment we put it on our heads. The left us flat with its lackluster bass performance and poor wireless range.

I removed all Sades models from the running despite their popularity. Their distribution in the US is iffy, and a number of counterfeits seem to be flooding stores. Plus, even the genuine models have poor support from the company, and by all accounts they are not well-constructed. Likewise, I dismissed all Sentey headsets due to the troubling customer-support issues detailed in owner reviews, and I dismissed all Sharkoon models due to distribution and customer-support concerns. I left all Speedlink headsets off the list for now, because they’re still so new to the US that we have no indication of what the company’s customer service is like.

Plus, even the best Speedlink models appear to have poor microphones, according to owner reviews. Aside from those models, the list of headsets that we chose not to test is too long to spell out in much detail. Broadly speaking, we avoided models from Arctic, Asus, CM Storm, Corsair, Gamdias, Klipsch, PDP, Polk, Roccat, Rosewill, and Tritton, as well as other models from companies included in our roundup due to issues with performance, build quality, and comfort raised in professional reviews, owner reviews, and forum discussions.