Top 5 Headphones for Gaming

21 Nov, 2009, 8:58 am IST | by Siddharth Bhatia

It's gaming, and it needs some heavy pounding for it to sound realistic. Thus we take 5 very popular brands and their products made especially for video game applications.

Top 5  Headphones for Gaming

It's gaming, and it needs some heavy pounding for it to sound realistic. Thus we take 5 very popular brands and their products made especially for video game applications. Couple of the brands mentioned here specialize in gaming products itself, while the others have impressed us in a way fit perfect for gaming audio. Not all of them are headsets, some are without mics, as in this review it’s the audible sound quality we are interested in. The prices and features vary, and this is NOT a comparison feature, just options in various budgets. So let’s get to it..

Razer Barracuda HP1
MRP- Rs. 7299
MOP-Rs. 6050

This heavy piece of work from gaming specialists Razer seems quite daunting when on; you don’t want to be on the same map as the bearer. The unit comes with an all black body, with earcups stout and firm having a mildly lustrous finish, made of hardened plastic.  The head band is actually a thin 2 pronged structure with an elastic leatherette band attached to it, which looks a little out of place with the solid cans. The cans can rotate around fully, while the left one has an inlet for the included mic.
This unit has eight discrete drivers, out of which 2 are subwoofers, all integrated into the earpieces. The frequency response is 50-20,000Hz, while power is 330mW RMS. It is a 5.1 headphone unit, thus needs to be used with an appropriate soundcard with a digital out to access the full surround sound. It still works normally in stereo, and performance wise it is quite impressive due to its “forward”, in your face sound. This is the opposite of open sounding headphones, also mainly because of the closed back design that acoustically blocks out external noise. In pure stereo, the sound sucks. It’s not for music listening at all. But, when in surround sound mode in a game like COD: Modern Warfare and Crysis, the sound totally hit the spot, with the crunching mid frequencies of gunshots right in your ears. The ambience created by the surround drivers is an honest attempt, and actually quite nice.

Good: Good, tough external design, Surround sound works well
Bad: Frequency response quite uneven, mids are too forward
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Specs
Frequency response: 50-20,000Hz
Impedance: 2.2 KOhm
Total power rating: 330mW RMS

Skullcandy Skullcrusher
MRP/MOP Rs.3469

This piece of gear is not exactly straight up for gaming like the Razer, but we’re sure anyone using these headphones will surely be into gaming, and love it for that. It’s got MAD bass, to put it simply. To elaborate: the headphones come in a variety of color schemes, and these schemes are real intricate paint jobs made up of dazzling meshes, lines, patterns etc. We like the Snoop Dogg version the best. The headband has a foldable joint in the middle, it is used to fold in the two cans together for storage. The earpieces themselves are attached to the band via swivel joints, thus one can turn the earpiece outwards if someone interrupts when your skull is being crushed.

Technically speaking, the model has a built in bass driver that is amplified by an AA battery. This battery is placed in the cyan cased terminal towards the end of the cord, which also houses the amp. Also, a black slider switch and volume knob protrudes out. The knob is only bass volume, and not overall level. This is a small deterrent.

Good: superb aesthetics, Acoustic noise cancellation works a charm, very loud
Bad: Bass can get daunting, needs to be lowered and kept.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Specs
Frequency response: 50-20,000Hz
Impedance: 32 Ohm
Sensitivity:  99 dBSPL/1mW

Tags: Senheiser HD202

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