A good PC gaming headset is almost a must if you want to have the best gaming experience. Most games nowadays are embedded with high definition audio effects. To really enjoy the game and be in the game, a good gaming headset is necessary.
So what constitutes a good PC gaming headset?
Comfort
A good computer gaming headset must be able to provide comfort to the user. This is necessary since you will be wearing it for a long period of time. There is only one way to test whether a headset is comfortable or not, and that is to try it out before you make your purchase.
Most of the time, the comfort factor is dependent on the:
Padding - Is it thick and soft enough to protect your ear?
Ear cups - Is it big enough to contain your ear?
Headband - Is it freely adjustable to suit the size of your head?
Weight - Is it too heavy for your ear to carry?
Put it on for 15 minutes and you will know whether it is suitable for you or not.
Sound Quality
A good PC gaming headset must have the ability to produce great sound quality. While different people perceive sound differently, you can use these few guideline to distinguish a headset with good sound quality from a bad one.
Bass
A gaming headset with a powerful bass will show significant differences in first person shooting game such as Counterstrike. You will be able to hear clearly the bullets flying around you and distinct explosion in the background.
Surround Sound
Surround sound effect is necessary to create the realism in your gameplay. Those PC gaming headsets with 5.1 digital audio encoded will be useful to help you identify the enemy that is sneaking behind you or shooting at you
Noise Cancellation
Some gaming headset uses an external microphone to pick up external noise and invert them to cancel out any unwanted noise. This is extremely useful if you are always playing in a noisy environment, such as an Internet cafe.
Cable Length
The cable length will determine how far away you can stay behind the screen. A typical gaming headset should have a cable length of 2m. Anything shorter than this length will restrict your movement and cause inconvenience to you. If you are playing game console, such as Xbox or PS3, in your living room, you might consider getting a headset with longer cable or an extra extensible cable to connect to your headset.
Wireless Headset
If you always move around and do not wish to be bothered by the cable, you can choose the wireless gaming headset that makes use of Bluetooth or RF technology. A word of caution, wireless headsets might be more prone to noise interference and/or loss of signal during the transmission, which can lead to static, pops or annoying noise.
Microphone
Some of the PC gaming headsets are geared with a microphone to allow interaction during gameplay. This might be a useful feature that you want to include in your gaming headset.
Volume Control
This may seem a trivial feature, but it matter a lot when you are far away from your sound system. For a gaming headset with surround sound feature, it would be useful to have an inline volume control to control the individual speaker levels. You can customize the volume setting for each speaker to enhance your gaming experience.
Vibrator
Force feedback gaming headsets make use of vibration to try to recreate the physical sensation of bass frequencies. The headset can vibrate in sympathy with the low frequencies in the audio signal, so that listeners both hear and feel the bass.
These should sum up most of the features found in a good PC gaming headset.
In conclusion, choosing a good PC gaming headset can be a very personal thing. A headset might fit comfortably on others, but not on you. You will have to try out the headset before deciding whether it is suitable for you.
