5 must buy gaming headsets

Serious gamers rely on their hardware to be at the top of their game.

Serious gamers rely on their hardware to be at the top of their game. This holds true for all kinds of gamers but more so for those present in the professional gaming scene. We’re talking of those playing Counter Strike and those who spend hours online battling it out in intense multiplayer games such as Battlefield 3. These require quick voice communication without any frills. Thankfully, for those gamers, there are plenty of gaming options now available in India. There are plenty of brands offering a wide variety of headphones in the market, some with microphones, some without. We’ve compiled a list of gaming headset options that span across the price range.  Cooler Master Sirus 5.1 (Rs. 9,999 MRP / Rs. 7,800 MOP) Proper 3D surround Cooler Master may be new to the gaming hardware scene but there are a whole bunch of gaming oriented components that have been introduced in the market recently. One of them is the Cooler Master Sirus 5.1 headset, a surround sound capable headset that’s different than others that claim to offer the same ability. While others tend to give the impression of surround sound, the Sirus 5.1 has separate drivers which means you get a more realistic surround sound experience while gaming. Of course, this also means you’ll have to shell out a lot of money, somewhere close to Rs. 7,800. For that price you get an integrated audio processor and DAC that connects to your PC via USB. There’s a large dial that lets you adjust the volume levels while you’re gaming. ASUS Vulcan (Rs. 7,100) Great for noise isolation The Vulcan from ASUS is yet another unexpected entry. The Vulcan is also designed for gaming but with noise isolation in mind. In terms of performance, the ASUS Vulcan ANC’s do a fair job for audio listening and for gaming. The headphones come with a detachable microphone unit that snaps into the port on the headphone. The Vulcan is comfortable to wear for long sessions of gaming too. It’s priced at Rs. 7,100, which makes it a decent buy, only if you’re looking for noise isolation. Although noise isolation is great, it does tamper a bit with the audio quality. There’s a change in quality and the richness and volume seems to be turned down a notch. We recommend disabling noise isolation when you’re listening to music or gaming at high volumes.  Creative Sound Blaster Tactic3D Sigma (Rs. 5,399) Stylish performer Creative’s Sound Blaster Tactic3D Sigma headphones are a rather attractive looking pair. The Sigma fits comfortably on the head. There’s decent noise isolation even without any music playing. The Sigma headphones are bass heavy and mids sound a little scooped. Techno and electronica sound is decent, thanks to a very boomy bass. The sound staging is just right, so it's easy to figure out what’s happening in the game. The Creative Tactic3D Sigma gaming headset sells for an MRP of Rs.5,399. It looks great and yes, you get good performance for gaming but besides that, it doesn’t do movies and music really well. It is a little overpriced for sure. A price tag of under Rs. 3,500 would make this a good buy. Corsair Vengeance 1500 (Rs. 4,200) Good value for its price The Vengeance 1500 is Corsair’s top-of-the-line gaming headset and one that offers 7.1 surround sound. Like with other high-end gaming headphones, these too have a sound processor and DAC built into them. The small control module on the cord allows you to adjust volume and mute the microphone. The headphones look great and offer similar kind of audio quality customization that you find on some of the other headphones. The cable is 3m long and sturdy. It doesn’t offer true surround sound but with the 7.1 virtual speaker, it should give you a good sensation of it. Priced at Rs. 4,200, it’s not too expensive. Razer Electra (Rs. 3,000) The affordable option The more affordable Razer Electra is a bass heavy headphone and it doesn’t do too badly at music. There’s a fair amount of detail but if the bass were a little lower, it would’ve been a better detailed headphone for music and movies alike. The headphones use an inline microphone that requires you to use a PC that supports it. It can be used without any problem with mobile phones and some tablets. At Rs. 3,000, it’s fairly inexpensive. We wouldn’t recommend these to music enthusiasts, but gamers, on the other hand will find it handy. They're good for gaming, but not necessarily usable on every single PC. We would’ve preferred a traditional microphone that’s bundled into the headphone as the additional microphone cable only adds to the confusion.