Sennheiser PC 360 Gaming Headset?

[Black Panther]

I was thinking of buying this headset, particularly due to the positive reviews I read on OcUK.

However, one of them said:

DO NOT buy these unless you have a serious sound card with a built in amp. ASUS xonar or other audiophile grade sound card required. Not suitable for x-fi series or any onboard solution. The headphone drivers are the same 50 Ohm units used in the new sennheiser 558. Not standard 32 Ohm units. Be warned that being said they are without a shadow of a doubt the best you can by in headsets. I tried them on a xi fi and onboard the difference is night and day. Entry level for these would be a xonar d1 sound card anything less and your wasting your money.
. 5 stars

And as you can see from my system specs my soundcard is an x-fi xtreme music... and I wasn't planning to change it.. It's a dedicated card, not onboard. But I haven't a clue whether it's got a built-in amp or not.

The back of my card looks like this:



I use the green, black and orange for my speakers in order to get 5.1 sound. (The white one is for the mic).
Do good headsets also have three wires to use?

-- Do you think this headset is OK for me or would you suggest something else?

-- What about headsets which are 5.1 or 7.1? Or is that just a gimmick?

-- I use Z-5500 speakers... that's why I'm looking at a good headset...

-- Microphone is not important. I hate chatting whether in-game or not..


I do need a headset ASAP. My gaming pc is in the bedroom (connected to the Z-5500 ). I have to turn the volume really down at night .

So, I used to FUS-RO-DAH but then took an arrow to the knee... Last night in Skyrim... my character shouted FUS-RO-DAH and at the same time my better half jumped a foot above the bed (kinda levitated high speed) and FUS-RO-DAH'd me back..... not good..

[Fourstaff]

No, headsets only come with the green one, or at least most of the headsets I have came across, including the PC350. Headset is good, but if its a bit expensive.

5.1 and 7.1 are gimmicks to me and to most, although there are people who thinks they work. 2 big drivers, one in each cup is always better than 2 or more per cup imo.

If microphone is not important, look for something decent without mic! Audio Technica AD700 is a good start for gamers, reasonably good value for money and good colouration.

[cheesy999]

Originally Posted by Fourstaff

5.1 and 7.1 are gimmicks to me and to most, although there are people who thinks they work. 2 big drivers, one in each cup is always better than 2 or more per cup imo.

Agreed, if you really want surround sound in headphones it's best to use one of those virtual surround features

[radrok]

I totally agree with the two posts above, 2 channels audio with 5.1 or 7.1 emulation is much better than any kind of gimmick headset with lots of mini speakers built into although SOME of them are good to an extent.
Sennheiser is a good exception if you really want 5.1 or 7.1 and I would recommend you this ASUS XONAR_XENSE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Ex... if you are going down that way, it's good period.

I was using a 5.1 headset with a 5.1-7.1 audio card, as soon as I purchased an Asus Xonar Essence STX and an AKG K 701 headset everything literally changed.
I still have to use a table microphone, well it can be annoying to have one on the desk but if you find a good spot to place it you'll be fine

[BumbleBee]

yeah the Sennheiser PC360 need to be driven.

cute avatar

[Black Panther]

But is my card sufficient to 'drive' a headset like that one to get good volume?

I mean, taking my laptop, I use cheap earbuds, they give a good volume but crappy sound quality. I want something which gives good volume, and good sound quality too.

[BumbleBee]

I don't think so.

you can buy a new sound card (Asus Xonar DG should do it) or a headphone amplifier and hook it up to your Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic but it will cost more.

[Frederik S]

The XtremeMusic is borderline underpowered for the PC360s. Try it out and if you are satisfied do not think more about it. In order to max out the PC360s potential I think you need either a small Xonar card or equivalent, they have better op-amps and more generally better amplification stages than similar Creative offerings which makes a difference on all semi-hard to drive headphones and headsets.

[CJCerny]

Xonar DG is the least expensive sound card with a headphone amp.

[Wrigleyvillain]

Yeah you really don't need such high end phones even if you had the hardware. Any Sennheiser under $100 are great for your needs. Hell I just bought my gf the HD 202s which are like $20 and got really good reviews, at least for that price. Haven't tried them myself yet though as for Christmas.

I can't believe your PC is in the bedroom and you haven't gotten headphones yet lol. Yeah the shouts hit that sub pretty well too so this is quite hilarious.