Introduction
If you’re new to this site then welcome! This blog is all about creating the most ideal man cave, home theater, and gaming room set up. Today this article is going to help you with an important decision in the realm of gaming headsets and gaming headphones. Noise cancellation can be a very important feature for certain gamers. There’s a lot of needs that gamers have in order for them to have the experience they won. Some people need built-in microphone features, good game audio quality, and now the component of noise cancellation.
In this article I included a bunch of resources to help you make your decision. The most important one is going to be the decision tree directly below. Take some time to go through it and consider the different qualities that you need in your gaming headphones. Hopefully by the end of this you’ll have a better understanding of what product is right for you.
You guys all like RPG video games right? I figured at least some of you would. If you’ve ever played a good role playing game like assassin‘s creed odyssey, remember how the skill trees work. Skill trees are a great way to see a gradual progression of your character. I included a decision tree with a similar format to help you Arrive at a good understanding of whether or not you should get a noise canceling headphones or a regular gaming headset.
I figured this decision tree would be more helpful than reading thousands of words of information. It’s really easy to feel over flooded and not actually know what to do. The rest of this article will break down this decision tree in more detail if you would like more information on that. If you’re looking for specific products be sure to check out the section below on the top of gaming headsets and headphones that I recommend and have had some personal experience with.
The decision stream is based on the following questions.
Do you need noise canceling headphones? Some of you are hard-core gamers with families. The kids can start yelling, they can be making noise in the background and that can actually be very distracting to your experience. Maybe some of you use gaming laptops and like to game while traveling on a plane or in a crowded area. Having background noise that overpowers the games audio can suck.
Do you need a microphone when gaming? A lot of people game with friends online more often than they do not. A lot of people don’t even care about hearing game audio during a session. For many, especially competitive players, they prefer to be able to talk to their teammates with crystal clear audio. Determining whether or not you need a quality microphone comes into play when deciding if your money is better off spent on a noise canceling headphones or a regular gaming headset.
Do you care about game audio quality? If you’re spending time playing single player or open world games, then game audio becomes more important. Depending on what type of player you are, you might want a mixture of good make a quality as well as game audio quality. Unfortunately, there are a lot of products that don’t balance these two treats very well. It’s good to understand which one you value more, which products were better accommodate your needs. I personally play a lot of single player games, so game audio is important to me more than a quality Mike. As long as my friends can you hear me, I don’t care if it’s as high of quality as possible
Next we’ll take a look at how these factors come into play when deciding what type of headphone or headset you should buy
Gaming Headset Pros
Gaming headsets are usually less expensive. They try to be an all in one solution by including various features such as microphones, chat Diles, volume adjustment settings, and some other customizable features. It’s actually pretty difficult to make a good product that has all of these features and does it well. There’s a lot that goes into creating a gaming experience and one that has seem less communication with other people online. Gaming headsets are really good and giving the player flexibility to control their audio settings. Video game consoles such as PS4s and Xboxs don’t always allow this flexibility. With a gaming headset, you can change the bass and treble settings as well as the chat volume level very easily.
Gaming headsets are easier to use. They come with more features that allow them to be more universally compatible with whatever device you’re using. They can automatically connect to any sound card on any system because they come with the drivers that allow them to do so. This isn’t always the case with other studio headphones. Sometimes there are additional things you need to install an order for you to get the most out of your product. With gaming headsets, it’s pretty much plug and play. I won’t go to into the technicalities of how these work, but if you’re interested there is plenty of content on Google that explains how gaming headsets are different in this aspect.
Gaming headsets are usually very comfortable and they look really cool. A lot of them come with cool aesthetics if that something you value or if it complements the theme of your gaming set up. They are usually bill from a type of memory foam and good products are designed to sit on your head for hours on end and still remain They are usually bill from a type of memory foam and good products are designed to sit on your head for hours on end and still remain comfortable.
Gaming headsets come with lots of customization features depending on the product that you buy. Some of them have programmable buttons on the side that lets you utilize a shortcut for endgame audio settings. And they also let you switch between party chat and game audio. Some of them come with detachable mics if you’re not always in the need for one or playing a single player game. Usually getting a wireless or wired gaming headset is around the same price. There’s a lot of options you have available when looking for this type of product. There’s even a couple noise canceling gaming headsets that were a decent quality which are included in the section at the end of this article.
Noise Cancelling Pros
Quick note: when we say noise canceling, we’re talking about active and passive noise cancellation features. There is a slight difference that you need to be aware of when you are browsing for products. Active noise cancellation will invert the sound waves coming from the room and cancel them out. Consistent sounds such as the humming of a plane or a talking crowd in the background will be muted out almost entirely. Passive noise cancellation really is what’s called noise isolation. You will hear a white noise that is barely detectable at a frequency that blocks our other background sounds. Either option, they will cancel our background noise with the exception of sudden sounds such as a baby crying or someone suddenly yelling. Active noise cancellation headphones will eventually adapt to those sounds taken invert them at their frequency, but it won’t happen instantaneously it will take a couple of seconds.
Bose makes some of the best noise-canceling headphones on the market with the exception of the QC25. You can do a ton of research and find this to be true. I personally have used Bose noise-canceling headphones and I absolutely loved them for the time that I had them.
With noise-canceling headphones, you get what you pay for. I know this might suck if some of us are on a budget, but the higher quality noise canceling headphones really do wonders. That doesn’t mean you have to break the bank, but if you can invest a little more in a headphone specifically designed for noise canceling, then I would recommend it. The durability of those headphones will just be longer and better.
Noise canceling headphones reproduce game audio way better than gaming headsets ever well. This is also the case for any type of regular studio listening headphones. Companies that make these can invest more money into the audio quality instead of trying to create an all in one solution. Sometimes you end up with headphones that provide great game audio on the sacrifice on microphone quality or don’t have a microphone altogether.
If you don’t already have a dedicated headphone product, noise canceling headphones can be good for other activities too. It really depends on if you plan to use these headphones for activities such as working out, traveling on a plane, or other recreational use.
Gaming Headset Cons
A lot of gaming headset companies like to brag about how they can also provide noise canceling features with their products. While this is true for some brands, it is not the case with all of them. A lot of gaming headsets or knock off brands that don’t actually provide real quality. The sooner you can become aware of these knock off brands, the more you can shut out all the useless advertising that they come with.
Most gaming headsets are not that durable. Whether they have a noise canceling feature or not, they are always made by some cheap plastic material. Some brands such as turtle beach will literally break even if you take great care of them for a couple of months. This is because the headset companies try to create a jack of all trades product. They have to skimp a little bit on the durability of headsets in order to provide them at a reasonable price. I’m not totally sure why they can’t add a little more structure to them. My guess is that they intend headsets to only be used for stationary gaming and not to be taken anywhere else or put inside a backpack. I could be wrong, but I also can’t find any other information on this on Google.
Some gaming headsets are just downright overpriced. They come with a useless aesthetics that make them more expensive even though you’re not getting the exact quality that you’re paying for. That’s why good reviews are the most important metric to look at instead of the advertising that headsets come with. Forum pages such as Reddit are really useful too. It’s easy to do a price comparison between headphones and headsets. In more cases than not, you will find that you can get a better value for your money if you get a dedicated headphone with a noise canceling feature.
Gaming headsets are really bulky. It’s hard to find headsets that don’t come with a crap ton of cord. They often come with an auxiliary and a USB cord. These both have to be plugged in at the same time for you to get full use out of your headset. This sucks if you already have a lot of cords coming from your keyboard, RGB mouse pad, and gaming mouse. It also makes your set up look a little messy if you don’t manage cords well.
Gaming headsets don’t always fit well. They can be bulky in shape and not always fit around the size of everyone’s head. Some of them try to be a little too fancy by having double cushioned headbands that lose their shape easily. It’s hard to get headsets that have a perfectly good seal on them. Some headsets have more audio leak because of their design and that can be annoying. You also don’t get the full bass effect or audio quality if there is leak.
You can’t use gaming headsets for other activities.
Noise Canceling Cons
A lot of noise canceling headphones either don’t come with a microphone or don’t always have an amazing microphone quality. This is not the case for all products, but you’ll find this in more cases than not. Noise canceling headphones are more geared towards providing better audio quality and immersion. There is less consideration for microphone quality which could impact your gaming experience if this is an important aspect for you.
You might have to go with a standalone mic if you get a noise canceling headphones without a microphone. This is actually a super easy fix, and a link below to a video with some good resources if this is best for your situation.
Best Mics Under $50
Fifine USB
*Doesn’t pick up all the keyboard smashing. Directional audio if you point it directly at your mouth. Plug and play
Snowball Ice
*Padded surface makes voice sound really good. You won’t hear button mashing on this mic, it won’t pick up super fine details which is what you want for gaming.
Behringer Ultravoice Xm8500
*A cheap mic. If you don’t have some of these other accessories already, you might need some of these. This one is super easy to turn into a desk mic. Consider getting the XLR Cable and Table stand
Noise canceling headphones can’t block out immediate and unexpected loud sounds. They are really good at matching frequencies and blocking out things like the humming of a plane or a busy talking crowd. They are not good for things like A crying baby or a younger sibling making loud sounds and being disruptive.You can reduce the amount of disturbing noises, just know that it won’t be a complete hundred percent solution. I don’t think it needs to be in most cases unless your family is absolutely nuts with how much noise they make all the time.
Some noise canceling headphones fit pretty tight around the ears. They try to get the best seal possible but that doesn’t always mean they are extremely comfortable. I highly recommend reading reviews were people rate comfortability if you’re looking at a specific product. Sometimes these headphones can be particularly uncomfortable for people who wear glasses. They can push the frames of your glasses into your temples and give you a bad headache or make wearing them down right unbearable. I always go with headphones that are made from memory phone because I can speak from personal experience on this one.
If you were glasses and have experienced this issue with previous products, check out this article on the best gaming headsets for glasses wearers.
The majority of noise-canceling headphones are either wireless or battery charged. This means they don’t always do well with wear and tear over many years. They’re built with sensitive electronic parts that can get damaged if you don’t take care of them. It might be annoying for some gamers if they’re headphones cut in and out because they’re not fully charged. It would suck if you took these with you somewhere and couldn’t use them because you don’t have a way to charge them.
These might be a little overkill if you plan to only use them for gaming. If you game in peace because you’re a single dude or gal in a college dorm and don’t have a bunch of noisemakers around you, then it might not be necessary for you to get a noise canceling pair. This applies to other situations as well not just living in a dorm. Yes, these types of headphones make you feel more immersed but you’re also investing a little more in this feature. You might not be getting the best value if this feature doesn’t have a real utility to it.
Product Examples
Razer Kraken
The Razer Kraken has been some of the most commonly mentioned headsets on forum pages. Throughout all the research I did, there were a ton of people who recommend this. I’ve mentioned these in some other articles because they do a lot for a gaming headset, and they do it well.
Pros
- Super affordable price. It’s one of the best-rated gaming headsets in the United States.
- Noise canceling. When I was looking to purchase my last set of headphones, I had a really hard time finding gaming headsets that were also noise canceling.
- The mic isn’t sensitive. If you mash buttons or have a lot of background noise going on around you, the mic does a good job at isolating that. It will only pick up your voice
Cons
- Aluminum frame material. This makes the headset lightweight, but that also makes it more fragile. Be careful anytime you put these in a backpack or take them somewhere.
HyperX Cloud Flight- best for glasses wearers
HyperX is another one of those brands that continue to be recommended by tons and tons of gamers. If you do any research on what professional gamers use, a lot of teams go with HyperX. This one or the HyperX Alpha’s are highly praised by the Reddit gaming community.
Pros
- The microphone has what’s called a “noise cancellation” feature. The entire headset is not noise canceling but the mic will isolate all sound except your voice.
- Wireless: usually wireless gaming headsets are a lot more expensive than wired. This one isn’t and it hits the perfect sweet spot for price, quality, and everything else. That’s what makes them stand out.
- Memory foam makes them comfortable even if you wear glasses.
- Mic is detachable so it won’t always be in your way if you’re not gaming with friends.
Cons
- Make sure you keep the battery charged, it would suck if you sat down for a gaming session and they died on you. They last up to 30 hours though.
- Headset heats up a little bit if you game for more than 3 hours- that’s when it becomes noticeable but it’s not an issue.
I do not recommend the Bose QC25
If you ever come across these ones, I would skip them entirely. Bose usually makes excellent products but this model came out around 7-8 years ago. My brother and I used these ones when we lived together and played on PS4. The noise canceling feature was great, but they broke after 6 months. We left them on a headphone stand the whole time and we didn’t abuse them at all. They just weren’t built for durability. The newer models of Bose are a lot better but not this model.
Related Questions
Is there a way to make any headphones noise canceling? Not really. You would have to be pretty savvy with electronic parts if you really wanted to make this work. I found a detailed blog post of someone who figured it out if you’re interested.
Why do some gaming headsets break easily? I wrote an entire article on this if you’re super interested. Gaming headsets usually aren’t meant to be that durable. They try to come with all these features such as good mics, good audio, good bass, but they sacrifice on durability as a result of trying not to be too expensive. If you want a gaming headset that has superior mic quality and audio quality, then you’ll have to have a budget well above $150 unless you consider getting regular headphones that have better audio quality.
Do Beats work as a gaming headset? They actually work super well. They would be one of my go-to’s if I wanted a headset with good audio quality. A lot of their products also come with built-in mics. They’re a little more expensive, but they’re worth the investment because they will last you for years to come. Check out that article if you’re interested in some of their product examples.
Additional Resources
This site is great for finding good headphones. It’s a lot easier than Amazon to search for headphones with specific qualities. My favorite feature about it is that you choose your price range first and then find the headphone that best meets your other needs. Sometimes it’s discouraging to see headphones way above your price point even though you know those would be better.
Linus Tech Tips: I’m not sponsored at all buy this guy but I really like his content. It’s super useful and to the point. He talks about a wide range of electronic products in both home theater and gaming setups. His expert advice is the most spot-on too. Before I start searching for any products for gaming set ups, I usually go to him first to see what guidance he has on that type of product.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are some aspects worth being informed about before making a purchase. Hopefully you found this article helpful in your decision making. I like to re-iterate at the end of my articles, that there is no need to overthink any of these aspects. It’s good to get this information in the back of your mind so you have some sort of understanding that guides your purchasing decision. There is a lot of opinion on the web with regards to gaming headsets and headphones. At the end of the day, a product with good ratings and affordability can be perfect for you even though it’s night time we talked about amongst other people. With that being said, my best products that I have used were based on people’s insights that I took with a grain of salt that helped me make a slightly better purchasing decision. I didn’t always go with the top recommended thing that a Reddit user had, but it did help me understand what makes a good product.
If you have any additional questions or comments, feel free to reach out at the email I provide in previous articles. Every now and then I get email parts so I’ve stopped directly providing it, but you can easily find it in other articles.
I am also currently taking Oracle suggestions, so if you have any feel free to send those over my way. I check my email regularly and I’ll do my best to respond. As always, thank you for reading and be sure to stay tuned for the next article.
If you’re still in the buying process for gaming monitors and other products related to a gaming set up, be sure to check out some of the related articles below. They all have a similar format that is designed to be as useful as possible.