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Does anyone know anything about these?

How do I judge price vrs quality?

Are any brands better than others?

What are the range considerations?

I used to use Sennheiser RS120 headphones for a long, long time - the supra-aural design is a bit uncomfortable, and they tend to switch to static after a period of silence. RS130 fixes the supra-aural problem by using circumaural design instead.

The range's about 60 feet and the sound quality's between okay and good. One thing of note is that eavesdropping on these is effortless, and anybody within 60 feet can hear your computer's output if they so choose.

If they say they're wireless, but require a power cord that suspiciously fits into the headphone jack of a computer, they're probably a scam. Also, you probably shouldn't buy wireless headphones from a man selling them from his shopping cart.

Razer. Chimaera. 5.1. Surround. Sound. Wireless. Gaming. Headset.

That's really all that needs to be said! I had the Logitech G35 corded "surround sound" headset, but it started getting all crappy on me.. But I ended up receiving the Razer Chimaera 5.1 (works on Xbox 360 as well!) wireless headset for Christmas.

The base station is the charging dock, just plugs in over the top neatly, looks rather shiny too!

Seriously though, it sounds fucking incredible. Every single sound can be heard. I tested it with the music of Sir Bradley Rains. Checkpoint's Dance Mix and the Graham Stark-starring Santa & Me were.. Let's just say, a LOT clearer than my 5.1 Logitech actual speakers. I'm almost considering using these things full-time!

MattAn wrote:Razer. Chimaera. 5.1. Surround. Sound. Wireless. Gaming. Headset.

You're facing Razer against Logitech?

Just... no. Also, surround headsets? Also, no.

Surround headsets tend to be horrible compromises - much more so in the case of 5.1 surround headsets - and neither Razer nor Logitech (excluding their acquisition of Ultimate Ears) are known for their sound quality.

But either way, find a way to try the fit before buying. Eventually, the headphones being comfortable is more important than the sound - doubly so for wireless headphones.

taza wrote:

MattAn wrote:Razer. Chimaera. 5.1. Surround. Sound. Wireless. Gaming. Headset.

You're facing Razer against Logitech?

Just... no. Also, surround headsets? Also, no.

Surround headsets tend to be horrible compromises - much more so in the case of 5.1 surround headsets - and neither Razer nor Logitech (excluding their acquisition of Ultimate Ears) are known for their sound quality.

But either way, find a way to try the fit before buying. Eventually, the headphones being comfortable is more important than the sound - doubly so for wireless headphones.

Yes. Yes I went there.

The G35's height adjustment was horrible and clunky, the interchangeable head cushions at the top both sucked. Razer's height adjusters click into place brilliantly. The battery charger is at the top, in the middle of the awesomely comfortable head cushion and you don't even feel it.

It works for the 360 (in fact, it's optimized for it, goes with the Razer Onza controller too!), the G35's ear cushions were leather and tore shreds off rather quickly (Razer Chimaera's are soft cloth material so it fits much more smoothly), the sound quality was far too quiet on the G35's as well. To be honest, I was immensely disappointed with them.. The Dolby surround sound and voice morphing just simply fucking off randomly was extremely stupid as well. If I want Logitech sound, I'll use my Z-5500D 5.1 surround sound speaker system, thanks! But as for headsets and surround sound? Yes, the majority of them say surround sound but it's really "surround sound". I instantly noticed the difference testing the Logitech G35 and the Razer Chimaera 5.1. The Razer one obliterated the Logitech one.

MattAn wrote:Yes. Yes I went there.

The G35's height adjustment was horrible and clunky, the interchangeable head cushions at the top both sucked. Razer's height adjusters click into place brilliantly. The battery charger is at the top, in the middle of the awesomely comfortable head cushion and you don't even feel it.

It works for the 360 (in fact, it's optimized for it, goes with the Razer Onza controller too!), the G35's ear cushions were leather and tore shreds off rather quickly (Razer Chimaera's are soft cloth material so it fits much more smoothly), the sound quality was far too quiet on the G35's as well. To be honest, I was immensely disappointed with them.. The Dolby surround sound and voice morphing just simply fucking off randomly was extremely stupid as well. If I want Logitech sound, I'll use my Z-5500D 5.1 surround sound speaker system, thanks! But as for headsets and surround sound? Yes, the majority of them say surround sound but it's really "surround sound". I instantly noticed the difference testing the Logitech G35 and the Razer Chimaera 5.1. The Razer one obliterated the Logitech one.

Nooo. Not what I meant.

I said having Razer and Logitech compete for quality headphones is like having Microsoft and Sony compete for public approval.

I go to entirely different brands - like Sennheiser, AKG, Shure or Beyerdynamic - when I'm looking for quality headphones.

taza wrote:

MattAn wrote:Yes. Yes I went there.
the Logitech one.

Nooo. Not what I meant.

I said having Razer and Logitech compete for quality headphones is like having Microsoft and Sony compete for public approval.

I go to entirely different brands - like Sennheiser, AKG, Shure or Beyerdynamic - when I'm looking for quality headphones.

Are there any comparable statistics or is it just going to be kind of a crap shoot? I really know nothing about this type of product other than its better than my current options which are Headphones with 2-3 ft cord which go POOP! and pull out of the plug when I move my head, or 15+ft cords which are unruly.

taza wrote:Nooo. Not what I meant.

I said having Razer and Logitech compete for quality headphones is like having Microsoft and Sony compete for public approval.

I go to entirely different brands - like Sennheiser, AKG, Shure or Beyerdynamic - when I'm looking for quality headphones.

Ah, I see.. I only really know of Sennheiser, but didn't exactly like much of what was on offer. I like these Razer ones primarily for the Xbox 360 support (microphone and all!) and I'm genuinely impressed with the quality.. So yeah.

My first question would be how dead set are you on wireless? I have personally never found a wireless set that sound up to par. Many cheap sets have audible hiss from either their amps or their interface, bluetooth headsets *always* suffer from poor range due to the compression they need to use, don't let people tell you otherwise, go try some out, even £150 bluetooth headsets come out poorly against cheaper wired ones.

If you must go wireless go into your local pc-world, or whatever the equivalent is, and try some out, if they have none out get a sales assistant to let you try them, with a headset what matters most is sound so finding a set that sounds right to your ears is paramount, regardless of what other people think of the headset you chose.

In my location selection is very limited so I was trying to find out info and order online. Wireless is the only real option as want them for gaming and working out in the other room and with small children having extra cords around is bad.

I did some of my own tests.. I could still listen to crystal clear surround music of the Razer Chimaera 5.1's around 3-4 rooms away. Started to cut out and have a bit of static as I kept going, but it picked back up before I even got anywhere near my computer room's doorway.

This is brilliant for me because I'm a few steps away from my laundry and a few more from my kitchen, I can still keep listening without constantly pausing audio every time I leave the damn room! Worth it~!

Dibria wrote:My first question would be how dead set are you on wireless? I have personally never found a wireless set that sound up to par. Many cheap sets have audible hiss from either their amps or their interface, bluetooth headsets *always* suffer from poor range due to the compression they need to use, don't let people tell you otherwise, go try some out, even £150 bluetooth headsets come out poorly against cheaper wired ones.

Unfortunately, this. I tried a bunch of different wireless headphones a little while ago, and settled on some Sennheiser ones.. thy wreen't great -- there's still occasional static/hiss, and they're bulky -- but they work ok. I would not use them if I wanted to focus on some music, as opposed to doing something else while listening to music.

For Bluetooth ones, it -is- in theory possible for an uncompressed 44.1/48khz stereo stream to be sent over BT. But very few headphones actually support it. I had a pair of Logitech wireless ones from years ago that either worked on their own as BT headphones, or with an included dongle that you could plug in that simplified connection some. They sounded great, and they fit pretty well (around the ear with a plastic thing that goes around the back of your head... usually not comfortable for me, but these worked). Unfortunately, they were discontinued, and the plastic thing was pretty fragile. I haven't found another bt set that sounded anywhere as good.

Also, if you plan on using them to work out... most of them are very bulky. Dunno how well they'd stay on your head during a workout.

All that said, let us know what you finally settle on and how you like them... I'd love to find a set that's decent

If it's a matter of working out in the next room and you aren't bothered about audio quality you may find it easier to bodge something.

FM transmitters for car use etc are pretty cheap these days and you can pick up pocket FM radios very cheaply, I had a keyring a couple of years back that received FM and cost about £1. For maybe £60-70 or so you could get a pretty good wired set and those two pieces to have a high quality headset to use at your computer AND a wireless set that does the job for the next room or so, other advantages include the ability to switch to the radio if you want

I've done some work with wireless equipment in semi-professional setting and the result is always the same, wireless is convenient in the short term, a pain in the long term, be it batteries, signal issues, interference or whatever. A particular crime (though entirely unrelated) I'm sure anyone who's worked in tech will sympathise with is if you give someone a wireless mic they invariably walk in front of the speakers.