Medusa Headsets - Cheapest in/to Ireland?

oceanclub

Wanted to buy a Medusa surround-sound headset, but the shipping prices I'm being quoted from the UK are ridiculous, around UK£25. Checked komplett but they don't have them. Anyone know if they are available in Dublin, or if there's an online shop who do them with reasonable P&P?

P.

L31mr0d

They. are. rubbish... avoid like the plague. bullets fired behind you will sound like pebbles being flicked at a corrugated steel roof. The "rear" speakers are diabolically bad

Plus the supposed amp is highly susceptible to interference from anything wireless, whether it be skype phones, your mobile, your wireless router, hands free land line units... etc.

They are heavy, uncomfortable, awkward and the whole 5.1 experience is a gimmick. You'd be better off getting either A) A cheap physical 5.1 speaker setup (the basic logitech range would suffice) or some HD cans. I'd personally recommend anything by Sennheiser.

oceanclub

I'm surprised by that, as I've seen so many reviews raving about them.

I wanted to get away from a speaker setup, as my computer is now in the living room and I've nowhere really to put the rear speakers - the wall behind the desk is quite a distance away, and I already have one set of surround sound there for the TV/XBox.

P.

Kinetic^

If you want a good headset/headphones then buy Sennheiser. I've got the 555 and the RS140, both of which are great.

L31mr0d

oceanclub wrote: »

I'm surprised by that, as I've seen so many reviews raving about them.

They will disappoint you. You can't effectively reproduce a true 5.1 experience in headphones, and due to the different speakers within the headset not all of them sound the same. Like I said I found the rear speakers particularly bad.

That being said, some people like them. Although since you already have a surround sound setup on your Xbox they will feel like a severe downgrade in quality. Personally I found I had a better surround sound experience from using HD quality 2.0 headphones and CMSS 3D emulation.

Also, most games for PC come with built in surround sound emulation to let you hear things behind you.

Listen to this demo with any bog standard set of headphones to see what is possible with good audio processing.

http://www.militantplatypus.com/blog/archives/3787

Jazzy

kinetic and leimrod speak the truth. i had two pairs of medusas, both broke within a month. they are shoddy, tacky headsets. when i first got them someone told me that medusas were for ppl who didnt know what good sound was. i was like "cha right chap" and didnt listen to him... alas he was bang right. i got a set of sennheiser hd280's after my second medusa broke (they are flimsy) and my god the difference. it still serves me well today and they are robust as f**k.

oceanclub

No mics on any of those Sennheisers, correct?

Anyway, I already have 2 decent headphones (Sennheiser HD585 and Creative Fatal1ty) for my X-Fi card; it was really one that combined surround sound with mic I wanted. Annoying to know that surround sound hasn't been done well yet. I'll probably try looking into getting an unobtrusive surround sound set (something with small, wireless rear speakers).

P.

thebman

Yeah using regular headphones and virtual surround sound seems to work well in my experience.

I have a 5.1 system too and found sennheiser headphones with virtual surround sound to work better than the 5.1 system for Back to the Future movie.

Virtual surround sound is cack through speakers as everything has to be in specific places with a certain room design. Works fine for headphones though as they are always on everyones heads.

I use Sennheiser HD215 for everything. Great quality and comfortable for playing games with over long periods of time.

oceanclub

To get that pseudo-surround sound (I have a X-Fi card), in each game itself, do I select "headphones" or "surround" as the output option?

Also, so I need to set any specific settings in the Creative software?

Cheers,

P.

Kinetic^

Also, get a standalone USB mic. The amount of people I know who have had their mic break on their headsets is unbelievable. Should get one for €20.

Jazzy

Kinetic^ wrote: »

Also, get a standalone USB mic. The amount of people I know who have had their mic break on their headsets is unbelievable. Should get one for €20.

where? my one from the 90's broke last week novent4me

Griffin87

Definatly dont get the medusa's, i got a pair about 2 years ago and they are uncomfortable. lucky the microphone was broke when it arrived so i could send it back for a rma.

I currently using the seinheisser HD 595 with a zalman clip on mic. I reasearched on few hardware enthusiast sites and found out that a seinheisser HD series headphone paired with the zalman clip on mic was perfect for games .The sound is fantastic and they are very comfortable.


I bought zalman mic from tekheads as they were the only company i could find that would deliver to ireland.

Zalman ZM-MIC1 Microphone
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=605798

thebman

oceanclub wrote: »

To get that pseudo-surround sound (I have a X-Fi card), in each game itself, do I select "headphones" or "surround" as the output option?

Also, so I need to set any specific settings in the Creative software?

Cheers,

P.

Surround so that it sends all parts of the surround signal then the software should separate them out and do its magic via the headphones. Can't find the software again for my Vaio after reformatting. Its all on Sony's site but I downloaded everything for my computer and can't find the installer for it so just gave up lol.

TheDoc

I got a pair of icemat siberias for me and a friend, great rave reviews.

One set came broken in packaging

Second set broke , on my head, after a weeks use.

No in epic battle to get the ***** i bought it off to replace them.

Just goes to show, I use a pair of seinheiser i paid nothing for, have mic included on them, i just wanted something fancier, but they are jsut bullet proof.

They do hoever cut the ears off me after a few hours.

Kinetic^

Jazzy wrote: »

where? my one from the 90's broke last week novent4me

I got mine from Elara.ie. I picked it up as well so saved on the delivery. Try Komplett as well, may have something.

ProjectColossus

L31mr0d wrote: »

Listen to this demo with any bog standard set of headphones to see what is possible with good audio processing.

http://www.militantplatypus.com/blog/archives/3787

That is damn cool.

oceanclub

ProjectColossus wrote: »

That is damn cool.

That's gobsmacking brilliant (I almost started giggling in work at the bag-over-head bit) - how comes gaming sound cards still can't produce that quality of 3D over headphones?

P.

Burgo

+1 for headphones and zalman mic, beats the crap out of headsets any day.

Jazzy

L31mr0d wrote: »

Listen to this demo with any bog standard set of headphones to see what is possible with good audio processing.

http://www.militantplatypus.com/blog/archives/3787

its fricken amazing with my x-fi and hd-280

kastasR

i have Sennheiser pc350 really happy with its a bit expensive but really worth money.

Kinetic^

USB Microphone. I couldn't find one on the Komplett site. It's the same one that I have now, it works great.

Griffin87

i think youed be better of getting the zalman mic i linked as it clips straight on the headphone lead you dont need to have anything on the desk at all.

its cheaper too

Overheal

I trust Logitech. They havent done me wrong so far, and have been very good with warranties.

Hody

I have the Meduse 5.1 USB since years, very happy with them and wouldnt change them for the world. I can highly recommend them!

superfly

www.dabs.ie have a good selection of Sennheisers

Menengroth™

oh look, its 3 months ago, brb, going to buy & sell some shares.

noodler

L31mr0d wrote: »

They will disappoint you. You can't effectively reproduce a true 5.1 experience in headphones, and due to the different speakers within the headset not all of them sound the same. Like I said I found the rear speakers particularly bad.

That being said, some people like them. Although since you already have a surround sound setup on your Xbox they will feel like a severe downgrade in quality. Personally I found I had a better surround sound experience from using HD quality 2.0 headphones and CMSS 3D emulation.

Also, most games for PC come with built in surround sound emulation to let you hear things behind you.

Listen to this demo with any bog standard set of headphones to see what is possible with good audio processing.

http://www.militantplatypus.com/blog/archives/3787

When he says left I am hearing it (with my HD201's) in the right and vice versa, why is that?

Excellent btw

L31mr0d

noodler wrote: »

When he says left I am hearing it (with my HD201's) in the right and vice versa, why is that?

Take off the headphones, have a look at the side of them. The one with the little "L" goes on your Left ear.

noodler

L31mr0d wrote: »

Take off the headphones, have a look at the side of them. The one with the little "L" goes on your Left ear.

Amazingly, I already thought of that smart ass.

Very strange, so when you listen to it, and he says stuff like over to your right ear, you are hearing it in your right ear?

Did SennHeaiser F up the labels?

Just tried another pair and its the same. Must be something to do with my stereo. Maybe I have the Lspeaker in the right socket and vie versa? Didn't think that would affect earphones tho.

TomCo

I use a little twisty tie thing (what the hell are those things even called?) to attach a small Dell microphone to the cable of my audio technica cans for ventrillo.

Couldn't really justify buying the zalman mic because this setup works so well.