The Edge - Headsets - The List, manufacturers

Looking for the perfect headset for gaming.  We are.  Well, maybe not perfect, at least the headset that's perfect for us and our style of game playing.

This article will deal with the contenders and the pretenders, what's available, a list of the players, what's in the mix of headset offerings.

But first, we're going to touch on the some basic definitions of headphones, headsets, microphones and how they apply to seeking a great setup - finding the sonic edge.

The Definitions.  These are just impression definitions, think more urban than Webster, from our initial research to find what's out there. More definitions can be found in future articles.

Headsets and Headphones - The difference between a headset and headphones is an integrated microphone with the headset, headphones do not have a mic, simple enough.  To be clear these articles deal primarily with headsets, although, a  headphone with separate microphone setup could be considered.

Headset connectors - Here we are only touching on the headset connectors, not the connections.  Most headsets use one 3.5mm jack with four contact points which carries both the stereo information for the incoming sound and the outgoing microphone information or two 3.5mm jacks one jack for stereo and a separate connector for the mic.  We'll either have one or two wires from the headset.

Driver - Most of us use the term speaker to describe both a speaker and a driver.  Speakers are the box, connectors for the incoming wires, the internal wiring and all components that make up the unit including the drivers.  The word speaker can and is commonly used instead of driver to describe the driver of the speaker as well as the entire unit.  When talking about speakers confusion can ensue if the term driver is not used.  When talking about headsets the confusion is not there, so, please excuse me if I use the term speaker to describe a driver.  I'll try to use the proper term, thus the explanation.

Surround sound - Headsets for gaming systems are capable of 5.1 and 7.1 surround.  Some headsets use multiple drivers per ear, some use one driver per ear, and there is a third method used by one manufacturer that we'll discuss in a future article.  The multiple driver setups do what they call 'true' 5.1 surround sound inferring that the one driver per side, also called binaural, headsets can't generate accurate surround.  The binaural headsets use in-line sound cards (the headset connects to the sound card which connects to the console) to generate surround sound.  Binaural headsets claim to use higher quality single drivers that are capable of reproducing sound more accurately than multiple driver setups that use smaller drivers.

The List

This part of the project is a bit daunting, compiling a comprehensive list of  available headsets as well as headphones and microphones that can be used in tandem with gaming systems.  So, we're going to focus on headsets.  Headphone with separate mic setups could be great for some, but for us it would be cumbersome.  We game with a console rather than a PC.  PC gamers sometimes use the separate mics, but I couldn't imagine that type of setup practical for consoles.

Also, you can through the word 'comprehensive' out of the window.  There are companies throughout the world who make headsets that could be used for gaming, however aren't designed for gaming or aren't available to the US market.  At any rate, the list will be as complete as possible and will be open to suggestions and updates.

The initial installment of the list that follows is going to be global and then expand and then start elimination.  We'll start with a list of manufacturers.  In the next post we'll expand the list to include the headset models available from each manufacturer.  The next step will be categorization, deciding on parameters for categories and assigning headsets to various the categories.

In addition to the basic outline, other articles will be generated to clear issues and discuss topics along the way.  Note that some of these may not make headsets and will be eliminated if that's the case.

Manufacturers


AKG
Altec-Lansing
Astro
Audio Technica
Beyerdynamic
Creative Labs
Cyber Acoustics
Dr Dre
DreamGEAR
E.D.G.E Acoustics
eDimensional
Genius
Ideazon
Intec
JayBird
Logitech
MadCatz
Microsoft
Motorola
Nintendo
Plantronics 
Psyko
Razer
Sennheiser
Skull Candy
Soft Trading
Sony
SteelSeries
TekNmotion
Tritton
Turtle Beach
V-Moda
Voyetra

The next article will expand the manufacturers list to include headset models, but for now post any additions needed for the list.

Thanks again for viewing.