Guide for Buying a Gaming Headset

What’s important?

The top picks have been written with a lot more than the below in mind (anything that’s important from a usual pair of headphones, mainly comfort/weight, consistency and sound quality across bass, mids, and trebles) however when looking for a headset for gaming specifically, here are a few that we paid extra special attention to that you may want to understand:

Open-Back vs Closed-Back Headphones

Closed-back headphones are designed so that the cups completely cover your ears and isolate them from outside-sound.

This is the primary advantage of closed-backs; what this isolating effect tends to do is create a type of sound that often feels like it is “in your head” (typically, closed-back headphones have slightly better bass due to less leakage too, but this is not universal).

Note that this sound isolation is different from active noise cancellation, which is when headphones use in-built mics to detect ambient noise in the outside world and output “contrasting” noise in order to “cancel out” external sounds as much as possible. The only headphones on the list that excel in ANC are the Sony WH-1000MX3s).

Open-back headphones take the other approach. They happily leak sound through the more freeing cup design. Although on paper this may not sound great, what this does is allow the headphones to output a more “realistic” sound profile that emulates the kind of noise one might expect in a live setting (the common example is it sounds like “an orchestra playing in a concert hall” vs “an orchestra playing in your head”).

This is why you’ll find that once you get to the $300+ range, most headphones will be Open-Back, as the manufacturer is assuming you’re listening in a quiet place and desire the more realistic “studio-like” sound.

Which is better for gaming?

It depends.

Controversial opinion alert: I think for a majority of gamers reading this article, closed-back will be the better choice.

The noise isolation, “in your head” audio style and slightly improved bass (on average) all play into what I think the average gamer will prefer. If you are in an environment with any background noise, having that isolation is so valuable for anything from focusing in an e-sport to immersing yourself in a single-player game (what’s the point of good quality if you can hear your flatmate cooking?).

Of course, if you are in a very low-noise environment, would prefer a more natural sound and don’t have a problem with leakage then an open-air pair could easily be the better choice.

You may be wondering if open-air headphones leak sound to your microphone while gaming. In my experience, this isn’t an issue and usually isn’t picked up, but your mileage may vary (depends on your output volume and how close the mic is).

I will say that if I could choose anything on the list, it would definitely be the open-air Sennheiser HD 800 Ss (however it’s >$1,000 more expensive than the other options, so not a fair contest!).

Go with what your gut tells you between these two types, Closed or open, any of the choices on this list will be fantastic for your respective price range.

What is Sound Staging?

Sound staging is an important factor in your choice. Essentially, it’s the headphone’s ability to portray a large “stage” of noise. For example, a narrow sound stage portrays a smaller space like listening to an intimate performance; while a large stage will give you the audible “presence” of a large, epic space with lots of noise coming from various sources.

Both narrow and wide staging have their merits but for gaming, a larger sound stage is preferred (and is what we lean towards in our top picks).

What is Imaging?

Sound staging is often touted as the be-all-end-all of deciding gaming headphone quality. This is nonsense, imaging is just as important.

Imaging, simplistically, is the detailed positioning you can hear and the quality of those intricacies.

If you’re playing Counter-Strike, to what accuracy can you hear the footsteps of the guy behind you being accurately outputted in the right direction, is the intensity of the noise increasing as he comes closer to you? Is gunshot ricochetting of the wall to your right coming across clearly (not just in position but in quality)?

My favorite example is if sound staging is the stage, imaging is the orchestra; and the better the imaging is, the better and more clearly they play (in combination with treble, mid, and bass accuracy).

Unlike sound staging, imaging is either “good” or “bad” and we have focussed on headphones that produce excellent stereo imaging for the top picks.

Final Word

There’s been a lot to go over in this list and you may feel overwhelmed by the end. If so, please let me reiterate one last time: these are all great options. For your average gamer, we most highly recommend the DT 770 PROs, but I assure you that if you’re new to the “audiophile world”, you’re going to have a great time using any of these headphones while gaming.