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Complete and well-functioning gaming equipment is essential for one’s gaming experience. Although your gaming peripherals don’t determine how good you are, it creates a difference in your gaming experience and comfort. It can be frustrating to encounter audio and sound issues during your game, which could significantly affect your gaming session.
Fortunately, gaming headsets offer a practical solution for your audio needs. These headsets come with a microphone and long cords that are suitable for gaming setups. With numerous options available in the market, it’s difficult to find the perfect one. Here are the five qualities of a good gaming microphone that you should take note of:
1. Budget-Friendly
Price steers people into buying a product or not. Keep in mind that not all affordable gaming headsets contain cheap materials and not every expensive gaming headsets have the best quality. Your best option is a budget-friendly gaming microphone with a competitive audio quality and performance.
There are gaming headsets that cost under USD$100 that offer excellent audio quality. This is great for people trying to save money but are looking for features similar to expensive ones. As the price increases, the quality usually improves as well. However, USD$200 headsets and up are designed for more serious and excellent gamers.
2. Great Isolation And Sound Qualities
While there are mics that can pick up even the softest sounds, it shouldn’t be sensitive enough to detect background noises. Microphones should receive a well-modulated voice with a distance of six to eight inches away without detecting excess feedback, static from breathing, keyboard clicks, and desk vibrations.
When choosing a gaming headset, consider the type of microphone that comes with it. It’s better to select a condenser or dynamic microphone designed to detect the speaking voice without delays while canceling background noises.
Keep in mind that poor isolation also alters sound reception. The material and size of the headset pads affect the efficacy of the seal. If the pad doesn’t fit around your ear, look for bigger or smaller headsets or opt for replacement pads. For people who wear glasses, consider a gaming headset that has eyewear channels or velour pads.
3. Convenient And Comfortable To Use
Gaming helps in stress management but choosing the wrong headset can contribute to your stress. Aside from looking at the price and sound quality, comfort and convenience should also be your top priorities.
Playing for a long time with an uncomfortable headset is extremely painful and limits focus. Sweat, friction, and trapped heat can accumulate and trigger discomfort and irritation after some time. Extra weight or pressure in the wrong spot also gives neck pain, sore ears, skin rashes, and headaches.
To prevent these problems, opt for gaming headsets that provide comfort and fit your head perfectly.
4. Sturdy And Durable
Gaming headsets are exposed to wear and tear since they’re used for several hours, and the headband is usually made of plastic. Microphones created with cheap plastics snap easily even with a little bit of pressure or tension. So, instead of using a headset made with cheap plastic, find something that has more durable materials for long hours of gaming.
Investing in gaming microphones made of wire or metal frame adds to its longevity and added design feature. Also, leather ear cups are the best choice for durability, but velour allows air to circulate and provides more comfort.
For the clamp force, a tight feeling on your head exerts pressure while weak clamping causes the headset to fall easily. Lastly, lighter microphones are more convenient to use, but you shouldn’t disregard heavier options as these are more hardwearing; thus, adding extra cushion can alleviate discomfort.
5. Easy To Assemble
Gamers need a rich audio quality to improve their performance, but it’s also necessary to use a gaming headset that’s easy to set up. You have to ensure that your equipment doesn’t interfere with the usual operation of the gaming computer and that you can set it up even if you’re a beginner.
Usually, you only need to plug in a gaming headset. However, if you’re not familiar with the ports of audio, it can be tricky. Here are the steps on how to set up your gaming headset on your computer.
- Locate the computer’s physical audio output
- Check the headset connectors
- Plug it into the port
- Organize the sound output on the computer
- Perform a mic check
Also, there are gaming headsets that require other components such as preamplifiers, extra cables, audio interfaces, and phantom power supply to boost its features. Thus, when selecting your microphone, check the features and see if there are no additional components needed for an easier and faster setup.
Takeaways
The equipment you use isn’t the basis of your skills; however, with the right equipment, even an amateur gamer can have a boost in performance. When finding the right equipment, ensure that you review the product’s specification sheet and consider the qualities mentioned above to end up with a good gaming microphone.