Couple of newbie questions

[Justin Swan]

Just got my license approved so happy days

Ok, if I install teamspeak will it work with my Xbox wireless headset ( I have Xbox receiver)
And do I need to change my race 07 driver profile to reflect my real name?

Thanks in advance and look forward to see a few of you guys on track

 

[Hiroshi Awazu]

Just got my license approved so happy days

Ok, if I install teamspeak will it work with my Xbox wireless headset ( I have Xbox receiver)
And do I need to change my race 07 driver profile to reflect my real name?

Thanks in advance and look forward to see a few of you guys on track

I'm not sure about the Xbox Receiver but yes you will have to change your profile to your real name.

 

[Marco Bijl]

I have no experience with the xbox as well. But, if it is listed as a standard microphone and speaker in the computer, it should be selectable to use in TS. Can you use it for MSN or something like that, it should not be a problem.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

Problem is, either you'll need to use the Xbox headset for sound as well, and afaik it's mono right? Else you'll have to use speakers for sound, and speakers + VoIP = bad idea!
Every time your mic opens for transmit everyone else will hear the sound coming from your speakers as well (I'm assuming your not running with two headsets on )
I recommend you to use a proper headset instead, there's a few out there that are decent while not breaking your wallet.

 

[Justin Swan]

Ok thanks for advise, I'll look into it. I assume a Bluetooth headset will give me the same problem? Ie ps3 headset.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

I'm not familiar with the PS3 headset at all so I don't know for sure, but I think that's mono as well. You can use it and speakers together but you'll have the mentioned problem with sound from your speakers feeding back into the mic. If you want wireless then there's several options out there meant for gaming. Wired or wireless you'll be FAR better off getting a headset made for gaming, but I recommend you to steer clear of the cheapest ones, even if some of them sound "ok" most of then have really poor mics. Aim for something above $30 IMO. Also pay no attention to the "5.1 surround sound" marketing jippo, unless you pay $100+ for your headset you're not gonna get much surround sound no matter how many labels they stick on the box
Some of them can be decent stereo headsets though but don't choose one over the other only because of the "surround feature".

Also, for convenience you could pick up a USB headset which has built in sound card, less cables and you'll get decent sound from them. They can't compare with regular headset (3,5mm plugs) and a good sound card (not the one on your motherboard).

I could go on forever about this subject but I'll leave it at that for now. Just ask if you want more tips. ^^

 

[Dave Flower]

I use a headset, its only a cheap one but its perfectly acceptable for race and even mumble positional sound in Project Reality - when I actually use it.. It's plugged into a two way splitter so I have sound through the headphones and the speakers. Most of the time I use the headset around my neck (not on my ears) with sound from my speakers and have not had any complaints about background noise or feedback (do not use voice activated like this, choose push to talk, or you'll drive everyone nuts!). If I use the headphones I turn the volume right down on the pc, so its really quiet from the speakers and turn the volume control on the headset right up - access to the back panel of my pc to swap plugs is very restricted, or I would swap.

 

[Justin Swan]

Is something like this what I need?

http://bit.ly/O6snnv

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

Yeah something like that though they are mighty cheap which in most cases means very poor. Might do it for you though, I don't expect everyone to spend £120 on a pair ^^
Worth keeping in mind when going for cheap headsets (besides poor sound) is how comfortable they are on, you'll prob be wearing them for at least a couple of hours non stop if doing races, don't want something painful on your ears then. Also build quality, breaking 3 pair of cheap headsets is as much as getting one proper that could last you for years.

 

[t.o.]

I just bought a pair of PX21 turtlebeach headsets but just yesterday I bought a pair of cheap rocketfish headsets from bestbuy. I returned the rocketfish but to be honest with you guys I'd rather have them than these turtlebeach. My only gripe with the Rocketfish was the need for batteries other than that I'm pretty sure I would have kept them. Infact I think I might take these overpriced turtlebeach sets back yet again. The "cheap" rocketfish is a single connection (USB) and you're done. The PX21 you have to do USB AND an audio jack to the CPU. Also the PX21 has a "feature" where it plays your voice back to you as you speak. I hear the plastic clip breaks easily and to be honest I notice zero sound difference between the two and if I'm to be honest I think the rocketfish sound "better". Only thing is the whole battery thing. Also to use with a non-usb device you'd have to buy an AC adapter since the base wireless module needs power and gets it from the USB port. I don't think the base takes batteries like the headset module does.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

I too had a turtle beach. X31 iirc, for Xbox. I weren't particularly impressed with it. Sound quality was fair but I expected better for the price. Worse was the quality feel of them, they felt like flimsy pieces of plastic that would break from a fart in their general direction. They did break, but under circumstances that would break most if not all headsets. But worst of all was the insane amount of noise they picked up (they're wireless), they would crackle and pop so loud that I often played without sound instead of using them.

There's a lot of good headsets out there, but for every good one there's at least 10 bad ones. Price sadly doesn't always give a good hint about quality either. If I where to recommend some brands I'd say Steelseries and Corsiar for the cheaper end and for real good ones I turn to Sennheiser. I've currently got the Sennheiser PC350 and I love it, but it's a very demanding piece of headset so you need a extra soundcard with built in headphone amp to drive them. On a onboard soundcard (on motherboards) they actually sound dull because it doesn't pack the punch these babies require.

Edit: the sound card doesn't need to be expensive at all. The ASUS Xonar series has built in amp and the cheaper ones are really dirt cheap while still beating the onboard soundcards by a substantial margin. Getting a dedicated soundcard is also way better in terms of sound quality compared to a USB headset, because of the limitations on USB ports ability to deliver power.