hey guys, so after many years of service I had to retire my Creative Tactics Sigma as the left earcup stopped working so after reading a bunch of reviews I bought a pair of Cloud IIs as they were one of the best reviewed ones. I am sooo disappointed: - I have an average sized head but even when stretched at max they feel like they are crushing my skull, that metal frame is so thick and the loop so small - being so tight my ears overheat in about 5 mins, especially the area where the pads clamp down. My own voice sounds like coming from a tunnel, again thanks to them being so tight. - the usb dongle with the volume controls is too large and so far down the from the headset that it just lays on the floor, I'm pretty sure I will crush it with my chair or step on it by accident. It also tugs on the headphones and if I want to change the volume or mute the mic I have to reel it in. - sound: I could maybe get used to or tolerate all of the above if they sounded as good as all the reviewers were saying they did but compared to the Sigma everything sounds like it's coming from inside a box and I can even here some sibilance with the highs. The 7.1 processing is also garbage. I know sound is subjective but I just can't understand how every reviewer was raving about these... I'm gonna give them a few more days... I have about 1 week and a half to return them So if there is anyone who had these, felt the same about them and found something better please let me know...Thx
I would say you have bought a defective set tbh. - I have just put my set on and they are not tight at all :/ in fact, they are just right, if I shake my head too much they (quite vigorously) they can fall off completely. I have the headband set to around half way as if I pull the cups down too much, they go too loose. They will loosen up over time though if you stretch them out as that is just the nature of the headband - I can't remember what mine were like at first as I have had them for a long time. -I changed the earcups to the soft ones, had no problems with them at all, I agree that the leather ones did get somewhat warmer and just didn't feel as nice. - yup, I agree with you here. This bit is a bit silly, but I don't use the dongle at all, I use a Y split jack and then I go into my Behringer desk to control levels and what not. I never use any 7.1 surround as I find it always just sounds rubbish, even when it is done very well. I have friends with Cloud IIs who put the cable behind their desk so that the USB dongle sits on their desk which seems a nice idea, but just pointless for me. - I find the sound stage incredible on mine, and on my original HyperX Clouds. They do far better than anything else I have tried around that price that isn't a studio headset. Now, as you mention this is subjective, but the sibilance isn't. What audio did you notice this on? There is a reason these headsets got huge (and the other clouds like the Revolver and the Stinger didn't) and that is because they do hammer the competition at the price point. Sure, there are better headsets and I only use mine when I am not using my Philips Fidelio X2 or my AT MSR-7s (these both do far better jobs, at different things, but I had to pay a lot more for them.) I would return them now tbh, either try another set and see if there is some kind of problem with these ones, or just return them full stop and go for something else. I can't think of anything around that price point that will beat them, but if you spend £30/40 more you will get into nice territory. Or, use a set of headphones and a decent mic with a dac/amp and get glorious sound <3 (although, this will take you up to around the £600 mark if you want to get half decent stuff)
thx davido...I will try the soft covers, they will probably feel better and I'll see how much they stretch...I keep them stretched on the box they came in at the moment it's kind of hard to see how the tightness could be a defect....if I just put them down the cups touch each other completely and I swear when I pull the cups apart a little and release them they literally snap back together like a trap as for the sound...maybe I am just used to my old headphones (had them for about 6 years) and these might just be different sounding not necessarily worse, gonna see how I warm to it in the next few days. what would you recommend as a step up? (£30 step up, not the £600 )
just a quick follow-up: I switched to the soft covers and they are much more comfortable, no sweating but there is much more sound leakage so you win some, you lose some stretching also seems to have worked as they seem a bit less clampy now but I can't get used to the sound...it's just not what I am looking for, sounds tiny to me...maybe they are defective, I can't tell as they don't sound straight up horrible oh and that f'ing dongle...it keeps hitting the ground if I don't clamp it to my shirt and I almost rolled over it several times in conclusion I will be returning them....question is what to get
I had a set of Steelseries 5H V2's for years as they were the only pair that I had found that a) we so comfy for my big head and ears that I could wear them for hours on end with no head or ear hurt, and no sweating, b) had a half decent sound and c) didn't break the bank. I bought these at i31 (2007) and they finally fell apart last year. I have been trying to find a replacement - as yet nothing comes close. The only ones I have found are the Corsair Void's, they have big ear cups, fairly light pressure and the sound is ok. They do make my ears hurt after 3 or 4 hours of wearing, but that's about the best I can get.
You could try this. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser...id=1503476807&sr=8-5&keywords=sennheiser+game
I can vouch for these - I've had the open back version of these for >5 years and they're just HD595s with a microphone. Great quality (especially the microphone) and very comfy.
We have had 2 pairs of the original clouds, three pairs of cloud 2's (probably more like 6 as we had three replaced due to one ear stopping working), a pair of Cloud silver pro's and finally just recently a set of cloud revolvers. They have all sounded great, my daughter especially rates the revolvers that she got recently claiming they sound better than her clouds and cloud 2's and has had comments from other people saying she sounds clearer on the mic with the revolvers. I use my cloud 2's daily and they really don't sound tinny, I think you have a faulty pair if I'm honest.
Sound is subjective like anything else. One man's tinny is another man's "OMG the bass !". I guess it all depends if he's been using proper headphones for many years, and then tried a gaming headset. Because if you have gaming headsets all sound awful unless you buy something meaningful (like that Senn). IE a proper set of hifi headphones with a mic stuck on
thx for the suggestions.... @Vault-Tec - I had a Creative Tactics Sigma pair for about 6 years I think...they are not proper headphones but I did like them much more tbh...I would buy them again if they still made them @cobalt6700 - the new Void Pros just came out today...they seem to have that loose fit I am used too and early reviews are good...might go for those
I don't know. What I do know is that no gaming headset can stand up to a real pair of headphones. You are mostly paying for the logo and convenience of having a mic. I stopped using gaming headsets years ago and switched to a Blue mic and proper headphones.
Of course. My Cheapy Logitech surround sound is never going to be as good as my expensive surround sound kit in the lounge but it does a good enough job for gaming.
Yeah gaming can be brutal tbh. That's why I don't use my Grados. I used to have a Turtle Beach headset that was out of this world. Had an amp and everything. Sadly the amp died HPA2? HFA2? something like that. Sadly I hear TB don't make headsets like they used to
