Decent headset with mic

[Sherwood]

Hey headphone friends.

 

Despite my great affection for good headphones, the pair that spends the most time on my head are a cheap logitech headset with 2 miniplugs -- one for the mic, one for the headphones.  I interview visa applicants for five hours a day, and I wear those shitty headphones to do it.  I think it's time for a change.

 

Ideally, I'd like a new set that meets three criteria, in order:

 

1) Some kind of gate or filter to block excessively loud noises.  Applicants often hit the microphone on their side with papers, and it's like 120dB or white noise.  Sennheiser has ActiveGard on some business headsets, and this seems to do the job.

 

2) Professional-looking.  The interview thing is emasculating enough, to have to do it with bad headphones.

 

3) Wireless, if possible.  I'm envisioning an adapter with a pigtail that has two mini plugs on it.  I could plug it in when I go to the window, and take it with me when I leave.

 

Do any of you use headsets?  Have any suggestions?  The best I've found so far are these, though they are not wireless.

[Torpedo]

I'd look into Sennheiser's aviation head-sets. Depending on budget you may find there one ear or both ear headphones with microphone, and even noise canceling ones. I have experience with none, but I've seen TV journalists using the HME-26 for car and motorbikes broadcasts. I guess they provide excellent noise protection and can be worn for hours. Probably more expensive than the set you looked at.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Torpedo

[Tyll Hertsens]

I'd be careful of aviation headsets as they are often EQed for speech intelligibility and are somewhat bright.

 

V-Moda has some good cables to adapt to two 3.5mm for computers, and their boom mic is pretty sweet.

 

Sorry, got nothing beyond that.

[Torpedo]

But he wants them for speech, don't you?

[Sherwood]

Correct, they will be used primarily for speech, though your point is well taken, Tyll.

[Leonardo Drummond]

I know it doesn't fit some of your criteria (no ActiveGard nor wireless), but I once tested a Sennheiser PC360 and liked it a lot. It's a HD5-something with a mic, so you get the traditional relaxed and laid back Senn house sound and it's also supremely comfortable.

[Grahame]

Yep, Tyler could rock what is an open "pro gaming" headset, without looking like it was designed by a 12 year old

 

 

Or the more recent  ( G4ME ONE , srysly) ... with the red accents

 

They have an inline volume control wheel , but maybe you should just plug the headphone out into something like

 

 

, or can you route the audio through software , end EQ / compress / limit via software plugins ?

[Leonardo Drummond]

^ is that what they did to it??

 

Another possibility would be to add something like this to any headphone you like. Seems pretty convenient, and is a constant recommendation in Brazilian forums for the gaming crowd!

[Sherwood]

It would have to be analog only (like the stompbox) because I am not allowed to use peripherals on our machines, for security purposes.  I'm pretty limited to the dual 1/8" (3.5mm) plug format for compatibility with an embedded system.

 

I could theoretically bring a self-contained system to run it through, but I would need to A) sneak it into a U.S. Embassy, and transport it every day from my desk to my interview window (which is not the same two days in a row, and is shared with other officers.)

 

So the USB sets are out, but I dig that HD595 clone.

[Nebby]

I use the 595 game version daily at home and it works very well. When the mic is rotated to vertical it automatically mutes it.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[DefQon]

+1 for HD5xx series and boom mic attachment, fairly recommended all over gaming and computer tech forums, had one myself (HD595 + Zalman boom mic). Can't really go wrong with the PC350/360 either.

[Sherwood]

I'm sure the HD5xx sound awesome, and are comfortable, but I think they're too far ass the "professional-looking" mark.  I can't see myself wearing those while I tell someone face-to-face that, due to U.S. law, they're not able to go visit their child in the hospital, nor attend their eventual funeral.  A certain solemnity is necessary that I feel they lack.

 

I do like the auto-mute feature, though.  That would be useful.

[Sherwood]

I'm sure the HD5xx sound awesome, and are comfortable, but I think they're too far off the "professional-looking" mark.  I can't see myself wearing those while I tell someone face-to-face that, due to U.S. law, they're not able to go visit their child in the hospital, nor attend their eventual funeral.  A certain solemnity is necessary that I feel they lack.

 

I do like the auto-mute feature, though.  That would be useful.

[Nebby]

A Plantronics headset perhaps? They're not really audiophile quality, but they have the professional look down pat.

[DefQon]

I've had a shitstorm of various advertised "grade" plantronics go through RMA and returns due to shit-stellar quality at my last workplace. 

Edited August 1, 2014 by DefQon

[CarlSeibert]

We have a boatload of Senns and Plantronics at work. They both work well. The Sennheisers look better and the booms stay in place better. Both seem to last well. The Plantronics have great spare parts availability. I would cruise their respective catalogs to see if they have something to match your feature needs. I think both lines have a good selection of dongles to connect to phones, computers, or whatever. Good office headsets nowadays all seem to have a proprietary connector on the cable that connects to an interface dongle of some sort. I think that's a good thing. It would be a better thing I'd the connectors were standardized and the dongles interchangeable between brands, but such is life.

I'm with Tyll on aviation headsets. They're all made for very specific environments (very different for aircraft type and mission role). I love my DC H-10-56s, but unless you're interviewing people in the back of a helicopter while holding a camera against your face, they would probably be a really bad choice.

Maybe because of the amount of time I've doing the headset / camera thing, I've become a maniac about booms. Boom or tube, hinges or flexy, mic type, those things can either be a joy or really get under your skin. It's personal and situation specific. Me, I'm all about the boom staying put and coming back to the right place after I shove it away to answer another phone or something. YMMV

(Speaking of which, I'm not fond of Plantronics tubes, the older ones anyway. They don't stay by my lips worth a crap. Just sayin.)

[Leonardo Drummond]

I'm sure the HD5xx sound awesome, and are comfortable, but I think they're too far off the "professional-looking" mark.  I can't see myself wearing those while I tell someone face-to-face that, due to U.S. law, they're not able to go visit their child in the hospital, nor attend their eventual funeral.  A certain solemnity is necessary that I feel they lack.

 

I do like the auto-mute feature, though.  That would be useful.

 

Why don't you go for one of the lesser Senns then? I've also tested the PC151s and – while that may be a bit too far at the other end – they sounded rather nice for the price, but then they look really bland and the build quality is very much on the simple side. It think it keeps the rotating mic with an auto mute feature, but then it doesn't have the handy volume control. Much more low key than the PC360!

 

I also keep the any-headphone-plus-Zalman-MC1 recommendation though, might well be your best bet cause it gives you a lot more freedom and doesn't loose much in other areas compared to regular headsets.

[Faithless]

My vote is for DT770 + Zalman Mic1.

My second is Beyer MMX300 or Senn GAME line.

[Grahame]

HD 800 + AntLion Modmic, oh wait ...