The Best Gaming Headsets for 2023 — Audiophile ON

Buyers Guide: Gaming Headsets

RGB lights don’t make a good gaming Headset

Many factors come together to make a good gaming headset, and I will tell you right from the get-go that style and RGB lighting are not one of them.  Let’s face it, you are not wearing your headphones out of the house, and for that reason alone, there is absolutely no point in choosing a gaming headset based on how they look. 

Get that into your head right now, as hard as it might be to understand.  All the fancy RGB lighting and crappy graphics won’t make you play better. Oh, and you can be damn sure no girl will ever mention how excellent your gaming headset is.  Look for sound performance as a key deciding factor as well as comfort.

Build Quality Does Matter on Gaming Headphones

I don’t know about you, but I am careless with my gaming gear.  When I get something new and shiny, I treat it well for the first couple of weeks, and after that, I’m not surprised if I have left my headset lying on the floor or even raged and thrown it off a wall.  Oh, and let’s not pretend any of you haven’t stood up without taking your headset off and proceeded to drag your entire PC to the bathroom with you.

Chances are, your headset will get beat up over time, so it’s a good idea to have something well-made and up to the abuse.  Key areas in our testing for durability were the headband sliders, earcup swivel points, and cable.  However, we also gave extra points to headphones with durable pads and finishes.  Higher quality plastics and the use of metals in critical areas of the headphones were also greatly received.

Your Comfort Is Important When Gaming.

Realistically, we are talking about multiple hours of gaming in single sessions, so we don’t want to spend that time with an uncomfortable headset on our heads.  We want to focus on two things when it comes to comfort. The gaming headset must have comfortable cushioning on both the earpads and headband. We also need to pay attention to the amount of clamping force exerted in a lateral direction.  

When testing these headphones, we found that full over-the-ear (circumaural) headphones worked better than the more compact on-ear variety, and as such, we only included such designs in this list.  

Clamping force is down to personal preference, but just be aware that if you use headphones with intense clamping action, they are great if you move around. Still, pressure points can become irritated after multiple hours of usage.

Audiophile headphones can be used for gaming with in-game chat through additional microphones! Here’s How!

In our list below of the best gaming headsets, you will notice that some options do not have an inbuilt microphone. 

This doesn’t mean that they cannot be used for in-game chat. It just means you must use them with an add-on gaming microphone.  The good thing is that these expand your options to some genuinely exceptional-sounding headphones. That works well for both your gaming fix as well as music listening.  You don’t have to spend a fortune as most of these add-on microphones are reasonably priced. We have listed two of our favorites below.

Sound is essential – positioning and ambiance.

The sound matters more than anything. There are three things that we found to be important regarding sound and the best headphones for gaming. 

1. Immersive audio – If you are not looking for a competitive gaming headset and are just trying to immerse yourself in the experience, headphones with enhanced low-end frequencies tend to work best.

2. Clarity and Sensitivity – Low background interference and low hiss were important. Still, the overall feeling of sound being accurate and identifiable (footsteps, cans, pills etc) being audible from a distance could give you the edge over your opponents.

3. Space and positioning – Identifying the direction of sounds was key in certain games like PUBG and other FPS platforms. Knowing which direction your enemy is coming from and how far away they are can be vital to improving.