QPAD rolls out new high-end gaming headset
By Donald Melanson 
posted Dec 2nd 2008 12:58PM
posted Dec 2nd 2008 12:58PM
QPAD may be best known for its gamer-minded mousepads, but it looks like it's now branching out in the peripheral business with a little help from beyerdynamic, which has helped it put together its first gaming headset. From the looks of it, they certainly seem to be off to a decent enough start, with the headset boasting a frequency response of 5Hz to 30KH, ambient noise attenuation to around 18 dBA, a noise-canceling microphone, and a USB converter with volume control and a mic mute button. The ear and headband pads are also replaceable, but it looks like you just get one set with the headset. No word on a price just yet, but it looks like you'll get a fairly generous five-year warranty with 'em.
Looks like these are based on beyerdynamic DT770, headphones that are known for their awesome bass response and general high quality.
haha, a "little help" from beyer?
the only things different from the dt770s are the colors and the mic
Audio Technica A900 FTW. Audio Technica's wing system can not be beaten for comfort.
The world definitely needs more well constructed and designed headphone/headset combos. Didn't see any mention of price on their website, any clues?
Are there any decent headphones that are similar to this - stereo, mic with mute switch, decent isolation, decent frequency response etc that are bluetooth (i.e. compatible with mobile phones or PS3 etc?)?
Thanks
yeah, i'd also b interested in a decent wireless setup 4 my ps3 if anyone has any good ideas!
Now that Apple has invented phones with a mic attached, these are coming out of the woodwork.
Is this an attempt at starting an apple flamewar, or sarcasm, or both?
I hope, for the the sake of my faith in the future of mankind, that he was being sarcastic.
Are there any good wireless headsets..... at all?
Depends on what you are using them for I guess. I had the X4's to use on my Xbox360. I was happy enough with them but in the end returned them for the Astro A40's.
I thought the voice chat sound was decent for the x4's. Over all the sound was very good as long as you had line of sight with the hub. The bass was pretty good as well. They also made a decent headphone for watching movies and TV.
The A40's always seem to review so well but I wonder if mine are just defective. You have to keep the sound pretty low or else explosions will distort the audio really bad (as in cars exploding in Fallout 3). While you can use the A40's for your iPod / PC / PS3, they suck for watching movies or TV. But they aren't marketed for that purpose anyways. The massive amount of wires also is a bit of a downer.
The Astro A40 looks interesting. Thanks for the recommendation.
I wonder what they mean by the USB 'converter'...
I assume a DAC on a USB bus to avoid the line-noise you get from on-board sound chips. i.e. every laptop ever, and almost every desktop ever (sans the very few with a decent PCI sound card or external device). Even with a fairly cheap DAC, the improvement will be vast, especially with headphones with sensitive drivers (low impedance). Trying to use the built-in output from a macbook pro with IEDs is an exercise in unpleasantness.
Beyerdynamic makes the best headphones to ever adorn my head (the DT880's). If they can keep up the sound quality of the headphones, while implementing a mic that works well, they may have a hit on their hands.
I hope they don't price them like Beyerdynamic headphones though. The 880's ran me 300 dollars, and while these look more like re-badged 770's (200 dollars) they might try to charge a premium for the mic.
Beyerdynamic already sells some DT 770s with a mic on their online shop. The thing that is being reported on here is just a rebadged version of something that Beyerdynamic already sells. I think that the pads are different between the two, but besides that and the new graphics, there isn't much difference between the two.
http://shop.beyerdynamic-usa.com/aviation/headsets/hs-300-individual.html
"No word on a price just yet, but it looks like you'll get a fairly generous five-year warranty with 'em."
They already told what the price will be... around 2500 SEK + VAT = 3000 SEK = 300 € = 380$
"frequency response of 5Hz to 30KH"
I see that QPAD is aiming for a wide market. Humans AND dogs/mice.
30 KHz, is that really necessary?
10 bucks says it doesn't have anywhere near those extremes.
Would be great if it was 360/PS3 compatible. A lot of people don't have the space or money to buy big sound systems. I'm using the Tritton AX360's right now on my PS3 and they are amazing. They aren't perfect by any means, but if more companies were to pick up on this concept and make dual-purpose headsets that worked on PC/PS3/360 it would make life a lot easier for multiplatform gamers with little space. (ie: apartment dwellers)
They could even make tiered headsets. With/without microphones, and with/without surround sound. Mine aren't going to last forever and Tritton won't be making them forever either.
I saw the picture, didn't read the newsline, and realized they looked almost exactly like what I have on my head. I have DT880's, so I guess there's no meshy open thingy.
Awesome. The best gaming headset in the world. Unless someone puts a mike on a Denon D7000 or something equally crazy.