I don’t know about you, but headsets are something that I spend a pile of time on. Getting a headset that fits well, sounds good, and has basics like a long enough cord, is not always easy.Â
I’ve always been a fan of Plantronics sets. They tend to be a little pricy, but they also tend to be very good quality. My dog ate my last one a little while ago (she’s a puppy, and chews). Recently I’ve been using the new .Audio 340 Behind-the-Head Multimedia Headset
The 340 is sleekly styled, and at $29.95 relatively inexpensive. With an 8 foot cable, I can wear it while sitting at my desk and still move around easily. The integrated mute button and volume controls have a convenient clip on the back as well, so they can be easily fixed to my shirt. And it’s comfortable as can be.
Most importantly, 340 has deep rich sound, and does a very credible job of reproducing bass tones. You could easily use these headphones for VoIP calls (as I primarily do), or listening to music, or playing games. They’re that good.
What could be better? The biggest single addition would be a USB version. Then I could hear Skype ring through my PC speakers, and use the headphones for the conversation. It’s a small complaint.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
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Yeah – that whole 500 series looks pretty good to me. Maybe I'll have to comb ebay.
So you want what I bought last week, the Plantronics DSP500 multimedia USB headset. It cost me around $45 on amazon.com, and it has a high quality headphone feel with deep rich bass so low that I sometimes pull them off to make sure that my subwoofer isn’t on by accident.
I use a DSP500a lot myself Alec. It’s an awesome headset, althought you mention Skype and it’s a bit quirky with USB headsets. If you never unplug it you’ll be fine. Every time you unplug the DSP 500 Skype goes back to Windows default sounds devices and forgets about it. Martin has the same problem. I think he uses a DSP400.
Well, Skype is pretty busted that way, Ken. Just don’t unplug it, I guess.