The best gaming headset is one of the most surprisingly powerful upgrades you can make to your gaming setup. The impact good game audio can have on your experience can be huge. Surrounding yourself with a detailed soundscape, as the developers intended, will ground you in a game world like nothing else.
The headsets on this list are chosen from the dozens the PC Gamer hardware team and myself have tested. Between us we've got decades of experience of the best and worst audio gear ever made. Considering all the options, we've decided today's best gaming headset is the Razer Blackshark V2.
If you want to ditch the cord, the best wireless gaming headset is the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless. With great audio and a class-leading 300 hours of battery life, it's an easy recommendation. If you prefer to spend a little less, the Corsair HS55 is the best budget gaming headset.
Dave's been an audiophile since his time running Techradar's Home Entertainment channel around half a million years ago (give or take). Having tested the whole spread of different quality gaming gear, including $51,000 headphones, he's best placed to say which budget cans still sound good, and which high-end headsets are worth the cash.
The Quick List
The best overall
The return of the king. The HyperX Cloud Alpha is the best gaming headset, delivering fantastic audio with plenty of bass response all for a low price. It's comfortable and the microphone stands up to scrutiny. You can't go wrong.
The best budget
The Corsair HS55 Stereo is the best budget gaming headset and improves on the HS50 with better comfort and sound. It has soft earcups, a light weight and a detachable mic. It has a simple design and no extra features, but it is great value.
The best wireless
The Cloud Alpha Wireless is the best wireless gaming headset for PC gaming. It has superb sound, a clear mic, and DTS surround sound. It’s also light and comfy, with a whopping 300-hour battery life. It’s the best wireless headset we’ve tested so far.
The best wired audiophile
The best audiophile gaming headset has to be the DT 900 Pro X. With a great build and comfort these cans are ideal for long hours of gaming. They are also perfect for critical listening with a well-balanced sound profile that delivers adequate warmth and boom without muddying the sharp highs.
The best wireless audiophile
If you want the best audiophile wireless gaming headset around look no further than the Audeze Maxwell. This pair of planar magnetic cans offers outstanding, drool-worthy audio quality for gaming and listening to music.
The best microphone
The best gaming headset microphone comes attached to the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xSTS StreamSet, which holds the lofty goal of replacing your desktop mic streaming setup with one headset capable of delivering high-quality audio from both ends. It delivers this with aplomb and a price tag that's none too punishing.
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The best noise cancelling
With an active noise cancellation system tuned for gaming, the AceZone A-Spire is perfect for anyone needing to block out a noisy environment and immerse themselves in gaming aural bliss.
The best earbuds
If you're looking for something a little more discreet, these are some seriously impressive, easy-to-use, low-latency ear buds from JBL. Their noise cancelling is great, too, but enabling it does cut the battery life almost in half.
Recent updates
Updated October 22, 2024 to ensure our recommendations are still the best in each category (they are) and swap out the previous "best gaming headset for streaming" section to a new "best gaming headset microphone" section, because what makes the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xSTS StreamSet stand out is its cardioid mic.
Best gaming headset
✅ You want one of the best sounding gaming headsets: There's really no better option that the HyperX Cloud Alpha for the same money, providing you don't want to cut the cord entirely.
✅ You need a headset for work and play: You can wear the HyperX Cloud Alpha throughout a work day and still find it comfortable enough to game in after the work day is done. Trust us, we've done this plenty of times ourselves.
❌ You'd prefer a wireless headset: It may go without saying, but this isn't a wireless design. A wireless gaming headset is one of life's little luxuries, and if you'd prefer to pick one of those up then take a look at the best wireless gaming headset. Don't be surprised by what you find.
The best gaming headset in 2024 is the HyperX Cloud Alpha—the return of the king. While Razer's BlackShark V2 gaming headset was able to dethrone the Cloud Alpha previously, it's no longer widely available in many regions. The Cloud Alpha, however, is easy to find and frequent discounts put this wonderful gaming headset back into the spotlight once again.
What's special about the Cloud Alpha gaming headset is how it sounds. That should be a given, right? Yet it's easy to get distracted with extraneous features that don't altogether matter much when looking for a gaming headset. The Cloud Alpha, however, is a simple beast. It delivers fantastic audio that's really difficult to match for the same money.
The Cloud Alpha produce a hearty bass response from 50mm neodymium drivers. That's key for gaming. It means you can feel the explosions or the hum of a sports car, and you absolutely get the best out of a game's soundtrack. But it's not only the powerful bass that impresses here. This headset offers fantastic clarity and definition throughout mids and highs.
HyperX achieves such impressive audio quality thanks to the use of a two-chamber design on the Cloud Alpha. Each earcup's driver is separated into two chambers, which effectively reduces distortion that might muddy the bass with the mids and instead maximises articulation.
The ability to deliver crisp and indulgent audio all at once is what separates the Cloud Alpha from the rest. Razer's BlackShark V2 headset is also very capable in this regard if you can find it for a good price.
The Cloud Alpha is also a stand-out gaming headset for its other attributes. Namely, it's hella comfy. The padded earcups and headband are comfortable over long periods and we've used this headset day-in, day-out for entire work days and never run into any issues with its comfort.
Our one complaint in 2024 with this headset would be that it doesn't come with a flip-to-mute microphone, but the detachable one included is still a great quality unit and comes through loud and clear during online gaming or voice calls.
Don't be put off by how long this headset has been around. HyperX has gotten so much right with the Cloud Alpha, it doesn't need changing. That age actually helps us on pricing, as this headset is regularly available for under the asking price and further discounts are plenty. For a wired gaming headset, you really can't go wrong with the HyperX Cloud Alpha in 2024.
Read our full HyperX Cloud Alpha review.
Best budget gaming headset
✅ You want a quality all-round headset for less: The HS55 is a well-made piece of kit for the cash. There's no major drawback to any of it.
✅ You value a quality microphone: If you're struggling to be heard over Discord, the HS55's microphone arm comes through loud and clear.
❌ You can spare a little more budget: If you can spend a bit more on your gaming headset, the Cloud Alpha is a really good get and often very affordable.
The best budget gaming headset going, the Corsair HS55 delivers an impressive package of quality audio, a handy microphone, and a good build quality. Not often will you find such a well-rounded headset going for so little.
The HS55 headset is much comfier than Corsair's previous budget models. The plush earcups on the HS55 make for a stark comparison to the HS50's stiff and unbudging foam. The HS55 is also lighter, at 284g, which has a big impact on comfort over long periods. I wore this pair for the better part of a week, eight hours a day, and I didn't feel the urge to throw them off at any point. They can be a little sweaty on hot days due to the leatherette material they're covered in, but that's a pretty common drawback among gaming headsets in this price range.
The biggest shake-up is the microphone arm, which is now attached permanently to the HS55's left earcup and can be flipped up and out of the way if no longer needed. This is definitely an improvement over the previous HS50, which had a removable mic via 3.5mm jack.
Don't judge me, but I've lost my fair share of headset microphones in my career, but I'm not a huge fan of leaving the mic in front of my face all day when it's not in use. A flip-up mic is a much better option, so glad to see one make the cut with the HS55.
The microphone sounds great, anyways, and that's what really counts here. I'm really impressed with just how clear the HS55's microphone is: the subtle tones and nuance of my voice's luscious timbre (in my opinion) come through accurately in testing, which you can listen to below. There's a surprising level of clarity in this mic, even in the lower ranges, and it's a really great solution for a budget headset.
This is a 3.5mm wired headset, however, so just bear in mind that both the microphone and audio quality could be adversely affected by your motherboard's DAC/amp or whatever sound card/external device you plug it into. It shouldn't make a huge difference nowadays, even the cheapest motherboards have relatively decent audio, but worth sparing a thought for your holistic audio setup.
You're getting a comfier and lighter headset in the HS55 over the HS50, and ultimately I feel it's worth the slight price bump for those improvements. The HS55 feels a little cheaper than the HS50, however, with more of a plasticky feel to it. Thankfully it still feels robust and is clearly well put together nonetheless.
But Corsair's own is far from this headset's only competition. You've Razer's Kraken and BlackShark V2 X cans, which both make for a good contest, and HyperX can be found selling a few models for roughly the same price, including the Cloud II when on offer. That's stiff competition, though the Corsair delivers enough to warrant consideration by any gamer looking to pick up some new cans.
Read our full Corsair HS55 Stereo review.
Best wireless gaming headset
✅ You want a long-lasting battery: Rated to 300 hours of battery life, this is one wireless headset that doesn't need constant charging.
❌ You listen at high volume: The Cloud Alpha Wireless is not the loudest headset, and if you're one to crank up the volume, look elsewhere (be careful with your ears, too).
The HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless is the best wireless headset around, and that shouldn't come as a surprise as perhaps the most praised thing to exist on this site is the HyperX Cloud Alpha. Now HyperX has cut the cord on its best pair of cans.
The biggest drawcard for this headset is the new huge battery. You're looking at up to 300 hours of battery life in wireless mode while still keeping the headset relatively light and comfortable. It's a pretty massive feat and I feel HyperX has pulled it off.
Out of the box, this unit was reporting having about 80% charge, so I decided to leave it there to see how well that held. I spent a workday listening to music and checked the battery again: I swear it still said 80%. I have been using this thing for gaming and music listening pretty consistently for the past week and we aren't even at 50% battery yet.
That impressive battery life is, of course, a best-case scenario. A lot of that has to do with the volume you're running the headset at, and volume is probably my only real complaint. It's absolutely loud enough but I can listen to it at full volume and still be fairly comfortable.
But the sound quality truly is incredible. Music sounds amazing. It's always fun to listen to some of my favorite sound-heavy songs on a good pair of cans and try to pick the different instruments or bites used. These do an excellent job and are definitely one of the better gaming headsets I've used to listen to music on.
When playing games the directional sound is also very nice. I was able to easily locate hidden batteries by directional beeps in Deep Rock Galactic and had a wonderful time bouncing along to the tight beats of Shadow Warrior 3. I loaded up some Doom Eternal and promptly terrified myself. If you've ever wanted to know what it sounds like having a Cacodemon suddenly show up and whisper sweet blah-things into very specifically your left ear then these can absolutely deliver.
The Cloud line is always touted for comfort and despite the hefty battery this still definitely fits the bill. I'm someone who struggles with too much weight or tightness on my head, and I have a real sensitivity to uncomfortable headsets. The top band is thick and has soft padding underneath. This coupled with the equally soft ear cups makes for a very cozy experience, and does an excellent job of blocking out noise.
Sadly, the mic is your fairly standard affair and while it will work just fine for chat in games, it's very basic and uninspired when it comes to sound quality.
Though all things considered, I struggle to imagine a customer who wouldn't be happy with these as a wireless gaming headset. They're pricey, but within reason for their specs, and they certainly deliver on everything you could want for gaming, and listening to music, on your PC.
Read our full HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless review.
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Best wired audiophile headset for gaming
✅ You want a punchy open-back profile: The DT 900 Pro X is a gorgeous blend of punchy audio and an open-back design, which tends to be easier on the ears for critical listening.
❌ You need a microphone: It may come as no surprise but these audiophile cans do not offer any sort of microphone. You'd have to use a desk mic or clip-on mic attachment, which will mean more cables.
The very same qualities that make the Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X the best high-end headphones for long hours of critical listening, mixing, and mastering of audio are also great for gaming.
These are extremely well-built headphones with a level of comfort that is hard to beat. Forget even lambskin leather, these pads wrap your ears with heavenly comfort. The huge circular velour pads completely cover the ears and fellow bespectacled gamers won't face any discomfort either. I don't know how long they'll last but thankfully, they are replaceable.
The spring steel headband has memory foam padding and keeps those muffs well clamped to your head which gives the excellent sound seal despite the open back nature. While you can hear your environment, it's not as transparent as something like my Drop PC38X. Initially, the clamping force was way too strong that I couldn’t comfortably wear them for longer than an hour. I had to manually stretch them out over a few days and now they're perfect for me.
Beyerdynamic includes two different cable lengths cables; 3m and a shorter 1.8m for console gamepads, Nintendo Switch, or other portable devices. These cables didn't make any noise, which was something that was present on the MMX 100. The low power requirement of 48 ohms allows you to use the DT 900 Pro X on almost anything without needing an amplifier too.
As an open-back style headset, the DT 900 Pro X surprised me with how punchy the audio is unlike the somewhat anaemic, airy audio I've experienced in other open backs. The STELLAR.45 driver employed here is perfectly tuned for a flat profile that slaps whatever you're listening to. From classical sonnets to Snoop Dogg bass hits, nothing sounded bad.
Forget your typical bloated gamer bass. The DT 900 Pro X is almost surgical in precision, allowing me to hear layers of bass that hits just right without ever dominating and muddying the equally sharp highs. Beyer really wasn’t kidding when they said these cans are for critical listening. You hear everything.
I've only recently started playing the exceptional Ghost of Tsushima and these headphones bring the game world to life in a way that's just hard to describe.
Being open-back, the audio has room to breathe giving it a more natural sound that has you stopping to check if what you're hearing is in the game or the real world. Listening to the sounds of rushing streams, birds chirping, and oh boy, the guiding winds blowing through the gorgeous forests and fields truly made me feel like I was in the world.
Turning to competitive shooters like CoD Warzone and Apex Legends, the impressive clarity and fantastic audio positioning make it easy to identify the location and relative distance of opponents. Every bullet sings and whines, explosions boom and shake and environments come to life.
With all the qualities mentioned above, it goes without saying that if you are into content creation, the DT 900 Pro X will help you create the most accurate audio for your audience. Since a lot of us are now dabbling in some form of creation be it streaming, podcasting or YouTube, these are a no brainer.
Read our full Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X review.
Best wireless audiophile headset for gaming
✅ You're a basshead: If you want plenty of bass but you're wise enough to know that cranking the bass up on an equalizer won't always cut it, the Maxwell is the headset for you.
✅ Planar magnetic is calling to you: There's a place in every headset collection for a pair of planar magnetics. We love them, and for good reason: they often sound absolutely fantastic.
❌ You're strapped for cash: The Audeze Maxwell don't come cheap. While they replace the need for two pairs of headphones, one for gaming and the other for wearing outdoors, they're still a lot of money.
The best wireless audiophile gaming headset is the Audeze Maxwell, and you can thank its planar magnetic drivers for that. The Maxwell delivers a gloriously rich and impactful sound that goes a long way in gaming and listening to music.
So, what's the big deal with planar magnetic? These drivers utilise an entirely different concept from dynamic drivers often found in gaming headsets. Each driver uses a large, flat diaphragm manipulated by magnets to produce audio. The end result tends to be a much more natural, broader sound than a dynamic driver with plenty of bass.
For the Maxwell, the benefit of planar magnetic drivers is apparent as soon as you listen to any music or play any game. The level of clarity and tonal separation is fantastic. It's possible to tune in and isolate almost any sound pumping through these planars at any one time. That's wonderful when you're trying to relax into your favorite album, but it's also crucially important when playing competitive shooters.
Audeze has opted for a closed-back design here, which is great for noise isolation but can usually lead to a more closed-in sound profile. That's not the case here, however, as the Maxwell sound impressively wide and expansive. That's likely down to the planar drivers working their magic.
However, you do have to be aware of a few drawbacks with the Maxwell. Firstly, this is a heavy headset thanks to those chunky drivers, and secondly, it's very expensive. The best wireless audiophile headset, unsurprisingly, doesn't come cheap. That said, we think they're worth every penny because you can use the Maxwell for a lot more than gaming on your PC.
Wireless connectivity means you're not locked to your desk while wearing them, which is pretty freeing, but the Maxwell also offers Bluetooth connectivity. You're free to take these headphones with you out of the house, and you won't be laughed at—at least not for your choice of headset—as the Maxwell looks for the most part like any other pair of over-ear headphones. It doesn't look like a PC gaming accessory. There are also heaps of quick controls to make using this headset out and about much easier.
Read our full Audeze Maxwell review.
The best gaming headset microphone
✅ You don't want a desk microphone: If you're a streamer or content creator, the ATH-M50x STS StreamSet is capable of fantastic mic quality without the dedicated mic.
❌ You're after a cheaper option: You could buy a gaming headset and one of the best cheap microphones for less than this all-in-one option.
It's taken a while, but manufacturers are finally starting to realise that streamers have their own specific product wants and needs. The Audio-Technica ATH-M50XSTS StreamSet understands this because it has a seriously stellar mic.
What does a streamer need that your average gamer doesn't? A quality mic. And this StreamSet headset more than delivers on mic quality. We're not talking your average high-quality headset mic here, such as the one on the Corsair HS55 Stereo, which is certainly a great mic. No, we're talking a full-on cardioid condenser mic.
Cardioid condenser mics are found in stand-alone mics like the ones your favourite gaming influencers use in their streams and podcasts. The ATH-M50XSTS StreamSet packs one of these bad boys into the itty-bitty end of a headset mic.
This is no gimmick, either, as Hope found out in her testing. This flexible, flip-to-mute mic delivers microphone audio of a level that helps your videos and streams sound that touch more professional.
This thing's great on the audio front, too. While it might not quite muster the audio chops of the DT 900 Pro above, it gets pretty damn close, with clear, well-balanced audio that sounds great in games and out of them. It looks pretty nice, too, sporting a decidedly non-gamery, somewhat minimalistic aesthetic. Perfect for those of you who like to hop on-camera.
Read our full Audio-Technica ATH-M50XSTS StreamSet review.
Best noise cancelling gaming headset
✅ You're in a noisy environment: The active noise cancellation on the A-Spire is really impressive. It works wonders for both your own gaming experience in a loud area and anyone listening to you talk.
✅ You play Counter-Strike or Apex Legends religiously: For players of these two games, or really any competitive FPS, the A-Spire offers a clear and defined audio profile that should help you stay alert in-game..
❌ You want a wireless gaming headset: This headset offers Bluetooth connectivity for connecting to the mobile app and for listening to music while out and about. It's not intended as a wireless headset for PC gaming.
Gaming dens can be noisy places, especially during competitions, so a headset that can block all of that out, and still sound great is worth seeking out. It's for these very reasons that the AceZone A-Spire is the best noise cancelling gaming headset.
AceZone has been making products for esports tournaments for a good few years now and the A-Spire is its first model for the general gaming market. Naturally, it's brought across many of the features that make its products so popular in competitive gaming, most notably the active noise cancelling system.
The A-Spire has been tuned to block out sounds commonly experienced at home, such as voices, and it does an exceptional job of it. It can be easily adjusted via the AceZone mobile phone app and it's a breeze to go from total isolation to being able to hear the doorbell if needed.
Its plush earpads, thick earcups, and cushioned headband all conspire to make the headset comfortable to wear all day long. Despite offering wireless connectivity, the A-Spire is predominantly a wired gaming headset and the Bluetooth system is only suitable for using the app and a spot of music—you can game over it, but it's not meant to be used for this, due to the increased lag and decreased audio quality.
Speaking of which, the 40 mm dynamic drivers produce a well-defined sound, with a lot of clarity in the higher ranges. The overall profile has been tuned to work best in competitive shooters and the app even offers dedicated EQ profiles for Counter-Strike 2 and Apex Legends.
The AceZone A-Spire is pretty expensive for a gaming headset and while the microphone is perfectly decent, the design could be a lot better. At least the included travel case is solidly built and a handy inclusion.
While primarily targeted at esports gamers, the A-Spire is capable enough of being used by any PC gamer. It's stand-out feature, the active noise cancellation system, makes it ideal for anyone needing to isolate themselves from the work around them and get fully immersed in their games.
Read our full AceZone A-Spire review.
The best earbuds
If you're looking for something a little more discreet, these are some seriously impressive, easy-to-use, low-latency ear buds from JBL. Their noise cancelling is great, too, but enabling it does cut the battery life almost in half.
Best earbuds for gaming
✅ You want something discreet: For example, if you want to game on your Steam Deck while out and about without wearing over-ear headphones. These are a great alternative to the more bulky options on this list.
✅ You want a hassle-free experience: These things are versatile, offering Bluetooth and snappy 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity, and they're pretty much plug-n-play.
❌ You want a microphone: These are just earbuds and don't come with a mic, so if you don't have a standalone mic you might prefer another option.
❌ You want the best audio quality possible: These sound great for earbuds at this price, but they're no audiophile-quality open-back headphones.
Sometimes you want something a little more discreet than the giant over-ear cans on this list. This is particularly important for those of you who like to game while out and about, perhaps on a Steam Deck. In which case, the best wireless earbuds for gaming might work a treat, and we reckon the JBL Quantum TWS are the best premium bang for your buck.
The main draw to these in-ear mini-cans is that they're incredibly easy to use. Once they're paired, just take them out of their magnetic charging case and plonk them in your ears—no constant faffing with Bluetooth pairing. They work over 2.4 GHz wireless, too, for connecting to your gaming laptop or gaming PC, delivering a lower latency connection than Bluetooth which is what you want for gaming, right?
Controls are simple, too. Just tap on the right earbud to pause or plan, and tap on the left to cycle through noise cancelling modes (a feature that works pretty well but cuts the earphones' 8-hour battery life almost in half).
For the price, audio is eminently reasonable, too. They're not the absolute best-sounding earbuds on the market, and nor would we expect them to be for the price. But they do sound nice, provided you disable the QuantumSURROUND feature.
Combine this with the versatility of these Quantum TWS earbuds and their AirPod-esque stylishness, and you have a top-notch pair of in-ear headphones.
Read our full JBL Quantum TWS review.
Also tested
Where to buy
Where are the best gaming headset deals in Australia?
Amazon - Big discounts on popular gaming headsets
MWave- Regular offers on big name gaming peripheral brands
eBay - Secondhand or new, eBay also offers regular vouchers
Razer - Save on Razer gear direct from the source
Microsoft - Microsoft gear, but also other brands including Razer
Dell - Bargain-happy brand often offers discounts on cans
How we test gaming headsets
How does PC Gamer test gaming headsets?
You can read all about how PC Gamer tests hardware in our how we test guide, but here's a quick breakdown of specifically how we test gaming headsets.
Each headset that we test we use as our daily drivers for at least a week, that way we get to experience not just the sound, but what it's like to use each set of cans on a daily basis.
We test each headset in a number of different game genres—shooters, battle royales, and racing games make for particularly good testing scenarios since the former tends to test the low-end and reveal muddiness and distortion, while Battlefield, PUBG, et al are great for positional audio tracking.
We record a sample of our voice in Audacity and compare it to previous recordings from other models, then head to Discord to get some feedback from our friends on how we're sounding. You can hear a lot of the microphones and headsets we test on our Soundcloud (I promise it's not PC Gamer's homemade rap).
Oh, and we listen to a lot of high-res audio music, obviously. Listening to tracks we know well, that work through the bass, mid-tones, and highs, means we know how they should sound at their best. And if we hear things we've never heard before in a familiar track, that normally indicates a pretty damned good headset.
Best gaming headset FAQ
What does a gaming headset need?
There are a few things to consider when choosing a gaming headset. A good price and sound quality are foremost, but comfort is up there, too. Also, noise-cancelling mics are crucial for coms, so most of the headsets we've listed here include this feature. You want decent voice quality and a microphone that won't pick up every single keypress on your mechanical keyboard.
Are wired or wireless headsets better for gaming?
This really comes to down to preference, but if you're going the wireless route what you want to look for is for decent battery life (20 hours or higher). The last thing you want to have a headset that's constantly needing to be plugged in because the battery life is bad. It kind of defeats the purpose of being wireless. For wired headsets you want to make sure you the cable is long enough to reach your PC without feeling like it's tugging on your head.
