Do you use Speakers or Headphones? Explain.

[legacy-Fuzzlebunny]

headphones, by far.
Better sound quality, blocking out outside noise, can play loud without worrying about disturbing neighbors, better stereo separation.
The only advantage I can think of with speakers is "bigger" sound which I don't really care for when gaming.

I got a pair of Denon AH D-750, they're a few years old and really beat up, but sound quality is still awesome.

Edit: <3

[||M@Yh3M||]

bawitdabada bang da bang diggy diggy.

Thats the song from Digital Speed video right? Whats it called, ive always wanted to download it.

[legacy-S3Y3N]

I use a headset, the Plantronics DSP-400 to be exact. I also use Z-5500s for music. I'm pretty sure speakers are better quality than headphones when it comes to surround sound. You can have surround sound headphones, but it feels like the sound is inside your head, not really enjoyable if you ask me, plus speakers dont require something connected to your head like a helmet.

Like most people here I use the headset for obvious reasons (so other people arent bothered by the sound late at night), and because my headset has a mic built into it.

So my answer = depends

[legacy-[T]Baxter]

Headphones, because of VOIP and Teamspeak. I don't want to bother people.

But you already got me hot and bothered...

[LLEVIATHANN]

Turtle Beach TBS-2110-01 Headset


Gott'em and love'em
Much better than the Zalaman 5.1 HP which I had at first until the TB came out.

[Dua1ity]

Speakers. My hearing is bad enough as it is, don't need tank cannons and "You be dead!" blasting directly into my ears.

[AmericanWoman]

Speakers.
Why in the world would i use headphones when i have 700 watts 5-1, 12 in sub.
If i blow up, i want to feel the $hit dammit!

[legacy-poltomb]

1. Headphones.
2. Crappy headphones.
3. I use Teamspeak and Ventrilo, so headphones eliminate nasty feedback.

[Fusion]

Headphones, Sennheiser pc150's.

A lot of noise gets lost when using speakers, noise that tells you where the other player is. Rockets loading, creaking of wood, steps on metal. Unskilled players call it luck, cheat, radar or whatever, but if you really want to become good, especially in dm-styles games, stick with quality headphones.

[legacy-NicAgent]

Headpones most of the time. My microphone is a headset, so I have no choice but to use headphones in that case.

I occasionally use speakers when I'm playing non-team modes, as no one would use a mic anyway.

[legacy-colonel.bone]

I absolutely prefer speakers (i have a decent surround setup), but i end up using headphone/mic for UT matches. I use the mic for teamspeak and get to play a lot later at night with the headphones. But I really think they are a distraction on (in?) my head.

edit - I'd probly like the headphones better if I got a better pair with surround and more comfy.

[legacy-Ze@lot]

i use both depending what time it is, but i prefer to use speakers. i have a nice set of acoutic enery ego 2 speaker & for headphones i have pair of jvc cans. imo the headphones with inbuild mics are pretty **** ( build & sound quailty) , so i use a desk top mic so i can use teamspeak with either setup. but i would recomend a plantronic desktop switching unit so you dont have to keep wire swapping.

[legacy-theeDEATHMASTER]

Depends, for UT2004 I'm always using speakers. For Counter Strike Source I sometimes use speakers or headphones depending on the noise level of my surroundings, mainly cuz I always seem to play it when the air conditioning/heater is on (it's right behind me). I have two headphones, one has really deep base which is good for the bawitdabada bang da bang diggy diggy type sounds and there's this "premium" base headphones which appear to have a different type of base..like in different noises, kinda hard to explain.

[legacy-Shimodian]

In theory a set of stereo earphones will give you the most accurate surround possible IF the source has an accurate 3d-audio modelling processor. Yes ideally it would be better than a physically surrounding 5.1 setup, but the reality is that most Audio processors do not do a good enough job at simulation so while using multiple speakers is a brute force approach it can still end up being better.
My point - If you want the best surround and stereo quality from the same set get some decent stereo headphones only if you plan to match it with a high end gaming card (like the X-fi, I dont have one but they have long touted improved headphone surround as a feature, and it's pretty neat on my Audigy2 already so I have high hopes...). Also I'd recommend getting open rather than closed cans, it does leak more sound but I've always experienced a better sense of depth when the ears weren't completely enclosed, psychoacoustics I guess.

[legacy-pbze]

I use a headset 9 times out of 10 simply because I don't want my family hearing the sort of language that comes with war (online fps)

I currently use these:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Product...5920&GroupID=0

but I've just sent a set back because the mic broke. I'm tempted to get a different pair as these hurt me and now I've got the chance because I can sell the new set they send me on ebay. My question is are the 5.1 headsets really worth it? and how much would I need to spend to get a descent set (stirling)? Is it better getting good 5.1 headphones and a seperate mic maybe?

any help would be much apreciated