Headset recommendations?

[Nagisan]

After 2.5 years my Corsair 1500s finally decided to start giving me problems, the left ear-cup only produces audio if I hold the cord at a sharp angle around the in-line control.

 

Looking for some recommendations on a good headset. Not necessarily gaming in design (don't need something flashy), but I need a built-in microphone and I want good sound quality (as good as I can afford) which favors accurate positional audio over high quality bass.

 

Stereo with virtual 5.1 or 7.1 surround or actual surround 5.1 or 7.1 drivers doesn't matter, though I've read most actual surround sound drivers sacrifice sound quality to achieve surround. I am looking at closed-ear specifically, I don't want the sound leaking out (I know, open-ear offers better quality and positional audio).

 

I would also like to move away from USB and use my on-board audio instead (I know, dedicated sound cards are much better, but I don't have the budget for both a headset and sound card UNLESS I can get like a $50 headset and $30 sound card that gives better quality than a $80 headset, but I've heard on-board audio is better than USB).

 

Comfort is also a major thing, as it will be used for gaming it could be worn for hours at a time. Leather-style ear-cups offer better sound isolation but aren't as breathable (therefore not as desirable for long sessions) so I think I would prefer to stay with cloth ear-cups.

 

My budget is sadly only about $80 tops (maybe up to $100 if there's a very good reason for it, like $20 more than another headset but considerably better quality or something).

 

I've been looking through headsets for the past day or so and here's what I've come up with:

 

HyperX Cloud Gaming Headset ($80) - These seem very solid based on reviews, but they are only stereo and don't seem to have the best positional audio. Plus they are very new and don't have much in terms of reviews or any long-term owners to speak of their quality over time.

 

SteelSeries Siberia V2 ($63) - Time-tested, good reviews overall but only stereo (non-USB version, at least) but . Also earcups are leather (or close to it) so sweating may become an issue. Some people also have problems with the mics after a few months (stop working and what not). Some reviews praise its positional audio, others slam it, but reviews are mixed between USB and non-USB versions.

 

Turtle Beach Ear Force X12 ($41) - Another time-tested headset. Tons of reviews with a large majority of them high ratings. Cloth earcups but again only stereo with no comments on positional audio.

 

Razer Tiamat 2.2 ($90) - Excellent positional audio reviews but leather earcups and a bit above my price range. Being a Razor product, I'm also worried about durability, I've owned various Razer products before and they have almost always died within a year.

 

 

Anyone have any recommendations based on what I am looking for? Or any comments to add about the headsets I'm currently looking at?