Reddit mentions of Logitech USB Desktop Microphone (Black/Silver)

I wouldn't look past the Audio-Technica AD700s for gaming as it has a really large soundstage. All this basically means that you should be able to better pick out the direction of gunshots, footsteps etc. in game.

Apart from that it's just a really great sounding headphone.

If an integrated microphone is important to you then you'll just have to buy a separate desk microphone, such as this Logitech.

The general rule here seems to be to avoid gaming headsets as they tend to not sound anywhere near as good as their price tags would imply, and the whole '3D sound' marketing doesn't really mean anything.

If you get combo phones/mic, you'll be getting a worse setup than getting them individually. Gaming headsets aren't worth the extra price.

When it comes to headphones, you have to consider your purpose. For TF2, you won't want to hear outside noise and you want something you can wear for a while. That usually means cans. I couldn't imagine wearing buds for such a long time, it would irritate the heck out of my ears. I use Denon AH-D1001s myself, and I can't complain. Before I had the money for those though, I rocked Sony MDR-XD200s. They also sounded great, and were even a little looser on my head. And if you don't like them, they come with so much cord you can hang yourself >_<.

For mics, you don't really need much clarity for voice. I used the basic Logitec Desktop Mic for a decade until it blew out, then I replaced it with a Blue Snowball for podcasting. A friend that does TV editing used it professionally for years, and it's a great mic.

So if you're going cheap, you'll be way better with the MDR-XD200 and the Logitech desktop mic than with an $80 headset.

Here's what I myself would do if I were looking at a high performance rig for 2,000 USD:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor | $349.99 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler | Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $99.99 @ Newegg
Thermal Compound | Arctic Cooling MX-2 4g Thermal Paste | $7.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard | Asus MAXIMUS VI GENE Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $217.86 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $72.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $199.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $69.99 @ Newegg
Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card | $354.99 @ Newegg
Wireless Network Adapter | Intel 62205ANHMWDTX1 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter | $33.99 @ Newegg
Case | Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $59.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | SeaSonic 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply | $127.98 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer | $17.99 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) | $99.99 @ Newegg
Monitor | Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor | $277.58 @ Newegg
Keyboard | Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Wired Gaming Keyboard | $83.98 @ Newegg
Mouse | Logitech G500 Wired Laser Mouse | $59.99 @ Newegg
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $2125.28
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-14 14:13 EDT-0400 |

Here's my rationale:

First and foremost, we aren't going for flat out performance here. The budget just isn't there if you want a nice monitor, keyboard, and mouse on top of everything, so we're going to tone things down a bit.

What does that mean? Well, first off, SLI and bleeding-edge performance graphics are out the window. Which means a couple things:

With SLI gone, we can drop to a Micro ATX form factor. There's just no need for a full ATX board. You're unlikely to ever use more than just a slot or two. What does this mean? Smaller case with all the same performance. I moved to a Corsair Obsidian because I find their finishing touches a bit better than Fractal Designs, but that's just me. Pick a case that speaks to your aesthetic desires.
But the motherboard costs about the same! WHY? Well, that's because I kept a top of the line board. Sure, you could go with a ~100 dollar board, but the GENE gives a few nice touches. Specifically, it has way better sound on board -- rivaling that of dedicated cards -- as well as having significantly better cooling for the power delivery area than most other boards out there right now.
You won't need a 750W power supply, realistically. Sure, it might give you some headroom, but 650W should be more than enough, and what's more, this one is fully modular, which will be helpful in the smaller MicroATX case.
Let's do 2x4GB of RAM. More performance, similar cost, still gives you headroom for bumping to 16GB down the road.
256GB SSD. I have a 128GB SSD on my laptop and find that it's pretty much full with League, EVE, TF2, and 2 other games all said and done, and space is tight. Give yourself more headroom than that.
Let's drop that card down to a 670. Still good, but WAY cheaper. Still will play anything you throw at it.
Put a really nice monitor on that tab too.
A/C wifi? Why not. Intel is worth the price premium, as they make really good no-fuss stuff that usually works great with their motherboads and processors. You might even get WiDi support, but I didn't check. Remove it to save money if you're going to be wired networking only. Yes, a 1x PCI-E card will fit in the 4x slot on the motherboard.
You gotta go mechanical keyboard if you're getting a gaming rig and dropping 2 grand. Just do it. This one is a compact TenKeyless (No number pad) version. MX Browns are fantastic middle-of-the-road Cherry MX switches.
Eh, decent mouse in there too. Why not.
Don't forget good headphones -- or speakers, if that's your thing, but I strongly suggest the former. PC Part Picker won't let me list any. Damn. I prefer a desk microphone + headphone combo since you can get a way better mic and way better headphones than you can if you try and get both in a single headset. Also, if one breaks, you aren't paying to replace both. I really like the Logitech USB Desktop Microphone. Find good advice on headphones online. There's tons of stuff. Probably /r/headphones. They have a pretty good list of recommendations.

Considerations since this is your first build.

If you aren't overclocking, there's no real need for a K-Series processor. You could easily go to an i7-4770 or an i5-4670 processor. There won't be a significant impact on games.
* Closed loop liquid coolers, while pretty easy to install if you're handy, can be daunting for a first timer. If you wanted to step down off liquid cooling (which isn't really necessary unless you're overclocking.) You could look at a CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo and get away with it if you're keeping everything stock. Honestly, if you aren't overclocking, a dual 120mm closed loop cooler setup is going to be massive overkill anyways. If you want to have a bit of liquid cooling to make sure your processor stays very cool, you could probably get away with a Corsair H60 or Corsair H80i

So, what would a more reasonable build look like for someone who had never touched a build before? Something more like this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor | $189.99 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler | Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $86.99 @ Newegg
Thermal Compound | Arctic Cooling MX-2 4g Thermal Paste | $7.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard | Asus MAXIMUS VI GENE Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $217.86 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $72.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $199.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $69.99 @ Newegg
Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card | $354.99 @ Newegg
Wireless Network Adapter | Intel 62205ANHMWDTX1 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter | $33.99 @ Newegg
Case | Corsair 350D MicroATX Mid Tower Case | $59.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | SeaSonic 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply | $127.98 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer | $17.99 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) | $99.99 @ Newegg
Monitor | Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor | $277.58 @ Newegg
Keyboard | Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Wired Gaming Keyboard | $83.98 @ Newegg
Mouse | Logitech G500 Wired Laser Mouse | $59.99 @ Newegg
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $1952.28
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-14 14:24 EDT-0400 |

The drop the the lowest i5 isn't really a big deal. You aren't going to miss the hyper threading or the 400 MHz. Sure, you go from 8MB cache on the i7 to 6 on the i5, but that isn't likely to make a noticeable change in day-to-day usage either. Save the money. Get a friend you trust who's built a PC before to help you out, honestly. Offer to buy them lunch and make an afternoon of it.

US

UK

I hate headsets. It's a shame logitech stopped making these

Every soundcard I've used a Zalman on needed boost to get them up to an acceptable level.

Grainy could be clipping/a generally terrible input. Background noise is because it's a very omnidirectional mic (not something you can watch TV while using). It isn't noise canceling, so that'll likely just end up making it sound wonky. I definitely hear everything in the background, but mine (boosted) is very clean (better than just about anyone on mumble) and impressive for ~$9.

You could try a Xonar DG or some other card (it still could be a software issue, though), but that won't do anything to background noise. Or a Logitech USB desktop mic.

I got this!

It's a good one, I think. It was a gift. I don't know why it's showing up so expensive... is it that good?

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV

It's a piece of trash, doesn't work well on win10. Debating between this or going balls to the wall and getting the 2000U recommended earlier.

Wow no, its actually this one: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1456813959&sr=8-2&keywords=usb+microphone+logitech

I swear I got it for dirt cheap though. Most of the reviews are from 10 years ago though, so that could explain the price. It's a really excellent mic, so anything in the similar fashion I'd imagine would perform just as fine.

I use this. It looks flimsy but just don't throw it across the room in rage and you're fine.

Headsets suck. One ear headset suck even more. Get a microphone and quality headphones.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1320456375&sr=8-2

If you don't want to spend that much, http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Zm-Mic1-Sensitivity-Headphone-Microphone/dp/B00029MTMQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1320456402&sr=1-1

For use with my Senn's, I have: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_1_1

It's been very nice.

Here's another one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009EHJV

I use this Logitech mic: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00009EHJV/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/176-6773615-7600225

But one that is more in your price range is the Blue Snowball, which I also recommend.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002OO18NS/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1412536431&sr=8-2&pi=SX200_QL40

I have AD900's and an ASUS Xonar Essence STX, both upgrades from what you have. I have also owned the Zalman, but to be honest, the audio quality was awful and it never stayed slipped to the cord (thicker than the AD700 cord). I suggest a Logitech Desktop Microphone, which not only alleviates you of another cord running down your side, but can be turned on and off quite easily. The only thing that you need to remember is that when you first plug it in, Windows defaults it to 9% volume, so you have to turn that up.

I'm using this microphone but then the 3,5mm jack version of it http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348398915&sr=8-1&keywords=logitech+microphone+desktop

And the Panasonic HTF 600 is a very good headphone, if you're looking for Bass you can buy a Sony MDR XB 500 or 700.

What do you think the whole package should be / just the desktop?

I've never really sold anything and I'm not conscious about how fast value drops for electronics.

Everything works flawlessy, I only used everything for about 2 months after I bought it maybe 7 months ago (with the exeption of the mouse and microphone that i've been using for about a year).
thank you in advance.

ASUS ROG G20AJ
Intel I7-6700 3.4GHZ 8GB 2TB Hard drive 5700RPM NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 Windows 10

(Two of these) ASUS VN248Q-P 23.8" Full HD 1920x1080 IPS DisplayPort HDMI VGA Monitor

Corsair Gaming K95 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, Aircraft-grade aluminum, Backlit Multicolor LED, Cherry MX Red

Logitech USB Desktop Microphone

*Logitech Wireless Gaming Mouse G700

Pictures and prices of them on amazon here:

ASUS VN248Q-P 23.8" Full HD 1920x1080 IPS DisplayPort HDMI VGA Monitor - $164.88 https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VN248Q-P-1920x1080-DisplayPort-Monitor/dp/B010VG2456/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480955869&sr=8-1&keywords=ASUS+VN248Q-P+23.8%22+Full+HD+1920x1080+IPS+DisplayPort+HDMI+VGA+Monitor

Corsair Gaming K95 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, Aircraft-grade aluminum, Backlit Multicolor LED, Cherry MX Red - $169.99
https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Mechanical-Keyboard-Aircraft-grade-Multicolor/dp/B014W1Z4S0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480955889&sr=8-1&keywords=Corsair+Gaming+K95+RGB+Mechanical+Gaming+Keyboard%2C+Aircraft-grade+aluminum%2C+Backlit+Multicolor+LED%2C+Cherry+MX+Red

Logitech USB Desktop Microphone (Black/Silver) - $119.58 https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480955760&sr=8-2&keywords=usb+microphone+logitech

Logitech Wireless Gaming Mouse G700 - $114.23 https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Gaming-Mouse-G700/dp/B003VAM32E/ref=sr_1_55?ie=UTF8&qid=1480955996&sr=8-55&keywords=logitech+gaming+mouse

Asus - Desktop - Intel Core i7-6700 -3.4Ghz - 8GB Memory - 2TB Hard Drive- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970- Windows 10 - Black/Red - $1,179.95 https://www.amazon.com/Asus-Desktop-i7-6700-3-4Ghz-
GeForce/dp/B01FY8CTQK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1480956150&sr=8-6&keywords=asus+slim+desktop

get sennheiser 598 headphones

then get
https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV

spend less money and enjoy much better sound/recording quality

IMO by far the best setup would be to have a desk mic and either speakers or headphones.

I got a Blue Snowball when my $20 Logitech USB mic broke after 10 years of service (dropped a box on it) and desk mics have always worked great for me, I simply can't imagine switching to any alternative. The Snowball is a bit on the big side though compared to the cheap-o Logitech mic I upgraded from.


I use speakers most of the time for VOIP chat so having a headset or clip on mic wasn't a consideration for me and the Snowball would be far better than any clip on mic. And for those times where someone has bad reverb (their mic picks up other people talking over VOIP) I'd put on my headphones or if I was doing some serious progression raiding and needed to hear instructions or on-the-fly raid calls without any potential hindrances. And for that I use a pair of old Sennheiser HD 280 Pro, there are better headphones out there now a days but mine work well enough and I don't use them enough to warrant replacing them.

Prior, I've tried many of these so called gaming headsets and many of them actually hurt my head after prolonged use, and I had to position the mic properly or I'd be hard to hear. And if I didn't want to wear the headset I'd have to have the damn thing around my neck which was a pain... in the neck so to say. Plus they've always been quite fragile in my use and would last maybe a year tops and they were overpriced so the prospect of having to replace them so often was less than favorable to me. I've had the same pair of headphones for no idea how long but over 5 years and they still work but headsets on the other hand might as well have been made out of glass.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV + http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-555-Stereo-Headphone/dp/B0001FTVDQ

the mic was like $20 back when I bought it, no clue why it's so expensive now

Actually it's The grey oneit cost me $10 ages ago. It has excellent audio quality but I don't think it would work across a BIG room.

how about this:
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&srs=2529810011&ie=UTF8&qid=1396521349&sr=1-2&keywords=logitech+microphone

I use this one: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV

I got it fo' free, so it was a great deal :) This is a little above your price range, but there are tons with similar style. It is really nice too since it has a mute button right on the front of it.

EDIT: From reading the amazon link, apparently you can get this one at staples for like 20$. This is some affiliates amazon account that is over charging.

I've got this one for $60 shipped. Barely used; perfect condition. It's a GREAT USB mic. I'm parting out my workstation, hence the sale.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV

I am in NorCal so willing to go down a little if you can meet up

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV

I used one of these for a very long time. It's a little expensive on Amazon for some reason, but I think they stopped manufacturing them or something. Any sort of desk mic would probably work for your situation.

Thanks for pointing that out. My desktop mic doesn't have any specific model number or name to identify it by, just Logitech branding, but it seems to be common enough to find with generic keywords: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Desktop-Microphone-Black-Silver/dp/B00009EHJV (I would have purchased it around 2008, from CompUSA's closeout sales)

My mobo is the ASRock Z97 Extreme6. I can provide detailed views of my drivers too.

I bought this Logitech mic from microcenter. It works well at not picking up my speaker sound and from what I've heard sounds really good over skype.

I play a lot of Left4Dead (1 and 2) and regularly kick newbies from a Versus game.

The main reason is that they're helpless. Do as follows if you want to have an enjoyable time -- after you've played campaign through-and-through:

1. Buy a microphone
   
   
2. Listen
   
   
3. Listen
   
   
4. Stick close. Very close.