Audio Headsets
date: 2023-01-18
Today, I was sidetracked by a question while wearing my Logitech USB headset. It works great for making phone calls, as the vast majority of my phone calls are less than 10 minutes. However, if I have longer calls or want to listen to audio of something longer, the inexpensive headset becomes unconfortable or even painful.
Don't get me wrong, the cheap Logitech USB headset is one of the best tech purchases I've made in that it completely changed how I made phone calls. Making calls from my computer with a headset is so much better than holding a phone. I use a voice over IP phone service from phone.com
The web application works great from the browser on Linux.
Today, while listening to the the audio of a longer video while at my PC, the cheap Logitech USB headset was giving me some pain.
So I went looking for inexpensive, durable headphones/headset. This lead me to look at "gaming" headsets, which would fit what I needed to make phone calls just fine with the built in microphone, while also having better comfort as "gaming" headsets are designed to be worn for longer gaming sessions.
I'm not much of a gamer... though I do play Tetris on occasion.
I also was looking for something durable. We've been buying inexpensive Sony headphones for the children and they hold up well considering how much use they get, but they don't last as long as I'd like... and there's no microphone.
I did some searching and found a brand I wasn't familiar with, probably because I am not a gamer.
It's the Astro brand. Specifically, I found the Astro A10 headset. There's the original design and then there is a generation 2 out now of the A10 that has been redesigned.
I watched several reviews. I especially paid attention to people who had been using the original A10 for several years. Overall, it looks like these are well designed and durable.
I was able to find some of the original A10 headsets listed as "open box" on ebay for between $15 and $25, depending on the style. Originally, they sold for around $60. I purchased two of them.
This isn't a review, as I haven't used them yet... but from all the other reviews I've watched on this model, I think the Astro A10 will be a good fit for me and other members of our family.
I found out Astro is now owned by Logitech, a brand that I do like. Most of the stuff that I buy is used, but I'm glad I found the original Astro A10 model as "open box".
If all goes well with them, I will be using this Astro A10 headset to record the audio for my retroedge.tech videos.
The reported durability is important for me, as headsets are known to be cheap and easily damaged. High end audio isn't important to me, but getting a bit more comfort and durability is what I'm looking for.
I'll test them out and I plan to write about my experience with them after a few months.