Gaming headset advice needed

[Buzzrock 15136]

Buzzrock Jr wants to be able to chat with his friends on the Xbox One when he plays online. I’ve been wary of this because he’s 9 and I don’t want to expose him to too much of the online filth you hear from so many players.

 

Additionally, it looks like most of the gaming headsets are these monstrosities that are very sound-isolating. That would be bad because his mother and I need to be able to talk to him when he’s playing.

 

Is there a simple but good solution that would let him chat but still have the game sound come out of the speakers, including the other players chatting? Like a mic-only setup? I’d like to be able to supervise and tell him to mute any other players if they are toxic.

 

TIA

[Deej 77803]

Buy him one with the single ear cup, then he has an ear free to hear you yell at him.

 

 

[Suckapuncha 3]

16 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

Is there a simple but good solution that would let him chat but still have the game sound come out of the speakers, including the other players chatting?

You don't want to do this if you are trying to keep him from toxic players. With this setup, in any public game everyone else in the game will hear all of the sound his mic picks up, including his game sounds and their own voices coming through his speakers. Most players find this extremely annoying and will immediately start cussing at him. Even if he mutes the assholes, everyone else in the game will mute him, so he will never be able to chat with anyone. If he is in party chat with his buddies, they will probably not do that, but it will be very hard for them to hear their game over his mic, and so they may not party up with him. 

I agree that if it is vital he be able to hear you while in game, get him a one ear setup. Although, this will limit his ability to locate enemies in games like Fortnite due to not having the surround sound, so he may feel frustrated if it is causing him to get killed. You could also just get him a full gaming headset, this would negate the negatives above, while also allowing you to observe him without him knowing, so you could hear if he is picking up any bad chat habits. You won't be able to hear the other players, but you will be able to hear his responses, and you can still tell him to mute any toxic players. If you need to speak with him, just tap his shoulder. Yeah it is more work, but you are a parent, so work is kinda part of the deal.

The only other possibility I can think of would be if there is a wireless adapter that would let you pair two headsets at once. Then he could game with his, and you could put yours on to listen in whenever you wanted to see how the chat is. But I don't know if such a thing exists.

[Cheeseweasel 26439]

9 is too young, IMO. 

 

That being said, I've had good luck with the higher end Turtle Beach headsets.

Since it's Xbox, get him a cheap pair to try out. He might hate it. 

[TornACL 7792]

My experience with cheap Xbox headsets was very poor. 

The ones that connect with an aux plug are awful. They don't work half the time. 

[Loco 3754]

yikes ...  9 is too young.  All the racist, homophobic, horrible shit they will hear constantly is a HUGE problem.   Toxicity is rampant within online gaming.  Yes they will hear sexual shit (which he probably does at school) but you need to be sure he is able to understand that some people will he terrible just to get a reaction and sometimes to recruit.

Play with him and hear for yourself, that way you can talk to him about what you've both just heard.  I did this with my 13yr old and I think it helps.

As for the headset, at 9 I'd just look for a $20-30 set on amazon with good reviews...  they will get destroyed.   I got my kids SADES and they are very comfortable and have lasted. 

I'd expect that while he's gaming, whether he can hear you or not, he is NOT going to be very responsive...   your mileage may vary

 

 

[The Royal We 3100]

Loco nailed it.

I've got the big Turtle Beach wireless headset and it's incredible.  My 9 year old is not allowed to use it tho.

[jofus 2269]

I have this headset and it is “open back”, which means you can hear whatever is going on around you, even with the game sounds playing through them. Open back sets have very good sound staging, so you can get a better sense of what direction other players are coming from. 

9 is too young to be exposed to random people online. However, the Xbox has a lot of custom parental controls, so you may be able to limit voice chat to friends only. 

Another chat option would be through the discord app on a phone or iPad.  You can set up a group that is private, plug the headset into the phone, and keep the tv speakers on for the game.