Just out of curiosity, what headset would you recommend that has decent mic and audio quality? 😛 Just putting feelers out there lol

That would depend on the purpose of the headset. I use a very cheap Skullcandy one with my phone for calls and to listen to music, the cord is sturdy and doesn't tangle easily. However if I were sitting at my desk I would prefer better audio. For a decent cheap gaming headset the Logitech G230 or G430's are an OK place to start. Though i prefer the Kingston HyperX.

I have not really looked at headphones from a "microphone quality" point of view. From a gaming pov, I guess you'd want a set with built in microphone, the sort that swivels up and out of the way when not needed. But if you really need good quality sound, then you probably need to look at a separate microphone, maybe a Blue Yeti.

I'd put a link to a good article here <missing link> but I need permission to add an external link to Life Hacker's post on audio quality choices for headsets and stand alone microphones.

I am looking at a better quality entry level headphone setup. I decide to go with Audio Technica's ATH-M40x, though I really wanted the Sennheiser HD-595's. But I kept losing my bids on them and finally said to heck with it. The Audio Technica look to be pretty good too. I have an older, semi-pro microphone I'll connect when I need to record my voice or chat in a game. So not a point of consideration in my case.

Now I'm researching the best PCI sound card to use in an older Intel motherboard. No PCIe slot available, so it has to be PCI. And I'm going to add a cheapo (but well reviewed) pre-amp for the headphones. Probably overkill for what I'm doing now, light gaming and such, but I plan to try my hand a transcribing speeches and they say the better your sound system, the easier that is to do.

Sennheiser and Audio-Technica seem like good brands. I'll have to do some researching! Thanks!