"The reason why I haven't opted for 5.1 headsets is because I have a 5.1 speaker system and it would not be possible to populate the required analog inputs."

Hello I am confused. Headsets are either USB or Mic in Headphone in. Unless I do not understand what you are saying. You should be able to plug in your headset Via USB.

The headsets you have chosen are not bad, Ive always used a gaming headset, so I know somewhat about what to look for etc.

www.newegg.com is a great place, always cheaper for anything really. I do all my shoppig there.

This is what I'm ordering right now. Looks good, I don't like to order the same one 2x because I like to see what else is out there, who knows I might like it better then the last "amazing" headphones I used before. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826279001

This is what I'm replacing, and I would recommend them to anyone. The reason I had to replace them was a old dell computer that decided to overload on the USB ports and take out my external HDD and headset. =( I loved this headset though, it was awesome because they vibrate making Bass, explosions etc AWESOME! You could feel them. They are nice and big, canceling out sound so all you hear is your game, not your girlfriend yelling at you =P Unfortunately it looks like newegg stopped selling these, but teknomotion has awesome customer support, they offered to replace mine RMA but I didn't want to bother going through the process, they aren't that expensive.
http://www.teknmotion.com/TMPSX100A.asp

7.1 5.1 it doesn't mean much in a headset. You can't really notice a difference, although lots of products advertise 7.1 or 5.1 so there is no point in "avoiding" them. Either way there is a USB or a 2 jack hook in. They should work just fine even with your 5.1 setup.

I don't know if you can order from newegg being outside the states, I don't see why not. So if newegg.com will work for you I highly recommend it. Shop around on there, I only mentioned a few of the quality cheap headphones they sell. Find one that suits you, end of story. Everyone likes a different setup =)

newegg doent ship outside states so a no go,try amazon.co.uk.ebay ,overclockers.co.uk.elara.ie, dabs.ie or dabs.co.uk.you get your pick from one of these places
i would look at eDimensional or creative out of your pick,creative edging better

I would go for the Razer, I had a creative and the mic failed on my after a while. I have an Astro A40 so I spoil my ears, but I got it at an extremely low price of $130 used and was able to register it for Warranty.

Its always great to research and look around, but definitely go with someone that has warranty because chances are that it will have issues after a while.

you pay 130 for headphones?!
jeeze i can get a pair of high definition sony stereo headphones and a home made boom mic for $30

The best headset on that list would be the Sennhesier PC 151

razer make nice headsets but over priced for what they are,they just headsets

Don't knock it till you try it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAAbot9iyEk&feature=fvst

never heard of them

What 'bout the Razer Electra?

I think people are getting away from Razer cause as of lately some people are saying there products have a cheap made feeling to them. They look nice but they feel cheap, and for what you pay that shouldn't be right.

Have you considered Turtle Beach? Every headset I've had by them has been phenomenal.

Im sorry, but i have owned a pair of turtle beach 5.1 headphones (Bought directly off their own webpage) and it was the biggest pile of garbage i have ever paid 100$ for! I was VERY excited about having 5.1 headphones, and indeed they sounded great, i was even called a wall hacker countless times because i could pinpoint exactly where someone was by the sound of their movement! :D However, a few days later is when the Romanticism stopped dead! i was listening to music when i started to hear an odd pinging sound, but only out of one ear and only sometimes. I did some diagnosing and i found that even though i was very careful about not playing the music loud, the left side "Subwoofer" had become slightly blown, and it just got worse and worse, plus the right woofer' started as well! That's where the fun started! I spoke to turtle beach customer support and they said sorry and that they would send me an email and that it would be RMA'd quickly and painlessly! Well, a few days went by and still no email, so i send them another message and i waited... Nothing. I tried again and again. they NEVER replied, i even tried making a fake email and when they saw my address pop up, they would stop replying to my messages!

Not only that, but they are made of cheap plastic that becomes brittle only after a year or so and it got to the point to where the whole left side speaker assembly just fell apart!

Im sorry for the rant but... To hell with turtle beach, they screwed me over and wouldn't even own up to the mistake

Just my two cents,
-TRM

I personnally own the Siberia V2 from steelseries and it's awesome !! previously coming from a Fatal1ty headset and this was a 15$ max value for sure... no comparaison possible !!! I also tried the G35, Plantronics Gamecom 777, the razer Megalodon and Carcharias, the Siberia comes on top for music listening on par with the sennheiser pc360 (paired with a Xonar soundcard with a headphone amp)... And 5.1 is a marketing gimmick as dolby headphone with simply 2 drivers is ok to pin point every sound in games and in movies playback (in facts it's almost better than my Logitech X530 5.1 system as the speakers distance vary when the headphone are preciselly always at the same distance from your hears)

My personal top 3 of the 10 headset i tried/used : 1-Sennheiser PC360 (250$), 2-Steelseries Siberia V-2 (80$), 3-Logitech G35 (100$) (equal with the megalodon from razer but the megalodon is 200+$ so simply not worth it...)

I heard that Corsair Vengeance 1500 are worth the 60 bucks but i haven't tried them so far...

^ Yeah, the Siberia V2 is awesome too, I would prefer the Frost Blue Version :D