So I just got some money that I can freely spend available after bills and such, and my current Microsoft Lifechat headset is going on the fritz.

I want to buy a new headset that has some awesome sound to it. My friend bought a plantronics one that was around 60 bucks CAD and it sounds amazing, but they don't seem to carry that one on newegg or anything that I can see...

I play counter-strike a lot and I find that the MS Lifechat headset isn't that great when it comes to hearing game sounds like footsteps, etc. The only thing they really have going for them is good bass response, but I listen to music on my stereo system so it doesn't matter.

Can anyone recommend a really good pair of headphones that are awesome for gaming? I'm looking to hopefully stay under 100 dollars CAD since I know there are some great deals out there too...

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826504004

The force feedback on this one sounds awesome but I can't seem to find it on any other headsets and am not sure if this is really that good and the FF is the only selling point..

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826279004

This is the one my friend has I think, only he's got the professional edition. These headphones look and sound crazy but I'm not sure if they're the best buy for the price, or if there is something with even better quality than these for the same price roughly, but these apparently have a built-in sound card
http://www.pccanada.com/viewitem.asp?id=8909

I've been checking these two out but am not sure if they're really that great or not.. They sell well on paper but how well they function.. I'm not sure. Are there any other better ones you guys can recommend?

Surround sound headphones are a joke. Compared to stereo headphones of the same price, the sound quality doesn't begin to compare. The surround effect works a little but not enough to justify the huge lack in sound quality. Generally, stereo headphones with some kind of software effects like EAX or Miles3D is good enough to determine the direction of sounds.

To put it into perspective, years ago I tried the 5.1 Zalman headphones that were all the rage. Most reviews said "great sound quality," but compared to my Sennheiser HD414s from 1974, they sounded like complete ****. And the 414s weren't meant to be run from a soundcard, they're supposed to be amplified!

Sennheiser's line of gaming headsets are some of the better out there. They use actual, quality headphone drivers and microphones (presumably taken from other models). I don't know the differences between each model, but they've all scored pretty well.

Beyerdynamic makes the MMX2, which is probably pretty good but I don't know much about it. Beyerdynamic products are at best "absolutely unbelievable" and at worst "damn good." They also make a Dolby-based surround sound headset for gaming (it uses DSP for surround effects) that, presumably like other, similar products that have existed for non-gaming purposes for many years, actually works. It's out of your price range, though.

he might be better off with a pair of regular headphones and a separate mic

zalman makes a decent cheap clip-on mic for PC use

I actually wanted to ask this same thing

Is there a good budget (<$30) headset that has decently good sound and not a terrible mic? i.e. is there one headset that's on almost everyone's short consideration list?