The Astro A40 headset is designed for professional gamers and costs $250. The A30′s will only cost you $149, which is still way too expensive for a pair of gaming headphones, but closer to what we can all afford. The A30 has features like a detachable mic so you can use them as normal headphones after your gaming.

But it doesn’t ditch the amp and cords setup that made using the A40′s with the Xbox such a chore. Maybe that doesn’t bother you and if so, these look like they’re worth checking out if you have the scratch.

Asus has announced the Xonar Xense soundcard at the CeBIT tradeshow in Germany. It offers DVI output, SPDIF output, 6.3mm audio jacks for headphones and microphones and comes bundled with the Sennheiser PC350 headphones.

It will push out 7Vrms of power, thanks to an inbuilt headphone amplifier. Some other specs include 118dB of sound clarity and support for several standards like EAX, DirectSound, Dolby and others. There’s also its GX 2.5 audio engine, which allows users to customize the sound profile of their cans to a particular game genre.

World of Warcraft is the biggest game ever. It’s like crack. Players log hours that amount to huge stretches of their life, so it’s no surprise that they buy WoW branded accessories to go along with it. This Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset is the latest. It delivers all the sounds, without the wires.

The ear cups have two interchangeable panels that show your love for either the Alliance or HordeTHX. TruStudio PC sound technologies deliver quality depth of sound with virtual speakers surrounding the listener and VoiceFX lets you change your voice whenever you want through a standalone service like Ventrilo. The glowing side panels can also be programmed to display different colors, with over 16 million colors to choose from.

I like it when manufactures add new features to the gadgets I own via firmware updates and don’t charge me any more money to get the features. This is what Apple does for the iPhone, Sony for the PS3, and now BlueAnt is doing the same thing for its Q1 Bluetooth headset.

The Q1 headset already has a lot of features, but the device lacked A2DP support for streaming audio from a smartphone to the headset. Streaming music might not be that great considering the headset is not stereo, but I am all for streaming directions from my iPhone navigation app.

Samsung has introduced the Samsung Corby Bluetooth headset, which is designed as the perfect accessory for the recent Corby series of mobile phones.

The WE490 has changeable cases to match the handsets and it’s also packing noise reduction, echo cancellation and automatic volume control. The battery will also deliver up to 6-hours of talk-time.

I always forget to bring my Bluetooth headset inside from my car and charge it. That means each time I want to use it the thing is usually dead. i.Tech has announced a new Bluetooth headset that will help me stay powered up for hands free use called the SolarVoice 908.

The device has solar panels on the back to help charge the battery and features sound reduction technology to eliminate background noise. The headset also uses a design that allows air to flow to the ear canal so your ears don’t feel plugged up when you wear the headset.

The IQUA smart badge Bluetooth headset is pretty unique and pretty neat too. Corporations will probably love this as it uses a corporate ID along with a Bluetooth headset. The device offers talk time of up to 40 hours and standby time of 600 hours.

The IQUA will also give you vibration alert if you want to keep things on the quiet and can handle VoIP calls and 3-way conference calls. You’ll know if the Bluetooth connection is active thanks to some multi-colored LEDs which also indicate current call status and low battery.

Turtle Beach has introduced a new gaming headset for the Xbox 360. The third-generation Ear Force X41 features digital RF wireless CD-quality sound, 3-D positional audio and an advanced chat booster. This good looking headset is also compatible with other gaming consoles and can even be used as a home-theater accessory. The adjustable boom microphone is removable, keeping it out of the way when you’re not using XBOX LIVE chat.

This headset also features Dolby Pro Logic IIx and digital 2.4 GHz RF wireless technology for low-latency, uncompressed, CD-quality sound without background hiss and other interference.

Mogo makes some interesting peripherals for notebook computers like a mouse that stores and charges inside the express card slot of the notebook. The company has announced a new product today called the Mogo Talk that is designed for Voip communications with notebook computers.

The device is designed to be the most comfortable Bluetooth headset on the market with a rubber ear tip that conforms to the ear and eliminates the need for an ear loop to keep the headset in place. The device stores and charges inside the laptop express card slot.

Nokia just announced the brand new Bluetooth Stereo Headset BH-905, which they are hailing as “the best headset ever made”. I don’t know about that, but the BH-905 allows users to either make calls or listen to music, “with virtually any compatible phone or music device.”

It also features active noise cancellation technology from Wolfson Microelectronics (along with a switch for turning it on/off), 10 microphones (8 for canceling noise and 2 for capturing speech), a dedicated multifunction key for call management, and music/volume controls.

It’s been nearly a year since we last saw a Bluetooth headset from Aliph. But now it’s back with the Jawbone Prime. The Jawbone Prime isn’t much different than its predecessor. On the outside, they’ve improved the look with something more dramatic. Inside there’s the addition of Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR (multipoint connections, easy pairing), plus some algorithm tweaks of NoiseAssassin 2.0 to improve noise reduction.

The Prime will be replacing existing Jawbones for $130, and comes in Blah Blah Black, Coffee Talk and Going Platinum, while an “EARCANDY” edition is available in Frankly SCARLET, ‘YELLO!, Drop Me A LIME and LILAC You Mean It.

Jabra has something new for the wireless music crowd with the announcement of its stereo Bluetooth HALO headphones. They have absolutely nothing to do with Master Chief. It will give you six hours of playback on a single charge, AVRCP support, Jabra’s Noise Blackout circuitry for improved quality when using it for calls, and micro-USB charging.

The HALO folds up for easy storage, which will also power it on and off. You may also want to check out the SP200 speakerphone, which will give you 10 hours of talk time, 23 days of standby, and active noise reduction. The HALO will arrive in May for $129.99, while the SP200 hits in April for $59.99.

Nokia’s Music Almighty headset design competition attracted 6,000 entrants, and Nokia is showing off the five winning designs, which have been manufactured as fully-functional one of a kind headsets. The rules were that all of the headsets had to be inspired by a song.

So naturally that inspired a wide range of designs, like the Daft Punk “Robot Rock” set above, which we like the best. It was inspired by Daft Punk’s “Robot Rock” and was designed by G. Smith. Pretty clever competition.

What you are looking at in the pic above is a virtual reality helmet that recreates sights, smells, sounds and even tastes from far-flung destinations. Created by British scientists, the device will allow users a life-like experience of places such as Kenya’s Masai Mara while never leaving home. You could greet friends and family on the other side of the world as though they were present in the same room. Previously, scientists have only had success with virtual reality technology recreating sound and vision. This helmet named the Virtual Cocoon could change all that.

The prototype helmet connects wirelessly to a computer which feeds information about a virtual world or another part of the real world. It features a high definition high dynamic screen that produces pictures ten times darker, or 30 times brighter than the conventional television. A tube is connected to a box of chemicals which releases smells under the wearer’s nose, while a similar device can spray flavors directly into the mouth and provide a texture of sensation.

Creative’s latest headset is designed for gaming competitions. The Creative Tournament Gaming Headset HS-1100 is the first USB headset to be powered by Sound Blaster X-Fi with Silencer technology. Creative’s Silencer is a breakthrough in voice technology that allows the user’s voice to be clearly heard by other gamers, because Silencer eliminates ambient background noise to provide improved voice quality. So feel free to crank up your tunes in the background, because Silencer will block out the noise. Also, no one on the other end will hear your mother yelling at your 30-something ass and telling you to get a job.

It features built-in dual microphones and advanced time-based algorithms. The Creative Tournament Gaming Headset HS-1100 will be available in Singapore from April 2009 at the suggested retail price of about $160 US.