nah that headset is cancer

made in china with like the worst quality shit ever

also looking for any new headset recommendations, budget £80 (would go up to £100 if its really worth it)

https://antlionaudio.com/collections/modmic-for-gaming/products/modmic-4
https://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/2d52765b7d84656c/index.html

just get modmic + any good headphones, way better than ANY headset for the same total cost

i used to recommend one of these bad boys
https://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Zm-Mic1-Sensitivity-Headphone-Microphone/dp/B00029MTMQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524595149&sr=8-1&keywords=zalman+mic&tag=teamfortresst-20
plus whatever your favorite headphones are, but it seems like the zalman is out of production now. $15 is still a pretty good deal, but I bet you could find something better for that money.

one of these is pretty close to the original price of the ZM1
https://www.amazon.com/Technica-ATR4650-Condenser-Computer-Microphone/dp/B006QSSUK2/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1524595568&sr=1-10&keywords=zalman+mic&tag=teamfortresst-20
but I can't vouch for its quality.

other than those, if you want a clip on you could go with just a real lav. this one looks fine
https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Microphone-Omnidirectional-Smartphones-Cancelling/dp/B016C4ZG74/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1524595694&sr=1-3&keywords=lavalier+microphone&tag=teamfortresst-20
but again, i can't vouch for it.

if you wanna give a desk mic a shot, really anything here should work fine
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_4_8?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=desk+microphone&sprefix=desk+mic%2Celectronics%2C165&crid=1IVDXZ4FXQ6PU&tag=teamfortresst-20

just make sure you buy an actual mic, not a stand.

the only thing you really need to know is that you don't need to drop 50 bucks on a modmic or a snowball to get something that'll work for comms in your favorite gamer games. as for headphones, the general rules are

[list]
[*] don't buy anything gamer branded
[/list]
anything that says gamer is gonna be either really really cheap shit marked way way up by some no-name company to get people who don't know any better to think it must be good because it's expensive, or it's going to be the same shit you could get for about half the price, but just with LEDs and really ugly plastic pieces all over it to make it for gamers. either way, avoid at all costs.
[list]
[*] open backed > close backed
[/list]
having an open back will give you better positional sound, but it'll also let in a lot more of your ambient noise. if you live in a really noisey house or a dorm or something, probably stick with closed back stuff, but if you can, i'd definitely say go for opens or at least semi opens.
[list]
[*] stick with real audio brands if you can afford them
[/list]
again, you don't have to spend $200 on some 598s like all the streamers have, but something like these
https://www.amazon.com/AKG-240-Semi-Open-Studio-Headphones/dp/B0001ARCFA/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1524596557&sr=1-3&keywords=akg+k240&tag=teamfortresst-20

or these
https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-M30x-Professional-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B00HVLUQW8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1524596627&sr=1-1&keywords=m30x&tag=teamfortresst-20
are gonna be worlds better than anything from the chinese company you've never heard of, or a computer memory vendor turned headset company.

It sounds like you have short somewhere in the line likely exactly where the mute button meets the cable itself. That's not at all hard to fix if you have wire strippers and a soldering iron. If you don't you can acquire them for less than 25$ or so and fix em up. You can't fuck them up any more than they already are - and maybe you'll learn how to fix electronics.

It's also possible that something is wrong with the jack or the plug you're going into, at least cleaning them up a bit might help before you go full nuclear on the stuff. If replugging just fixes stuff chances are you're shaking some of the dust and other grime loose when you take out and plug stuff back in which allows a better connection.

headphones with a modmic has done me no wrong and I've had the same pair for 5 years now, even cheaper if you already got a pair of headphones you like.