Customer Reviews
Genuine Fun.
These headphones are a lot of
fun.
I'm not a gamer - can't play many games because I get
dizzy, but I am sort of a collector of headphones. Frankly, I expected
these to be awful and was more than pleasantly surprised to find that
they are really quite good.
OK, so they look like some kind of
boy toy science fiction gizmo. For me, I could do without all the
buttons. But having a volume button on the headphone and a mute for the
mic is very useful.
Most headphones depend upon the right
combination of source and headphone to get a good sound. If you plug
most high end headphones directly into your ipod or computer soundcard
the sound quality is atrocious. The right mate of source and sound can
mean that the right $20 headphone in your ipod can give surprisingly
good sound if it is a good match.
The good (and the bad) of a USB
headset is that it bypasses the amp in your computer soundcard.
Instead, the digital to audio processing occurs through USB. This
approach can allow very high quality sound, and in the case of this
headset, it succeeds.
As to sound quality. I am impressed with
the surround sound where normally I find surround unbearably processed
and artificial, the software does a good job. With the surround sound
turned off, and these headphones are in pure stereo mode, forget it,
it's awful. But that isn't what these headphones are for. Bass is
excellent with good low extension and not even the slightest touch of
boominess. Artifical bass enhancement is one of the things I hate about
most processed sound, and I was delighted to find that none was present.
Logitech is to be commended for making that choice in the design
because most people equate sloppy boomy bass with high quality (think
car stereo woofer).
The mid range is outstanding. That's where
the sound really excels. I have a few very high end headphones where the
midrange is weak. With these headphones subtleties of tone and shading
in human voices are easy to hear.
The high end of the sound
spectrum is the weakness of the sound signature. Lost highs are the big
price for processed sound. Imagine a bell ringing. After the bell rings
the sound hangs in the air and slowly fades. When the highest highs are
lost, and the sound is processed, the sound gets artifically cut off and
the "air" is gone from the sound. At the present state of technology
this seems to be unavoidable in all processed sound. The good news with
this headset is that this loss of highs is not too horribly bad. I could
listen to music (which is not what these are for) and it was not too
distracting. The offset was the beautiful mids and the realistic sound
stage.
Listening to movies, other than gaming, is where this
headset excels. This is where location of sound can make a huge
difference, and the ambiant sounds contribute to the experience.
Watching a movie with these headset while sitting right in front of my
computer screen is immersive and exciting. I can imagine that in games,
where location of sounds is critical, that these would greatly enhance
the experience and give the player an extra edge.
Finally, they
are pretty comfortable. The choice of cushioning is very appreciated.
My
partner and I both want to use them. I was given these to review but I
might have to buy another set. The price, when you consider that it
includes the digital audio converter and amplification, is very
reasonable for a headset of this quality.
Great audio positioning, lackluster quality
For the past half-year, I've
been using a Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer sound card and a pair of Sony
MDR-NC40 headphones. The combination provides wonderful control over
sound quality, whether in music, media, or gaming. However, the CMSS
Headphone "Virtual Surround" technology that the Creative cards use
isn't particularly impressive to me. It works incredibly well for some
people, but it doesn't "cut it" in my case.
Today, I purchased a
G35. I was incredibly eager to try it out because, wherever I looked,
the headset got positively glowing reviews, praising the clarity of the
headset and the impressiveness of the Dolby 7.1 Virtual Surround
soundfield. Driver installation was simple enough; I downloaded the
proper driver from the Logitech website and installed it. I didn't have
to restart my computer, which I always find to be a plus.
I
plugged in the phones, fired up a DTS demo, and... it sounded terrible. I
went into the drivers and tried playing with the provided settings.
Unfortunately, the "equalizer" consisted of simply main volume, bass,
treble, and mic volume. This was pretty disappointing to me. Every sound
card I had ever used had had at the very least a 10-band equalizer, if
not 12- or 24-band. In short, I couldn't customize the G35 to have
anywhere near the audio quality of what I had before.
I will say
this; the Virtual Surround positioning is indeed excellent. It's the
best virtualization of a 7.1 surround sound system that I've ever heard.
That said, I can't sacrifice quality sound for "more" sound.
If
you don't use a discrete sound card with your PC, then you'll probably
think that the G35 sounds like audio heaven. If you have used a discrete
sound card and a decent pair of headphones, you probably won't be
particularly impressed. If you do end up getting a G35, I'd suggest
purchasing a pair from a location with a no-questions-asked return
policy, just in case it's not what you thought it'd be.
Finest USB headset I have ever used.
Logitech's G35 really sets a
mark for gaming headsets. Other surround sound headsets that I have used
have been large and uncomfortable after sustained use, however the G35
has an adjustable headband and comes with three different cushions for
whatever shape head you may have. The cups are padded rather nicely and
do a pretty decent job of blocking out ambient sound. The USB cord is
sleeved and the whole thing really feels well crafted. Features like the
microphone automuting when you put it in the upright position make you
wonder why this hasn't been done with every headset on the market.
The
software is simple and easy to use, however i found it somewhat
limited. The only balance controls are for bass and treble, with no
presets or anything like that for types of music. Their is no control
over the surround sound to balance your own levels or test it; the only
thing you can do is turn the surround sound on and off using the manual
switch on the back of the left cup. The customizable buttons are a great
concept and comes with custom actions for programs like Itunes, Windows
Media Player and Ventrilo, however it lacks Teamspeak support. The
voice morphing is fun, but superfluous. For the price of this headset I
would like a little bit more technical features and control over the
sound. Note: the program uses 19MB of memory when you are using the
headset, but on my laptop (Intel core 2 duo 2.2ghz, 2 gigs of ram) I
haven't noticed a performance decrease.
The sound quality is
superb for a USB headset. It doesn't sound as good as my Creative X-Fi
sound card, but it definitely gets the job done. I haven't heard any
distortions or crackling while gaming, and the directionality of the
sound is very distinct and enhances gaming for sure. The low end is
undistorted and you can actually feel explosions and things of the sort.
The microphone records crisp and clear, and while the microphone is
advertised as noise canceling, it occasionally picks up some background
noise.
130$ is a lot for a headset, but these things deliver. I'd
prefer some more control over the more technical aspects of the sound,
but I am satisfied and have enjoyed using this device. If money isn't an
object, go ahead and pick yourself up a pair.
from Logitech:
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