Customer Reviews

Logitech Premium USB Headset 350 ( 980374-0403 )

5 star:		(107)
4 star:		(78)
3 star:		(48)
2 star:		(45)
1 star:		(57)

 

 

After carefully reading reviews for many headsets, I decided to choose the Logitech USB 350 despite some concern about comfort. Here's my experience:

Sound quality:

Excellent! I purchased this Headset for VoIP (Skype) and was very happy with the sound quality. I can hear people and they can hear me perfectly. The sound is actually so good that I use this headset to listen to music on my computer (iTunes). As I don't have a great sound card on my laptop (Dell Inspiron 500m), the USB connectivity makes a big difference.

Comfort:

I experienced some discomfort at the very beginning, until I realized that the headpone was pushing my ear against my spectacles' branches. Now I just move my glasses above the headphone, and it's fine. The headset is probably a little tight for big heads, it's fine for me. It also relaxed a bit after a couple of week. Overall, comfort is good for me, but this is personal.

Conclusion:

Very good quality for the price. They won't really match $$$ headphone for music quality and comfort, but for that price, you can expect a very good headset for chat, VoIP or occasional music-listening.

I needed a headset for audio chat on MSN Messenger and Skype when I realized that my new laptop has no microphone input. I am very pleased with the sound quality of the microphone. The earphone portion of the unit sounds very good when listening to voices on the other end and fairly good when listening to music. In addition, having the volume control right on the cable is very convenient.

The two qualities I enjoy best are:

1) Crisp sound from the microphone, giving me the confidence that whoever hears me on the other end will have high-quality sound; and

2) The main processing chip detects when the incoming signal is monophonic or stereophonic and adapts accordingly.

Logitech really scores a goal with this awesome headset and microphone for your computer or any other device that has a USB port! It was easy to install into a USB plug and play port; and I have used this for several months now without any regrets.

The sound quality is excellent from the headphones which are indeed plush and exceptionally comfortable. The microphone works well with your computer when you are using chat live software that requires a microphone. The microphone frequency response range of 20-20,000 Hz truly impresses me for a headset this affordable.

The headband is also adjustable. Initially, I had the headband just too tight and after an hour or so of watching a movie on my computer my head began to ache! The remedy was simple: I merely adjusted the headband to be an inch or two longer so that the headset wouldn't actually touch my head. I remain very satisfied.

Another feature of this headset that works wonders is the volume control. You can actually use the volume control to increase the volume beyond which your computer may be capable of achieving! Don't ask me how they pulled that one off; I'm not that savvy about technology. However, the adjustable volume on the headsets proves to be a major selling point. The noise canceling microphone impresses me, too.

Some people complain that the volume control isn't placed right on the cord between the headset and the USB port; but I haven't had a problem with this even though I have short arms myself.

Overall, you just can't get a better headset with a built in noise canceling microphone for this price. Logitech did a great job with this headset and I highly recommend it for people who want quality without spending a small fortune for a headset with a microphone.

Great job, Logitech!

Pros:
1) Sound quality is on par with its direct competitors. It is not spectacular of course, but for the basic headset, it lived up to expectations.
2) Microphone quality was great. I had no problem with gaming or language learning detection. The quality actually exceeded my expectations

Cons:
1) After using this for more than an hour, I felt like somebody had put my head in a vice. This is the most UNCOMFORTABLE headset I have ever used. I would rather use earbuds without padding over this!
2) Cord tangles very easily
3) Easy to accidentally mute the microphone.
4) Because the cord tangles very easily, I found out rather quickly that the 1 piece set can turn into a useless two-piece set consisting of a headset and a tangled cord. The wire connecting into the headset is quite fragile and broke after 3 gentle tugs to unravel the cord...

After this I have three recommendations:
1) DO NOT BUY THIS!
2) Gamers - I switched over to the LTB USB True 5.1 Surround Sound and will never go back! The LTB is expensive but worth the price if being used for gaming. Quality of sound is absolutly amazing with the multi-speaker solution and the microphone works great.
3) Eveyrbody else (users of Skype, language identification, etc). Buy a cheaper headset, something like the Philips SBC HP250 that is comfortable and pair it with a seperate cheapo PC microphone.

Ok, I have noticed that most of the bad reviews of this headset come from two reasons. I almost did not purchase them due to the reviews. I am SO GLAD I ignored the complaints and bought this headset. I use this headset for online gaming, watching movies, and Skype video phone conversations.

The first complaint seems to be about the volume and mute control. IT IS NOT the same button. The ring around the button controls the volume. The large button in the center controls the mute. If you cannot adjust the volume or mute with this, you probably cannot operate most remote controls or cell phones. I have had zero problems with the controls on the headset.

The second complaint is the tightness of the headset. I wear a 7 1/4 size hat and I have the headset at almost the tightest setting. I have not experienced the pinching that others have complained about. After I wore this headset for six hours straight, I did notice a slight pressure on my right ear. I don't think that is anything to complain about. I did not experience any ear sweating or ringing like I have with other headsets.

Overall, I am completely satisfied with this product. The sound quality for the speakers and microphone are outstanding.

The sound through these is muffled and thin. My iPod stock earbuds are better, and similar inexpensive, comfortable, and lightweight headphones would also sound better.

The lack of definition in the treble on these headphones is a disadvantage when used for internet phone service such as Skype. Speech is far more intelligible with accurate hearing of high frequencies. These headphones have a weakness exactly where they should have a strength.

I am surprised at the poor sound quality considering the superior signal path going through the usb port compared to the cheap headphone connector on my Powerbook. Any decent pair of headphones connected through the standard headphone jack will sound better than these.

In addition to disappointing sound quality, these are the most uncomfortable headphones I've ever worn. I own three pairs of good stereo headphones (1 Grado and two Sennheiser). The Grado's have a reputation for being uncomfortable after a while, but these Logitech headphones are intolerable after only a few minutes. I was amazed because I can usually tolerate less than optimal ergonomics in headphones. These things feel like they were designed as torture devices by Soviet gulag staff.

I'm sending these right back, and I strongly recommend you don't buy these without first trying on a pair to be sure that the sound quality is adequate for your needs and that you can wear them comfortably.

After about 30 minutes it gets a little uncomfortable, could do with better padding. I'm not a big headphone fan anyhow and will soon try a USB phone instead for VoIP. (Update - I did try a USB phone but the headphones are in fact superior in quality)

The inline mute and vol control is very nice, the mute button flashes to remind you its on, nice. (Update - Recently I have had issues with the mute light not showing at all - looks like it may have developed a fault). The cable is a good length. Installation on WinXP couldn't be easier, just plug it in, no software supplied or required.

The microphone could do with coming half an inch closer to the mouth, I have to turn the mic volume on full to get others to hear me clearly, this causes a hiss due to having the volume control so high. To be fair I am a low talker.

JP

CONS:
This has got to be one of the most torturous headsets i have ever worn. Anything past 30 minutes is just a matter of how much pain you can take. I cant see how anyone but a kid would be able to wear this headset comfortably.

PROS:
Good quality sound and microphone, very easy setup (plug and play, no driver), totally compatible, no problems at all.

CONCLUSION:
Probably the best USB headset on the (home user) market and probably the most uncomfortable one as well.

The build quality of the Logitech 350 is better than the 250 model. My 250 model died in 10 days. This may have been due to the 250's feeble build quality (at least compared to the 350). The 350 feels more durable.

I recommend spending a few dollars more for a 350 over a 250.

I bought 2 sets of these of these, primarily for use with Skype.

From an audio perspective, the combination of a good headset and a VoIP client blows the socks off of traditional telephony (which is limited to an 8kHz spectrum) and large TelCos should be very nervous :)

Windows XP accepted the device with no fuss on 2 different machines.

The earpieces are a little hard and I can't imagine wearing these fulltime, but for Skype calls, they're ideal. The boom mic swivels allowing you to flip the headset around depending on whether you prefer the mic on the left or right.

The clarity is great, however.

A trick for Skype users: because this device is actually also a sound card, each time you plug and unplug, Skype may switch which device it attaches to. This can be annoying, as it may lock on to the headset and divert the ringtone to the headset and not your speakers, so you may miss a call. You can work around that, however, by setting Audio Devices in the Skype Options menu on the Tools drop down.

I have set it to use my Speakers for the ringtone, but the Headset to be the Input/Output device. Remember to DISallow Skype from changing this in the future (there's a checkbox on that screen)

Now I leave the headset plugged in 24x7 and still hear the Skype "ring" on my PC Speakers.

Finally, the price. These were $15 more expensive in a large big-box electronics store. For this price, these are a no-brainer!