Customer Reviews

Plantronics GameCom 367 Closed-Ear Gaming Headset

5 star:		(136)
4 star:		(103)
3 star:		(39)
2 star:		(32)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Before deciding on this model of headphones, I had debated between the Creative Fatality's, Sennheiser 350's, and Audio Technica ATH-AD700's. I almost went with the AD700's but wanted a headset with an integrated mic, I wouldn't feel bad about loosing or throwing into a bag for travel, sounded decent, and didn't cost an arm and a leg (ruling out the Sennheiser's, as well). It was a difficult debate, to be sure. As you can guess, in the end, I went with the Gamecom's. Having now owned them for about a week, I now wish to offer my review.

OVERALL QUALITY

Overall quality of this headset is very good. As others have noted, the majority of the headset consists of a sturdy, durable plastic that feels as though it will last for years. The ear pads are covered in a black velour that, while very soft and comfortable, will attract dust and hair very easily. Also, I don't know if any of the pads are replaceable. If not, they should be.

The mic folding up into the headset is a very nice touch. However, it does rub up against the headphone itself so that it never stays tucked in all the way. Further, when rotating the mic down to mouth level, it tends to scrape along the raised edge of the headphone. This will eventually begin to show signs of wear.

The cable is a very nice, thick gauge. The volume dial feels very solid and is constructed of the same plastic as the headset itself. It is a few inches further from the headset than I prefer, but that is easily solved with the on-cable clip. The y-split at the end of the cable is set with a rubber cover and the cables after the split are pretty short, thus limiting its functionality. This could be a problem for some.

Finally, the extension pieces (the part that the headphones slides on, at the top) are much thinner and flimsier than the plastic used elsewhere on the headset. I could see this easily breaking in the not too distant future, unfortunately.

COMFORT

As headsets go, these are among the most comfortable I've used. As I said, the plush velour pads on the ears and band are very soft. They will keep your ears quite warm, unfortunately. I had read reviews stating that the headset gave people headaches from the pressure. On the contrary, I found them to be about average in the amount of pressure they exert, and I have a larger than average head size. Also, I absolutely love how the ear cups themselves pivot allowing the headset to better adjust to the contours of your noggin.

SOUND QUALITY

On its own, this headset is OK when it comes to sound quality, not great but not terrible. Highs are decent (a tad trimmed, actually), mids are decent, and lows are generally heard but not felt. I would describe the sound as airy and subdued as if there's unrealized potential. (I feel it fair to mention that this headset should be burned/broken in for at least three hours but preferably longer. The sound signature changes dramatically within that time.) The soundstage (how well you can tell where individual sounds are coming from), on the other hand, is absolutely phenomenal. For the twenty-five dollars you pay, I can't think of another headset with this good of a soundstage. This makes them an excellent recommendation for gaming, obviously. For general listening (movies and music), this headset is generally good. I would say it's above average for it's class/price range.

When amped and equalized, however, this headset comes to life. Hooking the Gamecom's up through my cmoybb headphone amp (with bass boost on, of course) and tweaking the equalizer in iTunes dramatically changes how these headphones act. Highs are amazing, mids are great, and lows are heard AND felt (seriously, this headset goes surprisingly low). For the price-point, the sound quality, when amped, is amazing.

The only other point I would like to mention here before concluding is that the headphones, despite being labeled as "closed-ear," will NOT block out external noise. Keep this in mind when considering these headphones.

CONCLUSION

I would HIGHLY recommend this headset to any budget conscious gamer looking for a very reasonably priced headset that offers good sound quality, comfort, and durability. On the same token, I would very strongly suggest that you purchase a good headphone amp to accompany this headset, in order to realize their full potential. It will make a night and day difference.

Pros:
Sturdy Construction
Great sound quality, when amped
Overall very comfortable
Does not block out all external noise (good for use at the office)

Cons:
Need an amp to realize full potential
Design issues with mic
Can be quite warm after long periods
Does not block out all external noise (bad for noisy environments)

Okay so... I read all the comments about this headset before I purchased it; and I was a little leary. BUT LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING MISTER or MISSES or YOU GENDER NEUTRAL PERSON!
THIS IS A GREAT PIECE OF HARDWARE!
I have used it for 4 hour gaming sessions and watching movies.
It is quite comfortable on the large noggin and the sound quality is great.
This is my first part of Closed-Ear headphone and let me tell you something. When the kids come a cryin' or the wife wants to talk about the neglected state of the kitchen, i have to remove them to hear the conversation over the sniper bullets wizzing by my head... ORRRR I just continue to lay down covering fire as if I can't hear anything.
The mic works great. Love how it stows away for non-chat games or movie.
Very comfortable... OH OH OH... the head phone are not your typical plasto-leatherly feeling material. They are more like a soft felt. So there is no temperature discomfort for prolonged use. No sticking to your skin or sweating.
The cord is nice and heavy so it feels pretty durable.
The only thing that may feel cheap to you is the volume wheel, but it does its job. I rarely adjust the volume from there since I have volume control on the keyboard.
So my only gripe is... errr... ahhh... that I'm not getting PAID to write this review.
BUY THE DARN THING ALREADY!!! Click it now... click it now... you know you want too. You won't be disappointed.
PEACE!

I bought these to replace another Plantronics set that I broke. They sound decent (if a little tinny), and the microphone does what it needs to do.

The microphone doesn't immediately stick out in front of your mouth, but you can bend it into shape as long as you don't care about sliding it back into the headphone band. I don't care to hide the mircophone, anyway. This set already has the "military chopper pilot" look, so you may as well complete it with the microphone.

These headphones leak a bit more than the last set I used, so they're not useful for quiet listening when someone else is in the room. If you're trying to game at night without waking up the house, then they'll do. Overall it's a decent heaphone set for the price.

For me they are pretty comfortable, and the ear cups are pretty big so that is nice. The audio sounds great and the mic is very clear. For the price of 30 dollars they are great buy if you are looking for a decent headset.


I am personally using these for my PS3 with the help of a USB sound card :). They work great on that. People say they can hear me fine and I can hear things moving around me. This was a much cheaper deal than paying $60-70 dollars for turtle beach or the $100+ for Tritton. Usb Soundcards are around 3 dollars and you may want to get a 3.5mm extension jack because the split from the mic jack and the headphone jack is pretty short.

To get this to work with your PS3 you plug the USB soundcard into your PS3 and plug the 3.5mm mic jack into the appropriate slot on the card and then use the extension cable to plug the 3.5mm sound jack into your TVs 3.5mm audio slot. Go into your ps3 settings and set the input to the USB soundcard and the output to your TV.


Overall it was around 35 bucks total for a complete PS3 Headset.

There are a lot of good reviews already posted so I'm mainly here to say that this headset works with PS3. I found a few reviews saying after buying the syba stereo audio adapter associated with the product post that the headset can only output audio for the voice chat which is true. In order to make the headset work you need to purchase this,

6in. Stereo Splitter (3.5mm) Audio Adapter
$2.99
Qty: 2
Sold by: BlueMall
Payment Method:
Items: $5.98
Shipping & Handling: $5.96

which is a male RCA adapter (those red and white plugs used to input output audio) with a female 3.5mm headphone jack. I'm using a HDMI cable so to get the audio to output to an RCA you will need to plug in the PS3 analog cable that outputs to 3 RCAs: red, white, and yellow. The audio adapter will let you plug the headset right into this cable and will let you hear in game audio along side game chat. Because I have audio outputing to HDMI and the analog cable, I had to set the audio settings to multi to out put to both cables at once. The syba adapter is straight forward and most people posted they were able to get it to work, so I'm not explainig it.

I specificly bought this set up to play Black Ops. This is my first headset and I didn't want to dump a bunch of money into something that may not work for me. I must say you get more than you pay for absolutly. As far as the mic is concerned I believe people can hear me because I don't have to repeat what I say. The audio is loud and vivid. When it is all quiet and a sniper rifle goes off it can be startling. While sitting still I do get the notion that people are walking from left to right but can not determine if the steps are infront or back of my current position. The lack of 3D is a price point compromise having only 1 speaker per ear that I do realize. I have noticed that sitting in one spot and slowly scaning my view left to right changes the angle my character recieves the audio giving me a simulated 3D effect to locate players. While moving quickly and spining the character's line of sight the audio is changing distance and angle of the sound at the same time which can cause some choppiness of the rapidly changing audio all around me. The audio from the headset is at the will of what is processing it, so I can not leave out the fact that it does what it's told by the game and the PS3, so if the game or the unit does not put that detail into the audio content then it would hinder my experience with the audio coming thru the speakers. In short, I can not be sure if it's "crap in crap out" because I have no other headset for comparison.

The Game Com 367 was a great investment being able to do all that it does at that price point. The headset is really big and makes you look like airport runway personnel. The cable is more than long enough however the wire splits into a y where the cabling goes thin, so I reccomend anchoring it down from being yanked out. I don't know how to clean the ear pads on the headset so I try to wipe grease around my ears to prevent build up before putting them on. I have also kept the blister pack the headset came in because it is great for storage. Any one deciding to buy one of these will not be dissaponted.

I'll admit, it isn't the same quality as a $200 headset, but it is pretty darn good for $25! The mic is really good quality, and is sensitive, so it is suggested to turn down the sensitivity when playing games in open mic, otherwise players might be thinking you are trying to talk the whole time. Had some trouble at first getting it to work, but that was my fault because I didn't plug the wires in all the way. The felt is very comfortable, although it can get dirty very easily, so watch out if you have longer hair. After about an hour or so of having them on, however, I need to take them off for a few minutes because the pressure makes it start getting uncomfortable, but that is with almost any headset. The wire is really long, which is both good and bad in that you have more freedom to move, but it can snag really easy. I haven't had that problem yet. The microphone looks like it can break pretty easily, but I have been careful with it and have not yet broken it. The volume wheel works pretty good, and these headphones can get loud. The first thing I did with these was play Left 4 Dead, and I had the volume on max, and as soon as the Valve intro came on, I nearly had a heart-attack. Another reason it is not recommended to have it on full volume is because sometimes the sound will leak out of the ear pieces and go into the microphone, which can get very annoying for people in other parties. Some people have claimed you cannot "feel" the bass, but I ran a bass test from youtube on these headphones, and I could definitely "feel" the bass, but that was at a VERY low frequency.
Pros: Cheap, comfortable padding, good mic, good sound quality, can get loud
Cons: Some parts look like they are easy to break, uncomfortable after long periods of use, felt gets dirty
Recommended for: Semi-hardcore Gamers or Hardcore Gamers on a budget
Ease of initial set up: 5/5
Durability: 3/5
Mic Quality: 4/5
Sound Quality: 4/5
Comfort ability: 4/5
Appearance: 4/5
Overall: 4/5 A great item for the price!!
Edit (1/2/2012): A minor inconvenience I have ran into is that the plugs are both black, and not color coded, sometimes making it hard to tell what plug goes into the microphone input, and what plug goes into the headphone input. A minor inconvenience, since the solution is simply turning on the light. Not enough to edit the rating.

Ok I bought these with an USB sound card adaptor STRICTLY FOR MY PS3. I LOVE THESE FREAKING THINGS!! They heavy duty but light on your head, plus your ears will not be on fire from it being closed. I mostly play COD online, these things are great. So what they are corded (6.5ft) Its all yea need to game, with mic connected to PS3 and headphones to T.V. (most new t.v.'s come with headphone jacks) BAM YOU HAVE SURROUND SOUND!!!!. It's no bass booming headphone, but you can hear your enemies sneeking on you and all thats count to.. SO FOR MUSIC DONT KNOW???? BUT GAMING ON A BUDGET FREAKING AWESOME!!!!

These headphones work great, and mic too. I use it for playing WoW and Ventrilo, and everyone says how great I sound, the noise cancelling does a wonderful job. Plus the earphone sound quality is superb! for a $25 unit, there is no better, it works like a $75 unit. Super comfortable and really eliminates outside noise well. IF you have a super large head, the tightness will take getting use to, but you will, and be thankful for it in the long run. Even the wires are high quality, and thick/sturdy. Volume control and mic mute button work extremely well too. If you are looking for ultra deep base, you will not find it at this price point, but these Plantronics do a good job considering. Do not hesitate to buy!! Enjoy

Headset is great for the price. I use it on a xbox 360. Since headset is a PC gaming headset it has separate mic and earphone jacks, I had to get a xbox controller adapter that had inputs for separate mic and earphone jacks. The adapter works perfectly and with a bit of a modification with an audio splitter for the earphone part, I am able to get both game audio and voice communication at the same time while having clear mic voice communication with the people that I am playing with. The headset has large cushioned ear pieces that completely cover the ears and a padded band that goes over the head making the headset comfortable to wear. I will agree with other reviews that the bass isn't as great as it could be, it does have base but is a deep low base, just not a loud bass. During gaming I can tell from which direction gunfire is coming from (left or right) just not front and back as this is not a surround sound headset but a stereo headset. If you are a PC gamer (or an xbox gamer with the ability to modify connectivity) and are looking for a decent headset, I recommend this headset. If you want a headset for xbox and don't want to modify connections, I would recommend a Turtle Beach headset. Otherwise this is a great headset

I Have a 2010 HP Mini Note book and This head set works Amazing with Skyping back home from Afganistan. The only Down side is I had to get the 2-1 Prong so i could plug it into my computer but its worked for me everyday i call My Family. The Headset is Very Comfortable (A little Bulky) and the sound Quallity is Amazing. I will definatly Suggest to all my friends.