I have owned this headset for about 13 months now.
The cloth earpads aren't the most comfortable as they can get a bit scratchy/irritating, but not a big issue.
I have this weird slight bulge running down the center of my head, so headphones with a single-piece head cushioning give me a headache, but this was easily resolved with some tape strapped around the center of the head band.
Other than that, the headset has been decent in terms of overall comfort, and I like that over ear headsets don't press my ears against my glasses, which was an issue with a previous pair of on ear headphones (JVC HA S500) I've owned.
When I first reviewed this headset I felt that it sounded cheap compared to the JVCs, and it still doesn't feel as precise or clear of a sound, but its not a bad experience and definitely won't impair any gaming, movie watching, or normal music.
About 15 days ago the plastic part holding the drivers to the headband cracked near the screws, causing the ears to slip off the headphone and dangle from the internal wires, and I had to repair it with superglue, and so far there aren't any issues and my headset still retains full functionality
The headset has a switch for mic and a slider for volume, and the mic is definitely not something you wanna use if recording audio is your thing, however it is legible and functional for basic communication.
The virtual 7.1 surround sound supposedly comes from the usb dongle which could account for the $35 difference between this and the G230 at the time of purchase, and I have no idea how much of the surround sound I've experienced comes from the soundcard, and how much is just from the game's sound design. I use the headphone on the dongle exclusively, and its definitely not a bad solution if you don't have working jacks (which I do), without any noise that you get with some bad quality usb sound cards.
In my previous computer I had an uneasy process obtaining the drivers (the 32bit drivers are incompatible with my 64bit win7 home premium, while when selecting 64bit drivers the website would automatically redirect me to some kind of product registration page, I had to manually change the download link from xxxxxxx.xxxxxx/xxxxxx/xxxxxxx32xx.exe to xxxxxx.xxxxxxx/xxxxxxx/xxxxxxx64xx.exe in order to download the drivers).
After installing the drivers, I thought the headset would show as 5.1 or 7.1 in the windows control panel. Why? Because I thought the usb dongle would take the 7.1 channels first and then process it into virtual 7.1, however nope it only shows up in control panel as "stereo" - with to be fair an option to "enable surround" in the Effects setting. I'm not sure how enabling surround allows the driver to work with games. Alas, I'm not even sure the drivers I installed or the usb dongle is even doing anything, the only obviously 3D content I've experienced so far are the pre-processed binaural stuff (eg. virtual barbershop) that doesn't require specialized equipment in the first place, I also have conflicting information regarding how a game such as arma handles 3d sound -specifically, does it output into the dongle for processing? With the aforementioned lack of virtual multi-channel output, I've been unable to get 5.1 movies working either and I've never seen the "logitech gaming software" say anything other than "surround sound content has not yet been detected", even clicking on "experience surround sound", there isn't any obvious separation in the demonstration track, but that may just be my ears.
There is 3D- somewhat (again, not sure if the dongle, headset or the logitech software is contributing in any meaningful way - my acer laptop has some kind of dolby sound with 3D headphone output, and so does VLC player which has an option to "enable virtual surround").
Maybe its just my ears, but in testing the 3D sound using an article on The Verge "Surrounded by sound: how 3D audio hacks your brain" as well as lobbing grenades in Arma 3, I've never been able to get something to sound like its coming from in front of me. Sounds can either come from behind, left, right, or around my head, but never ahead, well I guess in gaming you don't really need to hear it if you can already see it.
I left a 2 star review when I initially tested the headset, but I would say the headset has grown on me and been fairly reliable hence the increased stars. I would still question the value of the G430 compared to the G230 (which is still $20 cheaper as of this update and apparently identical except for the supposed lack of dolby surround (which you can only get from the dongle)), although other reviewers do notice the difference and I'm in no position to disagree.
| Brand | Logitech |
|---|---|
| Series | G430 |
| Item model number | 981-000536 |
| Hardware Platform | PC |
| Operating System | Windows |
| Item Weight | 8.1 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 9.84 x 8.98 x 4.33 inches |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 9.84 x 8.98 x 4.33 inches |
| Color | Blue/Black |
| Number of Processors | 1 |
| Computer Memory Type | DDR3 SDRAM |
| Voltage | 1.1 Volts |
| Batteries | 1 A batteries required. |
| Manufacturer | Logitech, Inc |
| Language | English |
| ASIN | B00CQ35C1Q |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | October 1, 2013 |
