For a gaming headset they are pretty great... for a set of Sennheiser headphones... not so much.
So I picked these up because I am working at a new job where I have to do a lot of video calls all day long. Needed something with a good quality microphone with noise rejection that could mask out the kids, with closed ear cans that help dampen environment so I can pay attention to the callers, and comfortable enough to wear all day long... plus be a decent headset for when I want to watch movies or play online games at night. Oh, and not break the bank.
Comfort: Good
Coming from the era of over-ear headphones of the '80s and '90s where it is like wearing a vice on your head, these are a dream when it comes to comfort. My last set of over-ear headphones were a cheap set of Siberia v2 which were pretty comfy, and these are even better than those. They are light weight, plenty of ear space, and compact enough where I can lounge on the couch without them getting in the way of leaning my head against the arm of the couch or a pillow.
Mic Quality: Good, but with technical issues.
On my PC I recorded the mic and it sounds pretty great. Noise cancellation works well too, and having an arm that automatically mutes when it is stowed instead of trying to find a silly button is great design. But on that system it is the only microphone; On my laptop (where I do my work) it does not work so well, but it may be an issue with the laptop. Using the combo jack adapter provided it completely ignores the headset mic and continues using the laptop mic array. This is not to say that I can't get them to work, because if I just plug in the mic line and not the headphone line (still using the same combo jack adapter) then it works how it should. Also, if I use the junk 'headset' that came with my phone it works as expected, so I don't know why the nice headset does not work. Suffice to say something is wrong.
On the plus side, if I use the USB sound card that came with my old Siberia v2 it works beautifully on my laptop, so I may pick up a 2nd USB sound card and avoid the analog port all together. Really sad it does not work right out of the box; but again, it may be something with the adapter and my particular laptop.
Build quality: Good
Nothing about it seems flimsy or easily breakable. The folding mechanism for the headphones and the mic arm are all solid. The speaker line is both hefty and flexible (with nice fabric braided around it), and while there is little metal used in the design, the plastic seems to be of good quality and able to take a bit of abuse. I do wish that it had a detachable/replaceable cable line... but for the price I am not complaining.
Sound quality: meh
This is not to say that the sound quality is bad, because it isn't. In fact, for the price I paid I would say it is pretty good, and certainly a step up from my old Siberia v2 headset. My complaint is in comparing it with other Sennheiser headphones which I have used for more audio production oriented tasks in the past. As a Sennheiser product it simply does not live up to it's namesake. These do not have a flat response curve; They are a little heavy in the lower midrange, and a little weak in the high end. This is unfortunate because it is really in the range that makes the human voice sound a little muddy and undefined. Voice chats and podcasts are just harder to listen to with this headset without some amount of EQ involved. But once you get a good EQ profile going they do sound quite excellent... just don't expect to use them with a cheap phone or other device that does not have an EQ built in.
The other complaint has more to do with the fact that these are closed ear headphones. I am accustomed to the sound of open-ear or simi open-ear headphones. They let your ears breathe a bit, allow the drivers to move more freely, and overall sound more 'pleasant' to listen to. With closed ear headphones it is much easier to have sweaty ears with long time use (like an 8+ hour workday). Plus, when rocking out to music with some bass, the air pressure of the drivers actually vibrate the cans because the air has nowhere to go... which is an interesting sensation that I am not use to having. This could be overcome with a tighter clamp or heavier parts... but then you run into comfort issues, so I am pretty sure this is the best compromise they could come up with.
That being said, I don't mean to be too down on these headphones. The imaging is good, even when using the 7.1 to stereo emulation on my sound card I can still tell where things are coming from. Because they are higher resistance headphones you do need a little more power to drive them (my phone can't really get these to be 'loud', but my laptop and USB sound card have no issues), but you also retain a lot of quality because the drivers move very accurately. This means that music retains a lot of texture that is typically lost, and it brings out smaller background sounds that are typically masked over or more easily ignored. In fact, these are almost good enough where you can start to hear things like mp3 compression, and distinguish between an mp3 rip and the original CD... so some of that sennheiser quality is retained... just not what I am use to in their other higher end products.
tl:dr
so again, good headset with good quality, great mic, solid (but not bulky) construction, comfortable... overall good headset. Especially for the price. Especially compared with other headsets geared towards the gaming market. For the money and the application you would be hard pressed to find something better.
But, if you are looking for truly fantastic Sennheiser audio quality then you are not going to find it here. Perhaps look into spending an extra $50-100 for some studio headphones and pick up a separate microphone if you are picky about your audio.
| Brand | Sennheiser Consumer Audio |
|---|---|
| Item model number | PC 350 Special Edition 2015 |
| Item Weight | 10.9 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 6.75 x 2.25 x 8.75 inches |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 6.75 x 2.25 x 8.75 inches |
| Manufacturer | Sennheiser |
| ASIN | B015ZKJIYI |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | October 15, 2015 |
