I work from home (remotely for a team based elsewhere), so I'm constantly on conference calls. We use a VOIP app at work (sort of like Skype for Business), so all of our "calls" are through the computer. I've been using a bluetooth headset (Plantronics Voyager 5200) which is great for phone calls, but for conference calls with a bunch of people sitting around a table, it's not great. Some people are close to the phone and are super loud, others are further away and are unintelligibly quiet, and adjusting the volume all the time isn't great.
After work, I game a lot. Usually while on TeamSpeak. I've been using a set of desktop speakers and a mic mounted under one of my monitors. With volume detection, I'm able to get TS to pick up my voice when I'm talking, and ignore mouse and keyboard sounds when I'm not, but the speaker audio isn't great (and is only stereo), and the mic is pitiful.
So, it was time for a new purchase. I wanted something that would give me great audio quality, preferably with some measure of surround sound, and some good equalizer settings to tune game sounds (accentuate footsteps and weapon clicks, downplay deep explosive bass and such). But it also needed to have clear stereo sound and a good mic, for work. And if possible, be wireless (because I already have too many cables running around on my desk to begin with).
After a lot of research, I decided on the Arctis 7, and when it came yesterday, I was completely blown away. My first conference call with them was like I was sitting in the room! Everything was so clear. I turned up the dynamic range compression (which says it compensates for fluctuations in volume), and it was remarkable. The mic worked very well, too, and my coworkers said that the keyboard sounds (which used to be nearly deafening from my mechanical keyboard) were much quieter. They could hear me better, and the keyboard was quiet (though still audible).
In the evening, I had an evening of gaming with a friend of mine, and tuning the gaming audio with surround sound settings and such was awesome. The level of detail I've been missing in my games is ridiculous! It sounds great now. The chat mix dial was awesome for adjusting chat levels when needed, but really, all the audio was so clear, I really didn't need to mess with it much.
Regarding build quality, packaging, etc., these headphones feel very high end. Great build quality, solid materials, and so comfortable! I wore them for a couple hours during the day, and again for several hours in the evening, and though I can't say I was ever at risk of forgetting they were on and walking away, I definitely can say that they were completely comfortable.
The only complaints I have are minor, but in the interest of completeness, here they are:
* The cables that come with the headphones don't feel particularly durable. They aren't braided or anything, so I could see them wearing out well before the headphones do. But, they're all standard type cables, so they'd be easy to replace. The mobile audio cable does use a somewhat uncommon 8 pin mini USB, more commonly seen on cameras, but as long as you know what to look for, you can find them for cheap.
* The battery indication is pretty disappointing. You have a green light for 50-100%, yellow for 20-50%, and red for under 20% (slow flash for 10-20%, fast flash for 0-10%). Nowhere in the software or on the headphones does it show you a percentage. And, when you're charging them, I really don't know how to tell when they're done charging. All I know is that they're somewhere between 50-100% charged. That's a pretty big range!
In summary, I'm blown away by these headphones. I was hesitant to shell out $120 for them, but now that I have them, I can definitely say they were worth it.
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 24 Hour |
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