Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsI MAY have gotten a defective product... will update later!
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2015
Let me start off by saying that I MAY have gotten a defective headset. I'm currently working with Sennheiser technical service to see if there is an issue with my headset, but in case there is nothing wrong, then this is what this review is for. So, here's a little background. I used to have a Logitech G930 gaming headset for a little over year until one of the ear cups broke and was just hanging by a few wires. At the time when I bought the G930, I had a small budget, but now that my budget had significantly increased, I was ready to get something a little more audiophile-like. Before I go further, I just want to note that these do sound great, but for the money I spent, I expected a little better. Also, I was aware of the 150ohm impedance these pack. I have an Asus Xonar DX sound card, but it was not meant to push these headphones. So, I bought O2 amp with a built-in ODAC, and I also bought a Sabrent USB external sound adapter so that I can still use the microphone. After all, I bought these as a gaming headset.
Now, when you dish out nearly $500 on sound (headset, amp w/ odac, sound adapter), you would expect to be completely blown away; or at least, you would hope so. Unfortunately, this really just wasn't the case. Considering that I was able to spend only $90 on the G930, which has some really great sound, I was highly disappointed in these. Firstly, they lack a proper bass. Now, I'm not talking about the kind of overly powered bass you get from Beats headphones, but even my G930 produced some decent bass to keep the audio immersion. I only get bass from these if I turn them up really loud, which is annoying to say the least. I don't want to constantly listen to everything at high volume just to get some bass. Plus, I've heard other headphones in this price range, like from Audio Technica, that have better sound immersion and way better bass (I know AT headphones aren't gaming headsets, but still...)
Secondly, they seem to lack any proper dynamic audio. Meaning, a lot of things, from music to movies, tend to sound flat. I thought the amp would fix this, but it didn't make that much of a difference. Again, in order for things to not sound flat, you really have to turn up the volume pretty high.
Other than those two things, these still sound good, but just not what I would expect for the price I paid for them. Regardless, they are really flexible and come with a nice case. Also, they're incredible comfortable and the microphone is incredibly clear. Because of these positives, I still give this headset 3 stars. It's really a shame otherwise, and hopefully I only just have a defective product.
