Amazon.com: Customer reviews: SENNHEISER PC 373D - 7.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2019

I’ve been using a combination of cheap gaming headsets (sub $50) and wired open-air headphones for years. And when my old Turtle Beach headset died (3 years is a pretty good life span for these things), I really wanted to upgrade. With the knowledge that I like being able to hear my own voice in chat, and I needed an upgraded mic; I did research and found this headset.

The open-air design of this headset makes it very comfortable for long periods of time, and as I stated it’s nice being able to hear the world around me aside from the alternative of having ambient sound blocked out (an acquired taste, I will admit). I enjoy the functionality of being able to put the mic up to mute it, and to pull it back down by my mouth to get the mic working again. Not as quick as a button, but very intuitive once you get used to it. The mic itself is outstanding, and required some calibration so as to not have my voice be too loud in chat. And my friends were quick to tell me there was a clear and positive difference in mic quality.

Other high points include the manual volume control wheel on the right side of the headset. It just feels nice to literally turn the volume up and down when listening to chat or music. It comes with a very long and sturdy two piece USB cord. But I highly suggest that you also buy a proprietary aux cable for this headset. (Here is what I bought, it’s an excellent purchase: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07RW9QNQV/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_y8xJDbDYBSMHH ) Plugging this headset directly into the PS4 (which you have to do without the aux cable) will require you to change some setting for it to work in chat while gaming. And while playing on the PS4 you don’t really need the special two piece aux to USB cable since the special surround sound is meant to be used only on the PC. And the aux connection is a simple plug in directly to your wireless controller. It’s just a cleaner setup, especially if you have to worry about any foot traffic around where you’re gaming.

On the PC, the included USB cable gets to fulfill its purpose a bit more, with the ability to use the surround sound functionality. It’s mostly a cute gimmick in my opinion. But the sound quality remains excellent.

I suppose the only other thing I’d mention is that this is a very balanced headset. What I mean by that is that it’s not too heavy on the light or heavy side. The music won’t sound flat, nor will it lean more towards bass heavy music or voice or orchestral quality. If you wish to make it lean one way or another, that’s done easily enough with the PC software that comes w/ this headset, or your own PC sound settings.

Overall, it’s well worth the price. And I can’t see myself ever using any less than this in the future. For use in the home, these are used for everything. PC, PS4, even my iPad Pro. I invite everyone who is curious to join the world of open-air (open-back) headphones.

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Mr. Miami Cuddles

Depends on if you're a Sennheiser fan and prefer USB hookup

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2016

Verified Purchase

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I've owned 5 pairs of Sennheisers, and about 25 other more expensive headsets and less expensive headsets. About a year ago, I purchased the HD 598's and really wasn't impressed, but always seemed to reach for them when watching a movie. Why? It's because I find the sound to be accurate to the movies without glorifying the sounds. Also, because they are extremely light and comfortable. I can say the same thing with these headsets.

Some may want a more expensive headset hooked up to their expensive motherboard or sound card. If you are that type of person, these aren't for you. I've been using the SteelSeries Siberia v2 Full-Size Gaming Headset with Built-In USB Sound Card for the past 3 years for computer gaming, and these are excellent and comfortable as well. (I bought them initially to match my Steelseries mouse) I just had to have the Sennheiser's though when I saw that they had a similar design to theHD598's.

The 7.1 surround is amazing once you download the software. There is the music mode and the gaming mode. The music mode is absolutely fantastic for listening to music on the internet. I mean, the BEST ever! The gaming mode is also amazing for gaming. I find it a little tedious to switch from mode to mode because if you switch modes, you have to go to your desktop, and if you forget to switch modes for a full screen game, you'll be in music mode.

Comfort is the same as the HD598's which says a lot. I like the velour, and they fit my head like a glove without any sound leakage.

Pros
USB, comfort, awesome surround sound.

Cons
If you're a person that wants to hook up your headphones to the back of your computer, these aren't for you.

Update: I'm having problems with the software. At the beginning of games, I'm hearing static, and the game sounds intermittently work and go silent. I'm going to give an update if this continues to happen.

25 people found this helpful

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Russ

Outstanding Headset

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

My Sennheiser HD 598 Over-Ear Headphones - Ivory have been my go-to headphones for music, movies, and games for close to six years, and I feel pretty good about the PC373D replacing them. Going by the specs on Sennheiser's website, the PC373D has the same frequency range as the HD579 (15-28000hz), which is a bit less than the HD598 (12-38500hz). I suspect they secretly have the same basic hardware though, as after a week, I still can't tell the difference. The velour earcups haven't changed, and are as good as ever. On the headphones themselves, build quality, materials, and looks are all top notch.

I was curious what the Dolby 7.1 was about, and now I'd say it definitely lives up to the hype. Directional surround is super immersive and works great. I won't be going back to stereo anytime soon.

I skipped the software that came in the box, and got the newest version from the Sennheiser site instead. No problems installing it on Windows 10. With the equalizer set to "Music" and the Dolby turned on, everything sounds amazing.

The microphone is fine, though quiet by default. My PC350 headset was similar. A little OS-level mic boost and you're in business.

The on-ear volume dial is a nice upgrade over the on-cable volume control on the PC350, though it's still not terribly useful for me, since there's one on my keyboard.

-- Cons (that's what you're here for, right?)
1. My biggest complaint is in the cable quality; it's a downgrade from the HD598. It's marginally thinner and feels cheaper than before, and is made of a different kind of rubber that picks up more dirt and lint. After a week of use, my cable hasn't straightened out yet, but it's getting there. It's not bad, but at this price point, I'd like to see sturdier cables with braided nylon or something similar.

2. Since the PC373D is driven on a little (warm) USB dongle, and since I had a fancy discrete sound card before, the max volume is a good bit lower than my HD598. I didn't need super high volume before, and it's still more than loud enough now, but losing some top end still feels like a downgrade. Your mileage may vary.

3. This headset fits tighter than my HD598. It's about the same as my PC350, so in hindsight I'm not too surprised about that. Granted, I have a fairly large head, but now I am out at the limit of the adjustable headband, where I wasn't before. The HD598's looser fit was generally more comfortable for me.

0.5. There's a small black smudge on the red fabric inside the right earcup. It looks like someone dropped a sharpie on it. It's certainly not a deal breaker, but I thought it worth mentioning.

--
I gave the PC373D four stars, but only because my HD598 sets a really high standard that this falls just short of. Don't get me wrong, this is an outstanding headset. Keep doing what you're doing, Sennheiser.

4 people found this helpful

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Jeff the aeroE

This is great headset, I think I know the issue others are having (I had it too)

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

UPDATE: The negative reivews by in large are from people who did not know there is a manual setup process you have to do to get good sound and experience the 7.1.

Hey man, If you didn't experience a jump in positional sound you're probably doing what I was. This headset needs you to both DL the dongle software AND set it up manually in your playback devices (part I didn't do) otherwise the surround sound doesn't actually turn on when you push the button.
This is online but - In playback devices you basically need to set the sennheiser speaker icon to the default device, the sennheiser headset icon to the default communication device, and finally click configure back on the speaker icon, change it to 7.1 and make sure everything is checked off as you click all the oks. I sincerely hope this helps you as much as it helped me.

`````````````````````````````Original Review````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

This is a phenomenal headset. The comfort and directional sound are unparalleled once it's fully setup.

+The directional emulation actually has had me look over my shoulder to see if someone was in the room with me.
+Voice is crystal clear
+Can still hear around me (important for my situation)
+I've been told 3 times my mic is incredible in discord, skype, and now again in twitch chat.
+Mic up mute, very easy.
+Extremely comfortable, I can wear it for hours upon hours without problem, it's soft and lightweight.
+I never use my speakers anymore, the sound on this is too good.

-The price is quite high, but it's worthwhile for me
-Slightly less comfortable than the last model, not enough to return it, also cheaper than the last model.

81 people found this helpful

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CLV

Awesome

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2016

Verified Purchase

This thing does what it says it does, Fantastically. Well made, software works right, dongle is perfect (Win10 64 bit), and the headset is what you expect from Sennheiser. The mic is good, excellent noise cancelling and voice quality.

It's a little pricy but you get something great.

EDIT: April 19th, 2018

So it's been a couple years and they still work great with a few minor flaws. The included software gets a little flaky if you don't reboot much. My PC runs for weeks and weeks between reboots but after a month or so the software utility gets flaky, crashes, won't restart. The headset still works though so it's not a big deal. The other thing is that recently the volume knob that's built into the headset is starting to make a little noise when adjusted and sometimes the channels are imbalanced until I fiddle with it. I suspect the potentiometer is dirty.

10 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Right speak has had defect on 3 of these headsets

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2019

Verified Purchase

The Good-
These are classic open air headphone from Sennheiser so you get the quality build you are expecting. When you first unbox them they are snug but after a few weeks of breaking them in the feel comfortable. I used these for long sessions and had no discomfort which has come to be expected from Sennheiser. The sounds quality on the 7.1 virtual was a nice step up from the 363D which I previously owned and the mic quality is crisp.

The Bad-
I purchased a pair of these in December of 2018. I produce music and game hence why I went with this headset. I always keep the dB's at -1 when producing just due to how many pairs I've blown out in the past. Shortly after purchasing I started to hear vibrations whenever low end would play in music, games, or YouTube videos. I chalked it up to another blown headset. I really enjoy the PC 7 series and decided to by another earlier this month. Out of box it had the same exact issue. This pair I was very cautions and did 0 producing with. Went to YouTube and played a few videos on medium volume and the buzzing can still be heard. Reached out to amazon support and they decided to send another one. Same exact issue. After playing with it I believe there is a fault with the volume control dial on the right ear and it is loose by design which when enough bass is produced it has a buzzing sound. Word of caution I'm on 3 of these and they all have the same exact defect. This was never an issue on the PC 363D's

-The Ugly
This is my first official return with amazon after 6 years of unprecedented service. I have had to work with overseas support multiple times now and It's scripted to the point I might as well be putting an inquiry with an AI driven bot. I asked when they shipped the first replacement to please send a return label so I can ship the old pair back because I have no printer. All I got was yes sirs and lone behold no label. Next support agent tried to send me another pair which I had to physically cancel because these guys are scripted to the point were they cannot make decisions based on situations. I know have 2 head sets a box to return them with that is not large enough for the packaging and headsets. Nice! Thanks Bezos.

One person found this helpful

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Garrett Maurice

Amazing sounding headset.

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

Recently upgraded from the Corsair Void pro to these Sennheisers. The difference in quality is astounding. I can hear things in games and music that I've never been able to hear before. They are comfortable, adjustable, and feel great during long play periods. I tried the Hyper X Cloud S Revolvers before these, but returned them due to poor sound quality and lack of the ability to adjust the headset.. Here are some pros/cons of the sennheiser headset-
Pros-
Sound Quality is amazing, you hear everything going on.
Comfortable, velvet cusps feel very nice and I never sweat in them.
Surround sound is great. I find myself to be constantly aware of enemy position with these headphones.
Mic quality is great (for a headset).
Easy to adjust and they don't come loose.

Cons-
Bass can be very underwhelming.
Software doesn't provide much for sound options. Gives you on/off buttons for surround sound, side tone, and pre set, but that's literally it.

One person found this helpful

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Brian Knowlton

Slightly better than my $20 headphones, far worse using the soundcard that comes with it.

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2018

Verified Purchase

Update: See bottom.

Decided to shell out cash for an upgrade in a headset. After looking through the reviews for a bunch of different headsets and seeing it had EQ options, I decided to try these out. Turns out it was a mistake.

I've been playing PUBG for a little while and one thing the game is notorious for, is it's poorly optimized audio. Footsteps are REALLY quiet, so players are forced to jack up their volume to 11 and blow out their ears as the gunshots, bombs and planes are then EXTREMELY loud. Which brings me to the need for good EQ options.

When I read it came with EQ, I expected it to be an EQ setting that you could customize yourself. Instead, you only get 4 EQ settings, all of which are awful (aside from maybe the music setting, haven't tried it with music). In fact, these headphones almost have anti-EQ, where footsteps are even quieter, while gunshots, bombs, planes are REALLY loud. Determining the directions of anything is mind-numbing as I'm either trying really hard to hear the footsteps or get rocked out of my chair when I'm blasted with gunshots.

After looking up and tinkering with different options for EQ, I eventually decided to try my headphones I was using previously (Sentey Arches GS-4730) that I had purchased for $20. I hadn't tried using the windows Loudness Equalization setting before with them until now. That's when I realized I totally wasted my money on these headphones. Not only could I hear footsteps clearly and accurately determine the direction, but my volume was turned WAY down from the max volume I was using with the Sennheiser's after trying all of the EQ settings it has to offer (and Windows Loudness Equalization isn't an option).

If these allowed you to completely customize your EQ (which I would think wouldn't be that hard), then maybe these would be worth it.

The only reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 is because the surround sound might be good. But surround sound is only useful in games where it's compatible (which, as far as I know, is few).

Also worth noting, the volume doesn't go nearly as high as my Sentey Arches (not that you'd need to really go much higher). I'm pretty sure if I decided to off myself by blasting my ears out, I could easily do it with the Sentey's. The Sennheiser's go high enough to do some damage, but not enough to make your ears bleed. Not that the extra volume matters, just that I have to have the volume at nearly 100% on everything (game, computer and headphones) before I can hear footsteps in game. Whereas with the Sentey's, I can have my computer or headphone volume at 50% and I can clearly hear even the quietest sounds.

I'm usually skeptical of expensive electronics as to the amount of added value they actually bring to a game. And after having my 'Wizard of Oz' moment ("You've had great sound quality all along"... with my $20 Sentey Arches), I was right to be skeptical.

Update:
After tinkering around with them, I found that after uninstalling the dongle, they sound great and I can use Windows EQ. Although not much better (if at all) than my $20 Senteys.
But after deciding to try out the headphone/mic jack cable ($35 on Amazon. I assumed it came with it, but whatever), the sound is PRISTINE I can also use Window's Loudness EQ and my Soundblaster soundcard EQ (which I can't with the Senteys), which allows me to completely customize my EQ. Despite all that though, I don't really see much of an advantage to purchasing these over my Senteys. The sound is definitely better, but it isn't THAT much better to justify purchasing for $180, even with the EQ.

The most noticeable advantage these have over my Senteys (that I neglected to include in my initial review) is that these things are much more comfortable. With the Senteys, after gaming for about 4+ hours, my ears start to hurt. They're very comfortable to wear for the 4 hours or so, but my ears will just start to randomly hurt, which makes it nearly impossible to continue to play without a nagging ear ache. While with the Sennheiser 373Ds, I feel like I could wear these forever and not experience any ear pain (I have yet to experience any pain wearing these and they're adjustable).
I only changed my review from 2 to 3 stars to reflect this. If it came with the headphone/mic jack plug in and the soundcard wasn't so terrible, I might've given it 4 stars. Maybe there's some setting I missed that could make it not so terrible, but the fact that I have to pull off some technical level tinkering to make it actually sound good would take it down a notch by itself.

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Chad

Sennheiser software is why this is 3 stars out of 5.

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

I don't write reviews much but when there is a common issues with something that I wish I knew before purchasing then I would want to know. So here you go. If you plan to use the dongle and the Sennheiser software with these know that you will have some fuzzy noise every once in awhile. This isn't just a one off issue w/ my headset. At some point Windows 10 had some update or something and now any of these older headsets of Sennheisers that use old drivers/software that Sennheiser no longer supports will run into this issue. I bought two pairs of these. This one and the DROP version which is called PC 37X. It's the same headset with some mods done. The DROP version comes without the dongle. I purchase the Schiit Hel DAC and ever since I have not looked back at using the software from Sennheiser. I never have the audio fuzzy noise anymore. I have two gaming PC's and I have tested both headsets with the Sennheiser software and they both do it on both computers. Sennheisers software is JUNK! Their hardware is AWESOME!

If you buy this for gaming you should plan on ditching the software and getting a DAC that doesn't require ANY software, like the one I mentioned. Stay away from the Sennheiser DAC too imo.

I really wish Sennheiser would come out with a new open back gaming headset either with up to date software or fix their current software. Their current software, when it works right, is perfection for directional audio for gaming. There is a reason I stuck with these 373 models. I previously had the PC 363D model and that software was also BSOD my computer. I confirmed this with Microsoft support too. Soon as I removed the software, no more BSOD. So I was forced to stop using my trusty PC 363D's. After putting those down I went on a hunt. I tried all these go to gaming headsets I see reviews on, HyperX (worse ever idk why these get good reviews, those ppl must of come from Xbox360 headsets or something), Logitech G's and even a Sennheiser DAC paired with the DT 990's. Those are all treble and sound so bad for gaming. My biggest issue was the lack of directional audio. I should say not the lack of it but how bad it was to determine how far away footsteps actually are.

What Sennheisers software does and does SOOOO GOOD is directional audio and how far those steps are away from you. I remember playing Valorant and my buddy was always late on footsteps and I would asking him do you not hear those steps right next to you? Same thing when I was watching my random teammates in lobbies. I could tell from their reactions they didn't know how close footsteps are, or in some cases they didn't hear them at all (tv speaker users?).

This review went a lot longer than I expected but I wanted you to know I have done my homework. I'm not some big youtuber getting paid to endorse some junk headset. Sennheiser's PC 363-373 headsets are the best I have ever had in 15 years of gaming.

TL;DR - If you get the Sennheiser 373's be prepared to get a good DAC so you don't need the software that Sennheiser refuses to support anymore since these are older headsets...

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Felipe Andres Valencia Valencia

perfect but if u dont have any noise outside 4 stars to 1 read EDIT

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2019

Verified Purchase

i have the razer megalodon, the corsair 2100, and now this Sennheiser PC 373D, i have to say i love it but i think that open headset is best for audio quality but not for noisy environments, i have a ZOTAC MINI GTX 1070 and i have that the fans go to 100% if the temp is over 65°C so when im playing demanding games like BFV if i have this headset on 30% of volume i can hear the fans, other thing is that the volume of this headset is not powerfull enough compared to the vengeance 2100 this 373D to 100% is like the 2100 to %50, but the quality of the sound is outstanding very crisps and in music it really shine. I am not and audiophile, i play Electric guitar on my school and university days, but right now i only like to relax, on my gaming hobby trying to be competitive with games like PUBG and RAINBOW this headset works, if u train to get awareness on surround sound it will tell u the exact enemy position im in the position that i think 7.1 IS NOT A GIMMICK because i was a COD player and with 7.1 i win alot of scrims of S&D with 7.1 on and not the 2.1 stereo because u only have 2 ears and 2 speakers BS with 7.1 on on headsets i can tell because i trained that way where my enemy is on distance and location, and with this headset is the 1st time on rainbow that i can tell if the enemy is up or down of me

this is and excellent product if u can buy it on $100 or less no more i really can tell u this is a $250 product NEVER.

EDIT
i don't have more than 1 month of use, and the software start to freeze and randomly restart my pc, i play RAINBOW SIX SIEGE RANKED, and is unforgivable that the PC restarts or crash, i buy a USB 2.0 only for this headset (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81%2B5Yo625aL._SY355_.jpg) that plug internal header to my motherboard Z77X-UD3H that has USB ports that have more power than normal USB of other boards, and still i have freeze and restarts i will never buy an sennheiser product again, is really sad because the sound of this beast was AWESOME but the software turn it to trash

i put 100% of volume in communication audio and in main audio and control it with the right wheel volume circle, im using it on USB 3.0 without problems, if this work like is now i will change the review and put 4 stars of 1

ok now its working like suppose to do but give me some problems when i enable the sidetone some times the sound breaks and i have to unplug and replug the usb

this is a fantastic headset but if u dont NEED THE 7.1 buy the PC37X or the G4M3 0N3 the software is a really piece of crap that make this perfect headset really has alot of problems.

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