Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA Surprisingly Well-Built Mid-Range Headset
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2019
I was in the market for a sub-$100 headset, and of course, there were lots and lots of choices. Overwhelming doesn't begin to cover it. What made Creative stick out was, well, one, I legitimately forgot the company existed, even though I vaguely remember having earbuds from them over a decade ago (they still make headsets, and their legendary PCI-E soundcards by the way). Second, I loved the design of the simple totally-not-flashy SoundblasterX H6 and the rather tasteful amount of RGB on the headset, in the form of circular rings on the cans.
I immediately hit the Checkout button.
The headset came in and there was absolutely no fuss opening the package. The box is nice but hey, just a box. First impression, the size was a tad intimidating which lent the idea of having weight, but of course my head is a bit on the larger side and I have rather large ears too. Good compromise I thought. Grabbed them, and WOW they weren't actually heavy! Putting on my head was a big surprise too. The clamp force when they envelop your head isn't frustratingly tight at all, maybe even just a tad light, making good on Creative's own claim of a reasonable clamp force. Immediately fell in love with the headset because it fit and they feel great to wear, no exhaustion or fatigue around the ear area for prolonged periods of wear. The mesh on the headband and the ear cups is very comfortable too, not a big fan of leather. Only downside is well, being a mesh, the cans will catch particles and dust, so cleaning them once in a while will be a thing, but hey, the headset is worth taking care of. My room isn't very dust heavy either, and I normally don't eat at my desk, so ehhhh not a big problem for me. Height-adjusting the headset isn't an issue, the metal band inside has grooves so you can evenly level the cans, nor are the adjustments prone to coming undone when you take off the headset or move it around and such. When you set the cans, they stay in place with a reasonable amount of strength.
No problems connecting either. The headset comes with a USB connection and a 3.5mm jack. The manual states you can download the software that powers the headset and the necessary drivers through the support page. Had no issues finding. I just want to say though, that the software is *NOT REQUIRED* to use the headset, only if you want to utilize extra features like more granular equalizer settings, the millions of RGB colors and different cycles (without the software running, the headset RGB will default to Red when plugged in via USB), and the software's noise suppression and echo cancellation features for the microphone and such. The headset has three built-in EQ modes with a push of a button on the frontside of the left ear can. Gaming, Movies, and Music. I find the Gaming preset to be very sufficient for everyday use: not too much bass but enough for some oomph and not an excessive amount of Treble. Like it shows on the product's website page, the headset also has a Monitor button to let outside noise into the headphones by magnifying the audio. Cool little feature but I don't use it much. Plugging in with jack is, well, just good I guess. My computer has Dolby Digital Plus included and the headset pairs up nicely it, though I've come to prefer plugging in via USB. Sounds much louder and cleaner for me.
The Microphone is connected into the left headphone via gold 3.5mm jack and does a very good job at picking up my voice and isolating unwanted noise. It's a swivel mic too, so you bend it and adjust it however you want, just don't overdo it haha. When I first plugged in the headset with USB, the mic volume was preset to 85%. I thought that was a lot but after using Discord and other things, it's a good setting for everyday use, though everyone will have their preferences and make their own necessary adjustments. The mic mute button is cool too, a good mute-all solution instead of having to go into all your applications running to mute your voice. A little LED will light up red when mic-mute is turned on.
Now for all you wondering how well this headset does with the Discord chat application. It works wonderfully, aside from having a slightly annoying bug that has very minimal impact...if you don't use the headset software (which honestly I don't find TOO compelling but to each their own). When you turn on Echo Cancellation (or was it Smart Volume?) in the headset software and also use Discord's own EC and Noise Suppression features, when your friends speak, they'll get terrible echo of their own voice. Buuuut I find that Discord's EC and NS solutions work just fine without the headset software's own. Just be sure to select the Headset and Mic in Discord's Voice and Video settings section instead of the 'default device' selections.
Overall, is this headset worth the asking price of $80? Yes, it definitely is, and you won't be disappointed. If you see it with a discount, for the love of all that is holy, jump on this bad boy.
