Sennheiser - PC Gaming Headset

I spent at least 2 months asking around about headsets. I needed a set that could double for studio monitoring. I toyed around with getting two different set of cans. I decided that spending $400 + was inane. Considering the specs on the PC350 were adequete, I opted for the PC350. Second place runner up was the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Studio monitoring headphones. If I had not needed the Microphone I would have probably gone with the Audio-Technica based on reputation and price. ($100) I game about 2 hours a day. So the Microphone was a necessary evil. I stumbled aross the PC350 and after about 3 hours of online reviews I threw in the towel. (mainly due to pending audio projects) With the idea that if they were inferior...they could always get a ride back via UPS. Lets start with current reviews online...and there short comings: 1. Sound is muddled and bass is weak. (false) The sound is muddled due to the accurate replication of the sound you are playing. If you are listening to an .mp3 file through an integrated sound card (on board) you will get an exact replication of the quality. The PC350 does not jack up the sound production. If the song/game was engineered/produced poorly it will come thru your PC350 naked. You will find in short order that some of the music currently calling your hard drive home should find another place to squat. You may find yourself saying "I want my songs to sound good"...well buy the CD and listen to it, or listen to it thru your desktop 2.1 or 5.1. The PC350's are not designed to change the sound. 2. No detachable Mic :( And you dont need one, nothing ruins connectons like inserting / removing. Even if you can buy a replacement mic...you gonna buy a replacement headset or send it in when the connection gets worn? I have gone as far as to buy Plantronics PC Speaker Headset Switch to keep from unplugging the PC350's. They are "Gold Plated" connectors (Two 1/8” plugs) that will not stay that way if they are continually pushed in and out of a sound card. For $16 bones...my headset and sound card will stay in good shape. Ok, that does it. Just about every other review has been dead on. The one thing that really stands out aesthetically is the absence of L.E.D lights or pro-gamer insignia. You actually look like you know what you are doing in this headset. Not that it matters...but no one likes being a mobile bill board without being compensated. I dont get a check from Creative or Fatal1ty. Sennheiser put the need to know information on the headset. Make and Model. They forgot to put any catchy gaming phrase. For anyone over 30 hats off. I dont need for my kids to ask me what is "Pwn and Own". Comfort - I am wearing them now, Unless your ears stick off your head more than 2 inches, you are going to be pleased. Literally you will wear these and forget they are on your head. Keep that in mind if you buy these. The cord is only so long. (long enough...but not from the PC to the bathroom) Finally someone decided that most ears are not circular. Unless you are a chimpanze. When they designed the PC350 it was with human anatomy in mind. Image that. Materials Quality - You get what you pay for. At least with this headset. The tolerances are tight. You get metal hinges at the can pivot points. Cant tell at this point if they are painted. I live in a humid envo and that will become apparent in months. Resessed screws have been used at smaller connections. The screws are the same color as the headset. All molded connections are strong and have flexibility. The ear cans have small rubber gromets to buffer stress. I could go on and on about the quality. If you buy these, compare any other headset / headphones you own. Microphone - Went from using a Logitech headset. When I went to the server I normally play on and spoke with the PC350, It got really quite. Like crickets and pin drop quite. This microphone is no joke. On the side I edit speaking engagements. The microphones used by the speaker range good to garbage. Background noise is horrible. 9 out of 10 edits require ambient noise reduction. I use Adobe Audition 3.0 to record and edit with. To test the PC350's microphone I turned the TV on at a normal volume. My PC is two feet from the headset. I have 8 cooling fans running and a fairly quite hard drive. I started the recording in Audition and went thru the standard test range or words and phrases. Not only did the background noise not make it to the wave form ...my voice was clear and natural. The mic did not transfer the TV or fans. Come on now...on a gaming headset? Talk about over-kill. The boom on the mic rotates down on the left side. There is a rubberized flexible (not bendable) portion on the arm that allows for accidents. Ok, there is nothing worse than a manufactuers fanboy. This is my first round with Sennheiser. So far there engineers and designers have seen fit to give the gamer and casual audio engineer the equipment they need and want. If you are grappling with the price tag. This thing comes with a 2 year warranty. I promise you, if you dont buy this and a friend does you will have the worst case of headset envy known to man. Wrapping it up. I am a consumer. I dont have a online hardware review forum. Sennheiser does not send me prototype audio equipment or t-shirts. I am a recluse with a heavy hand on "shotty made" ejection button. I actually got excited enough to sit down and hammer this review out. There was no review for the PC350 on Bestbuy.com, all the reviews online were good. Most came from testers. Fortunatly they were all about 95% dead on. Buy these, break them in. Explain to family members that when these things are on your head...you cannot hear them. Install higher pitched fire alarm.

Hello, So ive had this Headset for almost 2 years now, and man is this thing built strong. Ive travelled with this, knocked on the floor a 1000 times lol, cord got snagged, everything you can imagine, this thing is a tank. Also the comfort on these are AMAZING, ive sat thru 10 hours of gaming and music and didnt need to take them off, i wear these everyday for Hours with no problems Now as for the Audio Quality....Its pretty good, maybe the best you will hear on a Headset, however HeadPHONES at this price point will give alot better sound even in games, the positional Audio is Top notch but only paired with a good sound card, This headset alone wont be that great, I plugged it in to my Motherboards built in sound and i couldnt hear footsteps at all, so remember that The Microphone.....Is Top notch, the best headset Mic i have ever heard I would get this Headset if you only did Gaming and Needed a all in one. if you listen to movies and Music....You will feel sort of ripped off because they only sound Okay.... if you want something that will perform great in Movies,Games and Music id reccomend Getting a Nice Pair of Sennheiser HD558 those are awsum

The guy that wasn't happy with these headphones needs to understand 2 things: 1. They take time (all headphones do) to break in. 2. They sound even better when used with an appropriate amp. to help drive them properly. They work fine with a pc, but you also need a decent sound card, and an amplifier to hear how great they can be. These phones have 300 ohms of impedence, so you generally need a good amp to drive them in the way they will sound best. I have had these hooked up to my sound card in my pc for about a yr. now. At first, I was surprised at how shallow and tinny they sounded. But, I knew that they would sound better once broken in. Boy, it was worth the wait! They sound soo good now. I use them for music as well. While they won't replace a music specific headphone, they do sound good. They are articulate, responsive, neutral sounding, with nice mids, proper base, and non-fatiguing to my ears! I just assumed that all headphones would give you a headache if you wore them for over an hour or so. Not so! I just had lousy headphones that were hard on my ears, making them fatigued, so that I got a headache. Well, these are great. The mic is second to none, and they sound great. I play a lot of FPS games, and these give you the ability to locate where a gunshot is coming from, or where those footsteps are, etc. I have heard things in the games and music that I have never heard before. It is awesome. I have owned about 6 or 7 headsets, and none had worked well, let alone impressed me. Until these, that is. I have never owned Senns before, but I am glad I tried them and gave them a chance. Good gaming to you! :)

This review is not for the technical user, but rather for a gamer. I have just purchased my third set. Don't let that alarm you. Each of the previous two sets lasted about 4 - 5 years each. And I use them constantly. I am online for hours at a time. I wear glasses. I am on ventrilo (voip) with several other users. I do not use push-to-talk. The Sennheiser headset does not become uncomfortable despite the length of time it sits on my head. It does not press my glasses into my ears or make them sit unevenly. I virtually forget I have it on. Even though I play in voice activated mode, there is no ambient noise that travels to my fellow companions on vent, which would be bemoaned vehemently if it did. The mic swings up and away from my mouth if I want making it easy to eat :) I roll over the cord, inadvertently yank it out of the jacks, toss it carelessly onto the desk or floor and in general have not 'babied' it. Despite this abuse it has been very durable. Both sets I previously owned had to be replaced for the same issue. The connection at the inline volume/voice control weakened and sound became intermittent and static laden. I am sure that this occurred in part due to my careless treatment and constant wear and tear rather than poor construction. In conclusion, if you are a gamer or if you have extended use of a pc headset, you will find these comfortable, clear and durable.

I've had the PC350s for about 3 months and after using other gaming headsets, these are by far superior in sound quality and mic. They are very comfortable as well even after hours of use. One drawback though, to use these with the Xbox 360, you will also need a mixamp (not included) to take advantage of the Dolby surround. I chose the Astro A40 mixamp and it works very well. Overall, they are a bit pricey but if you are a serious gamer and want a quality surround sound headset, they are worth the money.

Hopefully this will be helpful for someone looking for a gaming headset! The first Sennheiser headset I got, was a gift. I game a lot, and after long sessions my uncomfortable headset caused me a great deal of pain. My boyfriend at the time, wanted me to play in comfort, so he got me a Sennheiser pc 161 headset. I was in heaven! Sound was fantastic, comfort was amazing (after many, many hours) and durability was awesome. I'm embarrassed to say how many times I've forgotten my headset was on and walked away to get a drink then *dooiing* the headset shoots off and hits the wall, sort of like a slingshot. I've also run over the cord numerous times with the wheels of my chair (oops!) and could tell you other stories, but suffice it to say, yes, this product is durable! Anyhow, I now have two Sennheiser headsets. Even though four years later, my first set of pc 161's are still functioning perfectly. Moving along to the Sennheiser pc 350. My friend's headset is on it's last legs, so for a birthday gift I wanted to buy him a set of these so he too can game in the lap of luxury. He has experienced pain from his heavy headset and I figured the pc 350's would be the prescription for relief! He received them last night and fired them up and ..... was sorely disappointed!!!???? I got on vent with him, and his voice sounded tinny and had no depth. He said on his end the sound was terrible. We went over every adjustment we would think of. I couldn't believe it because my own experience was so fantastic and I had done a bunch of research to ensure he got the best. I thought maybe it was damaged, because this just couldn't be. As it turns out, it appears to boil down to a sound card issue. The headset is fine, it's just not meant to go with his laptop -- an hp (and I hope his next one is an Asus!). His review: they look great, they feel great but the sound (on his set up) was awful. Regardless, he thanked me for the kind gesture and will be visiting Best Buy to trade them in for another pair. Having said all of that. Yes, I would recommend the Sennheiser pc 350. But if you're considering buying this product -- consider your sound card first! If you're looking for a new gaming headset, I hope this was in some way helpful to you!

So the headset is pretty good, only thing i didn't like was the price of it, for such quality headset. The quality overall it's not that great to pay $199.99. I will say i have not had any problems with this headset so far, after having it for at least 6 months. Quality is great along with microphone output voice.

I normally do not write reviews, but I had heard such great things about this headset that I felt obligated to say something in regards to my viewpoint. I am an audiophile and can have a critical hear, however I would never judge a gaming headset with such demand. The problem with this headset is it is the worst I've ever heard in ANY price range...period (with perhaps the exception of those cheap 2 dollar headsets that come with cheap walkmans or mp3 players). The highs are grossly distorted and unclear...this is proven by the fact that I have a slightly torn left eardrum. What makes it hurt even at lower volumes? Distortion. The bass is very weak (probably because there is no external power supply supporting the drivers...there is no USB and no place to insert batteries). The worst of all is the mid-level. There IS NO mid-level bass or lower treble. Its as if they wanted to support the higher end of the voice range so much (perhaps because it has a mic?) that they removed other frequencies. BAD DECISION. This is a great company and, ironically, they make some great audiophile grade headsets...but somehow they missed the mark on this particular set and the quality is the worst I've ever heard. It brings me no pleasure to say this, but I feel I must say something since I have experience with MANY pc gaming headsets. I can only assume that some people see the price and assume this is what great sound must be like. Trust me...this is the worst ever.