Headset Review - PC Guide https://www.pcguide.com Practical Guides to PC & Tech at Home, Work, and Play Sat, 20 Apr 2024 15:02:33 +0000 en-US https://www.pcguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/PCguide-favicon-75x75.png Headset Review - PC Guide https://www.pcguide.com 32 32 Bose Quiet Comfort 25 Review: Worth The Money? In the world of headphones and audio gadgets, it’s becoming increasingly hard, without a music degree or the passionate interest of an audiophile, to tell which headphone is better than the next, or which company provides quality. But we’re here to provide a simple review of the Bose Quiet Comfort 25 headphones, whether they are worth your money and ears' company.

What Do The Headphones Offer?

The Bose Quiet Comfort (QC) 15, is a previous iteration of this style of headphones released back in 2014. They were considered some of the best noise-canceling headphones on the market at the time.

They won multiple awards, and are widely regarded as a worthy companion for most audio needs. So the successor to such high-quality headphones was always going to attract attention once Bose delivered them.

Briefly, the Bose QC 25’s are a bettering of the QC15 noise-canceling headphones, as the aim is still a focus on providing quality audio with some of the best noise-canceling features as well.

Build And Design Quality

One thing that customers suggest about these headphones is that the clamping force is ideal - they grip without squishing your ears, and that means you can wear them for as long as you need. It's a fair comment.

The earpads actually have memory foam in them to help your ears remain comfy, and they are super squishy as a result. The fact the protein leather earpads are synthetic and don’t use animal products is a plus too if you ask us.

On the point of materials, there is a lot of plastic on these headphones, but Bose manages to keep the headphones more sleek and chic than bulky and unwieldy.

Importantly, the noise cancelation relies on a built-in amp, so you'll need to keep the single AAA battery in flux with a replacement in order to keep the noise cancelation going.

On the one hand, this is annoying, but on the other, these are some of the best noise-canceling headphones we've tested, so for the sake of a single AAA battery that needs occasional attention, we can get over it. Noise-cancelation lasts a quoted 35 hours.

Luckily, if your battery runs out you can use the headphones passively without active noise cancellation, which you couldn't do on the QC 15s.

Audio And Noise Cancelation Quality

So, let’s start with noise cancellation. We’ve already mentioned how highly-regarded the noise cancelation on the QC15s is and we’re glad to say that the noise cancelation in these headphones is even better than that model.

Yet, and this is worth noting, we like that the ear cup design means that the noise cancelation isn’t dangerously good. In other words, when you are outside you can still hear someone shouting, a car horn beeping, and other louder audible cues you may need to be aware of.

The equalization is very well balanced too: meaning that neither bass, the vocals nor high-end outweigh each other. In turn, this means they're not bass-heavy and so they won’t have the bass power you might expect from Beats or other headphones.

Our Verdict

Overall, it’s hard to suggest much negative about the Bose QC 25s. If you like the older Bose QC 15 model, you will certainly like these - and won't regret an upgrade.

The audio quality is great, although they're maybe not the ideal model for more specialized uses (in the studio), but in terms of noise cancelation and all-around performance, these headphones are worth their price.

Of course, they are expensive, but you are pretty much getting the best noise-canceling headphones at this price when you do part with your money.

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https://www.pcguide.com/headset/review/bose-quiet-comfort-25/ https://www.pcguide.com/?p=147051 Thu, 09 Jun 2022 17:18:19 +0100
Sennheiser GSP 670 Headset Review Wireless tech is a funny thing. In one respect it is everywhere in our lives. Everything is wireless, we expect it and yet certain aspects of it are still really expensive and premium.

Wireless audio is one such area where the price really doesn’t seem to come down ever and most of the key manufacturers will have a range of wireless headsets covering the mid-range to the high-price sectors.

Nobody wants a wired connection - although conveniently we forget that a wired connection is pretty much lag-free and in competitive gaming that can give you those milliseconds of an advantage and mean your brain doesn’t have to adjust to what it is hearing.

With all that in mind let’s have a look at the top-of-the-range Sennheiser GSP 670 today - a wireless gaming headset from a pro brand that promises to alleviate some of those latency issues while delivering an aural experience that can’t be matched. Let’s go.

Sennheiser GSP 670

Awesome sound quality showing you get what you pay forWeight: 1.15llbsDimensions: 8.7 x 4 x 9.5 inchesColour: Black Great sound quality Built to last Good connection range Extremely simple to connect Expensive Heavier than mostCheck price on AmazonLet’s get the jargon out of the way first. The GSP 670 claims to offer lossless Bluetooth connection with a long-range of 10 metres as well a proprietary low-latency technology to enhance your gaming audio experience. More of this later.They are also boasting a battery life of around 16-20 hours and a fast charge capability that gives you an extra two hours juice after just seven minutes but maybe, in this case, the biggest selling point of all might just be the brand itself.Sennheiser is synonymous with quality audio headphones. That’s been the case for decades. Sennheiser phones have been the choice for music studios, radio stations and audiophiles the globe over for a very long time, so we should rightly be just a bit excited that this level of expertise is now within our reach for our PCs.I say within our reach but that might not be the case for everybody. These are not cheap, coming in at the price of a semi-decent GPU but it’s likely if you are in the market for a high-end wireless headset, you probably won’t be too concerned about that, especially when you take into account that these are - spoiler alert - about as good as you can get on the market today.There is a caveat there, new sets are coming out all the time and the GSP 670 has set itself up to be the benchmark for others to try and take down. It won’t be easy though, you realise that from the minute you slide them over your dome.Adjusting the grip on your skull is simply performed by altering the sliders in the headband. If you prefer them so tight your eyes are bulging, that’s fine, crack on, or you can loosen them to taste.The earpads feel lovely. They are covered in some form of synthetic suede type material and lushly padded, which also isolates external noise surprising well.To the left-hand side there is a boom-mic (unfortunately not detachable) that swivels out of the way easily - and not only that but it mutes itself when you flip it up too. A nice touch.The right-hand earcup houses my favourite part of the whole set-up the volume and on/off know - A large dial with a terrific amount of resistance built into it that really does fee premium.A complete turn anti-clockwise will turn the unit off, at which point the light on the included dongle blinks out of existence to reassure you that that your battery is now safe from drainage.Rotate it the other way, the light comes back on, a lady pipes up in your head to say the dongle has been found and you are back in business. It’s absolutely seamless and the feature I found the most compelling.I have been using a premium Corsair wireless headset for months and it has nothing on this. I’ve had hassles trying to get it to be my default device, come to find it drained completely and it just doesn’t feel as nice. It’s not as expensive but it’s still one of the more popular high-end models.As most PC users who use their rigs for multiple things will know it’s pretty easy to rack up a whole host of sound devices in Windows and things can get confusing very quickly.A quick look at my sound devices in Windows show my speakers, a couple of headsets, an Oculus Rift a Blue Yeti microphone, my Razer Ripsaw capture card and so on - it’s confusing as hell. For the GSP 670 to be able to sort its way through that mess and just work is great, and in my experience at least, not the norm with other headsets.

Aural pleasure

As for audio quality, it’s as good as I have heard from a set like this. I have wrecked my ears over the years but I was hearing sounds and nuances in Apex Legends that I genuinely have never heard before. You can easily switch between stereo and faux 7.1 with the tap of a button or through the very in-depth software package you can use to tweak.Speaking of the software when I booted it up and connected the headset via USB for a quick charging session the programme reported that I h1ad new firmware available for the cans, a software update and a firmware update for the dongle.Nice.The headphones updates fine, as did the software but I haven’t been able to update the dongle firmware - it times out after about 10 minutes but I’m sure that will get sorted at some point. I also couldn’t easily find a changelog to help me decide if I wanted to update. I’m always inherently nervous of firmware updates!I wanted to test out the range and as I am currently working from home and socially distancing the living daylights out of myself that involved heading downstairs. Once out of the line of sight of the dongle the audio started to drop in and out but I was still able to pick up an, albeit crackly, signal downstairs and in my kitchen. As soon as I returned upstairs though everything kicked back in just fine so for me, it performed admirably.Besides a couple of games where the sound was second to none, I also whizzed some music through it in Traktor Pro DJ to check latency and bass. Again it worked flawlessly. They aren’t necessarily headphones you would just away from your home setup due to the non-detachable mic - they aren’t public transport wear that’s for sure but you can connect them via Bluetooth to your phone should you fancy.

Conclusion

Are they for everybody? Well, they are and they aren’t. If you are looking for a top-drawer wireless headset and money is no option then yes. I’d buy them immediately. If you are thinking, do I really need to drop $300 on headphones/ Then maybe not?Having said that when you look at the price of AirPods and compare the sound and everything else on offer here they start to look a bit more reasonable.I’m not sure you are going to find a better set out there right now. They are lovely, well-made and suitable heavy. Audio response is terrific and they work like a charm.Maybe it’s that present you deserve to buy yourself with all the money you are saving not going out.]]>
https://www.pcguide.com/headset/guide/sennheiser-gsp-670-review/ https://www.pcguide.com/?p=8617 Wed, 25 Mar 2020 12:40:11 +0000