Game Tests

Getting a game on...

Here, I will try to give you an idea of how the headset stacks up against some of the latest titles. Remember, an audio-based review is inherently subjective, given the matter at hand. You will have to judge for yourself, therefore, if the unit is of interest to you. Before I get to any of the results, however, I will say that the implementation of the virtual Dolby 7.1 Surround on this unit was done particularly well. I genuinely preferred - when gaming - using the headset with said mode enabled, which was a bit of a shock.

Battlefield 1

I really, really wish I had gotten this unit during the Battlefield 5 open beta... despite all the controversy surrounding the title, I cannot help but look forward to it. For now, though, Battlefield 1 will have to make do. It features DICE's usual stunning visuals, as well as some truly stellar tier sound design. The whole experience, when listened to through a competent headset or audio equipment, can be quite overwhelming. The sound of explosions, flying bullets, falling shells, and men's screams are all part of the package. It does, therefore, make it an obvious choice.

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the 700's start very well. They are, after all, designed with the FPS market in mind. Battlefield 1 has a great deal of detail in its sound design, immersing you in the experience of being on a chaotic battlefield. Locating enemies via the sound of their footsteps, or predicting where a shell might land due to the howl of its flight isn't unusual, just to give you some idea of how good the audio is in this title. The headset allowed this to come across very well, and I was impressed. Clarity was very nice, and I felt truly that there was no loss of said clarity or 'muddiness' anywhere that I could notice. It got 'plenty' loud as well, to the point where I had to turn down the volume in order to continue playing. Even maxed out, however, there was no detectable noise distortion.

A small word on the Surround Sound, here. I did use it, and whilst I generally tend to dislike synthetic 7.1 solutions, I have to admit to rather liking it during Battlefield 1. In reality, surround sound aims to amplify small details that may go unnoticed with regular headsets. The effect was excellent, but I have to concede that this was probably because BF1 doesn't feature that much music during normal gameplay. When it does, it's often muted or still playing second fiddle to the sound of battle. Therefore, I liked the surround solution, here. It was well tuned and Bongiovi can pat themselves on the back duly.

So, all in all, a very enjoyable gaming experience. Moving on..!

Doom

Until the release of Doom: Eternal, the 2016 version of the game will continue to feature in any audio test I do. This is another game with a heavy emphasis on sound, but this time coming much more from a 'musical' basis. We have all heard Doom's famous theme, and the entire game relies on heavy metal, bass-focused soundtracks in order to get the player's blood pumping. Along with the fast-paced action, a good headset can make the experience intoxicating... and intoxicating it was. The Fusion 700's emphasis on bass shines through here, with each track sounding good. In fact, the headset was able to get so loud that I was forced to turn Windows' volume down. Even at 100% though, I could detect no distortion attributed to the loudness at all. Doom was, ironically, the first time I detected a small weakness in the old 500's soundscape. Not so this time. The tweaked 700's performed utterly flawlessly, here, and if I was enraptured last time, I was genuinely ascended this time. Doom has a habit of sucking time away from me, similar to Civilisation 6 sessions, so three hours later...

Project Cars

Project Cars is a racing title aimed at a variety of different player levels, ranging from 'take me around the track' to 'I want to crash, a lot'. I reverted to my standard test, here, namely a run around Brands Hatch with an Audi R8 V10. To all the car nerds out there, V10's are an interesting engine type. Able to rev like a well-engineered V8, but still featuring the beginnings of a distinctive V12 burble that sounds so wonderful. Add a popping exhaust and watch petrolheads go giddy...

Anyway, distractions aside. A good headset should aim to entirely immerse the player in such a title, as racing sims are inherently highly repetitive. Due to the 500's exceptional bass coverage, the unit does just that. I winded up doing at least ten laps of the track, enjoying my experience greatly. The surround (detailed more below) enhanced, rather than detracted, as well. The low revving, growling V10 of the R8 sounded superb, and I especially liked the sound of the car backfiring (a 'pop' of the exhaust, if you will). The unit also proved able to provide audio-based feedback on what the car was doing, with me successfully catching the vehicle as it began to step out of line. Excellent.

The Microphone

The 700's feature your fairly standard omnidirectional microphone (though it is digital), that inherently provides some level of noise cancellation due to receiving sound from (you guessed it) one direction. The tests were conducted in a one on one chat room on a Discord server, as well as the capturing of a sentence recorded using Audacity. This program was used also to play back said clips, to keep things even.

Playback using the unit was absolutely fine, and - to my ear - the quality wasn't especially lacking anywhere. Certainly, my partner on the other end of the server reported no issues and could hear me perfectly well with good clarity. I also live in a fairly central London location, so ambient noise can be a problem. The unidirectional feature worked as advertised, keeping the majority of unwanted background noise to a minimum. Then again, I expected it to. As with the previous unit, the playback could be described as a little bit 'flat,' perhaps, but for 99% of people who want a gaming headset to talk to teammates with, I would have zero issues here. If you want to run a YouTube channel or record voice for a specific purpose, get standalone. It's that simple. As I have said in practically every gaming headset review I have ever done, it's a gaming headset. It is not, categorically, a microphone, and should not be expected to perform as one. The value in this unit is in the audio experience, and its performance above reflects that. The microphone being uni-directional, noise canceling, digital, and providing a decent experience is just a bonus, really.

With all that said and done, shall we put these through some tunes?