Gaming experiences and da MIC

Gaming

Testing out the headset we use a handful of games:

Battlefield Hardline

While we moved to Battlefield hardline, but honestly I do prefer Battlefield 4. The headset actually does a good nice job of presenting environment detail, and in the FPS competition mode the bass gave some nice growl to the music and environmental sounds. For audio quality we left the settings actually at default, yet on the control pod we cranked up the sub-woofer two notches which the audio spectrum really needs. The default settings really are flat and lack proper bass.

The headset scores good on voice clarity and deep LFE explosion effects once you cranhk up the SUB setting on the control pod with two notches. The fun thing is that you can really hear noises in the background, something missing with virtualized surround I feel. While there is enough thump & pump, the bass remains a bit of a lacklustre as it is a bit flat. The LFE however compensates that mostly.

Metro Last Light

Metro Last Light is a game that you get yourself immersed in, good atmosphere, decent graphics still, and a beautiful sound design. Sound wise it's fairly good. The RipJaws do impress is they soak you into the ambient sound envelope of the game. It is so hard to explain sounds, but you feel like you are inside the world. The bass/sub that we increased two notches feels really right and you get that LFE growl that that you also get in a movie theatre. The dialog in Metro came through fine as did the environment sounds.

Project CARS

Rally and racing games have just about everything you could want if you're not into hardcore simulation. PCars has very realistic sounds, especially engine and gear noise, which are the heart and soul of a car. The headset is real darn realistic with PCars. Other than missing an apex or an occasional gear shift you will miss nothing in the audio spectrum. Let me put it simple, it sounds awesome, and when that engine barks and bites at you - this headset delivers the full audio envelope you may expect.

Grand Theft Auto V

Alright, Alright Alright. The funky tunes in GTA5 are really cool but lack a dynamic sounding bass. Increasing the SUB values on the conmtrol pod do help with that. What sounds better is driving or walking in the city. There's a lot of environmental sounds in that audio envelope that you can really hear. Detailed environmental audio reproduction is probably the best way of describing it. However when you fire up some music, you will realize that it is not the best sounding headset for audiophiles.

Microphone

As part of our protocol we tested the microphone out with a number of applications, Skype and some co-op play, playing back the sound samples with Audacity. The headset has a good and very clear microphone, plenty of gain, very good clarity and very low noise and hum, as well as very good noise (echo) cancellation. Pretty much it seems to be on par with any modern age MIC.