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Domestic | Feature

Feature: GamePro Labs: Gaming Headphone Wrap-Up

Feature by The Gamepros | 04/21/2008 | 11:52:24 AM PST

This week in the GamePro Labs we test out some top of the line headphones from Ideazon, Yamaha, Turtle Beach, and TRITTON. How do these titans of audio stack up against one another? Check out our verdicts inside!

Let's face it: decent head-gear has become more and more difficult to come by as the audio design in games keeps getting better and better. Most headphones cost an arm and a leg just to provide a decent auditory experience for hearing Splicers creeping up on you in BioShock! Well, here at GamePro Labs, we've taken it upon ourselves to take a look at some of the newest headsets out there that'll leave you with the best gaming experience possible, and when all is said and done. some cash in your pocket!

Ideazon Banshee Gaming Headset

www.ideazon.com

Aesthetics:

With a sleek gunmetal mesh around the frame, the design reminds me of a device you would find on a sci-fi show, like Battlestar Galactica. Most gamer-targeted products tend to be overly designed to look "space-age," while the Banshee strikes a fine balance of clean design without overtly being "futuristic"

Comfort:

A good product design strikes a balance of form and function. The beauty of the mesh metal on the ear piece is very unique. Not only does it look cool, it serves a purpose of ventilation to keep your ears breathing and sweating less.

Audio Performance:

The Banshee provided above average sound for gaming and decent quality for music. With the advancement of more sophisticated sound in gaming, the Banshee is able to harness the best sound quality that gaming has to offer. This performance does not translate overly well to music. With listening to music, the focus is purely on the track and not on the computer screen. The range of each note is more distinct, and the Banshee is not able to meet all the ranges.With that being said, the Banshee is still one of the better headsets I've ever owned.

Price:

The Banshee retails for $69.99. Based on performance and value, this is the perfect price point.

Final Impressions:

Overall the Banshee is a great headset for gaming on the PC, and performs decently for music. If your goal is to find a mid-price headset for good sound quality, this is the one to own. If you're looking for superb music quality for your Radiohead tracks, I would recommend getting a higher end headset.

Fun Factor:

4.00

-George Hu

Yamaha RH10MS

www.yamaha.com/

Aesthetics:

They are nice, clean looking headphones. Simple, mostly black design with a white plastic oval on each earphone with the Yamaha logo and the corresponding ear letter (R / L). Foam padded ears with a foam padded bar at the top of the headphones as well. The cord is almost ridiculously long, at 3 meters (around 10 feet), which actually makes the headphones not ideal for traveling, though they do come with a swanky velour pouch.

Comfort:

The headphones are comfortable. Far from the most comfortable that I have ever worn, but there is no noticeable discomfort either. They are a bit heavy, and the foam padding at the top pretty much has to be resting on your head because of the weight, thus they have the potential of ruining a quality hair day each time you put them on. I would say I could wear them for 2-3 hours straight before they got too annoying. One nice feature is that the earphones themselves swivel 90 degrees one way, if you're into that sort of thing (DJ, etc).

Audio Performance:

The headphones sounded good; they had quality reproductions of all the music I listened to, from hip-hop to rock to classic 80's tracks. The soundstage that is created, however, is lacking compared to other high-end headphones I've used -- something to take into consideration when spending money on a good set of headphones. They list having S-Logic for 3-dimensional surround sound, but I can only recall one instance when I was listening where I actually noticed a sense of sound coming from behind me. In gaming they performed admirably, listening with one headphone on while playing CoD4 gave me the satisfaction of both hearing someone in the office cry out "No way!" or "BS!" after a quality headshot, and also the ability to hear the dirty players trying to sneak up and knife-gank me.

Price:

The RH10MS professional monitor headphones retail at $159 from Yamaha.com, however some quick Googling uncovered the standard web price to be about $129.99. For that amount of cash I would say that these headphones are slightly over-priced, I know I've gotten better headphones for less money in the past. That said, if you were to purchase these headphones, you could do much worse as they are built with quality parts and deliver good, if not great sound

Final Impressions:

The final impression of the RH10MS is that they are good, but not great headphones. They are made from quality parts and provide good quality sound, but if you are looking for something that will blow you away then these aren't the headphones for you. I'll continue wearing them at work as long as they let me -- but that's only because I got them for free, and I recently smashed my old iPod earbuds by rolling over them with my chair.