| Sennheiser pc120 headset review. |
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There isn?t a big market for headsets in regards to the Xbox 360, seeing as most users who purchase the premium pack will no doubt choose to stick with the included Microsoft one. It?s likely most Core owners who choose to buy one will probably stick with the Microsoft one as well. With the success of VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), which is basically phone calls over the Internet and programs such as ?Skype?, microphone headsets have also increased in popularity. As well as an increasing market for headsets for PC use, there has always been a market for mobile phone headsets. On the original Xbox, it was possible to use mobile phone headsets with your Xbox controller as a replacement to the official one which came with the Xbox Live pack, however you would always hear gamers moaning because of echoes or the prominent sound of background hiss. The Sennheiser pc120 claims it has been designed for PC use, such as Internet telephony, but can also be used as a mobile phone headset or an Xbox 360 headset.
The product comes in a modern looking box, which contains the headset and a very small warning leaflet, letting you know about the dangers of having the earpiece too loud. When you first take it out of the box, you will be pleased at how small and light it is, it weighs practically nothing. It?s a simple, modern design with black rubber & plastic parts for the earpiece, and a silver and black piece of plastic which houses the microphone. The headset is connected to a volume control switch, which the headset can be disconnected from. It cuts the 3m cable length into about half, however it seems a clever way to disguise the connection needed for mobile phones and the controller. The 3.5mm jacks are for PC use, the Xbox 360 controller takes a 2.5mm jack. When I first discovered this, it immediately lead me to a disadvantage of the headset, because the headset disconnects from the volume control to reveal the 2.5mm connection, this means the volume and mute control has been lost. The official Microsoft has both mute and volume control and it would seem a standard feature. The only way to potentially combat this is to buy an adapter.
The pc120 is very lightweight but not flimsy. The loop goes over your ear and then the earpiece can go in your ear. It is adjustable so it can be worn on your left or right ear. Some people may prefer headphones to earphones because they don?t go into your ear which some may find annoying and uncomfortable. Even to those who prefer headphones, the headset is so light it?s not distracting so I?m certain it would be easy to adjust to the change. The earpiece is about the same size as any other earphone you would get and is covered with a removable thin piece of foam. The ring around the earpiece which sits on your ear is made of rubber for comfort and the microphone is hard plastic, but it is moulded to a shape which presumably follows the curves of a cheekbone. The microphone is quite short; it won?t be placed in front of the mouth like the Microsoft Xbox headset is designed to do. The microphone is concealed inside a plastic casing, which just has a small hole, no outgoing bubble with a foam cover. It is not designed to be adjusted in terms of length, so it will press lightly against the users cheek, the only adjustments that can be made regarding the microphone is the vertical angle, for example it can be moved closer to the users eye, or further down however the angle you can change is in no way extreme. So its clear that it?s a comfortable fit, that is important but the priority here is the sound quality.
The headset was tested over chat and compared with the Microsoft headset. For the user, incoming sound from other people on Live was much quieter than the Microsoft headset. Since the volume controls have been lost when using it with the Xbox 360 controller, there is no option to turn it up, unless you use the dashboard functions however it was on full all the time. This also means you are unable to mute the microphone, so when you have to shout at the dog to shut up or scream at your little brother to get out of the way of the TV, players on the other end won?t be pleased. Talking about other players, when the headset was tested, it was reported that people on the end of the line compared to the official headset, the voice of the user sounded muffled and much quieter, although still audible. Unfortunately there is no way of moving the microphone closer to the mouth and so most gamers will probably be comfortable talking at normal loudness and not having to raise their voice to compensate for this.
The RRP for the Sennheiser pc120 was found to be ?24.99 (around $50), which is a whole ten pounds more expensive than the RRP of the official Microsoft Live headset. The pc120 seems to have less quality in terms of both outgoing and ingoing sound compared the official headset, also the lack of volume and mute controls on hand i.e. not going into the dashboard every time you want to mute or turn down the volume because someone is blazing into their microphone is a bit of a downer, and awkward one at that. An advantage however is the fact that the headset can also be used on PC?s unlike the official one. Overall, if you are wanting a headset purely for Live use, then I would stick with the official one but if you either want a replacement or simply need a headset, but believe you will be using it for internet telephony and Xbox Live then the pc120 is definitely worth a look.
Posted By: Fraser Keith
Date: 2006-08-28
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