The only aspect some might find disappointing is the bass response. Even plugged straight into my motherboard’s audio with no frills, the sound has that wide pseudo-surround quality you only get from exceptional stereo headsets. Like HyperX’s original Cloud, with its oversized earcups, the Game Zero feels like it has a massive sound stage compared to most gaming headsets I review. I didn’t find it particularly offensive, though. Sometimes overly intense-I think they’ve been boosted a bit. Highs sound sharp and snappy, while mids have a refreshing intensity to them. It sounds a bit muddy at very low volumes, but get it into the 20-percent range (or higher) and everything becomes crisp. Music is particularly impressive-I generally run headsets through those tests first, because gaming-centric devices often lack the subtlety and clarity you’d get from normal headphones. This is also brave new territory for the Game Zero-the previous version had a rated impedance of 150 ohms, which for the majority of people means “You need an external amp to drive this properly.” The updated version we’re reviewing is a low-impedance 50-ohm model, meaning it should be suitable for use with pretty much any motherboard’s on-board audio. I’m going to start off talking about the Game Zero in isolation, as I assume that’s how most people will use it. After all, we want to know if a gaming headset from a reputable, audio-first brand a safe buy. This is a damn nice bit of engineering overall, in a no-frills, takes-few-risks sort of way. I have very few quibbles overall, and the few that exist also apply to many other (lesser) headsets. It seems like they’re always the first piece to break, and while there are some trade-offs with removable cables, the feature at least prevents your headset from turning into a paperweight. I’ve become increasingly skeptical of headset cables. The cable is removable though, and that’s a definite plus in my book. Sennheiser’s not alone in this, but I would’ve preferred a semi-hidden microphone at the very least-especially for the price. That makes this set really only suitable for indoor use. You can swivel it up out of the way, sure, but there’s still an enormous microphone fastened to the side. The microphone is large, firmly affixed, and very obvious. My only real complaint is the Game Zero’s inflexible design. As for the microphone, it’s a flip-to-mute model that makes an audible click when you’ve moved it to the active position. It’s large enough to find in a panic but subtle enough to not call attention to itself. On the right ear you’ll find an embedded volume wheel, a flat disk with small notches on it. The ears also swivel flat with a smooth fluid motion I can only think to describe as “high-end” even though it’s…well, something as banal as rotating the ear cups. The band itself is metal, fairly flexible and lightweight, and connected to the ear cups by two hefty metal pins.
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