So with a majority of my time playing racing games occurring during late night hours or early morning before work, I am required to wear headphones. With the lack of a headphone port on our TV, I was left rigging something up to get sound from my PS3 to a pair of headpones. The set up I have been using for quite awhile now has been OK at best.
These ragged old headphones powered by a $10 headphone amp (that lacks EQ adjustments)connected to the RCA audio out on the ps3, has served me well. Sadly I knew the flat neutral sound achieved from this setup was always lacking bass and trebble. Having used the headphones for music through my MAC I knew they could sound better and that the configuration was the problem. I also was left without a way to voice chat with other online racers... Sure I had the old ps3 camera that has a mic, but it picks up every little sound in the room, leading others understandably to mute me.
Then while searching online for PS4 console deals (will be upgrading soon to a PS4 and looking forward to ProjectCars) I came across a sale on the Playstation Gold Wireless Headset. Normally priced at $99, they were going for $69 on Groupon... so I figured it was worth a shot. Once they finally arrived and I got them charged up, I was really glad I made the purchase.
The most important part - The sound quality - it is really good for gaming. There is plenty of bass and everything comes in clear. The sounds in Grid Autosport are so much more intense. Deep throaty motors, wheels screaming, and blasting backfires... really all the sound for me is improved. I am also currently playing the Destiny Beta and it also sounds great. I tried messing with the different sound profiles you can load through the ps3/ps4 companion app (to do so you must directly connect the headset to the console with the USB cable - which the instructions fail to mention), but I found using the plain "Bass Boost" profile worked best. When trying to set the EQ myself I over did the bass and could hear distortion, and really the other sound profiles did not sound any better to me. There is a basic switch for off, 1 (flat standard EQ), and 2 (bass boost by default or the profile you uploaded from the app). There is also a built in virtual surround sound (VSS), which is on by default, but I suggest you turn it off because the sound looses depth and bass. Unless you are playing an online shooter where you want the exaggerated highs to hear the location of other players around you the sound quality diminishes with VSS on in my opinion. Give it a shot though, you may like it, and VSS is easily turned on and off by simply holding a button down on the headset for a couple seconds.
They are actually very comfortable and wireless!... once I got them fitted over my large ears, I was able to play for hours with no comfort issues. I must have played for at least 3 hours strait. They are also much better for the organisation of our entertainment center. No longer do I have the headphones, the amp, and the extra RCA cables connected to the console. The only cable needed is for charging which I hook up to the back of our Wii console. The whole setup is much cleaner looking with less clutter.
The battery life is long enough for me.. Considering I used them for multiple hours and the charge meter still showed 1/2 full, I would say that the battery lasts plenty long. Just make sure after each use you hook them up to a charging source. I have read they can also be used while charging, but I would rather not have to figure a way to do that. Thankfully the Wii always has power to it's USB ports even while off, which I have been using to charge my PS3 controllers already anyway. I am sure any generic cell phone wall adapter would work as well considering most are in the 500-1200ma range.
The mic quality is good so far..No one has said anything about the sound of my voice being weird, and that used to happen all the time when I used the USB camera/mic. When I tested my voice using the console accessory settings, it sounded fine to me. Also there is a control to adjust the volume of game sounds vs chat. So if you are not very concerned with hearing everything spoken you can fade the chat out a little, or if playing in a team based game (like Destiny) you can have the chat sound level come in a bit louder so you never miss a word. Another mic related feature of this headset is Sidetone which allows you to hear yourself talk. This works by taking sound from the mic and directly playing it back to the headset in real time so you don't naturally start talking loud to hear yourself. The idea is to recover the lost sound of your voice caused by heaving your ears covered by the headphones. I found it effective and a welcome feature but it does introduce a slight static noise. So when you are not chatting just hit the mute button and the static will be gone.
Compatibility...The Playstation Gold Wireless Headset works on PS3, PS4, (and with a driver install) MAC and PC. So these can be purchased to use on your computer as well for video chatting and gaming there. Bonus for me, they are compatible with PS4 so I will be set when I upgrade. One thing is, you will need a PS3 or PS4 if you want to change the EQ or load a sound profile as the app has not been released for MAC or Windows.
A few minor complaints...
Having to use the USB dongle.. this is more a complaint about the PS3 and PS4 consoles, the newest ones only have 2 USB ports.. so space is limited. When using items like headphones and wheels, you do not want to split off too many USB ports as the signal quality can be compromised. Though there are good USB hubs out there that could handle it no problem, I would just rather not bother. Plus if you lose the dongle, the headset becomes almost worthless, so I just keep it plugged into my console.
The profiles in the companion app don't explain much.. they don't show you what their EQ setting is, otherwise you could use them as a starting point and adjust from there. They also do not reference the VSS and if the profile is intended to be used with it. With VSS on, the EQ settings should be different, at least I would think so. Like I said before, with VSS on there is less bass with exaggerated treble and that could be because I am using the wrong profile perhaps? After about 3 different profiles and 1 failed attempt at a custom setting, I uploaded the bass boost standard that was the default for position 2 on the switch. So if you don't want to play with the companion app, you can just set the switch to 2, turn off VSS, and forget it.
The included USB cable is, for the lack of better words, stupid short! This was the first thing I changed out.. even to use it for a charge cable you must have the headset right next to the USB port. Not sure how such a short cable really saved Sony any money.. but this is not a major problem as micro USB cables can be found cheap and likely, if you have been using android phones, you have an extra one lying around.
Overall, Sony has produced a good quality headset at a competitive price point. Soon there will be more sound profiles for games and custom side plates to change the look if you so desire. So if you are looking for a new headset for your PS3 or PS4 be sure to take a look at the Playstation Gold Wireless Headset.
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