Having worked in call centres before I was quite disappointed to learn that Microsoft's official headset for the Xbox 360 was just like the one I was accustomed to, you know the one that pulls half your hair out when you take it off and makes you look like one of the chickens on that car insurance advert, therefore you can imagine my delight when the new Sennheiser PC 120 arrived at my door.
The headset ( as you can see from the picture below) goes with the more modern bluetooth style that fits comfortably over and into your ear, you can also switch between your left and right ear depending which way feels more comfortable. When you first see the connections on the end of the headphones you think to yourself, "now where am I going to stick that on my 360's controller" due to the 2 x 3.5mm jacks (I will explain these later) on the end, however nestling between these connections and the handy volume/mute switch is a 2.5mm jack which plugs straight into your 360 Controller in the usual place.
Having connected to a Xbox Live tournament of Texas Hold Em All with my headset plugged in I was wondering what differences (if any) there would be between this and my trusty (although rather unattractive) Xbox official headset, so I pressed A to join in the game and immediately I could hear how clear this headset makes the Live experience. The sound is very crisp and clear and the volume is loud enough to hear whether the person you are playing against is sweating in the background as he tries to bluff his way to victory.
To test the Microphone, I had a conversation with everyone in the poker room at the time, I told them of my quest to write this review and asked them how clearly they could hear me, the response was fantastic and I was advised that I was most definitely the one that they could hear best, so as you can see this is a clear sign of a quality headset,
The only downside of the PC120 when using it with the Xbox 360 is the inability to mute or lower the volume, this can be particularly annoying when you are speaking to someone who believes that they need to shout because you are on the other end of the Atlantic.
Other features of the PC120 which I have not yet mentioned is the fact the you can also use it when PC gaming or making a internet call, this makes use of the volume/mute control which is made redundant when using the headset with the Xbox and means that the versatility is much better than that of the official 360 headset.
Overall I have to say that I am very impressed with this headset, I feel that it is very comfortable and I don't need to worry (like I do with the official one) whether the mic is to close to my mouth as the PC120's stays nestled in one place and when the Xbox camera comes along I can also been safe in the knowledge that I wont look like a member of a call centre.
Left: 2 x 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style) - female, 1 x 4 PIN USB Type A - male - Right: 1 x 4 PIN USB Type A - male, 2 x 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style) - female, 1 x 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style) - female
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