Senin, 17 Februari 2014
Let’s get off the ground with what’s really, really good about the Logitech G430 headset.
Here it is: it’s easy. Really, really easy in fact. If you want to get the headset and mic working out of the box, just pull it out and plug it into your PC. Green jack goes into the green socket, red one into the red socket. The cable’s easily long enough to reach the audio sockets even if they’re tucked away in the shadowy, dust-clogged netherworld that exists behind your PC, or if you’d rather there’s a USB 2.0 adapter right there in the box. Plugged in? Good. You now have sound in the earphones and a mic that’s picking up ambient sound in your house.
That’s all there is to it. It really could not scientifically be any easier. You could be so hung over you could barely see and setting up this headset would still be a doddle. Sure, you’re going to want to download the Logitech software so you can get the 7.1 surround working and play with the treble and bass settings, but you don’t actuallyhave to do that to get the thing working.
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| The on-cable control unit |
It’s a pleasure to wear, as well. The weirdly square earcups are big enough so that each of your ears is in its own little sound booth, with room so they’re not pressed against your skull but still tight enough to cancel out ambient noise. Please bear in mind, though, that ears are fiddly beggars, and one man’s comfortable ear-lounges are another man’s aural torture chambers. For me, though, it was comfortable enough that I could forget I was wearing it. No fuss with the setup, no fuss with the wearing. That’s my take away from the G430. It’s simple.
Which means no glowing lights, no genre-specific EQ presets (I’m imagining Dungeon, Abandoned Starbase, 1950’s Asylum and Jazzy Warzone)… no gamer-related bells and whistles of any kind. Nothing that you’re going to want to get your friends over and say “Hey! Check THIS out!”. Just affordable, high-quality gaming sound for your earholes.
Despite the lack of neon, the cups are clad in bewildering cyan mitts, guaranteed to not really go with any PC colour scheme. It’s an odd choice. But, you know, they’re removable for cleaning, which is a thoughtful touch. I can’t wait to see the little blighters hanging on the washing line, drawing confused looks from the neighbours.
The G430 comes with roughly 65,000 miles of cable, making them ideal for political exiles who are forced to live in completely different countries from their PCs, but perhaps a little much for the rest of us. That said, the forehead-slappingly obvious addition of a little strip of Velcro allows you to bunch up the extraneous cable and keep it out of the way. Voila. Too much cable easily becomes just the right amount (Serious note: the full cable is actually 2.33 metres in length. Not 65,000 miles).
But on to the audio! As mentioned, they provide 7.1 surround sound (which really comes into its own when playing FPSes, naturally). For audio lovers, they provide Impedance of 32 Ohms, a frequency response of 20Hz-20KHz and sensitivity of 90dB SPL/mW, which is way more dB SPL/mW than inferior headphones, but not quite as many dB SPL/mW as higher quality models. Or it might be the other way around. Listen, I have no idea what any of this stuff means, but I can happily report that the booming and ominous classical stabs in RPGs sound rich and chocolaty, while the sound of incoming mortar fire in multiplayer shooters sound distressingly close and visceral. Similarly, the phat old-school beats of golden age hip-hop sound as bassy as they did back in the early nineties. I have nothing but good things to say about the audio.
The mic, however, is perhaps my area of greatest concern. I mean, it’s certainly easy to set up, and it’s not like you need recording studio quality voice pickup on a gaming headset (which, in my case, is usually just for my girlish shrieking and pleading for a defib from my teammates), but even so, I have it on good authority that the mic was a little hollow-sounding. Plus it’s a big, shiny black boom thing that doesn’t really retract or store away tidily. It looks a little… well, untidy, I suppose.
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| Nice bright blue colouring there! |
There are handy little controls on the cable itself for muting the mic and controlling the volume. The cable itself is the kind of modern braided material affair that is so popular for its durability. The earcups will lay flat if you are the kind of gamer who just ups and chucks his headphones on the desk with carefree aplomb. It’s a little thing, but it might just keep them working for a couple more years.
So it’s easy to set up, comfortable to wear, and comes with enough cable to reach the moon. The sound quality is great, and the noise cancellation is effective, while the overall design lacks many of the snazzy features and accents you’d get with some other ear-bins. This is Logitech’s middle-of-the-range headset, priced at around the 70 dollar / 65 quid mark, and for that kind of money you’re getting a bargain.
