Logitech G35 Surround Sound Headset

Logitech G35 Surround Sound Headset

Published May 06, 2009 at 08:55:42 PM, by Travis Simon

Hot off the product lineup from the renowned PC accessory manufacturer is Logitech's latest installment of their USB gaming line up. This time the focus is on audio, and the G35 USB headset is a handsome kit packing a built in noise suppressing microphone, 7.1 Dolby headphone technology, and hot “G” keys that you can customize to do what you need them to do all in one package...but does this mobile gaming headset live up to its price tag and expectations? Read on to find out...

Design

The G35 headset is a lightweight setup – it's immediate as soon as you pick them up that they are lighter than other surround headphones, yet feel very sturdy in your hand and are comfortable on your head. The all black design with reddish accents is very classy. I have to admit, they look good (although pretty big) on someone's head. If you're looking for little ear buds you are in the wrong review, this over the ear headset is almost futuristic looking.

The material covering nearly the entire setup is a rubber like plastic material – it feels slick, and looks great as well.

The left side holds 3 customizable G keys (Pause, next and previous in WMP on one profile for one example...) which are easy to press and find when wearing the headset. There is also a volume dial, microphone mute button, the noise canceling microphone itself, and a switch on the back of the left earset that enables or disables the virtual 7.1 headphone technology from Dolby.

The right is crisp and clean – no buttons, leaving the right handers working the mouse while gaming pretty happy. This might not be so accepted for you southpaw gamers, but just something to keep in mind.

The microphone rotates up out of the way, or it can be flexed away from your mouth with its rubber-like material. It has a nice red LED on the tip of it to let you know that it's on mute, which saves precious “WATCH YOUR SIX” yells only to find out you were muted. I like that idea – but I found the microphone to offer some significant lag with the preview on. I'm sure it's software related and could be fixed with an update.

Features

Besides the features stated above, the big thing is the new Dolby 7.1 technology. What this means is that Logitech was able to 'virtually' create 7 channels out of only two 40mm drivers and the proprietary software provided. This means that the headset is much lighter because it doesn't physically have more than 2 drivers to support this function. I have to admit, I was skeptical on how well they would perform, but in the gaming spirit it did provide some pretty realistic surround sound effects. The only way to enable this feature is to make sure the switch on the back is down (turning on the 7.1 feature in the software) and you will have 7.1 available in most games that support it.

Another great feature is that this headset is strictly USB based, no fancy multi-output sound cards are needed which is perfect for laptop users – but this is sort of the 'ultra-mobile' killer as well, offering no standard input, you’re stuck using it only with your laptop, making you have to carry another set of headphones for every other device you may want to carry with you.

The headband is thick and very comfortable, albeit it a bit narrow at the ends. Logitech was nice enough to include 3 different headset pads for the top of your head – but no such luck will exist for those who have larger ears, they didn't include other sets of ear pads, only one which should suffice most users. However, one big drawback to the headset is that it doesn't get smaller – at all. There's no folding of the ear sets or headband – it being so rigid is great for feel, but for transportation it takes up a huge chunk of baggage space. This may be the biggest drawback of all for the G35, as it's geared for gamers who will more than likely be bringing along a cooling hub, external mouse and sometimes even a folding keyboard. At least you don't have to bring a separate mic. But still - having this take up so much space is so much a bummer, but it's a trade off you get with so many features and audio quality built in.

Another feature that is inherent to the software is the built in voice morphing that is available. You have six different voice morphing options, all the way from a cyborg sounding robot to that annoying 7 year old that hasn't quiet hit puberty. I'd suggest not having this selected while playing as NO ONE likes that voice screaming to them, and I found the voice morphing more of an extreme novelty, but fun at times.

Performance

The headset features two Neodymium 40mm drivers with a frequency range of 20 – 20000hz. Thats some impressive numbers for headphones and it does play up to the quality of the drivers as they do put out some nice bass, and the treble was amazingly crisp and clear.

The surround sound was, however, somewhat skeptical at times. At times I felt it worked incredibly well, and others it lagged and didn't really immerse me as much as I was expecting (hoping). This was really apparent while playing F.E.A.R to test it out, which made some noises eerily real, while others sound flat (directional bullets and explosions) and lack of direction. This is almost noticeable on every surround headset, but I'll have to say that the G35's did a very decent job at providing a virtual surround sound experience – and I'll have to say better than most out there and definitely better surround sound than the speakers on your laptop, and the headset has plenty of volume there.

Conclusion

Laptop gamers listen up – this set may be exactly fitting your needs. It sounds awesome, it provides decent to great surround sound from it's Dolby Headphone technology, and it's simple USB connection with built-in microphone will leave some hardware and cables at home. The bad? You only get to use them with your laptop, and you better have the space to haul them – oh, and running around $130 isn't the cheapest, but then again, it is the G lineup and the quality is there. If you aren't buying this for a laptop, I'm not sure why you would as there are plenty of other headphone setups that pair to true 7.1 sound cards that will definitely outperform this setup – but for the mobility aspect, laptop gamers should definitely look into this setup. Casual users should probably choose an option they will use with their other peripherals.

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Technical Specifications

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