review Plantronics GameCom 780 Review

[+Nexus18 MVC]

There are already a ton of reviews out there but I thought would post my thoughts anyway :)

 

Originally I was going to spend a bit more and get the Creative Aurvana Live headphones and an Asus Xonar DG soundcard but I couldn't justify spending that amount on audio equipment since I am not an audiophile :p and would still be using my Creative T6100 speaker setup when possible as I prefer speakers overall and have been very happy with the sound quality of them using the on-board audio + from reading around beforehand, the Plantronics Gamecom 780 seemed like they would be at the very least as good as my current setup.

 

 

Packaging:

 

Nothing too flashy, just a standard gamer looking box with the usual information on the back and sides. Along with the headset, you also receive the CD with the required drivers and a tiny instruction booklet.

 

 

 

Installation:

 

The setup couldn't be easier! Plug the headset in and install the latest drivers from their site followed with a restart and it was working perfectly on Windows 7 64 bit.

 

Features:

 

When you take into account the price of this headset, you would automatically assume that the features/specifications wouldn't be great, however, they are actually pretty good, a quick look at the main features below: 

 

- The speakers are 40mm; from research before buying this headset, there are mixed opinions as to if larger is better, most people say that bigger speakers gives you better bass but then there are headphones out there with 50mm speakers and supposedly their bass is poor..... Overall this specific specification doesn't seem to be much of an issue as some of the best headphones out there use 40mm speakers

 

- USB connection only, so you won't be able to make use of a dedicated sound card

 

- Noise cancelling microphone

 

- Cable length is 6.5 feet (2 meters)

 

- 7.1 surround sound using Dolby Surround Sound software

 

- 2 year warranty

 

Build Quality & Aesthetics:

 

Overall the headset seems very solid and well put together, the only area I feel that could have been better is the cable as it seems rather flimsy, much like what the cheap mice and keyboards use. So make sure you don't go over the cable with the wheels on the bottom of your chair!

 

The headset looks better in real life than the photos online and definitely better than my photos ( :o), it has quite a retro look and feel to it and the colour combination (black + red) looks great. 

 

 

 

The only area that I think looks a bit cheap is where the earmuffs join to the headband and of course the cable.

 

 

There are no controls/features on the right side, all of the controls are on the left earmuff:

 

- Microphone on & off switch

- Dolby sound enhancement on & off switch

- Volume control

- Microphone

 

 

I like how the control buttons are on the earmuff as opposed to a separate control unit attached somewhere on the main cable since the controls don't get in the way and hit your keyboard etc. However, the volume control button should have been placed somewhere else as when taking the headset of, I keep turning the volume up accidentally.

 

The dedicated Dolby sound enhancement switch is a god send! As mentioned in the ?sound quality? section further below, not every single audio related file sounds better with Dolby turned on i.e. music so being able to easily and quickly turn on or off this feature saves so much time especially during games as opposed to having to minimize the game, navigate to the notification icon in the taskbar, right clicking and turning it off.

 

The earmuffs can be rotated in one direction only so they can lay on a flat surface. I don't really see the point of this......

 

 

The ear padding can also be rotated a tiny bit, although I am pretty sure that this isn't intentional and the padding just isn't glued on like with many other headsets.

 

Regarding the volume control, it uses the built in windows volume control and when adjusting the volume, you hear two different beeps depending on if you are lowering or increasing the volume. Likewise for Dolby surround sound enhancement switch, a beep noise as well as blue LED lighting to indicate if it is turned on or off, however, the beep noise is the same for each setting and obviously when wearing the headset you can?t see the blue LED indicator thus it is kind of hard to tell if the Dolby software is on or off. There are no sound notifications when turning on or off the microphone.

 

 

The microphone can be rotated so that it can be out of the way i.e. by the earmuff or the other obvious location?. by your mouth :p as well as being able to bend it inwards or outwards by a tiny amount.

 

 

 

Sound Quality:

 

As I said earlier, I am no audiophile, however, I do appreciate clarity and good positional audio and can easily say that this headset is very good when it comes to pretty much every area. It has a good amount of bass, not too much and not too little, with the Dolby software enabled, the bass increases by a tiny amount.

 

I was expecting an even more satisfying surround sound effect from the Dolby enhancement software but was left slightly disappointed as for some things, I thought it sounded like an echo with it enabled and the sound wasn't as clear nor was the positional audio defined as well, however, when you have lots going on i.e. in BF 3 then Dolby will give better positional audio and not sound as chaotic ?overall? but with something like Splinter Cell: Blacklist, it sounds better with Dolby disabled. The area where it sounded the poorest with Dolby turned on was when it came to youtube videos, music, speaking/voices in films & games.

 

Battlefield 3 and other games sound very good, I hear so much more going on around me now i.e. being able to hear enemy team mates being revived nearby, footsteps are much louder and clearer, I could actually tell when someone would be coming around the corner. For shooter etc. games where positional audio is important, keep the Dolby feature turned on plus the extra bass is nice with all the gun fire and explosions going on.

 

With regards to films, much like above, it all depends on the sort of film and what audio format is being used but so far I find myself preferring Dolby to be disabled.

 

Lastly music, definitely keep Dolby turned off as in my opinion, you want the clearest sound and not too much bass.

 

However, audio is a very personal thing so some people may like it better that way and some may think with the Dolby turned off that it sounds a bit too flat. 

 

All in all, you just can't beat a proper surround sound speaker setup for positional audio.

 

You have two options to choose from in the control panel when the Dolby software enhancement is turned on; gaming/movie mode and music mode. I noticed virtually no difference at all between the two pre-sets.

 

One of the reasons I went for this headset was due to the materials and design etc. as it would let in some background noise i.e. phone ringing etc. so if you want traffic, the noisy household or whatever to be completely blocked out then this headset isn't for you.

 

Mic quality:

 

This wasn't important to me since I won't be using it at all, however, I tried it out and it seemed to work very well, noise cancelling seemed good and the clarity was good too.

 

Software:

 

The software control panel is extremely basic, you only have these options:

 

 

I hope to see a software update to include some more settings, especially EQ controls for some fine tuning to make the headset sound even better!

 

Comfort:

 

This is without a doubt the best thing about this headset and was the main reason I went for it as there are so many end user reviews and pretty much everyone said the exact same thing. They are very comfortable, not too tight around the head and not too lose, I think soft foam padding is better than leather for extended use. I have been gaming for about 4 hours in a row over the last few days and didn't have any ear/head pain during gaming or afterwards. You can adjust the earmuffs by pulling them down and they can bend inwards and outwards by a tiny amount too. The headset is also pretty light. However, if you have quite large ears then these might not be the best as the ear muffs are quite small....

 

 

You also have the same foam padding material on the earmuffs attached to the plastic head band:

 

 

 

Conclusion:

 

Overall I am very pleased with this headset, there wasn't much else to choose that would offer the same quality and features "overall" for ?40. I could have spent about another ?20 to get the Roccat Kaves, which have "true" 5.1 surround sound and they do sound great, however, I found them to be pretty uncomfortable and that just makes them a no go in my eyes. If you are gaming, watching a film etc. you want to be comfortable!

 

All in all, if you want better audio quality etc. you will have to pay more and go for something like the Creative Aurvana Live headphones and an Asus Xonar DG soundcard, which would bring you up to about ?80 and if you need a microphone then about ?5-10 for that.

 

Pros:

 

- Superb value at ?40

- Great sound quality overall

- Extremely comfortable

- Long cable

- Good microphone

- 2 year warranty

 

Cons:

 

- Cable is flimsy

- Volume control location

- Software/control panel is lacking in the features/options department

- USB connection so you won't be able to use a dedicated sound card

 

 

PS. There is no orange colour on this headset at all, especially not the cable, for some reason, camera messed it up.