A gaming headset, with a built in microphone, an in-line remote with volume control as well as a microphone mute button.
While they only cost around £35 (at the time of writing), these actually look and feel great. The headset itself features cushioning all around, which means the headband doesn’t feel too heavy on your head, and the on-ear headphones feel great too. The microphone is attached to the left ear, and swivels. There is an in-line remote which allows you to control your volume and turn your microphone on or off. At the end, there are two connections, one for audio and one for microphone.
While the headset is pretty comfortable, I found it to be a bit heavy after a prolonged use. I noticed that some people found the microphone position to be bit of an issue, but I didn’t think that to be a problem at all.
These headsets are pretty good, and are fairly straight forward to use. While the long wire may seem to be an issue to some, it is quite thin and doesn’t tend to tangle much, so it works very well.
There are three ways to test a gaming headset: music, gaming, and chatting (and a mixture of the last two).
The outer ear shell gives you a small amount of noise cancelling.
As far as listening to music goes, the sound is great. The highs and the lows are quite good. In fact, bass is one of those things that often end up being a bit disappointing on a lot of headphones, but I found these to be quite good.
Next comes the test, for which these are designed: gaming. I was pleasantly surprised. This is where the noise cancelling is highly useful. The headsets allow you to complete immerse in your game play, and allow you to feel everything as and when you like it. It also means that there are no distractions if you are playing among others. The volume control is also very useful here, as you can turn it up or down depending on the game situation.
As far as chatting goes, once again, these work quite brilliantly.
The microphone swivels in front of your mouth as and when you need it, and swivels out when you don’t. While it promises noise cancelling, I found that this works to a certain level, but not extremely well. However, at the price you pay, this isn’t really an issue.
These retail for about £40, but I have found them around £35 at most places on the internet.
CM Storm, or their parent company Cooler Master, are a well trusted name among gamers. This entry level headset does not disappoint, as it packs in quite a punch for a fairly low price. Definitely the thing to go for if you want to get a decent headset for a very decent price. The only con I’d say is that they do feel heavy after prolonged use.