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Showing 1 of 1372 reviews about:
Zeos
648
Oct 5, 2020
So I guess now is a good time to sneak a bit of a written review on the page before it goes live. I have sort of forgot about the PC37x, it was memorable and certainly good enough at the time to get me to recommend it. Even with the 58x only a bit more expensive if you wanted a solid Gaming headset with mic, the 37x was good enough. However, with this new 38x I am going to have a hard time asking for much more out of an official gaming headset from Sennheiser or the rest of Drop.
To unlock this magic, first step is to swap the pads to the velour. While I could hear a bright barrage of treble detail in the stock pads, I didn't like them for anything besides straightforward FPS gaming. The Velour pad swap is when I actually started paying attention to what the headphone was actually capable of doing. It has perhaps one of the best implementations of surround gaming without the gimmicks of USB, multi-driver or weird DSP.
These are wildly good at imaging and a phenomenon I can only describe as Near-Field Soundstage. Stuff is coming from everywhere around you. It is quite uncanny. Putting them through their paces you know they aren't neutral or flat or any of the other words professional monitoring headphones go by. These are FUN (and scary). They make gaming FUN they make music FUN and they do wild an unique things that I am sure the predecessor did not. Treble sharpness can even be alarming at times in games which is something I truly like. Just bullet whizzes startle you with their positioning.
I kinda wish Sennheiser would make this a separate headphone without the mic and market it for portable use. Although users would have a hard time driving them like that as I did find myself a bit above the normal gain levels I expect from a gaming headset. Comfort is probably going to be spectacular once truly broken in. I only had a week or so to use them and sparingly. A dedicated user will probably mold into them after a short time. My only real concern is the cables. Proprietary as hell and a bit janky. They certainly will serve their purpose I just hope affordable Sennheiser replacements are available if needed. Microphone is clear enough for in-game communication but I wouldn't do VO work with it.
Overall I say this is a winner, 5/5 in gaming headset terms, and Sennheiser should replicate this sort of sound elsewhere in their line-up, not marketed as gaming but just pleasure listening cans.
My Review::
https://youtu.be/F5QKOR_CL3Y
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
Evshrug
3772
Community
Oct 8, 2020
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ZeosAn enthusiastic review, agree with most things but would like to supplement with a little info.
“...best implementations of surround gaming without the gimmicks of USB, multi-driver or weird DSP.”
— I assume here you mean it has good imaging, as you’re right the PC38X does not come with multi-driver “true surround” (which is without exception always hindering sound quality and more limited than a good DSP) or any DSP... however, it should be a good candidate for adding a virtual surround DSP, I expect this will be awesome with the Tempest 3D ray-traced Audio in the PS5 and the Xbox Series X/S’s version of the same, so that it’s actually possible to distinguish between sounds front/back/above/below. The PC37X certainly did a great job with the surround DSP on my PSVR!
“They make gaming FUN they make music FUN and they do wild and unique things that I am sure the predecessor did not.”
— The PC37X (wearing mine right now, first review on Drop) also features a similar sound signature and dynamic timbre that lends itself towards entertainment/fun, though graphs appear to show the PC38X maintains sound pressure into deeper bass notes. I look forward to hearing it!
“I kinda wish Sennheiser would make this a separate headphone without the mic and market it for portable use.”
— The PC37X’s “separate headphone” analog was the HD 599, but I actually feel the HD 599 had slightly, slightly more masked detail. I look forward to hearing the PC38X, because I did really like the $120 PC37X for music, and surprisingly there isn’t really a separate headphone equivalent to the GSP 500... the HD 560S may be using the same polymer driver, but that’s tuned more for an analytical taste.
”Although users would have a hard time driving them like that as I did find myself a bit above the normal gain levels I expect from a gaming headset.”
— The PC38X has a low 28 Ω impedance and fairly high 109dB sensitivity.
That’s even easier than the PC37X, well within the range of a typical “Easy to power portable headphone.” However, I would agree that a console controller may struggle to amp these gaming headsets well... with the PC37X, a dualshock 4 will drive it “loud enough,” but the soundstage size and peaks of volume will be compressed down. The PC38X should fare a bit better. Of course EPOS Audio’s GSX 1000 will be able to amp it just fine, but so will the Creative Labs G5 and Schiit Fulla 2... by the way, all of those can connect to a PS4 and get stereo audio, and all of them have nice ADCs that will improve the quality of microphone captured audio. I’ll be interested to see if the mic is the same as the PC37X... I did some VO work with the PC37X, it wasn’t as good as my $250 microphone but with one of the above amp/DAC/ADC products mentioned the audio was pretty good and superior to the MEMS mic built into my iPhone 8 (or built into my camera or Mac).
“They certainly will serve their purpose I just hope affordable Sennheiser replacements are available if needed.”
— I can confirm that HD 500 series cables are compatible, but the PC37X at least didn’t have a twist-to-lock feature... plus or minus depending on how you look at it. I never had issue with my PC37X cable coming loose & falling out because it didn’t lock ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Overall, thanks for the review, just wanted to add some points about the accessories and gaming environment :) I would be interested to read how you would feel the GSP 500 and PC38X compare, side by side ;)
(Edited)
Evshrug
3772
Community
Oct 9, 2020
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Was doing a bit of research for you. Both the Hel and Fulla have the same DAC parts, and I assume the same ADC (Analog to Digital Converter, for the mic input), so the main difference is that the Fulla is smaller and USB powered, while the wall-powered Hel has 2.5x more power for more difficult to drive headphones/headsets.
The PC38X is on the easy side of the amp requirements spectrum, relatively speaking.
Davesday
42
Oct 12, 2020
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EvshrugHey there, I am also thinking of a similar setup with the PC38x and either Hel/Fulla. Would you think this is a superior setup compared to the iFi iDac2? I've been using the iFi forever but needed a mic input. I could technically use the integrated sound for mic input but I hate running additional software for it.
K3vinD
20
Oct 12, 2020
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DavesdayI don’t know much, but what I do know is that having the fulla/ will likely not be superior but I can say that you will probably not notice much of a difference. I would recommend the fulla if you want to save some money and keep things simple, or you could go all out with the hel and squeeze some more out of the PC38x.
Evshrug
3772
Community
Oct 12, 2020
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DavesdayI’d have to hear the iDac2 myself to “know,” but @K3vinD makes a great point. I agree with him, though I’d interpret to mean that both the iFi and Schiit options would probably satisfy you and you wouldn’t “go wrong” with either choice.
I was using a Creative Labs E5 back in 2017 when I did my “live streaming review” of the PC37X on Twitch while playing Call of Duty, and people seemed impressed with the mic/relieved that it sounded better than they had been lead to believe from other reviews. I ordered a PC38X as soon as the Drop went live, it’s shipping, and I plan on doing another live stream on Friday midday, with Resident Evil 7 for Halloween and hype for the new games. Bring your headphones, I’ll try to broadcast with 3D Audio, and answer viewer questions! (Twitter/Twitch is the same @evshrug)
Davesday
42
Oct 13, 2020
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EvshrugThanks for your reply. I had a feeling that it is going to be a sidegrade option. I think I might just go with either Fulla 3/Hel given I'm going to need mic input. Unfortunately there isn't many options unless I research the Mayflower Arc Mk2?
I probably won't miss the iFi iDac2 because I have the micro iDSD Black Label. That one is a keeper!
petecamacho
70
Dec 24, 2020
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ZeosSilly question?.. so the mic is built in and will ot manually come off?
(Edited)
Evshrug
3772
Community
Dec 24, 2020
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petecamachoCorrect, the microphone is not intended to be detachable. You can flip it up to get it mostly out of the way though.
Evshrug
3772
Community
Jan 2, 2021
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DavesdayJust to point out... I did some research, and it turns out the Schiit Fulla 3 and Hel CANNOT connect to PS4/PS5 by USB. Those consoles only connect to “UAC1” devices, and the newest generation Schiit stuff are UAC2 (not backwards compatible). They still don’t work with Xbox, but work great with PC ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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