After doing research for a good headset to use with Rosetta Stone Language Program (and only finding one reference to it in reviews), I settled on this headset for use with a Mac. I had already purchased a number of Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 headsets for my students' use, and they seem to be working fine, also, but Microsoft hates Apple, and so, according to the Rosetta Stone people, they made their headsets incompatible with Mac. (Why?)
This headset was about double the price of the Microsoft offering. It seems to provide excellent vocal clarity, a must for voice recognition. I also tested it with Skype, and likewise, the vocal clarity is great. I did not use it for music or video gaming (it has a three way slide switch allowing one to choose between phone/voice apps, gaming, and music, apparently changing equalization - treble, bass, in different ways.)
Some have complained about the comfort aspect, and I would guess that one's head size would have an impact on this. I did find some pinching of my ears, so to speak, probably augmented by the fact that I wear eyeglasses, but it wasn't so bad that I can't adapt. I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars only because of this comfort aspect. Logitech USB Headset H530 with Premium Laser-Tuned Audio (981-000195)
Hello, about 4 months ago I bought this apparently state of the art headset to maximise my skype sound quality whilst benefiting from a good sound when gaming or listening to music.
Whilst it worked it was great, pity that one moment to the other it stopped working.
How is this possible? easy to explain: the message I get on my pc when I insert the USB is "USB device not recognized" so I went on the logitech forum hoping it was a driver issue, and....it wasn't, the H530 only uses windows pre-existing drivers.
On the other hand I found an endless list of customer with my same problem.
Many of these like myself had tried extracting and reinserting the unit, unistalling it from the device manager screen and re inserting the device, reboot of the pc and I even tried it on my laptop.
I decided to digg deeper and I saw logitech's support team answers(lame, very lame)"change it","it's a hardware problem" explaining that in their opinion improper usb insertion or extraction is the likely cause of this failure.
Now, my non-friends@logitech, I have used many and I mean many low quality cheapy usb devices which lasted me years and never gave me any problems or surely none of this kind.
This H530 unit is not even receiving power(blue light off). And I am really disappointed with the product 50 thrown to the wind, yes cos I need it on a daily basis and I now have to go to the nearest shop to buy a different one.
Rubbish
Definetely, do not buy or be disapppointed when it brakes after a few months
I previously owned the Plantronics .Audio 655 USB Multimedia Headset, but those were unbelievably uncomfortable. The Logitech set is significantly better. I can use it all day and barely notice. The ear cups are just the right size and the band isn't too tight. I use these with Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 and all of my VoIP software. I will also occasionally use them to narrate video. I'm generally pleased with the quality of the microphone.
I would have given this a 5, except I think the price is a little too high given that they claim to have "laser-tuned" sound while the sound is only average. You aren't buying yourself anything an audiophile would brag about. I take these off and use regular headphones when I want to listen to high-quality music. Regardless, this is my favorite headset I've owned.
Best feature: there's a red light on microphone when it's muted. I've only accidentally muted myself on two occasions (with over a year of use) and was immediately alerted on both occurrences by the red light.
I love that the volume control and mute button are both on the ear piece, so you never have to flounder around on the cord looking for the stupid buttons. The cord length is perfect.
I do wish that the piece that fits on top of the head was a bit narrower (I have a small head), but then it probably wouldn't fit the majority of users.
As an added bonus, it's held up really well. I drop the thing almost daily and have rolled my chair over the cord numerous times without any issues.
There's no doubt in my mind that the H530 has great sound. With three options to switch around from (Calling, Gaming (I believe that's what the joystick is) and Music), the H530 really shines through it's ease of use and impressive sound.
What's bothered me is the comfort of wearing it around your head. I know this bothered a few other users as well, but in general I think it's only if you wear it for a extended period of time. I regularly make long skype calls, so it's really been a concern for me. The padding on the top does seem to be solid in terms of comfort, but the phones on the ears can be tight sometimes. When I was wearing this thing for the first few days, I started getting headaches, but it was more of a external pain from the phones.
How I've compensated is to add my own padding (like a handkerchief) on top of the padding to put less strain on my head. I'm not sure whether this is just from my experience, but in contrast to the sound you're getting for this price, it really isn't bad. - Skype Headset - Logitech - Headset - Headphones'
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