First, off, I've only had this headset for a day. I can't really go into detail about sound quality, how good the surround sound is, etc. However, I feel like I need to clarify a couple of things.
There are two major issues that people have been complaining about with this headset: the "flimsy plastic" joints holding the ear cups on, and the lack of a graphic equalizer. Please disregard anyone who mentions either of these two "problems," because it is completely false.
If you look closely at the ear cup joints, yes, there is plastic there. However, if you pay attention, the plastic isn't actually the part that's moving. It's merely a covering for the actual joint. On the back of the box, under "Durability," it clearly states that the joints are made from an aircraft grade aluminum alloy. This is a very well made product guys, I get no sense that, if treated properly (take your game rage out on something that costs a bit less, children) it will ever break on me.
Now, I'm not quite sure why people are saying there's no graphic equalizer, and that they are limited to bass and treble adjustments. Directly below the bass/treble bars, there's a big button that looks like a graphic equalizer. If you click it, guess what happens. Yep, a 10 band EQ pops right up, complete with preamp volume adjustment. If you have this turned on, it grays out and overrides the bass/treble adjustments.
Now that I've cleared that up, I'll give my one day impressions on the product.
Super comfortable. I have a fairly large head, and yes, the headset does squeeze a little tighter than what you might be used to, but that's because the headband is made of metal and not cheap plastic. It's the squeeze of quality, learn to love it. It's not a bad thing at all, you just might not be used to it. After a few days of breaking it in, I doubt I'll even notice.
The sound quality seems fantastic so far. I'm still working on getting it to sound just right with my game of choice, TF2. With movies, music, tv shows, etc, it's just amazing. Crystal clear, rich, amazing sound.
I initially had problems with the mic, people in Team Fortress 2 were telling me that it was cutting out, and screwing up sound for everyone (if you've ever played the game, you know what I'm talking about). This was fixed by turning the mic gain way way down. I've been so used to mics that are super quiet, so I had windows set to max out and boost mic input, and maxed out mic input through the game as well. Turned the levels down quite a bit and presto, clear as a bell.
One thing I don't like, the mic level resets itself every time I unplug the headset (rather, the usb dongle) then plug it back up. It remembers every other setting, just not mic gain. I've solved this by setting one of the G keys to reduce mic gain, so if I ever launch a game and accidentally leave it set too high, I can easily fix it on the fly.
Speaking of the G keys, I was kind of disappointed that they work with ventrilo, but not teamspeak. No big deal though. Still, I was hoping to be able to sit on my porch and chill in our TS channel and be able to chat with people. (I have to go outside to smoke here...ahem >.>...you know what I mean.)
The wireless range and battery life really seem to be just as good as advertised, which was a very nice surprise. I can go anywhere in my house and still have completely clear audio. The majority of my front porch gets signal as well, and that's going between three walls. Last night I went in game with only a partial charge, the software said 7 hours of battery life left. I played a little over two hours, left game, and it said I still had five hours left. Good stuff.
I love this headset. Completely. After years of frustration over broken wires ruining headsets, I could not be happier with this product. If you've got a nice, functioning headset already, like a g35 or whatever, I couldn't justify telling you to purchase this. However, if you've got a cheap POS, or if you're in the market to buy a new headset because you rolled over your current pair's wires one too many times with your chair, I couldn't recommend this enough. I've never spent this much money on one before, I've always been in the 50-70 dollar range. Dropping 160 wasn't easy for me to do, money is tight these days. I don't regret the purchase at all.
Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930 with 7.1 Surround SoundFirst off, the G930 is physically a nice headset. Adjustable, comfortable, not too heavy compared to other full-sized, circumaural headphones. I'll leave full judgement on the quality of sound to others, since these older ears are no longer qualified to critique. But I *can* say you get clear, soft or loud sound from them :)
Ventrilo 3.0.5 Push to Talk (PTT)
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The only reason I'm writing a "Day 1" review (which is normally not worth much lol) is to note a key advertised feature that does not work. The reason I bought these headphones vs several others was the three G-Keys, and their ability to send commands to my PC while I am physically away from the keyboard. Specifically, the advertisement that Ventrilo "Push to Talk" was supported. It is not.
The G-Keys work with a drop-down, limited LIST of applications, ie., Windows Media Player, iTunes, Winamp, PowerDVD, WinDVD, and the G930 software itself. Ventrilo 3.0.5 (app & version number) is also listed, and a listed action for this app is "Push to Talk". I checked all those things before I bought, but after an otherwise pleasant hour with Logitech support in the Philippines, the function does not work, it is a known issue, and "they will get back to me when there's further information".
Logitech G-Keys - What is Expected from a Brandmark
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The other thing you should know is this: When Logitech mentions "G-Keys", that word invokes the functionality of EVERY other Logitech product that has "G-Keys". PC gamers know the term. G-Keys can be programmed to send any key, key combination, or string with one key-press as if it were typed, very quickly, via the keyboard. The "G"930's G-Keys do NOT work that way. Each of the few listed apps has only a short list of pre-determined command choices. This important difference is obscured, no doubt intentionally, in Logitech's limited literature.
Other Short-Term Observations
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Range: 40' seems a fair estimate of range vs the advertised range of other products. So I get a little more range than bluetooth, and arguably half what I get from, say, Sennheiser RF Headphones (100' "open air" advertised). At the edge of signal loss, the headset becomes slightly directional, ie, you can at times re-acquire or lose the signal. This is pretty much standard in my experience.
Environment: My G930 needs to operate in a "radio-noisy" environment and highly metallic environment (lots of gear, transmitters, metal in/on exterior walls), and it performs as well as any RF devices I have used here.
Ergonomics: Pretty good, with some "buts". All the keys placed on one ear piece is a good decision, but crowding can lead to indvertant button presses when picking up and donning the headset. Choosing the left ear piece was a good choice, but left-handed mousers will have some adjustments. OTOH, the G-Keys don't have much - er, any - gaming function, so this isn't an issue.
The "Power On" key implementation is unusual, and very poorly defined. The best I can tell, to turn the device off, hold the button in for 3 seconds (not 5), and if it changes to blinking green when you release it, you have successfully shut it off.
I'll be back with updates when I have used the device long enough to know it. Yes, I'm keeping it, yes I like Logitech products, and I'm hopeful eventually the G-Keys will eventually be real G-Keys.
2-week update:
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I still like the headset, and it remains as described above. GKeys still do not work with Ventrilo, or any other Gaming Voice Chat software. In typical fashion, Logitech sent me an email that my problem was "Solved" since they hadn't heard from me lol. Duh! They hadn't asked *me* a question! I have updated the ticket, and will keep you informed.
10/20/10 Update:
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GKeys still do not work with Ventrilo. Logitech "support" is still worthless in this regard. HOWEVER, there are two workarounds:
1) Very Cumbersome: When going AFK, switch Ventrilo to "open microphone", and rotate the headset microphone up to mute, down to talk.
2) Highly workable: G930 software supports "plug-ins". Fortunately, a User has created one that works not only with Ventrilo (I tested it), but should work with other voicechats. The sole drawback is you push the Gkey once to "talk", and once to "stop talking". The download, description, and cause of this drawback is in this Logitech forum thread (Page 2 at this writing):
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