I have had a lot of headphones over the years and the majority of them have been utter crap. I had one really good pair of headphones that were made by Sony back in the 1980s and I used them so much I broke both sides and had to tape them together to make them work. The sound was so good that I would have rather kept those beat up headphones than be forced to use the 2 or 3 pairs I bought after them. I was sad when I finally just had to throw them away and accept that it might be a while before I lucked out and got something that good. (It's taken a long time).
Fast forward to the late 1990s and early 2000s. I have gone through another 2 or 3 headsets. I had a Sony that was decent, but not nearly as good as my original Sony back in the day. I then went through Logitech, Microsoft (totally AWFUL) sound and some other headset that I threw away because it was crap. I even checked out Bose and was really underwhelmed by the sound. My definition of good sound is crisp clear highs, warm mids and booming bases. Not excessive, but enough to feel like it could be live.
Finally, I saw a $79 Plantronic "Gaming" set at Best Buy about 4 years ago and bought it. The sound was great, or at least a LOT better than I have had in a long time. But there were some quirks to the headset that annoyed me. The Microphone would flop down into position, so the only way to keep it up was with a rubber band. The voice input was sketchy and the device had problems working properly with Windows 7. Nevertheless it was a good enough headset that I decided I was going to give plantronics another shot with my new computer because I wanted a headset that addressed the annoying issues of my previous Plantronics.
Plantronics GameCom 780:
When I set up the GameCom 780 and fired up SWTOR to fly a few space battles (in 7.1 surround) my jaw nearly fell on the floor. The explosions are so lifelike you can almost feel them sitting in your chair. The sound is whole orders of magnitude better then my last Plantronics headset, and the directionality is dramatic. I actually had to relearn a few of my space battle moves because the audio cues were so noticably different that they were a distraction at first, but within about 10 minutes I really appreciated how much these headphones added a new dimension to my favorite game. Just to have something to compare to, I fired up Crysis 2, and I was equally impressed. The punch and clinks of a rapidly firing Scarab assault rifle were like music to my ears. The ambiance was a lot better and with the DX11 high resolution graphics, it's a whole new experience.
To say the sound is pretty good is, in my opinion, a massive understatement. The sound is the best I have ever owned. These headphones actually have 3 modes: Straight Dolby, 5.1 and 7.1 surround. Each of them sound great, but for games I find myself sticking heavily with the 7.1. Just to test out the music capabilities of this headset, I threw on some songs from "The English Patient" that I had backed up for my mom. I put on a song that was just a single woman singing backed up by light orchestra and again I was blown away. The richness, clarity and warmth of these headphones, along with the silence being exactly where it needs to be... it's not even so much what you hear, it's how you hear it and even what you don't hear.
Anyway, the sound alone would be reason enough to get these headphones, but there is more.
The construction is very good for an $80 pair of headphones. I have yet to see how long the plastic cylinders that house the metal adjustment bars lasts, but it looks pretty strong. The headphones are a bit tight at first, but after some adjustments I found they fit quite well. The over the ear design is really what I want in a pair of headphones because it frees up the ear to head the sound properly. The adjustment bars are metal (something you don't see much of these days). The upper rim is heavy duty plastic, but there is a soft foam under cushion that gives a very nice set on the head. The earmuffs are made from material instead of a more durable kind of material, but they will probably still last years, and they are comfortable.
Where these headphones really shine are the on ear controls. You can switch from surround sound to regular with a touch of a button. The audio control, rather than being just a knob is more like a control you would find in your car. Push one way, the sound goes down, push another the sound goes up. Moreover each time to press the button one direction or the other, the headphones actually play 2 different tones to let you know if you are going up or down in volume and when you have reached either end of the spectrum. You can also adjust the mic on/off switch with a button right above the volume wheel.These touches seem cosmetic at first, but you quickly begin to wonder how you ever lived without them.
The mic is another marked improvement from previous incarnations of Plantronics headsets (like my old one). The mic has enough tension on it to neatly stay tucked up and out of the way when not in use. Also, it doesn't have an "in front of mouth" design, and frankly from what I can see, it doesn't need one. The mic is good, and I was able to talk into Ventrilo without much adjustment at all. The "middle" volume and default application settings actually WORK like they are supposed to. I was able to get a very clean voice recording using a quiet voice.
The software that comes with the GameCom 780 seems to be perfectly Windows 7 x64 compatible, but it took me a few minutes to find the controls. There is an entry for the headset in Control Panel, but the actual controls for the headset are actually under "Configure" and "Properties" in the "Sound" options of control panel. There are a few ways to tweak these headphones to compensate for room noise and acoustics, which is a nice touch. It would have been nice to see an actual graphic equalizer to come with such a capable pair of headphones, but that's a minor gripe. I am not sure if any equalization setting would be better than the defaults.
One final note regarding Windows 7 compatibility: Windows 7 may gripe if you try and hook these up to a USB splitter. Windows will tell you that you don't have enough power for the headphones, but since they work fine under OS X with the same configuration, either Windows is being picky or it might not be a good idea to daisy chain these things. I ended up putting these headphones into a POWERED USB hub and they work beautifully. So, if you have a lot of connections either A) make sure you have an adequate power supply for your system that puts full power to your USB ports or B) Buy a POWERED USB hub. It's WORTH it.
Bottom line? I would absolutely recommend these headphones to anyone willing to spend $80 and have a decent USB connection.
If these break 6 months from now, I will buy them again. Period.
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