This is what sound is supposed to sound like

When you ask a company to review a pair of $130 dollar headphones, you’re expecting a lot.   The Logitech G35’s carry a price tag that my cause some people to shudder at first glance.

Would you really think about doling out more than $100 on some headgear? (It’s actually less than that right now, because of a sale at Amazon.com)  Logitech is definitely pricing the G35 headset in to the premium product segment when it comes to gaming peripherals.  But when you survey the landscape you’ll find the G35 headset is actually quite a bit cheaper than its 7.1 competition from Razer (The Megalodon headset logs in at $150).  It’s also one of the cheapest 7.1 options available when compared to speaker setups.

I’m absolutely enamored with the G35, the features and functionality are so complete I want a pair to keep forever.

It's rather large, but don't be intimidated

When I first unboxed the G35, I was impressed.  The headset is large, no, it’s mammoth.  The cans cover your ears completely and make sure that you’re not going to hear much of anything besides what’s coming through the headset.  Even when there’s nothing coming out, it’s hard to hear if someone is yelling to you from another room (a fact that I can attest to because the person who was yelling for me ended up coming into the same room and tapping me on the shoulder).  I have to say, for a headset this is definitely a good thing.  If I put it on, I want to hear only what’s coming through them, and in that regard the G35 delivers.  One of the complaints I’ve read about online is that they’re not “loud enough.”  Here, I disagree.  There’s plenty of volume coming through the headset.  At max volume, there’s no complaint.

There is a difference between listening to music, and listening for a spy to come and stab you in the back while playing Team Fortress 2.  The G35 is capable of 7.1 surround sound because it’s powered by some fancy Dolby technology.  There’s a switch on the side of the headset which enables it, and the status tray icon changes to red to indicate that it’s on.  It’s truly fantastic to have a complete surround sound experience in a set of headphones.  It’s especially nice for me, because I didn’t have to worry about earth-shattering explosions or weapons-fire disturbing anyone.  In game, you hear everything.  Every. Thing.  From every direction, there’s nothing that goes unnoticed.  For gaming there’s absolutely no reason you shouldn’t be using these.

This is the best headset that I've ever put on.

On that note, while gaming, the headset has a number of quality features that add to their value.  If you turn the mic up, it will automatically mute itself.  On top of that, there are macro buttons on teh side of the headset, that allow you to assign a number of different options.  I chose simple things like launch iTunes, but the variation of options is pretty impressive.  On the side of the headset, there’s also a mute button for an easy mic kill.  Additionally, you have volume adjustment right on the headset. With the volume adjustment, it’s tied directly to the Windows volume sound, meaning if you have a volume control on the keyboard or elsewhere, they’ll all have the same affect.  I prefer to turn the knob on my Sidewinder keyboard to the volume control on the G35, but it’s good to know it’s there if I wanted it.

The gaming quality is fantastic, and I can say there’s no disappointment to be found in the music department either.  Logitech would say that the “40 mm laser-tuned speaker drivers with neodymium magnets” deliver crisp highs, lows, and everything in between.” I’d say… they’re right.  They’re one-hundred percent right.  From rap to rock, light tunes and more, the Logitech G35 makes music sound good.  You can enable the 7.1 surround sound and the G35 will do its best to make the music sound more “full.” But I found it sounded a little bit better to just listen to it in stereo mode.  Now, I don’t have anything that would actually be 7.1 music-wise, so maybe it would sound better if I did.

The options menu is pretty straightforward.

The options menu for the G35 headset is pretty  straight forward.  You can set volume,  bass, treble and microphone levels.  You can change the setting on the microphone light.  There are options for the three G buttons.  You can also set different profiles to make for quick switching.  Say you want different settings on the desktop than in a game, you can set that up.

Now, I’m not particularly impressed by the Voice Morphing feature, because there’s no reason I would ever use it and the prospect of going online and using it are non-existent.  But for those interested in making themselves sound like a robot, have at it.

There are three different pads included for the G35.  You can take out the top head pad and swap in the one most suited to your comfort.  To be honest, they didn’t feel that different, but they looked different when placed next to each other, so I have to imagine there are different amounts of padding in the headset.  The earpads are perfectly comfortable, I played for long periods of time and didn’t walk away with any discomfort.

The G35 is big, and it’s sturdy.  Logitech’s side says the headset has a “spring steel-core headband” that makes it “lightweight and flexible, yet incredibly durable.”  It’s an imposing headset.  I can actually see the steal core when I expand the headset to fit my head.  I wear a size 8 ball cap, but it still fits perfectly, so people with large noggin’s shouldn’t fear.

Now hear this: I just don’t want to unplug these.  I’ve got to send them back to Logitech, and the next thing I do after boxing them up might just be buying another pair online.  I’ve had them for almost a month now and they’ve been great the whole time. (Only reason I’ve had them so long is because I was hoping to do a hardcore 7.1 showdown between the Logitech G35 and the Razer Megalodon, but so far I’ve only gotten the G35. But I am in talks with Razer to ship out a Megalodon when they get a review unit.)

If you’re looking for the premium sound for your gaming rig, you should pick up a pair of Logitech G35 headphones.  Have any questions? Shoot me an email, or post in the comments below.  And as always, you can see my shorter and more frequent updates at twitter.com.