|
19 September 2006 |
|
Everglide s-500
Professional Gaming Headphones |
When it comes to gaming, what you can hear can sometimes mean the
difference between winning and losing. Maybe, its the footsteps
coming from behind or just being able to hear where gunshots are coming
from. These are the kinds of situations where sound can make a big
difference. Theoretically, being able to hear sounds clearly and
knowing where sounds are coming from should allow a player to react and
make better decisions. This is the world of gaming.
Today, we will be reviewing the Everglide s-500 Professional Gaming
Headphones. Some questions may immediately pop up in your mind.
For instance, "What are 'gaming' headphones and how are they different
than 'regular' headphones." In this review, we will go over the
features this product has to offer and whether it really is suitable for
gaming.
|
|
|
|
The s-500 headphones can be considered one of the larger headphones that
I have seen. In fact, don't be surprised if someone thinks they
look like 'studio' or 'DJ' headphones. This is mainly due to the
large size of the left and right 'phones'. The left and right
sides of the headphones are thickly padded with a leather-like membrane
on the surface. While these pads are comfortable, they will have a
'wet' look after using them if you tend to sweat a lot or have oily
hair. This may not appeal to someone if they use their headphones
frequently and don't like the habit of wiping them clean. The headband
is thick and looks unbreakable. It has thick padding underneath
which supports the top of the head when the headphones are worn.
When placing the headphones over my ears, my ears fit in the large holes
and the pads surround my ears. This is obviously different than
headphones which place pressure directly on the ear. The larger
surface area of the pads support behind the ear to prevent the
headphones from feeling heavy. Therefore, what you have again are
large headphones. Large headphones aren't necessarily bad, but
some people may not want to look like a space pilot or something of that
nature.
|
|
|
 |
|
When wearing the headphones, I immediately noticed a reduction in
ambient noise. My computer sitting less than a foot away from me
was less noticeable since the fan noise seemed to deaden down. The
fan in my computer didn't deaden completely, but it did feel soothing
that the fan was not as noisy. I can also still hear myself typing
while writing this review, but then again, this is not exactly active
noise cancellation. These headphones were designed well since it
does seem to provide more noise isolation making them much more quieter
than your typical headphones. |
|
|
I tested these headphones through the entire works....I tried them in
games, listening to music, and even watching movies. In games,
most of the sounds you hear (especially in first-person shooters) are
quick and come in bursts. More important of all, sound positioning
was excellent. Compared with other headphones, sounds coming from
the rear actually did sound like they were coming from behind. In
music, as well as in movies, I found that these headphones worked the
best on voices. Voices are accentuated and are extremely clear and
crisp. Because of the larger headphone 'cups', the sound does
sound more spatial adding more depth to human voices and more
full-bodied sounds. The bass was sort of a mixed bag. In
some material, the bass was acceptable, but the very low frequency
sounds sounded just a bit weaker than expected. In material, where
there were quicker 'thumps' in the bass, the headphones were able to
reproduce without a problem. In terms of clarity, you will
definitely notice more subtle sounds in material if you listen closely.
I could even hear artifacts in several of my MP3's that I didn't notice
before.
|
|
|
|
|
Common with gaming headphones is a microphone. Everglide chose to
include the microphone separately taking into consideration that some
people may not always want to use a microphone. The microphone is
basically a mini boom microphone that worked well on online gaming.
People were able to hear me very clearly without any problems.
There is a bag that is included allowing you to carry the headphones,
but there's nothing really more special about it. It gets the job
done if you want to be able to carry your headphones while providing
some minor protection from potential scratches.
|
|
|
 |
The Everglide s-500 professional gaming headphones are good overall.
It was designed well and is one of the better sounding gaming
headphones. The only negatives about the heapdhones will mostly
depend on personal preference. Some may not find these headphones
portable and just a tad heavier if someone is used to very light
headphones. Otherwise, these headphones have all the features you
could ever ask for. These headphones can be bought online directly
from Everglide's website at a retail price of $99. This price is
on par with other gaming headphones and is a good choice if you do a lot
of gaming.
|
|
