Sennheiser PC 360 gaming headset

The PC 360 is a seriously high-end gaming headset, with a fold-up microphone and large, comfortable ear cups that don’t clamp around the top of your jaw or above the ears. The design is minimalist in all black, and the build is typical of Sennheiser – solidly constructed and likely to last for years.

The PC 360 has ‘open’ headphones, so noise is going to leak by design, but this pair leaks a lot. If you want to listen to music or play games privately and not bother anyone else, you’re going to need to turn the volume down.

Bass and sound quality are fantastic with these headphones, probably due to the wide frequency response – 15Hz to 28kHz. As such, they’re great for gaming – the headset copes with all manner of explosions, high-pitched noises and shots. You can almost hear individual blades of grass being squashed under the feet of soldiers.

If you do a lot of Skype calling, podcast recording, or you just like to chat when you’re gaming, the PC 360 headset has a high-quality microphone. When using it I discovered it was almost a little too directional and sensitive – while it cancels out background noise effectively, it makes popping noises when the letter P is pronounced if the microphone is right in front of your mouth, and picks up your breathing if you have it above your mouth. When the mic is below your mouth, however, recording is fantastic.

All in all, the PC 360 headset is one of the best we’ve tested this year – it’s just too bad it doesn’t have the virtual surround of Logitech’s G930.