It’s time to lean back toward gaming with a headset from beyerdynamic that focuses on bringing high quality sound to your favorite console or PC games. The beyerdynamic CUSTOM Game headset is targeted for gamers looking to get theatrical sound from their game time while delivering crisp audio from the microphone, which is great for party chat or recording. For this story, I included one of our other authors, Ryan Sanders, to help out edit as he spends a lot of time in-game and really seems to have enjoyed these thus far.
It is available in a single black design that is made up mostly of plastic, with an aluminum band connecting the two muffs together with. The padding on both muffs features a nice leather cover with soft foam beneath that helps to deliver a comfortable fit to your ears with. The headband also features the same padding both top and bottom, and is removable via velcro in case you need to replace it or give it a clean (the pads on the muffs can easily be removed as well).
The side of each muff features a frame that can be removed using a provided allen key, so that you can insert one of the custom covers it comes with to match it best to your own tastes. It comes with six different cover designs to choose from (a total of three sets with prints front and back, one of which is already installed on the headphones, which we missed in the below unboxing video), and you can of course come up with your own designs if you cut them down to the same shape.
You have the option of using the headphones with any gaming consol that supports a 3.5mm input (which carries both the sound for the headphones and the in-line microphone (3 rings). They can also be plugged into any PC or laptop that features the same input, else it comes with a break-out cable that separates the cable into two cables, one for sound and one for the microphone. They also include a 1/4-inch adapter in case you want to plug them into something like a receiver.
The microphone exists inline with the main cable at the top of the cable that plugs into the headphones and cannot be removed from use unless you make use of a general 3.5mm headphone cable you might have lying around (it only comes with the cable with mic attached). It can be used for both in-game chat as well as recording if you prefer to use these on a platform like Twitch to live stream your games with. It all depends on your setup.
Also in-line is a remote that features a scroll wheel for headphone volume and a slider switch to hard control the mute status of the microphone with. There is also a button on the side that acts as a play/pause button as well as call accept, if you have these plugged into a smartphone.
Each muff has a slider that can be adjusted to four different positions, controlling how much bass you will experience. Starting from the position farthest from the red arrow (removable sticker), you begin with a limited low end, if you prefer to cut most of the bass out. As you slide it into the other three positions, you start to dial in additional bass, making your way to the fourth setting which is pretty boomy (if that’s your kind of thing).
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Obviously, you will want to dial in both muffs to the same setting to make sure you have matched levels on both sides as this is a manual/mechanical configuration vs digital.
Performance
Audiophile wouldn’t be the word to use for these. Theatrical would be however as they do provide a powerful delivery of sound. So if SPL is what you are looking for, with the option of dialing in some extra low end (bass), these become quite the option. Comparable to something you’d find from a company like Sennheiser within a similar price range, these headphones simply one-up that with an attached microphone, targeting gamers. The sound is rich and you can absolutely get a lot of bass out of them.
We found the middle two settings to be the most optimal for gaming, unless you love boxing your ears around. The middle settings just feel more natural, especially when you like to balance your environment to remove any unnecessary distractions that your mind might try to focus on.
The mic sounds great, and this is why we pointed out that you could use this for recording if you like to stream your game play. Your voice comes through to the other player crisp and clear as day, almost as if you put a small Senn or Shure lav on your shirt vs using a gaming mic. To get an idea of this, we had our Senior Editor (from the unboxing video below) sit down and record a short clip with the headset, which can be found right here:
Games like action platforms and first person shooters are great, although at times we yearn for more of a multi-channel solution when it comes to the shooters (which is achievable on a modern Windows PC with Windows Sonic or Dolby Atmos enabled in device properties). Like I said, these are about the equivalent of a nice pair of Sennheisers of the same price range (and both companies hail from Germany, go figure).
What’s in the Box?
The cables, as mentioned, are split into a two cable configuration. You will always use the cable with microphone in-line unless you make use of one of your own cables. Then they provide the break-out in case you need to split the headphone and microphone connection into two separate wires.
You get a 1/4-inch adapter for receivers, 6 different cover designs for the muffs, an allen wrench for installing the covers with, and a small booklet of random text that no one will probably read.
Our Conclusion
These are great headphones to game with, watching movies and general music listening (for those looking for powerful sound, but not audiophile). You do need your own basic aux cable if you don’t want to use the microphone in any situation, but when you do need the mic, it sounds nearly just as good as the headphones themselves–making it great for both chat and recording/streaming situations. They aren’t the very best headphones we have ever listened to at this price range, but they do at least still sound fantastic, keeping them up there in rating. In the end though, they are basically their CUSTOM One Pro headphones with a mic slapped on them.
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Our Rating | Average Price* $199.00 |
*Average price is based on the time this article was published
Unboxing Video:
Additional Images:
Specifications:
Headphones
Transducer type: Dynamic
Operating principle: Closed
Frequency response: 5 – 35,000 Hz
Nominal impedance: 16 ? per system
Nominal SPL: 96 dB
T.H.D.: 0.2%
Power handling capacity: 100 mW
Sound coupling to the ear: Circumaural
Ambient noise attenuation: approx. 18 dBA
Headband pressure: approx. 5.6 N
Microphone
Transducer type: Condenser (back electret)
Polar pattern: Cardioid
Frequency response: 30 – 18,000 Hz
Length mic boom: approx. 150 mm
General
Weight without cable: 282 g [9.9 oz]
Length and type of cable:
– 1.6 m [5.2 ft] cable with
– remote control
– 0.8 m [2.6 ft] Y-extension
Connection:
– Gold-plated mini stereo
– jack plug (3.5 mm) &
– 1/4″ adapter (6.35 mm),
– extension cable with
– 2 separate mini jack plugs (3.5 mm) (Line & Mic)
Accessories:
– Detachable cable with
– remote control,
– extension cable for PC
Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.
