Audio/Peripherals Headphones Headsets Reviews

[UPDATE]Audio Roundup: The best gaming headsets in comparison test

Introduction and scope of delivery

Noun est Omen? Brandy names for gaming products are hardly trendy and so the Sound Blaster Inferno is also well placed in the range of products, which are mainly aimed at the young clientele as a buyer class.

The price is also target group-compatible, because at just under 40 euros, the Inferno headset costs no more than five to six thick burger meals at the fast food temple around the corner. It will now be our chance to test the true value and decide whether the potential customer should then perhaps stick to the burger

The scope of delivery is of course quite close in terms of price, because only a Y-piece, which contains the headphone or Microphone jack connection is reunited as a jack combo for the Smatphone, is included as an accessory.

Optics and haptics

In the design, one can not expect any optical air jumps for this price, but degenerate buck jumps also fail. The test object, which is pleasantly restrained for a gaming headset, is closed to plastic in the outer shells of all molded parts, but it feels better than you might expect. For this price range, both the material mix and the workmanship fit and move together at an acceptable level.

The textile covering of the very wide-facing earcups also provides visually nice colour contrasts and is always more honest than sweat-inducing PU imitation of the cheaper variety.

Comfort

But here the ghosts are divorcing and it is once again important that you really have to try on such a headset yourself. If you have to live with hat size 60 or more, the rather tightly held and then of course also very pressive headset will get an unpleasant feeling on and between the ears, but the rest of the smaller heads are happy about a well-fitting headset, which is not with every headbang, fluttering away cheerfully.

The joint solution works on the horizontal and vertical axis, the rest has to be compensated with the pulling out of the support bracket, depending on the head circumference. Although it is relatively long and therefore very wide to open, the overall resulting pressure is simply too much for some eyewear wearers.

The already mentioned ear pads make the headset more of an on-ears for most, because with large ears they do not completely close. The contact pressure is relatively high and you will really have to take a longer carrying test in order to be able to assess the seat individually. On the positive side, however, it is worth noting that you will hardly sweat, because finishing extremely dense is not the main task of the Soundbaster Inferno. The head pad integrated in the handle is practical and completely sufficient.

Functionality and connection

The control unit built into the cable has a volume control and a microphone switch. However, the positioning it is not optimal, especially if the beams are larger than approx. 1.80 m and have a longer neck. The cable itself also extends loosely to the smartphone in the back pocket or to the PC standing remotely under the table, but the controllers are unfavorably positioned from the neck and you always look for the controller first.

Conveniently, the shells can also be rotated vertically as already described and thus even completely folded around 90 degrees. This means that this will be the 5cm high heatset also the space in almost any flatter pocket open.

Microphone

The microphone with ball characteristics is plug-in and removable, which greatly increases the practical benefit and also accommodates the occupied space during transport. The plug-in connection is safe and tactilely easy to grasp, so fumbling around almost leaves it by itself. Of course, we could not determine how durable this solution is.

The low-cut at approx. 100 Hz works quite well, so that the rumbling of wind and blow-out noises hardly matters. The comprehensibility of the voice is good, but a high-cut at eight to 10 KHz could give even more advantages here, because the frequency range about this is definitely not needed for the voice. The noise of the electrode solution is limited, but is quite present.

Measurements and sound check

Let's move on to one of the most important points: the sound of the headphones. At this point, however, the inferno probably inadvertently honors its name, because the sounding is already very brutal. Especially bass and upper bass are extremely greased and omnipresent at any time, whether you need it, like it, like it or not.

We can see from the curve very nicely that at approx. 80 to 90 Hz an enormous peak with 12 dB increase on trtitt, while you can also notice and hear that even the subcontraoctave is still well with it. The low bass is very well there and so intentional, but the overemphasis of the upper bass area destroys this advantage again. Our tip: at the equalizer, take back the range by 64 Hz and 125 Hz more strongly! Then we suddenly clearer, more differentiated and even softer the bass. Nice side effect: the level strength increases enormously!

The same applies to the lower mids and the middles themselves, where at 250 Hz e.g. the dreaded cardboard sound is created (party cellar-cheap box feeling) and the overemphasis then gives the female vocals a wealth in the foundation that is repulsive and just annoying. The same applies to the basic tone ranges of many smaller instruments. So here too: experimenting with the equalizer knob at 250 and 500 Hz almost always works wonders.

In return, the area between two and 3.5 KHz, which is so important for gamers, suffers because the pgel now drops pointlessly. Here, the two-KHz controller should be carefully slicked a little. You can clearly hear how spatial location and resolution rise in the sum of all other controller changes. The headset isn't very delicate in terms of accurate playback, but it's a bit better after that.

The high-frequency peak then experiences at approx. 10 Khz his second early lung – this is just too much for trained ears. The overemphasis on sibilants, air noises and especially in gaming also the very wide-band bangs and shots is far too set up and intrusive. If you take back the eight-KHz controller a little more, you will spare your ears and nerves.

The sounding is a little exaggerated and the surprisingly deep playing 40mm drivers are actually deprived of their not bad performance in itself, in which one can take the resonance peak to approx. 87 Hz unnecessarily. Without equalizer intervention, the headset whimpers more than playing good and differentiated bass. This interpretation is clearly exaggerated even for gaming and you would do well to keep the sprouts up to approx. to smooth out a kilohertz medium equalizer neatly. Who then still likes a lot of heights and finds it good: please, be so indulged. The rest just regulates down and it's good.

Conclusion

For 40 euros, the headset is certainly not a mis-selling, even if the somewhat thin cable could break in the long run. The rest seems rather balanced and even reasonably valuable, even if the price naturally sets very narrow limits. Those who stand on bass and highs will be able to look forward. However, everyone else can help themselves by looking at our measurement curve and counteracting accordingly according to their own preferences. It is well worth it.

Which brings us to the conclusion. It is and remains a cheap gaming headset for beginners – no more, but no less. If you also help something, you could also listen to music from time to time. Audiophile is not, but tolerable. If you put this in relation to the current street price, then all of this fits together quite well.

Technical data and availability

Finally, let us summarize the technical data in a table. The headset has been on the market for some time, so the price has already settled into interesting regions.

 

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About the author

Igor Wallossek

Editor-in-chief and name-giver of igor'sLAB as the content successor of Tom's Hardware Germany, whose license was returned in June 2019 in order to better meet the qualitative demands of web content and challenges of new media such as YouTube with its own channel.

Computer nerd since 1983, audio freak since 1979 and pretty much open to anything with a plug or battery for over 50 years.

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