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General: Sennheiser PC161 Headset Review
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
In her latest hardware review for MMORPG.com, Carolyn Koh takes on the Sennheiser PC161 Headset. This particular headset is the medium range of the Sennheiser line and Carolyn put it through its paces. Find out what she thought about the PC161 headset then let us know what you think!
Sennheiser is a German company specializing in Pro-Audio mics and headphones and Professional Audio is the term used for the world of recording, play-back and broadcasting – i.e. concerts and such. Sennheiser stepped into the gaming world with their introduction of headsets only a few years ago, garnering some excitement in the Pro-gaming community and providing added credibility to the world of Gaming Audio. Thus I reached out to them and asked for their median headset model for review. Not the most expensive, but not the cheapest either. I received the PC161.
Read more of Carolyn Koh's Sennheiser PC161 Headset Review .
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Comments
Sennheiser doing a mic'd headset.
I actually game with a 3 or 4 year old model of Sennheiser headphones and usually just yell at the built in mic of my screen. Suppose I could save all of my CS buddies a headache and invest in a proportionally crafted device.
I'm pleasantly surprised to see such an in-depth, informative headphones review on a gaming site. Nice read.
89 bucks i don't think so. I will for my 19 dollar one thats lasted me a good 5 years.
Nice review, wish I could wear a headset, but wearing one just translates into my wife thinking I'm ignoring her
I prefer the headsets with the ear cups that totally surround your ear. Any headphones where the cups rest ON my ear eventually start to ache after less than an hour of use. And, I always have to be concerned whether the ear pieces are large enough to totally enclose my ears. I believe the Logitech headsets and the Razer Carhisis..>Carchesis...watchamacallit fit over your ears and engulf them completely.
That has always been my concern as well. I've yet to discover a set that rests on the ears, that doesn't start a dull ache within an hour or two. Its too bad, as other wise these look like first rate head phones.
Carolyn; Once again, thank you for the review. I like your writing style. This review seemed, shorter than the others? I liked how in the prior ones you gave a lot of specific examples such as in this game at this time I was wowed by this, or disapointed in that. I look forward to more reviews of 'Lifestyle' headphones and maybe some sound cards? Thank you again!
Gel214th;
I wear the Logitech G35 and they do completely enclose my ears and rest on my head, not the ear. I can't stand headphones that rest on the ears. I enjoy the logitech headphones but am looking for something to replace them. I have two gripes about the G35.
EAX and other hardware acceleration in some games do not work with them. Some games hardware acceleration does, kinda hit and miss.
Where the sound is coming from is off, and there is no way to fix it. Its dead on for some people, and not for others. In 7.1 mode sound should look like this (and for some people does)...
FR
Center
FL
L
Head
R
RL
RR
With the G35 some people including me hear this:
SL
FL
Center
FR
SR
RL
Head
RR
With kind regards,
No one is better than BOSE stuff
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it's hard to review a headset that doesn't shine in any particular moment. That's what I meant when I said...
"It’s easier to rhapsodize over how well a piece of music is delivered than how well an explosion is, or how well you can hear human speech in the midst of a cacophony of sound. "
Hard to be wow'ed by how clear that last conference call. :P I struggled over this one quite a bit. "Competent" wasn't good enough praise as it was better than just "adequate."
There are somethings in audio that you miss only when it isn't there. For example, there are movie theaters in which you're always missing what the actors are saying during the action parts. I threw everything I could at it and it took it, processed it and handed it back to me. Deadpan. No flair, no fuss, no muss. Good meat and potatoes. No fancy sauce.
Notice: The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of MMORPG.com or its management.
I started using Sennheisers about 5 years ago. This was a major problem I had with other headphones, ears aching, then finally the head aching. Not so with the Sennheisers, I can wear them for hours and hours and not have any type of aching around the ears. An old clan mate recommended them to me while we were heavy into CoD and what a difference they made!
I'm on my second set with the current set I have now being the longest running so far. The first set was stepped on by accident. This second set still works great. They're a little pricey, but well worth it for the sound and less ache on the ears if you tend to use headphones for long lengths of time.
This review is well represented and spot on with what I have found these last few years using these headphones
Edit: fixed some grammar
they're great - you just have to seal them away from anything that might knock, rub, fall or anything else that would hurt them. Sennheiser are notoriously delicate. in the past six year's i've gone through 3 pairs. trying something else this time around....
Thanks for another well written review Carolyn. I had been looking at this set wnen I found a 'new' condition PC350 full Sen warrantee from a Sen dealer on Amazon for $65. They to are very nice and were truely in new condition, luck counts.. I prefer the circumaural which the pc350 has. So far its just been used for gaming but maybe its time to see what music sounds like through them.
I have read reviews on both sets and aside from the earcups they seem close but I like to think the 350 has a bit more to offer...any chance off your taking a look at them someday?
Yah it was a good review, but I love my pc350's too, gamers delight, positional sounds and pretty decent for music imo.
lol
anyways, I have a pc156 set that actually sounds pretty good, which makes me think Sennheiser makes some of the best headsets around. I've bought, and returned many pairs of high priced headsets before settling on what I ended up with.
I used to think this too,but i took a chance with the NOX..
They rest on the ear and are super comfortable,they never cause any aching whatsoever even after hours of wearing them(for me anyway).
I love em.
The PC161 is definetily on my Official Wish List!
-- The Maxx
It shouldn't come as a surprise that the Senn's are pretty good headphones. They have made some of the best top of the line headphones for years. The only headphones I like better are the Grado's but of course they don't have a mic.
"I'm not cheap I'm incredibly subconsciously financially optimized"
"The worst part of censorship is ------------------"
I have the head set its great except for one downfall. If your a hardcore gamer the ear pads get really hot if your using over 2-3hours.
We used Sennheiser and EV in broadcasting back in the 80s. Not suprised to see a fine quality item. All the air staff would fight over who got the good mics ;-)
Put on my shopping list for an Xmas treat, just what I wanted.
Good sound is a must, but comfort is also important. The fact that they weren't really comfortable to the reviewer says enough for me to stay away.
so...
If you want this sound quality but with a bit more options and over the ear cups. The sennhieser 350 is the gaming set I wear. More expensive but def worth the price.
Also THANK YOU for doing a review on sennhieser. It's about dng time thes eguys got some recognition in the gaming community. They make amazing quality products.
Not sure I would spend $80 on a headset, it would have to be a really good one.
I have owned many headsets, also with mics. Sennheiser seems to be the best. I was skeptical of purchasing a "on ear" model as opposed to a "surround ear" set, but I was surprised by both the level of comfort and the total immersion of sound. I actually could hear the outside world less with Sennheiser than with total ear in many other brands.
i've had a pair of sennheiser's for a while just for music and they are pretty excellent.
http://hardballgaming.blogspot.com/