Logitech ClearChat Pro USB Headset Review

👤by Sahil Mannick Comments 📅22-07-09
Testing
Installing the headset was a piece of cake. The benefit of the USB connection is that you can just plug it in and use it. No software is required and the USB has its own inbuilt sound drivers so there's nothing to worry about. The 8 feet long cable also does not restrict you to being in close to your PC. If you have speakers connected to your motherboard or sound card, the headset prioritises itself over them, so sounds will start playing immediately from it. However if you were already playing a track before plugging it in, all you have to do is stop and start the music playback. On a plus side, it also works via my Logitech G15 USB port without any issues!

Music
To test it, decided to test a variety of music while using the music equalizer. First off, I played "Need to Feel Loved" by Reflekt. The baseline was very punchy and the vocals were quite clear although slightly muffled compared to my sound card solution. Even at maximum volume, there wasn't any crackling or distortion. Overall it was quite pleasant to listen to.

Next up was "Beat it" by Michael Jackson. Again, the quality of the sound was pretty good and managed to pick out quiet background vocals. The positioning of the instruments were accurate with regards to both ear cups. There were no distinguishable distortion even at high volumes.

Lastly, I tried "LAX" by Xzibit. The song makes use of heavy bass throughout and the ClearChat Pro coped surprisingly well. It is slightly distorted when the first explosive beat kicks and in the higher frequencies. The vocals on the other hand did not get detracted by the heavy bass, to present a clear response.

Gaming
For this I thought the best course of action was to play a first person shooter, where accurate position and detecting even the faintest is the difference between life and death. So I fired up Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare. The gaming equalizer setting certainly helped during game play, making for fairly accurate sounds coming from most directions. I managed to discern where sounds were coming most of the time although distinguishing where a helicopter was overhead proved much harder. Hearing the rustle of your gear while running, gun in hand, and the rapid thuds from helicopter fire certainly shows the quality of the headset.

Voice Chat
Using the ClearChat Pro on Skype gave a very clear response. The voice response was very clear through the microphone and there was minimal background noise.

On Steam chat however, there was enough background noise to make it seem as if I was standing outside in strong winds! Despite this, my voice could still be heard on the other hand above the background noise.

Changing from the music equalizer to the one dedicated to web calls did improve the background noise issue on Steam.

Comfort and build quality
On the whole, thanks to the heavily padded ear cups, the ClearChat Pro USB were comfortable to use, even after hours of wearing them. The pads are soft, and the ear cups adjust to shape the ears. The top of the headset is also padded and the frame supporting both cups can be extended/retracted so they didn't feel tight on my head but still felt secure. Despite the plastic construction, at no point did I find it flimsy or about to spontaneously fall to pieces in my hand, which quite frankly can be expected from many products these days.

Observations
One of the things I noticed with the ClearChat Pro USB is the amount of sound leakage at mid-high volumes. Whilst not a big problem, it can be distracting to others around you. Volume control is also done through Windows rather than a separate manual one as found on most other headset. On the one hand, the volume control on the headset is very conveniently placed but on the other hand, it prevents you from knowing what the actual volume is without bringing up the Windows sound icon.


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