To enable the 7.1 surround feature you will need to download the software driver, once done, plug the headset into a spare USB port and you will be ready to go. It is a slight shame that they didn't include the console cable as standard with the GSP 350, opening up its versatility. Instead, you need to buy the cable separately for £15ish. Though this action itself would raise some questions as to the relevance of the GSP 300.
The construction of the GSP 350 uses high quality plastics and feels solid. On wearing the headset I needed to extend the side earcups a lot more than normal to get it to fit my head, and found that it a fairly moderate clamp force, but at no point was uncomfortable. Thanks to this however, combined with the memory foam/leatherette earpads, it has good sound isolation, creating a reasonable level of passive noise reduction/ reduced noise leakage. Though, if you need to wear glasses, those with thicker frames might find a little discomfort.
The microphone auto mutes when raised and is easy to move up and down, but the flexible central part is more springy rather than adjustable. The volume dial positioned on the right side is rather awkward to use due to the joint between the headband and the earcup ending just above the dial. Every time I reach for the volume dial I am greeted with a huge plastic block, requiring me to twist my hand to reach for the front and rear sides of the dial, this seems like a slightly embarrassing design flaw. Despite that, the volume dial rotates smoothly, and feels good quality.
Listening to various known music, including the soundtrack to Turbo Kid (retro synth pop), the GSP 350 greets us with the trademark Sennheiser audio signature, featuring an incredibly rich, precise audio that has amazing separation between each sound. It has an upper mid-range bias, making the bass slightly less pronounced that some may like, but it remains deep, warm and present regardless. This made for good listening for any music type.
In game, the level of clarity from footsteps, to someone reloading round the corner is easy to distinguish. The spatial awareness thanks to the openness plunges you deeper into the game too, though testing out the v7.1 surround seemed to make little, if any difference. I reinstalled the drivers to check in case my anti-virus picked up the software as a false negative, as it did with the SteelSeries driver, but this time nothing came up. On closer scruitney, the Surround mode did tighten up some edges of the sound, increasing the sharpness a touch. But the GSP 350 did such a fantastic job of replicating wide sounds either way, so you will get a great immersive surround experience either way. Running around in Gears of War 4 gave ample directional audio as to where and when can expect to run into an enemy.
Microphone
The microphone is deep, low latency, even with the additional noise cancelling, and fantastic quality. Even at maximum sensitivity, the voice just sounds louder and clear, though I found that a nice setting was around 85%. Without the additional noise cancelling, it did a good job of reducing background sounds naturally, though you may as well use it as it doesn't have a detrimental effect on voice quality at all.
