Hello, video game friends. Today I’d like to give youse a little look at the Sennheiser GSP 600. The GSP 500 and 600 are the latest and greatest gamer-cans that the German headphone manufacturer has on the market. I’ve chosen to focus on the 600 this time around, and should be following up with a comparison review very soon.
The Fit
I’ve seen some reviews that complain about the tight or clampy fit of the 600. I did not experience this issue. The fit was snug, for sure, but I wouldn’t say that it was uncomfortable for me. It just took me a little fiddling around to find my customized size. This adjustment process happened on two stages. The cups slide down the band to extend for your custom head size, much like most headphones you are used to.
The headband itself can also be modified with two plastic pieces that slide inside of the headband. This allows you to reinforce a specific part of the band’s stiffness which could redirect what part of your head receives the most pressure. The effects of this are subtle, but appreciated.
The pads on the GSP 600 are nice and firm, and alleviate the pressure along your jawline. The side of the cups that make contact with you skin have a nice suede-like material to add a pleasant softness. The cups are bridged to the headband by a double-hinged bridge that seem to have springs. One hinge allows the cups to budge horizontally and the other vertically. They are designed to resist being pulled away from a clamping position. The fit is nice and secure.
A Great Feature
The right side of the chassis has a large volume dial that is stealthily built onto the design of the cup. PS4 gamers may rejoice over this knob since you wouldn’t need to access the quick menu in order to adjust the headphone volume output from the controller. Really, this functionality could be useful to anyone. I really like being able to attenuate the volume at this stage in general. Achieving the perfect volume is a quick and painless process, and you don’t have to rely on block-increments decided by software developers.
The Mic
In the headphone world, the name Sennheiser needs no introduction. Some audiophiles may not be aware of their role in the live sound and studio recording markets. Those in pro audio will associate them almost as much with microphones as they do with reference cans. What I’m getting at is that the boom mic on the left side of the GSP 600 does not disappoint.
The boom arm can be raised up and down to find a custom mic placement to achieve the best sound. The arm has a little elasticity and can also be bent slightly towards or away from your face. If you raise the arm all the way up, the headset will mute all sound input from the mic. If you are using the GSP 600 to take a phone call (which it is amazing for), this allows you to discretely flush a toilet with ease.
The box claims that the mic is noise-cancelling, and I’m not sure it is. In the age of active noise-cancelling headphones, one might assume that there is a processor inside of the headset that uses phase cancellation in some way to remove the outside noise. My guess is the mic’s pickup pattern and placement is just oriented to block outside noise. It does a good job focusing on recording speech, and I don’t need it to do much more.
The Connection
The GSP headphones feature a removable cable. If you’re using a PC, you can use a cable that splits at the end to connect to both your mic and headphone outputs. If you are playing on a PS4 or connecting to a phone, you could use the other optional cable which is a familiar TRRS 3.5 headphone/mic jack. Xbox One users will have to buy a headset adapter, but the GSP 600 would work just fine with the extra hardware.
The Sound
The drivers in the headphones perform exceptionally well for a gaming headset. Again, I don’t know what else you would expect from Sennheiser. They’ll give you a nice full sound, with responsible detail. There is accurate clarity from the lows to the highs. There’s nothing jarring or harsh about them.
They sound altogether great, but most of all I appreciate how they deliver the deeper frequencies. The GSP 600 have an extended low end, which features incredible clarity. These aren’t bass-heavy headphones, but they are far from bass-shy. Deep, dark game atmospheres sound incredible. The music and universe of the Witcher 3 sounded absolutely amazing with this low depth.
For a closed-back, the soundstage is impressive. In now way did I feel boxed-in by the headset. The stage has nice isolated width. While wearing them to play the Witcher 3, I was able to completely leave my basement and cat to explore the Isles of Skellige. The stage really gives you a nice presence of low end, with a spread of mids and highs.
GSP 600 – Final Thoughts
If you want to be able to hear the world outside of your game, the GSP 600 may not be your best option. They aren’t actively noise-cancelling, yet they are strongly isolated. It’s easy to get enveloped by your game with them on, and you’ll be much less likely to hear or notice a text. This is an issue posed by over-ear closed-backs, and there’s not much you can do about it. If this is an issue for you, I may suggest checking out the GSP 500.
The GSP 600 is for you if you want a nice fully frequency spectrum, with unreluctant bass response. The quality of the GSP series is fantastic for gaming headphones, and the 600 Model is for you if you want to feel the impact of your games. If you stream, this mic is good enough to get you some Twitch followers.
The 600 sells for $249.95, which seems like a more-than-reasonable for a headset of this caliber. They are perfect for any PC or PS4 gamer. They are currently in stores and would make a great gift for any gamer.
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