Sennheiser’s gaming division now comes under the EPOS title, carrying over years of their expertise to focus on the gaming market. Today we’re looking at the GAME ZERO with a balanced soundscape, memory foam ear cups and a noise cancelling microphone.
Product on Review: EPOS GAME ZERO
Manufacturer: EPOS
Street Price: GBP £159 / USD $169 / AUS $259
Back in March, Sennheiser rebranded their gaming arm of the business to EPOS, part of a joint venture with Demant, a world-leading audio and hearing technology group that employs more than 14,000 people. Until EPOS have developed their own entire portfolio, current gaming headsets will share the Sennheiser and EPOS branding.
EPOS have provided us with the GAME ZERO for evaluation, a gaming headset that promises ultimate audio accuracy and clarity. Featuring a closed acoustic design provided by the custom-made painted steel ear cup grids, the GAME ZERO allows you to hear the faintest details with absolute precision.
Multi-platform compatibility is offered via interchangeable cables allowing you to use the headset with your mobile phone or tablet (3.5mm jack depending), PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and any other device featuring a 4-pole 3.5mm jack.
Equipped with triple-layered memory-foam leatherette ear pads to keep audio in and external noises out, the GAME ZERO assures no-one will hear what you’re listening to, nor will you hear them. They’re also uniquely shaped to ensure a snug and comfortable seal all around the ear.
The headset sports many more fancy features but we’ll touch on those later in the review, for now we’ll chuck some music, films and games at the headset and see how it does.
EPOS on the GAME ZERO:
The combination of remarkable design, padding materials and memory foam ensures that the GAME ZERO is great at passive noise cancellation. No outside noise enters the headset due to fitted ear pads and you can be assured that those around you will not hear your game either.
Technical Specifications
General Data
Wearing Style: Headband
Color: Black
Headset Weight: 300g
Ear coupling: Around ear
Transducer principle: Dynamic closed
Compatibility: PS4, XboxOne, Switch, PCSoftphone, MacOSX
Dimensions
Dimensions: 90 mm + 180 mm + 175 mm
Product height: 175 mm
Ear pad size: 120 Ear pad size + 90 Ear pad size + 10 Ear pad size
Weight: 300g
Cable length: 3000 mm
Weight: 300g
Long Term Reliability
Warranty: 2 years
Packaging & Bundle
Despite the rebrand, things haven’t quite changed on the packaging yet. The same blue and white theme remains with the single Sennheiser logo.The headset is picture clearly front and centre, with compatibility listed in the top-left.
Displaying an exploded diagram of the headset, you’re able to see how the headset is assembled, to a degree. There’s also more information dotted around with the sides used for the more finicky details.
Included inside the packaging is, obviously, your brand-new GAME ZERO headset, a couple of cables and a sturdy transport case. No instruction booklet anywhere to be found, not that you’ll really need one anyway.
Closer Look
The earcup on each side can be angled through around 100°-110° so they can lay flat on the desk or go a little beyond flat to contour to the shape of your head.
On the right earcup is a volume control with a small circular indent and raised lines to allow some purchase to rotate it.
On the left side is the noise-cancelling microphone with a built-in lift-to-mute feature.
Each earcup is constructed from triple-layered memory foam covered by a thick leatherette. The bottom of each earcup has been purposely thickened to form a close and firm fit all around the ear, preventing noise from getting in or out while helping to distribute the weight more evenly to improve comfort.
The headband is a solid piece of plastic with a thick layer of leatherette-covered memory foam on the underside. Each hinge section can be extended from the headband by almost 55mm allowing it to fit a wide range of head sizes comfortably.
Performance Testing
Requiring no software at all, the headset is pre-tuned to offer the best audio accuracy possible. This means you can be up and running in seconds, the only setup choice you have to make is whether you’re using the 4-pole 3.5mm or 2x 3-pole 3.5mm cable.At this point it’s almost a tradition to use a black and red theme for your gamer products but EPOS have managed to pull it off in a subtle enough way that it actually looks really good. The metallic red contrasts against the dull plastic and shiny metal hinges nicely.
We’ll start with comfort. It’s all well and good if a headset sounds great but if it’s not comfortable, it’s going to tarnish the experience somewhat. But thankfully, it’s very good news on this front; the tension provided from the headband isn’t overbearing but also keeps the headset largely in place. Obviously, if you’re a bit too enthusiastic with your head bopping, it’s going to shift about, but Sennheiser seem to have this tweaked to perfection. Adding to the comfort is the triple-layer memory foam, shaped to provide a good seal to isolate your ears from any external noises while ensuring you hear every last wave of audio that the drivers have to offer. Personally, these fit my head and ears very well, with a tight and equal seal right around, but my girlfriend, who’s a bit thinner than me, found that there was a gap that opened up behind her jawbone and under her ear. The sound was still isolated to a good degree but not perfectly. This was partly due to the oval shape of the ear cups extending too far down her head, as well as her anatomy. I happily wore this headset for an entire day, taking them off only briefly for food and other essential breaks, and found they caused no fatigue or other issues, in all honesty I totally forgot I was wearing them. The deep earcups are ample to accommodate all but the largest of ears without applying pressure to the outer edges like some smaller headsets.
EPOS/Sennheiser claim that the GAME ZERO offers the ultimate audio accuracy and clarity. That’s one hell of a claim but we fully believe that Sennheiser are capable of producing such a headset. Obviously, at this price point, it’s not literally going to be the ultimate audio accuracy when compared to studio headphones, but we’re certainly impressed. Being a gaming headset, the focus has been put on gaming performance rather than music or films, so we tested it out on a few games that we know have a solid soundscape. Battlefield 3 multiplayer being one of those, there’s loads going on in all directions, helicopters flying overhead, tanks rolling down the streets, opposing forces swapping rounds, it was all so much more apparent and noticeable. The stereo layout was no issue for the game’s engine either, it portrayed the location of the sound without any problems. Hearing your team mates calls, ricocheting rounds and tanks zooming by, all at the same time, was surprisingly easy thanks to the balanced sound EQ that EPOS have tuned into the drivers.
We obviously didn’t just test games; we also had a go listening to some of our favourite tracks. Bass and treble were somewhat lacking with music tending to feel flat and uninspiring, it wasn’t extreme but you could tell that EPOS have worked to tweak the headset’s audio profile in such a way that it’s primarily designed for gaming. What they did do, however, is increase the imaginary size of the music; it felt like it was being played further away than it really was, we’re a little indifferent as to whether that’s a positive or not, but it sounded good non-the-less. Volume was impressive, with more than enough oomph for any purpose, it didn’t distort at the top end at all either, which was nice.
Moving onto build quality, something that we’ve praised Sennheiser strongly for in the past, the GAME ZERO lives up to expectations. The thick plastic headband, metal hinges, adjustment straps, leatherette ear cups, memory foam cushioning and thick plastic enclosure. One thing we didn’t like, however, is the braided cable. Sure, braiding the cable will likely extend its life and give it some additional resistance against wear and tear or if you run it over with your chair wheels, but we noticed the scratching of the braid against our clothing constantly. With the cables being interchangeable it really would’ve been nice of Sennheiser to include a rubber cable as well, or at the very least, sell one as an option on their website.
Finally, it wouldn’t be a gaming headset without the microphone. Implemented directly into the hinge mechanism is a tactile switch, when the microphone is in the upright position it’s completely muted, only activating as you swing the boom down to around 45°. In doing so, there’s a noticeable click within the left earcup, confirming the switch has activated and audio will be picked up. In terms of positioning the boom, the flexible rubber section in the middle does an adequate job but it’s quite difficult to get it to stay exactly where you want it, but it does pick up sounds clearly from its standard position, to the side of your mouth. Below is a brief demo of the quality so you can have a listen for yourself.
Conclusion
There’s no other way of saying this, the GAME ZERO is an excellent headset with very little to complain about and here’s why.Comfort is way up there with the best of headsets; the triple-layer memory foam and leatherette covering ensured the GAME ZERO were easy to wear for hours on end, largely thanks to the huge ear cups that put zero stress onto any part of your ear. The memory foam covering the headband ensured equal distribution of the weight, but having said that, at 300g it wasn’t particularly heavy anyway. Adjusting the headband was easy and reassuringly secure with resistive clicks as the headband locks into place and a rock-solid metal hinge mechanism that looks as if it’s built to last.
Speaking of built to last, the quality of the product is excellent. Sennheiser have carved out a corner of the market like no other manufacturer, producing high-quality, great-sounding headphones/headsets that many people have come to respect and rely on. The microphone boom swings down with a proper click, the 3.5mm cable locks into the aperture with real conviction and thanks to a bespoke carry case we trust the headset can easily be carted about without a problem.
Audio quality is also amazing. We mentioned that music was slightly lacking in feel and atmosphere, which while true is also a difficult thing to put into words. The audio quality is way better than you’d expect from most gaming headsets, which you should expect for £160, but if you plan to use these for listening to music primarily and gaming as a secondary function, you should perhaps look to spend your money elsewhere. However, if gaming is your thing, and you don’t buy into the desktop microphone market, we can’t think of many headsets that compete with this on a similar level. The large soundscape offered by the expansive earcups created a pseudo-surround experience that was truly impressive for a 2.0 headset.
Pricing is about where we’d expect it to be, in all honesty. Sure, £160, or equivalent in your region, isn’t cheap, and you can get a good set of headphones and a microphone for less, but not loads less, and you likely won’t get the same build quality that you get here.
As far as gaming headsets go, this GAME ZERO scores very well indeed. Solid build quality, immersive soundscape and a decent microphone combine to create a well-rounded headset.
Pros
+ Impressive, immersive experience from the ‘size’ of the sound
+ Incredibly comfortable
+ Rock-solid build quality
+ Interchangeable cables
+ Bespoke carry case
+ Decent microphone
Cons
– Not the best for listening to music
– Braided cable can be heard scratching on clothes
+ Impressive, immersive experience from the ‘size’ of the sound
+ Incredibly comfortable
+ Rock-solid build quality
+ Interchangeable cables
+ Bespoke carry case
+ Decent microphone
Cons
– Not the best for listening to music
– Braided cable can be heard scratching on clothes
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