I've only had the PC38X for a few days, but I've been using it for EVERYTHING on my PC since it arrived.

The audio quality of the headphones is, of course, outstanding. The open back is exactly what I needed. I want to be able to hear when someone in the house, human or pet, is trying to get my attention. I've never had open back headphones before and it's amazing to be so immersed in the audio and yet be able to still hear what's going on in the room when you need to. Thanks to this feature, I pretty much have this headset on my head from the the instant I sit down at my computer, whether watching YouTube, being in a zoom meeting, gaming in 2D, or even when using VR. As soon as I got this headset, I removed the earphones from my HP Reverb G2 VR headset and now I wear the PC38X when gaming in VR instead. I've used them in VR in Beat Saber, Half Life: Alyx, and MSFS 2020. I didn't dislike the G2's included earphones, especially since they were off the ear and allowed me to hear when somebody was trying to get my attention, but the immersion with the PC38X is much better. And the open back allows me to still not feel like I've closed myself off from the real world.

I may get a windscreen for the mic, since putting it in front of my mouth leads to it picking up noise on certain sounds like "t" and "p" and also picking up some breathing from my nose. However, I found that putting it below my chin allows it to pick up my voice fine while getting out of the way of the air from my mouth or nose. The noise cancelling in the mic works for when my beard rubs on the mic, with the sound not being passed into the zoom meeting or game. I kind of wish the mic picked up the bass in my voice a little more, but it is very clear and should be appreciated by those trying to hear me in meetings or games.

The clamping force on my head was a bit too much at first but it relaxed very quickly and now I wear the PC38X for hours with absolutely no discomfort. I am using the default ear pads and they are comfortable and cool. As I said, I can pretty much wear these the whole time I'm at my computer or standing up doing VR and not even notice they are there (other than the great sound). Note that my PC has separate mic and headphone jacks, so I'm able to use the 3M long cable to allow me to use the PC38X when doing VR (which is also wired). The included cable for those that have a single headset jack is quite short and would not work for this without an extension cable. The cables are a bit stiff and rough but I like that they feel tough and like I'm not going to break anything by stepping on them.

So far, I really love this headset. Super glad that I invested the money in it.

Disclaimer: I'm not an audio expert or even an audiophile, so bear in mind that despite the lengthy review, I am not a qualified "expert" and this is just my opinion based on my limited experience with this product.

The PC38X is a light, comfortable headset which at first glance almost gives off a cheaper vibe due to its light weight, and heavy use of plastic rather than metal materials. The weaker initial appearance is immediately redeemed by its comfort as soon as it's placed on your head, as its lightness is actually an advantage, favouring comfort - I can easily wear this all day without getting a sore head or neck. The ear pads are soft enough to comfortably fit your head and ears shape, and firm enough not to compromise the isolation. The clamping force is just right, an improvement over my previous HyperX Cloud Alpha headset which always lacked clamping force which ultimately resulted in compromised bass levels. They also come with what appears to be a spare set of smaller, softer replacement pads - clearly, Sennheiser valued comfort for this headset, which makes sense considering it is part of their selection of gaming-oriented headphones.

The sound quality is good, with an extremely noticeable bass boost over the HyperX Cloud Alpha. The bass is rather well balanced, although it can sometimes overpower the mids. The high are crisp and clear; hats, cymbals, and other thin sounds are clear and can be heard through other heavier, deeper sounds. The mids such as vocals however, tend to lack that extra crispness I would hope for when listening to music. The bass may be a bit too loud to allow the mids to rise to expectations, but overall the benefits of hearing clear bass and highs alongside generally good mids makes me overlook the mids' shortcoming.

These are open back headphones, so I'll add a little note here in case you are not familiar with what this means - these are not noise-cancelling, like, at all. Expect to hear almost completely clearly through your headset, and people may hear through your headset. This favours audio quality, but may not be the right choice if you are in a noisy environment, or you don't want anyone around to hear the sounds coming from your headset.

The microphone's audio quality isn't the best thing in the world but it works just fine, and meets my expectations for a headset microphone. I immediately loved that the mic boom is completely outside of my field of vision when flipped up, something I had been concerned about when ordering the PC38X, coming from a headset with a removable mic. My only criticism would be that the lack of distance adjustment results in me having to lower the mic completely to prevent breathing noise from my nose, and this results in my mouth being too far from the mic to be heard clearly at times.

Included is also a carrying bag which is pretty standard and nothing to call home about, but is an appreciated extra item. Otherwise, it comes with the usual cables and whatnot. The cable seems a bit small compared to what I had on my HyperX Cloud Alpha and therefore gives off a cheaper impression, but otherwise it's a nice, braided cable which has no noticeable flaws.

Overall, I would recommend this headset for comfort and audio quality if you're in the market for open back headphones you can wear for hours on a daily basis, and you're ready to pay a bit more than your typical standard gaming headset. I work 8 hours shifts, and watch videos/listen to music as well as gaming outside of work hours, wearing these well over 8 hours daily. I've only ever felt my ears getting sore once, after a very long day of work and then gaming, so I don't blame the headset at all.

Hope this review helps shoppers make an informed decision.

This is hands down the best headset I've ever owned for gaming. After reading tons of reviews and researching forums I kept coming across these. The DROP+Sennheiser PC38X. 180 dollars seems steep for a wired headset but it is 100% worth it imo. You can't even tell you're wearing it. It's so comfortable and after hours of wear it gives me no head or ear fatigue like nearly all other headsets I've ever used. It comes with 2 extra sets of ear cushions both different kinds of fabric. It comes with a normal singular audio cable plus one that splits into two for mic/headset ports. So it can be used on any platform with an audio port, any PC rather it have a combined mic/headset port or separate. The mic is amazing. The sound quality of the mic sounds as good as someone using a stand alone mic imo and it's flip up to mute flip down to activate. Most "gaming" headsets have a bunch of marketing gibberish tagged on and are terrible. For FPS shooters in particular these are the best I've ever used. They are so amazing because the audio quality is outstanding even without a dac or anything else to push them. You can read reviews of people using these and being so impressed with the sound that they hooked them up to audiophile grade equipment to listen to music with. As for the feel they feel premium and look much better in person than in the images imo. They are also open back so you can hear everything going on around you while still being immersed in the audio. I had never tried open back headset before these and it's phenomenal. If you have kids or still wanna be able to hear things around while but have some of the best audio here you go. The only con I can think of with this headset is if you don't want anyone to hear what you're listening to. Since they are open back at higher volumes people around you can hear what you're listening to but barely. They will work on any controller with an audio port, switch, PS4/5, Xbox, lapstops, PC, whatever. The only controls on the headset is a singular volume circular dial on the right side that's it. The mic flip controls the mute function and that's all you need. So if you want a headset you can use on any platform, that is most likely the best sounding and most comfortable set you're ever used then this is what you're looking for. It also comes with a travel pouch along with the two extra sets of ear cushions I mentioned. 100% worth every penny. I included some pics of the item when you first open the box as well as the headset itself. I 100% suggest and recommend these basically over any other "gaming" headset out there FOR gaming specifically. I have tried several Razer headsets, Corsair, Kingston HyperX, Turtle Beach, and Logitech sets. These blow away all of them. The set will also adjust to fit perfectly on basically anyone and you can wear them all day without fatigue. Hope this review helps someone out. If so please like and thanks for reading. If anyone has any other questions I'll try to answer the best I can.

Not gonna sugar coat it. They took a while to break in. They gave me a headache if I wore them for too long. This was the first 6 months. When I wasn't wearing them, I stretched them over the box they came in to try and break them in. The clamp force was enough to keep the box held in place for 10 to 12 hours while the headphones hung under my desk. About a year and a half later, it's not an issue any more.

I got them renewed from Amazon. Saved something like $40 from the original price. One of the spokes on the microphone was broken off. Big whoop. After nearly two years of use, the glue that holds the foam to the head band is starting to pull away like a razer product. A little push on the pad puts it back in place. Nothing serious yet.

I use them with the Syba sonic dac amp. The silver one. In Tarkov, I can hear a chad playing with his sights from half a woods map away. In Hunt, I can hear a woman ready a melee attack from 2 compounds away. This is both good and bad. I've under estimated how close a person has been to me multiple times. But, I know exactly where they are when we engage in the dance.

The open back is nice. I don't hear the ocean trapped in a shell sound any more. And the only time the sound bleeds through to the environment is when I crank the volume on the dac and the headset. And it's pretty minimal.

They're good. They're better at competitive audio than my SHP 9500 but not quite as good as my Moondrop Aria. But these are easier to equip than the Aria.

I'm comparing these headphones to my Sennheiser 598SE open backs and Sennheiser 598C closed backs. I wanted to find a good pair of open back headphones with a better mic (sourced from the 598C's cable) versus the inline one on my older 598SE, which makes me sound underwater unless I hold the mic right up against my mouth. I have relatively big ears and I can't stand on-ears or around-ear headphones that are too small.

Clamping force: My initial impression with the PC38X is it clamps harder than both my older Sennheiser headphones (598C and 598SE). I found that my 598SE is more comfortable than these, but it's too early to tell. I might rest these headphones on some books to loosen it a bit.

Ear comfort: Comes with two sets of pads, one more vinyl-y feeling, the other more of a velour feel. I prefer the velour one for comfort, not sure how much it affects the sound as I almost immediately switched out the pads. My ears, since they are relatively big, still touches the inside of the cup from time to time, but this might be related to the clamping force mentioned above too. I still give my (older) 598SE points for comfort, but it might just be because it's well used and loved.

Sound: Improved over my 598SE. I cannot compare this to the PC37X which in the packaging is explicitly mentioned as an improvement. As is my experience with open-backs, the bass isn't earth shattering, but I do hear more of it with these and I think it's just the right amount. The 598SE was pretty flat, but I do like a slight more bass which I got with this PC38X. Sound stage sounds a bit more expanded with these over the 598SE, but it's only been 3 days of listening to music all day, so take that with a grain of salt. It does sound like snare drums for example are crisper, so I still perceive an improvement.

Microphone: The 598SE only has an inline mic from the cable I swapped over from my 598C, and is relatively no-frills. With the PC38X however, I love the boom mic. It automatically mutes when put upright, which is great versus finagling with my Zoom or Slack calls' mute buttons. The biggest pro for me here is the sound quality, which is largely in part of the mic sitting much closer to my mouth. I can be heard much better now, but while it's not going to be as good as a dedicated external condenser mic, this is still very good for my intended purpose and I am very pleased.

Volume control: The 598

Aesthetics: The 598SE and 598C headphones that I have are both just black, which are pretty classic and understated in my opinion. With the PC38X however, you do have a bit more flair, but it's not super loud like "look at me I'm a GAMER" kind of loud with all the RGB lighting in the world. The yellow accents on the outside of the cups and on the mic are not overdone and I gladly accept it. I would've preferred a different color but hey it's not just red or overdone. The cable supplied with the PC38X is black with interweaved yellow accents on it, which I think looks nice. It is worth mentioning however that the cable on the PC38X is not compatible with the 598SE and 598C, which are interchangeable between the two. The 3.5mm jack on the PC38X is also a right angle one.

Final thoughts: I really like these headphones and I've spent about half a week listening to music all day and occasionally played some games with them. I'm very happy with my purchase and I'm hoping to get years of use and love out of them like I did with my previous Sennheiser headphones.