Yea, I am always looking for something I can use at work for listening to music and conference calls. Unfortunately, windows 10 seems to not like headsets for some reason. The only one I’ve been able to successfully use was my wireless logitech one and that one was USB based to it’s own base. I feel like my Windows 10 + Dell set up hates the mic/headset jack and BT because I’ve had zero luck with anything using those inputs.
Have you tried Plantronics? I use the Savi, which is a wireless DECT setup, much better range than today’s bluetooth (Although I think Bluetooth 5 will give it a run for it’s money). I would think that their Voyager or other headsets that use a USB bluetooth dongle would also work.
Note that I have used their business - mobile communications - products, not the consumer ones.
Possibly just using a bluetooth Dongle through USB will fix some of the communication issues
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I use this one. It’s great. https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/h820e-headset
Not so great for music, but great for teleconferences and calls.
A lot of Plantronics gear is built for Skype/Windows in mind. I gave my wife the Plantronics ANC headset for work and play… I think she only uses it at night watching news on her iPad though…lol ah well
I just got a chance to use them since they came right after I left for RMAF. They’re…meh. The midrange is too distant and the bass is kind of muddy. The treble sounds like it has a bit of ringing but I only got to use them for a couple minutes so I’m not 100% on that. I’ll update when I use them more tonight and post EARS measurements.
Definitely interested in seeing how your EARS measurements look. I’ll take measurements on my EARS unit when I get it from you next and we can compare notes. 
If it’s a V-shaped headphone, I’m not too interested but I can see how that might be relevant for the intended gaming audience.
The Vokyl Erupt Prototype just arrived at my doorstep from @Ishcabible this afternoon!
Timing was perfect, since today is a beautiful autumn day in Seattle with clear sunny skies and perfect time to take these out for a quick photoshoot out on my deck with my temporary supermodel before I hand it over to @TylersEclectic in a couple days.
Just some quick impressions on the build quality:
Just as the promotional photos look like - they look and feel like you’re wearing an AKG headphone. But since the cups and gimbals are machined metal, they do have a premium look and feel to them as well as add a little bit of weight over the AKG headphones I have. Comfort-wise this does not seem to bother me so far but I have not listened to them for extended period of time, obviously. I’ll add more impressions on sound and extended comfort this weekend.
The perforated cups look better in person than in photos. It’s quite an intricate design and looks stylish without going over the top like many gamer-targeted headphones do. This a semi-open design and it does leak sound out.
The pads that came with this particular set are perforated leather (or pleather - cant really tell). I believe different test units have different pad configurations. These ones are very soft and comfortable, though they aren’t totally snug in the housing and can move around a little easier than I’d prefer. Pads of course can change the sound signature, so I’ll have to listen more and provide Vokyl my feedback.
Overall, I have no complaints on the exterior finish and build of the headphones. I think Vokyl has picked a nice pleasant design on this prototype build.
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I’m always trying to channel my inner @Ishcabible it’s easy to get sucked into THE HYPE or even being overly positive,
Non the less preview video for those interested!
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I just shake my head at Vokyl for sending units to people who either don’t play games or don’t play competitively. I too have thought I could assess positional accuracy playing singleplayer games, but once I get into a competitive shooter, it’s not remotely the same and has revealed that the headphone or DSP was crap.
Lol yeah, there were some odd comments regarding these preview units…I thought they sounded super accurate and wide. They were great for playing shooters, and multiplayer. They did have a slightly distant sounding mids and highs though, which was…odd…because even with that they sounded good. Just as if you were listening to a speaker from almost too far away. Looking forward to how the next version sounds, and even if they don’t completely fix that issue they will become my daily console cans for sure!
What about depth? It’s equally important as width.
The imaging was very good, I think part of the reason it has the far away sound might be due to this depth of imaging…but I don’t have them on hand so can’t speak on it with accuracy, without having them on my head lol
You’ll have to forgive me for not being an active player of a competitive shooters these days, I think the issue here is with how gaming is defined. For me a game is an experience, I want to be immersed and pulled into a world. A detailed headphone that’s resolving and tonally balanced helps me get pulled into that world, especially when the team working on that game takes the time to create high quality audio
Competitive shooters are one very specific kind of experience or world, so I think when the Vokyl team set out to build a “gaming” headphone they were aiming to appeal to a much larger audience of Gamers, not just the competitive FPS crowd. An I think that’s smart of them, plus often times companies who tune headphones for to be highly resolving often find success with competitive gamers. Like the Mr.Speakers Ether Cs
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It’s a four hundred dollar headphone/headset – it should be able to have great if not excellent imaging and separation. Especially when $40 headphones like HD668B and HD669 manage to get you 80% there and a $100 headphone like AD700X manages to get there completely.
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I wouldn’t dismiss these for competitive gaming, but I think these will do with general gaming also. With competitive gaming they tend to want high treble almost no bass, and decent imaging (footsteps detection over quality of audio or immersion). I think you just need to find what works for you. These can also be used for good music listening, and alternative gaming genre. It will be very interesting to see how the tweak these before release.
@TylersEclectic makes an excellent point, cans that are good for competitive gaming are very emphasized on the top end and either very withdrawn in the mid range with slightly boosted bass or very bass light. Like the DT 990 or the AD 700X
I use my 668B with my 3DS regularly
An the problem with that tuning is how un-natural it is, it’s not suited for music or movies frankly, as over emphasizing the top end and pulling bass actually makes the headphone less resolving, you start losing detail and transient response in exchange for emphasized “noise”
So imaging and separation are not the only aspects of “high fidelity” sound, so to expect them to sacrifice fidelity in exchange for emphasizing noise that is beneficial for one kinda of gaming isn’t realistic.
The Vokyl team want a high fidelity gaming headphone, an it’s a difficult thing to do but it’s still possible. We will be doing a second pre production feed back tour [as the first was over a 2 day period] and I’ll certainly see how these do with shooters during that time.
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I talked about imaging and separation – not sound signature! A headphones doesn’t have to be either for casual/immersive gaming or competitive gaming. You can do well in competitive games with flat treble and flat, extended sub-bass and even with a bump in the mid-bass.
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That makes no sense.
Unless the single-player game is either not using positional audio, or is doing so with a different configuration than when in multi-player mode, then in single-player the only thing that would differ is how much it would matter.
The actual technical performance would be the same - so it’s down to the biases/conditioning of the user and how much attention they’re paying and not the headphone’s performance. If it’s capable of such delineation in multi-player then it is in single-player too … again, only excepting if the game is doing different things in single-player vs. multi-player - and that’d be at the behest of the developer.
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I’ll say this…for the price of the Vokyl, and what I heard at the time, plus aesthetic, comfort etc. They are worth it for me to continue wanting them and not canceling my order, plus knowing it is coming from people who are closely tied to a respectable company I like. I think there are cheaper headphones that are way better at specific genres of game and media consumption. But when I’m playing on my console I want a jack of all, master of some. Not a jack of none, master of one. Now different people have different thresholds for value and audio quality, or what matters to them. My current favorite console headset is the Massdrop X PC37X, it is comfortable, has a great mic, and sounds good no matter what genre I’m playing, all at less than $140. I plan on replacing them with the Vokyl… because “I” like it plain and simple. I can understand not wanting to pay the cost of the Vokyl, especially not knowing how it will sound in the end.
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I meant perceived performance. It makes sense when you compete – not just play – against people and need pinpoint accuracy.