Gaming

Testing out the headset we use a handful of games:

Battlefield V

To cut a long story short, the Virtuoso provides a good experience in Battlefield V, and I have absolutely zero doubts that it is an upgrade over anything you could probably buy. Yes, there is absolutely still the lack of a decent mid-range, leaving some elements of the game (where I am used to strong instrumentals, for instance) sounding a little empty. However, with a personallyu altered EQ profile, you'll soon get a smile on your face. That said, the strong bass of the Virtuoso means that the bits that should 'hit' you hard (e.g. nearby explosions, flying bullets, etc) still do so, and so very effectively.

Metro: Exodus

Metro Exodus  is a game that you get yourself immersed in, good atmosphere, decent graphics still, and (why we choose it) a beautiful sound design. Sound wise it's all good immersing you in the ambient sound envelope of the game, you feel like you are inside the world. The bass feels spot on, that thumping sound you get in a movie theatre. The dialog in Metro came through fine as did the environment sounds. But in the rear part of the audio environment, you miss out on real environmental positioned noises. See, the headset is not a real 7.1 channel headset, it simply emulates surround from its true source. That remains to be the biggest caveat for this headset, it's advertised as Dolby 7.1 while it is merely trying to simulate a similar effect. And while it isn't bad at it, it simply isn't true 7.1 channel sound.

Project CARS

Rally and racing games have just about everything you could want if you're not into hardcore simulation. PCars has very realistic sounds, especially engine and gear noise, which are the heart and soul of a car. The headset is real darn perfect with PCars. Other than missing an apex or an occasional gear shift you will miss nothing. Now we do need to mention 7.1 surround sound again. You can hear simulated sounds behind you but emulating just isn't real 7.1. Once I disabled Dolby surround, the overall sound picture was much nicer. Also when that engine growls at you this way the headset delivers some great bass.

Grand Theft Auto V

Alright, Alright Alright. The funky tunes in GTA5 are really cool and have a full + rich sounding bass. What sounds even better is driving or walking in the city. There's a lot of environmental sounds in that audio envelope that you can really hear. Detailed environmental audio reproduction is probably the best way of describing it. When you fire up some music, the audio envelope is complete. You will realize that the two 50mm neodymium drivers do make a driver drive berserk in this game.

Microphone

As part of our protocol we tested the microphone out with a number of applications, Skype and some co-op play, playing back the sound samples with Audacity. The headset has a good and clear microphone, plenty of gain, very good clarity and very low noise and hum, as well as very good noise (echo) cancellation. It does, however, do a VERY does a very solid job as I was suitably impressed. The sound was clear and crisp.