ZOWIE GEAR HAMMER USB HEADSET Review (PC)

It sounds like a good idea to me!!

If you are a hardcore games player and have to use headphones, then you are going to want sound quality that can match or rival a good quality speaker set up on your pc. You need crystal clear, directional sound. If your latest nemesis is creeping up on you, you need to hear it coming from the right direction!

In my experience, headphone / mic combinations have been pretty hit and miss, unless you want to start spending 100 or 200 pounds on pseudo 5.1 surround sound beasts of headsets. As I do not game professionally this just isn’t an option.

Overall this is a great package.

Enter the ZOWIE GEAR HAMMER USB HEADSET. At £60 it is not outside the reach of a casual gamer, and if the blurb is to be believed it can deliver sound quality similar to the more expensive options.

In most reviews I see of this nature, people spend several paragraphs on describing the packaging. Well it is a cardboard box, with nice graphics and a plastic window to show off the headset in all of its chunky glory. Furthermore it is easy to open. There that should tick that box.

In the box you get a USB soundcard adapter, your headset, some spare ear cushions (one set is leather the other cloth) and an extension lead. Notably there is no driver disc, as the USB soundcard is true plug and play.

You do not need to use the provided USB soundcard, but it does offer some enhancements to your experience. As well as taking over from the built in soundcard (which on a laptop can be very handy!), it also gives you easy access to preamp volume and mute controls. It also contains the brightest blue LED I have ever seen, but more on that in a bit. Just plug it in before you start a game and it will install itself and take over the role of your primary soundcard.

The headset is chunky and very solid. The headband can withstand some serious abuse (like being stuffed in a box for a week under a load of stuff whilst I moved house!!) and still retains its shape. The ear cushions as mentioned have 2 types of cushion, leather and cloth. It may be a small thing, but it is nice to have the option! Most importantly it is very, very comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. You won’t be getting pressure headaches after a long gaming sessions and your ears won’t feel like they are melting!!

The mic is on an adjustable boom, again this is strong but can be shaped to your preferences. You should be able to get it the right distance from you face to get good quality sound pickup (unless you have some weird mouth shape!!). From what I have been told in my multiplayer tests, the mic sound quality if very good, with no static, distortion or muffling that can often be associated to this kind of mic.

So on to the main event, the sound quality. What can I say, it seems to be excellent! Bass response is great, treble, middle all present and correct! There was not distortion of any type at ordinary volume settings. Combined with the USB sound card you can accurately set the volume without losing definition (as you do if you just use the volume control on the headphone lead)

Directionality seems spot on for stereo, but I am no great exert in this. Having not used any of the pseudo surround systems, I cannot tell if these match the same kind of directional sound, but I had no complaints. From quite footsteps to blazing gun fights, I always knew where sounds were coming from!

I have just 2 complaints! The first, if you have the sound card on a desk in from of you, the blue LED is very distracting. Easy to solve with a bit of gaffer tape though. It is meant to show you when the soundcard is connected and in use, but still!! The other is that it is not the most attractive headset on earth, but again, it will be on my head and I will not see it!

Overall this is a great package. You are getting a very high quality headset and a USB soundcard all for just £60. If you need a headset but don’t have a pro gamers budget, this is just what the gamer ordered!!
The Scores

Buy it from Lime
Specifications

Price (UK), £60 for USB, £50 for non USB

Headphone:

* Frequency response : 15 – 25,000 Hz
* Speaker dimension : 40 mm
* Impedance : 32 Ohms
* Sensitivity : 98 dB +/- 4dB
* Cable length : 1.2m + 1.8m = 3.0m
* Connectors : 3.5mm Gold-plated

Microphone:

* Frequency range : 60 – 10,000 Hz
* Directivity : Uni-directional
* Impedance : Low
* Sensitivity : -57dB +/- 4dB

USB sound card ( HAMMER headset USB ):

* USB2.0
* Jack : 2 x 3.5mm
* Operating system : Win7/Vista/Win XP/Win 2000/ Win ME/ Mac OS10.x