Sennheiser PC150 Noise Cancelling PC Headset

Among its many outstanding features, the PC150 boasts a precise, noise-canceling microphone with an adjustable rest position, which means that your instructions will always be understood regardless of background interference. With its handy in-line volume control, mic mute switch and comfortable headphones, the PC150 is perfect for marathon sessions spent sat at your PC. It's also compatible with CD, DVD and MP3 players. The PC150 really is the perfect gear for gaming and Internet telephony.

Product Description
The best players rely on the Sennheiser Communications PC 150, one of five brand new Sennheiser PC headsets. Thanks to the ultra-comfortable headband, hour-long game playing and Internet surfing on your PC will become a totally new, exciting experience. Its noise canceling microphone, inline volume control and the microphone mute function is sure to give you an added advantage.

The microphone seems very solid and well constructed, as does the whole headset. The microphone's audio quality on TeamSpeak so far as I've heard from my friends hearing me, leaves nothing to be desired. The microphone has a wide swing range so that you can swing it out of the way completely or position it in ideal relationship to your mouth.

At first when I bought these headphones they hurt my left ear quite a bit after about an hour of wearing them. After poking at the headphones a little bit I noticed that the left earpiece wasn't swivelling like the right earpiece. This was causing the headphone to press my ear back to my head, as the headphones have quite a snug fit. After some very strong "wiggling" on the left earpiece I heard a "snap" and the earpiece began to move freely (like the right.) Annoying that I had to do this, but the headphones no longer hurt my ear and really are quite comfortable (the most comfortable mid-size headphones I've owned.) So I'm happy!

Amazon's labelling of this product is a little misleading. It is not the headset that is noise cancelling, but the microphone. The headset is just a normal binaural headset. However, the noise cancelling microphone will be much appreciated by your TeamSpeak / VOIP friends!

The only gripe I have about this headset is that the inline volume control seems to dim the volume more out of the left ear than the right. This is a *slight* difference and only the most sensitive ears can hear it, but it is definitely there. For me, this makes the inline volume control only really useful for lowering the volume so that I can hear things going on around me. This is nice at work, where I have to talk to cooworkers throughout the day. In my opinion a headset in this price range should really have the impedence on inline volume figured out perfectly, but hey -- you can't have everything, especially not at this price!

That said, the inline mic mute works like a charm ;-)

Overall I am very satisfied with the PC150.


Great Microphone For Dictation!   November 23, 2004
Michael Rimov (Corvallis, OR)
60 out of 62 found this review helpful

I just got this headset in the mail today. Previously, I'd been using a Logitech USB headset, which while the Dragon NaturallySpeaking program rated it as great signal quality, and always been frustrated with the accuracy and speed of the dictation program.

When I first plugged in these headphones, I was initially disappointed because the NaturallySpeaking program rated the signal quality actually lower than the USB headset..... HOWEVER... I've been able to tell a HUGE difference in the program's ability to recognize my speech for the better. I'm happily dictating this review with very few accuracy problems (NaturallySpeaking 7 BTW).

I would recommend this headset for somebody needing to use dictation software without hesitation.


Great Headphones   February 15, 2004
Matthew Anderson (United States)
32 out of 33 found this review helpful

After breaking various numbers of headphones over the years, I finally decided to try a new brand. After reading the reviews of these headphones, I decided to try them out (when my other ones broke) Was going to order from Amazon, but it said 1-2 weeks for delivery...

Anyway, I'll give the pros and cons of these headphones:
Pros:
Great, GREAT sound. Everything is clear, bass is great, they seem to have many more channels of sound which is awesome.
Mic is great also. Very good sound quality, slides in and out easy, stays where you put it. Low profile.
Padded headband.
Padded earphones. Very low stress on your ears. Once you take them off you didnt even know you had them on. No "ear rubbing"
Nice long cord.
Mic and vol controls are on the cord.
Nice overall look

Cons:
The earphones are kind of small. However, the sound is still great and alot better then the full ear headphones I'm used to.
Skinny cord, small plugs at the end (had to nit pick for the cons)

Thats about it. These are great headphones, giving awesome sound, combined with a very good mic, and some nice extras to boot (long cord, padded headband)

To the guy posting below me, maybe your soundcard sucks. These sound awesome with an Audity 2.


Awesome Headset for Gaming and Music   December 4, 2005
Something There
21 out of 21 found this review helpful

I have always wanted one of these "leet" professional gaming headsets, but because of their price, I never really got one. Until about two months ago, when the price dropped by 46%, I bought one without hesitation.

The first thing I noticed when I got it was that the earpad cushions are not the "smooth" type shown in the picture, rahter, they are big and puffy. But the difference don't affect the over-all look of the headset when you are wearing them, and they are actually very comfortable to wear. I have uploaded a customer image to the gallery showing the actual earpad cushions.

When I first try the headset with some music, it sounded good, but not exceptionally good. I tried it with some computer games, I couldn't really locate the source of any footsteps that well, I was only able to tell the general direction where the footsteps are coming from. On the other hand, the microphone was awesome when I first tried it, clear, crisp, noise-cancelled. It has produced the best sounds of my own voice that I have ever heard. I couldn't stop talking in the game. Haha.

So now, after two months of usage, I have noticed a SIGNIFICANT improvement in the headset's sound quality in both music and gaming!

First about music, I listen to trance, some of my favorites DJs are Armin van Burren, Tiesto, Dyloot, and Mystre. Nowadays, once I put the headset on and start the track, I almost wouldn't want to take it off or leave my desk. Sennheiser definitely did not disappoint me in this headset. I would rate the headset "exceptionally good" now comparing to the "good" of when I first got it. I couldn't really describe what it sounds like, but you can definitely tell its astonishing difference from an ordinary pair of headphones. And this makes me wonder how "godly good" the more expensive models of Sennheiser will sound like.

Now for the best part about gaming, I am one of the older jaded gamers who still plays Counter-Strike. And in CS, the ability to tell where the enemies are from their footsteps gives you a great advantage. This ability requires skills (which take practice) and headphones (which take money). The skills enable you to distinguish the different sounds and where they are coming from, for example, you can distinguish between your own running sound, others' gun shots, and others' footsteps. A great headphone can help pinpoint the exact location where the footsteps are coming from, while an ordinary headphone can only tell you the general direction. Now after two months of usage, PC150 has became such a great headphone! I can tell exactly where the opponent is, in front of me, behind me, to the left, to the right, even above or below.

This is exactly what I was expecting from this Sennheiser PC150 headphone, the awesome music sounding and great gaming enjoyment. I am completely satisfied now.

One thing that made me wondering is that why did it take two month for the headset to reach its optimal state. After some googling, I found out that it takes some times for the diaphragms inside the headset to reach their designed, optimal, final state. To speed up this initial "unfinalized" period, what audiophiles do is "burn in" their headset by leaving it on playing a wide variety of music at a sound level slightly higher than normal listening level for tens of hours. This article answers some questions about "burn in" in detail.
http://www.delldjsite.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-7193.html

Other than the above, the microphone is just awesome, the headset is still as new out of box, because I took good care of it =p The cord is long, which allows me to go back and forth between the two desktops, but sometimes gets caught under the chair =x The volume control on the cord is very handy. Finally, the cushions are really comfortable and not that tight for my BIG head, so I didnt have to bend the headband like I did for my last pair of headphones.

If you are looking for a good pair of gaming headphones and you listen to some music, this definitely will not disappoint you.


Should have bought a USB headset   August 26, 2005
Torrey Pines (Bethesda, MD USA)
18 out of 21 found this review helpful

The headset itself is fine, I'm just sorry I did not go with a USB headset. The audio is "okay." However, if you have a desktop computer, as opposed to a laptop, you will have to get a microphone extension if you have a computer with the headphone jack in the front and the microphone jack in the back. You could plug the headphone into the speaker jack in the back of your computer, but that will mean going to the back of your computer to unplug the headphone plug and reinsert the speaker plug when you want to listen to your speakers. It's a pain. Better going with USB that combines both mic and headphone functions and can easily be plugged and unplugged. This is especially true if you mainly use a headset for on-line audio conversations using MS Messenger or similar software.

Follow-up: I'm sending it back. It's uncomfortable-- heavy, tight, lousy ear cushions. It's always interesting to me that positive reviews of a product get more positive ratings than negative reviews. Buy this headphone and make your own judgment.

I just got the Plantronics Pro 1 headset from CompUSA. Amazon has similar versions that are approximately the same price as the Sennheisers, but more comfortable and the sound is about 50 times better. Also, the USB is great!