A good headset makes a great addition to your gaming setup. Especially if you do your gaming in a spot where there are other people. The explosions blasting from your TV tend to annoy other people. Conversely, it’s tough to be fully immersed in your game when there are conversations and music or TV noise in the background. A specialized gaming headset is a big win, adding detailed stereo or surround audio, while also providing a microphone so your team-mates can hear you clearly when chatting. Choose a set of headphones like the EPOS H6PRO that I’m reviewing today, and enjoy gaming that’s more immersive, distraction-free, and less likely to generate complaints from others in your home.
Two versions of EPOS H6PRO: open and closed
I was confused for a moment when I received the box with the H6PRO review sample. There were actually two samples inside. That’s because EPOS offers the H6PRO gaming headset in two different versions. One is an open acoustic design, the other is a closed acoustic design. Visually, they look nearly identical. Take a closer look and you can see the differences—it’s all in the ear cup construction.
The open version’s ear pads are entirely covered in a smooth, soft, suede-like material. In addition, the ear cup outer surface has a section of small perforations. The closed version has the same suede material along the edge of the ear cup padding, but the majority of the pad is made of leatherette. The back of the ear cups are smooth plastic in this case. Plus, the padding inside the closed version is firmer; it’s memory foam, while the open headphones get less dense, acoustically breathable foam.Why the difference in the ear cup design?
The open acoustic design is designed to give sound more room to disperse. The idea is that audio will sound more natural, with a wider soundstage and a little more warmth. The closed acoustic design is primarily aimed at sound isolation. The material used for the ear cup padding allows the headset to conform more tightly to your head. The resulting seal provides passive noise reduction—you don’t hear background noise and people don’t hear your game.
EPOS H6PRO key specs:
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Additional features
The EPOS H6PRO is a gaming headset, so of course it is equipped with a boom microphone. This one is adjustable through rotating the boom arm up and down. It’s designed to be positioned for optimal voice pickup, but the arm is not flexible like some. Raising the boom up mutes the mic. The microphone is removable for times when you’re just listening. It’s connected to the ear cup magnetically, so it’s easy to pop off. EPOS includes a handy cover plate in the box so if you remove the boom mic, the connection port won’t be exposed.
Many gaming headsets put a volume control mechanism on the headphone wire. I prefer the approach EPOS takes. One ear cup has a large volume dial mounted to its outer surface. There’s no looking for a control module on the cable and no fumbling for a small dial along one edge of the ear cup. Reach up and you’ll feel the volume dial, which is covered by raised ridges to make spinning it even more intuitive.
Performance of EPOS H6PRO
Whichever EPOS H6PRO headset you choose, you should be happy with the performance, both in terms of audio quality and the microphone’s voice pickup.
EPOS used a fairly balanced approach to the audio tuning, but that delivers slightly different results depending on which version of the headset you choose. The H6PRO Open headset tends to have a warmer tone to the audio and more bass. The H6PRO Closed plays highs a little more clearly. Both headsets do a nice job in terms of providing an immersive soundstage that puts you in the game.
One thing to be aware of in terms of the microphone is that it lacks background noise cancellation. If you’re playing in a loud location, using a mechanical keyboard, or your system’s fan starts blowing, those you’re chatting with may well pick up the sound.
Compatible with virtually everything
One of the frustrating issues that you might run into with gaming headsets is models that are designed to work with a specific platform or system. Many of gamers play on multiple systems, so ideally, you’d want a headset that works with them all. The EPOS H6PRO was designed to be your single gaming headset. It is compatible with PCs (and Macs), Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X, Playstation 4 and Playstation 5. You can also use this gaming headset to listen to music on your mobile device—although if you own a phone without a headphone jack, you’ll need an adapter.
The H6PRO headsets are equipped with a headphone jack and come complete with several different braided audio cables equipped with a 3.5 mm jack for plugging into your devices.
EPOS H6PRO: is this your next gaming headset, and which version should you choose?
If you’re in the market for an extremely versatile, high quality, and premium-looking gaming headset, the Epos H6PRO is definitely worthy of consideration. These headsets are comfortable, I love the metallic paint jobs on the review units, and they do the job nicely. As to which version to choose, that really depends on whether you are concerned about sound isolation. If you want to keep all noise out and prevent your gaming audio from disturbing those nearby, the H6PRO Closed is the version I would suggest. Otherwise, my personal preference in terms of audio would be the H6Pro Open.
If you want to take your gaming audio to the next level with features like 7.1 channel surround sound and positional audio, you also have the option of upgrading either of these headsets with an EPOS headphone amplifier like the GSX 1200 PRO.
