Logitech G35 - Surround Sound Headset

Performance

When it comes to performance, the G35 comes in to its own.  Although it may not be much better than other gaming headsets in normal mode, if you enable surround sound the difference is staggering.


The USB only connection indicates that the G35 uses its own, built-in sound card.  While other manufactures may use an in-line device, Logitech have built it into the earpieces themselves.  This means there is almost no ambient buzz and the sound produced doesn't suffer from interference. The sound produced is crystal clear with no distortion and prominent bass.  If you find the bass too powerful for your taste, you can adjust the volume level in the software provided. 

I used Call of Duty: World at War to test the G35's gaming performance as it supports 7.1 surround sound.  I have to say it performed much better than any other gaming headset I have used, including the Sharkoon X-Tactic which natively supports surround sound. Gunfire pans around very effectively so it is easy to identify targets and is well-balanced with ambient noise.  The over-ear earpieces also do a good job at blocking out background noise, making the G35 suitable for use at LAN-events.

During movie playback, the G35 also excelled - surround sound was effective and the bass was formidable.  I did find that the virtual surround sound occasionally gives voices a slight echo but the overall effect more than makes up for this.


The microphone overall performed reasonably although it wasn't quite up to the same high standard of the rest of the headset.  While it picked up almost no background noise and reproduced sound clearly, there is a noticeable delay between speaking and the reproduction.