ABKONCORE CH60 Gaming Headset - 7.1 Surround Sound, Noise Cancelling Mic, Bass Vibration, LED Light & In-line Controller for PC, PS4, Laptop - Perfect for FPS Games, Streaming & Online Chatting

Headset, wire, and physical features feel fairly durable, great comfort for full-size cans, relatively inexpensive for headphones of this nature, sound quality and performance can be tricky.Design: I'll say it straight out, they look a bit generic and cheap, especially at first glance, which is due to the glossy plastic and typical "off-brand" sort of run-of-the-mill or "knock off" headphone aesthetic used for the overall design with basic RGB lighting advertised, which may make it seem less appealing and overall cheap looking, but once taken out of the box and used, they are actually quite decent, durable, and are a lot nicer in hand than what's shown.The headband design is great, and it's probably the most comfortable "big" headphones I've used next to the AD700x, maybe more so when you sit them just right on your head, but the earcups could be slightly more flexible in the swivel motion, the slight pivot up and down is just fine. The thick rugged-feeling headband is self-adjusting, supported by flexible but durable metal wires which allows the headphones to just sit on your head when you pull them down slightly while putting them on. The comfort got a little better as the memory foam started to settle and absorbed some of the clamping force, and that started loosening up as well from wearing them. Usually, headphones get worse over time with comfort or at least not improve much, but these feel like they only gotten better. They can get fatiguing, especially when tired, uncomfortable or sitting for prolonged periods, but we're talking about big headphones, and I'm sure plenty don't come close to this amount of comfort for the size.Inline controls/switches are durable, albeit plasticky as expected, but controls can be iffy, once you get the app and have the mic and RGB ( your preference) switches turned on, you'll want to forget the inline remote and use the app except for when you need to use the bass/sub slider, since the app for some reason is missing that volume slider, which I hope to see in a possible future update. The volume scroll wheel can feel weird to use and cannot fine-tune volume all that well because of the nature of using the scroll wheel design, which causes it to skip increments, and sort of makes fine volume adjustments a little jumpy, while the app is just simple and intuitive, and basic features can be switched on or off, or adjusted to preference. I'm not a fan that the remote just dangles in the middle of the whole wire as opposed to having a desktop brick sort of device for controls as it can just get in the way and flop around, the headset wire however is heavily reinforced and seems very rugged and sturdy that it can take the weight. The app isn't perfect, but it's still a great simple program that gives you a ton of intuitive controls and simplification of audio settings at your fingertips of both the mic and headphones output, bypassing those multiple hellish Windows 10 settings windows that leads to another and another to adjust what you need while using the CH60; volume sliders, sample rate, surround sound configuration settings, mic voice changers, special effects, etc, for both input/outputs are all just fast simple clicks away inside of the program.Mic is just great, audio comes through clear and rich, doesn't sound like a low quality or thin sounding mic like on some other headsets, though, it's noise cancellation focus causes it to sound quieter, needs to be turned up to 85-90db in settings, 90+ distorts slightly and becomes ever so slightly less clean sounding when mic is too close to mouth, but is expected, and will begin to pick up a degree of background sounds, but shouldn't be much of a problem regardless, especially when setting the microphone to under 85db, based on your preference entirely.Sound quality: It is a very bass-centric headset (why wouldn't it be? It's for games and action), and the subs work quite nicely, but keep in mind that these headphones are very dark sounding (look up the definition of "dark" in sound lingo), and will lack the crispness, liveliness and clarity of an open-back or a higher-end headphone, not super sparkly or incredibly rich mids and treble; messing with the surround sound configuration and sample rate however, gave me a more desirable overall sound signature. The haptic vibration drivers which work as the 20 mm subwoofers in each earcup provide physical pulsing sensations with certain sound effects such as a heartbeat or thumbing effects, and help with extension/enhancement in the low frequencies, with a sense of more well-controlled tight bass that can get thunderous at times. With the proper configuration and support, the sound can be quite immersive and substantial, but don't expect a crispy audiophile headphone, because that's not its intention, so the fact that I was able to even find a sort of sweet spot and enjoyability in areas where they shouldn't shine, like various music for example, really impressed me, especially after getting used to them and the way they sound.The surround sound itself: Let's get this out of the way, I think the advertised 7.1 is a bit tricky, not only with application support, but with the configuration of this headset. I found out that 5.1 48khz works better on these for music imo. For some reason it just sounds cleaner, richer, more natural, and has more depth in the rear surround channels. 7.1 I find sounds fuller, but muddy, slightly less detailed, narrower, and is limited in overall support for it, but for some reason it is louder with more of the sub "vibration" effect compared to 5.1, which is probably due to the fact that the additional speakers that help provide additonal bass are absent when using less channels. I'd say download the ABKONCORE CH60 app, then select 5.1 surround and 48khz sample rate, and hear the difference, especially with music, but 7.1 does provide a wider field of sound since all the channels are being used. They also have a "REAL 5.2 surround sound" model called the "B1000R", which appears to use the exact same channel configuration in each earcup, but this one seems to be the newer model, so this brings confusion as to why 7.1 cannot be implemented in the other, or why this one is advertised to support such a setup despite having the same amount of channels per earcup, unless I misread or misunderstood the information on the other model. The amount of total channels "speakers" in each earcup makes more sense for a theoretical "6.2" anyways, since both cups have 3 mains and 1 sub in each ear; I think 7.1 is weird in headphones since they cannot use a conventional configuration. Its durability, comfort, mic quality, and great overall surround sound concept make it worth the fairly inexpensive price alone, even if the advertised 7.1 is a bit tentative in my opinion. I think all true surround sound headsets are that way because they have to split into two separate cups, and then unite the channels so your brain registers the sound as if it's one setup, but this could be advertised as a unique "6.1/2" based on its total driver count, because the 7.1 concept seems to share both the front surround/main drivers as the theoretical "center driver" when played together for 7.1, which results in an awkward configuration that is not using every driver as discrete channels. Now, technically it is 7.1 because there are 8 total channels, but two of them act as subwoofers, so you get 6 surround channels in total, and the ".1" would be the two subs united as one unit in both ears, same for the two front channels for the center when played together, which is why I think other 7.1 headsets use 5 channels per earcup, but the result would be the same since the channels are in separate earcups; 5 channels would probably be worse since you sacrifice driver size and sound quality the more channels you try to squeeze inside the earcup; it could also be hardware limitations for usb on the CH60, and the setup could be more complicated, and more expensive with that, so I cannot really complain too much because this very concept of a headset is rather nice for what you're getting and paid for compared to others in its class. With that out of the way, it is by far the best front imaging/perception and positioning I've heard from a pair of headphones, while unfortunately, the rear suffers from less depth and imaging but this could be because of the way surround sound is programmed in general, but the rear channels do a great job at times in game, especially at certain angles. It's usually the opposite in standard headphones, because the front channel/image is always perceived as just "in skull" to me, but you can actually imagine what's in front of you on these, and while it's not perfection, it's just excellent and works nicely. The overall soundstage and 3D imaging however is limited, I guess due to the nature of being a closed-back design, but special sound effects and details do pop and stand out, and at times with film/TV content, even in music as well with background sound effects, you actually do find yourself feeling like you are in a living room set up when sounds start slightly creeping up from behind, or stand out, it's not superb like the real living room deal, but it does demonstrate a really good concept that I wish more headset manufacturers would experiment with, I mean, c'mon, having multiple speakers in a headphone to provide a real surround sound setup is insanely cool! Keep in mind, I never mess with the EQ, since I do not like messing with the way headphones are intended to sound, and it becomes complicated to get a curve that works well, especially with software tuning. Games that do not support surround sound will cause the headset to suffer in some channels, resulting in low volume in certain channels, or a weaker output, which makes sense, so make sure you check if the game you are playing supports whatever surround sound setup you are selecting; many popular games are in 5.0/1, and very few use 7.0/1.EDIT: For better clarity on the design.Theoretically, I would call this myself 6.2, not 7.1, because you have 6 total main speakers/channels and 2 "LFEs" in each cup, so It's technically 7.1 by creating an imagined "center" channel by sharing the two main/front surround drivers and LFEs as 1 unit in addition to separating them as discrete channels, because if you were to put 5 discrete channels like on practically every other 7.1 headset (aka the few others on the market) you'd have additional front channels exceeding the amount you'd theoretically actually need but also wouldn't benefit because you'd have more tiny under-performing channels and wouldn't fix the problem of having an actual center channel since they're headphones and have to still use two channels at once to create the perception of a center "in skull" image; you obviously can't have a single true center channel and LFE with two separate earcups, since a separate environment is created for each ear as opposed to your ears being in the same environment in a living room setting for example, so there's some improvisation, either way. Even if all channels test and check out for 7.1, I wonder how content even properly outputs to the drivers, since you now have a simulated center and LFE to provide for both ears while also using the same front/main drivers as discrete front surround channels, but I guess this isn't a problem since they're headphones and the speakers all kind of work together and designed to share the same sounds through the content, even if they are being outputted as one channel through both earcups, since your ears kind of hear everything being played as one until it fades into either side anyways. Unless there's a new standard for true surround sound specific to headphone users, it's just awkward to actually implement conventional setups. Don't get me wrong, this is a great headset for what it is, and a great concept while still being relatively inexpensive compared to other "true" 7.1 headsets, but it's part of a very niche market with limited compatibility and design limitations you cannot get around despite shortcuts being made, which is probably why virtual surround sound is so much more commonplace, since stereo is common, simple to implement in all headsets/headphones, and you can just fine-tune the simulated channels and distance, and pretty much is supported by all stereo content, and stereo can do "3D" effects effectively, but the benefits of having discrete drivers are still prevalent, such as highlighting certain details in physical separate channels, whereas virtual surround is modifying two channels, so implementation is tricky, and can vary in sound and performance, especially the with the type of content.Update July 27th 2020: As the earpads start to get softer and headset gets looser as it's being used over time, I noticed I'm liking the sound quality more and more, especially on 7.1 as well, almost like the headset needed to be broken in to get better, I guess because when the pads get softer from use, your ears rest slightly closer to the speakers over time when the headset clamps against your head. I did experience some driver issues that caused the mic to just stop picking up sound even though it's detected in the OS, unplugging and re-plugging helped both the headset and mic work again, but this has only happened once while plugged into the front computer case ports, and was an issue when plugging into a usb hub, but I was having issues with the hub using some devices with certain ports in general.Update July 30th 2020: Imagine spending just $70 on decent a pair of headphones, you still need a dac and/or amp, and a good mic. Now picture those all in one, and you have the CH60, and then some. I turned on Xear Surround Max in the CH60 app, which up-mixes stereo recordings so that they play in all of the speakers while listening to non-surround content, and let me say, it creates a filling, full-bodied stereo sound that is rather high quality. While these don't touch a $100+ pair of headphones with AKM or ESS DAC in comparison, the high-quality robust audio is actually quite stunning for a headset, especially one like this, so this, in a sense is rather audiophile-grade imo.P.S. Use 7.1 and turn on Xear Surround Max.ABKONCORE customer service is excellent! They acknowledge and take care of your concerns quickly, and are extremely generous with product replacement if you are unhappy with the item, and would write back and forth multiple times when I wanted assistance or expressed my concerns. I enjoyed going directly through them for assistance.This review will be updated and edited as time goes on and as my thoughts change, or if I feel the need to add additional information, or edit to improve this review.Thank you.I was always curious how the multi-speaker "true surround sound" headsets sounded. For under $50, I just had to try it. As a normal headset, it's decent especially for the price. Comfortable for long periods, decent sound (for gaming, quality for details and music is about what you'd expect from a $25 set of headphones).First detail is the "noise canceling." This refers to the microphone, not active noise canceling. Not that I expected ANC but I want to clarify if anyone is expecting that. As far as noise rejection from the mic, friends in discord said they could hear everything around me including the air from my furnace vent...so no go on that. On top of the poor performance in rejecting ambient noise, I also get a constant hum on the mic input. To be sure it wasn't just noise from a specific USB port, I tried front panel and several rear panel ports on my desktop and 2 different gaming laptops. The attached picture shows the hum always present from this mic.The drivers automatically grabbed from Microsoft are perfect for the USB controller. Its a C-media chip and gives you a lot of signal processing options in the effects tab of both the microphone and speaker settings. The software from the website is nothing more than digital volume controls for each channel...which already have volume knobs on the cord and can be adjusted in the Windows sound settings...so I'd recommend skipping that as well.The subwoofer drivers are...interesting. They hit low and can really be felt. As someone with full systems in my cars and the smallest subwoofer in my home being a 10" Polk for my computer, I really enjoy feeling the bass. That being said, I end up with a lot of rattling from the headset and the bass isn't all that audible. In fact, I have the main drivers (the ones that handle the front and center channels) set to full range as they provide fairly deep bass at a much higher audible volume than the actual subwoofer.Ive also found that the virtual surround sound on other headsets like my Arctis 5s is more convincing. The digital processing creates proper time delays and such making it sound more similar to actual speakers positioned around me than the tightly packed array of speakers in this headset.Finally, make sure you're not wearing the headset when turning the computer on/off or unplugging/plugging in as there's a very loud thump. This and the little volume knobs make me wonder how long this headset will last but for the price, it doesn't owe me much.Pretty decent sound. Was looking for something to monitor and "rough-in" scratch 5.1 mixes on my smaller system and this pretty much fit the bill for that purpose. Works on both my PC and my Macs so that was a plus.Mixed bag impression on the individual controls dials for each surround aspect (Front, Center, Surround Side, Surround Back and Sub). Although at first it seem like a good idea, you quickly realize that you don't have any fine control over each level and it's pretty easy to bump or accidentally adjust one of the dials.Would have been better if there was a different interface for those controls. Digital would have been nice way but obviously that could get expensive to implement. Flat/flush dials or sliders with numbers and click detents probably would have been a great alternative. I don't know. With this unit my experience has been that just having free spinning controls on something that gets bumped around a bit but has such a big impact on the sound just proves to be a bad idea. You need a way (other than tape?) to set those dials and have them stay in place...