[chailee80]

There didnt seem to be any info on the new ATH-PG1 / PDG1 headsets from Audio Technica so i thought i'd post some pictures and give my thoughts on them for anyone interested. Saw the closed back PG1 model in a local gaming store today so i figured i'll check it out as i need a new gaming headset. The box says its a premium gaming headset but straight out of the box it didnt look premium to me but rather it looked a bit cheap. From what i can tell this headset looks like a modified version of the ATH-M20x which retails here in Australia for around $80 so you end up paying around $120 more for a mic and detachable cables. While the headband is metal everything else is plastic even the gold stripe around the earcups is just a metalic looking plastic. Headband padding and earcups are made of the standard pleather type material, the padding on the headband isnt that thick but hasnt caused any discomfort so far. The earpads are very soft and big enough to fit over my larger than average ears. Overall comfort is very good, i have a large head and the cups extend down far enough to cover them properly and the headset is very light so weight is never an issue. The comfort and fit reminds me a lot of the yamaha mt220, if you've ever tried them on then this is pretty much the same except a bit lighter in weight. Isolation is fairly poor for a closed back which was a bit of a disappointment, at normal listening levels a person sitting next to you will be able to hear what you are listening to. The earcup sliders do not click at all and the sliding mehcanism is a bit stiff out of the box. The overall build feels a bit cheap considering the price but from what i can see the only place it would possibly break is where the metal headband attaches to the plastic earcup, theres a little swivel mechanism built into the top of the earcup to allow the cups to swivel naybe 10 degrees or so.
 
The headset comes with a detachable goose neck mic cable which terminates with a 4 pole 3.5mm jack, a 3.5mm cable with a built in single button remote for mobile use which also has an analogue volume control on it and an extension cable which takes the 3.5mm 4 pole jack and splits it into a mic and audio jack.
 
When it comes to gaming i can't really fault this headset, everything sounds clear and fairly well balanced, explosions and gun fire hit hard but don't drown out the other sounds too much. The soundstage feels quite wide and spacious for a closed back and i didnt have any trouble pin pointing noises around me. The mic does an excellent job of picking up my voice clearly, i did some recordings with my air conditioner cranking in the background and it did a great job cancelling it out, i'm very impressed with it.
My only issue with the sound comes when listening to music. There seems to be a nasty peak or two in the upper mids which can make some female voices sound harsh, piercing and cause some sibilance. Now i've never heard the original ATH-M20x so i dont know if it also has this issue or if its a result of the headset having been tuned for gaming as it claims but overall i think it handles most genres of music fairly well considering it intended to be a multi purpose headset. I have to keep reminding myself this is really only an $80 pair of headphones so i shouldnt expect it to sound like its $200 asking price and for that i think it holds its own at that price point.
 
Anyway thats just a quick review of the ATH-PG1 headset, i'll let it burn in some more and see if the forementioned issues go away or not and then update the review accordingly.
 
Below are a few pictures i took of the headset.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sennarose88]

It's actually a modified version of PRO5MK3, not the M20x.
 

 

[chailee80]

It's actually a modified version of PRO5MK3, not the M20x.

Ah ok I never bothered to compare it to any other models. Did you read that some where or just figured it out yourself?

 

[sennarose88]

Ah ok I never bothered to compare it to any other models. Did you read that some where or just figured it out yourself?

Well figuring mostly, but PG1's official Japanese page states it uses the PRO5MK3 pads. The whole headband and its golden lettering, also the golden ring on the cups look similar.

 

[chailee80]

Got my hands on the open backed PDG1 model so i thought i'd add my thoughts on it and how it compares with the closed back PG1 model. I definitely prefer the color of the PDG1, the red,grey and black looks a lot more appealing than gold and black to my eyes.
My first impression when putting the headset on was how amazingly comfortable it was! I thought the PG1 was comfortable but the PDG1 is even better! The velour type material used for the pads is very soft and feels great when on the head. Even though it uses a slightly smaller driver (40mm for the PDG1 vs 44mm for the PG1) the earpads on the PDG1 are slightly larger and it feels like theres more space inside the cavity for my ears.
The sound quality is quite good too, everything sounds quite well balanced to my ears. For an open back the bass has a nice impact and rumble to it which doesnt over power the rest of the frequency. Mids come across very well, not recessed and not forward but sound right. Treble comes across very naturally and has a nice sparkle without being too harsh or piercing. The soundstage is nice and wide and it feels like you are right in the midst of it.
When comparing the two models the main thing i notice is the PG1 has more of a V shaped signature, bass is more impactful and the upper mids and treble have more emphasis. The PDG1 is flatter, more balanced and sounds more natural. The soundstage of the PG1 is more boxed in like you're in a big room where as the PDG1 is wider and feels like you're in a large open space. I listened to a few movie soundtracks like Transformers, Lord of the Rings and Meet Joe Black, the PG1 feels like you're seated a few rows back from the entire orchestra where as the PDG1 feels like you're right in the midst surrounded by the entire orchestra.
 
A few pictures and a comparison of the earpads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Evinety]

I'm still weighing up on whether this headset is worth it. I'm looking to spend no more than AU$200. Assuming I can get a ModMic for AU$75, including postage, that leaves me AU$125 for a pair of headphones. However, if the headphone part on this headset is worth more than AU$125, i'll settle for these. Anything less, it's obviously not worth it. 
 
The ATH-PRO5MK3 are listed on Amazon for US$104 (AU$126) but I cannot find any information or reviews on them. How do they compare to some of the more popular models (M20x, M30x etc.)?

 

[chailee80]

  I'm still weighing up on whether this headset is worth it. I'm looking to spend no more than AU$200. Assuming I can get a ModMic for AU$75, including postage, that leaves me AU$125 for a pair of headphones. However, if the headphone part on this headset is worth more than AU$125, i'll settle for these. Anything less, it's obviously not worth it. 
 
The ATH-PRO5MK3 are listed on Amazon for US$104 (AU$126) but I cannot find any information or reviews on them. How do they compare to some of the more popular models (M20x, M30x etc.)?

Yeh, soundwise they're not in the league of other $200 headphones but then again you have to factor in the cost of the mic and the r&d that went into it. They're as good if not better sounding than all the other headsets i've tried at similar and lower pricepoints when it comes to gaming. Plus they sound fairly decent for music as well where as most other headsets i've had did not. Factor in the decent build quality, great comfort and versatility and they start to feel like they're worth it imo. The comfort alone is worth it for me, i've had to sell every almost every headset i've ever owned due to comfort issues.

 

[Evinety]

What other headsets have you owned/tried just out of curiosity? 

 

[chailee80]

What other headsets have you owned/tried just out of curiosity? 

Oh man pretty much all the mainstream pc headsets like plantronics rig, skullcandy slyr, turtle beach px22, razer kraken, steelseries siberia, logitech g430, soundblaster recon, afterglow, beyerdynamic mmx2 & mmx300, sennheiser u320 & pc363, audio technica ath-adg1 to name a few. Most of them I found to be junk with cheap build quality, crap sound, terrible comfort, too small. These new models from audio technica finally get everything right for me with decent build quality, good sound and mic and great comfort. The only other headsets that can compare are the ath-adg1, pc363 and mmx300.

 

[loopism]

I've just taken delivery of the ATH-PDG1's after getting rid of a pair of SteelSeries Siberia v2. The Siberias never fit me quite properly, almost as though the earcups were too large and pressed on my jaw under my ears. With the PDG1's the comfort level is off the charts!
 
I haven't got them amped, just out the back socket of my motherboard and I haven't exercised them yet, so I will try to give an idea of the sound after using them for a couple of hours, then maybe after 20-30 hours use.

 

[Evinety]

  I've just taken delivery of the ATH-PDG1's after getting rid of a pair of SteelSeries Siberia v2. The Siberias never fit me quite properly, almost as though the earcups were too large and pressed on my jaw under my ears. With the PDG1's the comfort level is off the charts!
 
I haven't got them amped, just out the back socket of my motherboard and I haven't exercised them yet, so I will try to give an idea of the sound after using them for a couple of hours, then maybe after 20-30 hours use.

Awesome! Please tell me how they go

 

[chailee80]

I've just taken delivery of the ATH-PDG1's after getting rid of a pair of SteelSeries Siberia v2. The Siberias never fit me quite properly, almost as though the earcups were too large and pressed on my jaw under my ears. With the PDG1's the comfort level is off the charts!

I haven't got them amped, just out the back socket of my motherboard and I haven't exercised them yet, so I will try to give an idea of the sound after using them for a couple of hours, then maybe after 20-30 hours use.

I agree, they may very well be the most comfortable headphone I've ever worn. It just wish they were a bit better for listening to music.

 

[loopism]

  Awesome! Please tell me how they go

I've had the headphones for nearly a month now and have mostly been gaming with them - Borderlands 2 and Elite: Dangerous.
 
I have an ASRock Z97M Pro4 motherboard with the Realtek AC892 codec.
 
Stereo imaging is pretty good, enemy fire is easily located in Borderlands 2, but it's the quieter sounds that impress me most - especially in E.  I had no idea that your ship groans and creaks as you throw it around in a dogfight, and if you shut the power down you can actually hear the subtle crackle of ice forming on the outside of the hull.
 
I have not played a lot of music through them, but I have done a quick A:B comparison between these and my MEElectronics AE92 phones (plugged in). The AE92's are definitely what you would call "fun" Solid bass and nice extension into mids, whereas the ATH-PDG1's are FAR more detailed in the mids, and quite linear into the bass sounds rather than pronounced. This may make them seem shrill when compared to other phones such as the M502's, but I have also listened to M40s and the PDG1's are almost identical. The M40s are considered to have a flat response and the PDG1's match that. When pushed however, the PDG1's do have dat bass, they just need a bit of eq-ing to get it to show itself.
 
They do sound good with metal/hard rock (Metallica, Soundgarden), not so good with Drum & Bass (Chase & Status, Noisia) and other electronic music such as Hybrid and Orbital needed EQ tweaking to get a comfortable sound.
 
Overall I do like these cans, and I'm glad I bought them - they are supremely comfortable as well.

 

[Fluffy Muffinz]

Out of the PDG1's for AU$148 on ebay from pccasegear and the G4ME ONE for $179 (RRP$369 from places like minidisc and addictedtoaudio) what pair would you recommended the most?

 

[chailee80]

Out of the PDG1's for AU$148 on ebay from pccasegear and the G4ME ONE for $179 (RRP$369 from places like minidisc and addictedtoaudio) what pair would you recommended the most?

That's a tough call as they're both good headsets imo, the G4me one is probably the better deal at that price although I find the pdg1 more comfortable, the g4me one was a bit tight on my big head.