Plantronics GameCom 367 Closed-Ear Gaming Headset

Acreo Aeneas

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Very comfortable cups that goes around large ears, extendable boom mic that folds up and flushes with headband, good cabling, not bloated bass
Cons: All plastic construction, stiff cable reliefs, a bit hollow sounding
I originally bought these as a cheap headset for mainly gaming use.  Bought online for $21 shipped.  Marketing might say "military spec" construction, but it's not even close.  The entire headset is constructed of plastic.  I could easily wobble the cups and headband.  I'm pretty sure excessively doing that could I could quickly break and detach the cup shells, cable, and headband.  There is no metal band in the headband portion, I only wish.

I did like how comfortable they are.  They don't clamp down all that hard and those earcups go around my rather large ears.  So no more crimped ears that hurt for hours on end during long gaming sessions.  The pads feel like suede and over time it will collect a bit of dust and other particles.  Cleaning them is a bit of a chore.  The boom mic is extendable and folds back up in the recessed nook in the left side headband.  The cable reliefs are hard plastic and rather unwielding.  I don't advice bending those cables at the joints at any extreme angle.  The cable themselves feel rather tough and through some accidental sittings, they can definitely stand up to more abuse than the rest of the set.  I actually had my chair's legs on the cable quite a few times and I sat there oblivious until I had to move the cord.  No dents or crimps in the cord.

Sound wise, it's nothing even a newbie audiophile here would call "great".  Due to the design and the use of rather weak plastics (and general lack of isolation), these are more of a semi-open design than a truly closed design.  Although I haven't tried the 377s, I'd wonder if there are any differences at all.  Isolation is pretty poor.  No sound and just having them on, I could easily pick up normal conversion in the same room and adjoining rooms.  Treble definitely does not have the clarity you would find at the $50 or $100 level, but it's also not veiled or really lacking.  It just pretty normal inoffensive sounding, no shrills, no wow factor.  At first, I felt the mids were a bit recessed and overall had a hollow sounding signature, especially in the lower treble, mids, and upper bass.  Over the past few months, they've warmed up a bit.  I don't seem to notice the hollow signature.  Bass is well, pretty average.  It's not bloated (thank goodness), but also not very impactful.  Again probably due to poor isolation and the (unintentional?) semi-open design.  Control and speed is pretty good, though I don't have yet to try any very fast bass tracks on this set.

In the end, the ultimate question is whether I'd recommend the set or buy another for myself.  I would recommend it if you're looking for a comfortable budget headset for gaming and don't expect a great sound quality with isolation out of them.  I have recommended these to friends already and if my current pair dies, I'd pick up another pair to replace them.  I do wish the plastics used were of a higher quality and they isolated better.
bcschmerker4
bcschmerker4
I had this model, and a fall did it in - stress riser in the top strap where the boom mic stows.  Plantronics® has a more durable successor in the GAMECOM 380, which uses Telex-style adjusters in the eacups.
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