Sennheiser G4ME ZERO Over-Ear Gaming Headset

I have had the headset for about 12 months now so I will just drop some of my long term expectations to anyone wanting to buy this. I have the second (current) revision of the headphones with the detachable cable.
 
Using this on over half a dozen sound cards now, I can confirm these need a good, clean power level for optimal performance. The availability of an EQ, ideally through a PC sound card would be ideal for lifting bass and enabling a virtual 7.1 effect which sounds great in these headphones. The bass response, once lifted through a quality source, is tight and goes loud, which allows the mids and highs to remain extremely clear at any volume. If you use them on a low end sound card they are going to sound bad as they are 150Ohm headphones.
 
They have a slightly unusual balance and sound signature compared to a studio headset, it works well for positional audio in games, but it will sound unusual for music enthusiasts. 
 
The ear cups are not made of leather, they are made of fake leather and they don't last long and are not covered by warranty of any kind. You can buy replacements but they are very expensive, off brand replacements for PC350s will fit, but they also have an asymmetric design of the foam, so replacement cups don't quite fit as well. I replaced mine with genuine leather and memory foam replacements for a PC350 and they offer more space inside the cup and a tighter seal for a better overall sound, but they are less comfortable, so...
 
The braided cable does kink at the connector and the braid will fray over time, though that is to be expected, I do not expect this would be covered under warranty. The cable can be replaced, though it too is expensive and uses a priority connector, though it is a quality cable.
 
The carry it comes with I have literally never used, so I don't see any value there.
 
These headphones, while their original RRP was excessive, are good value at their current price. I would recommend pairing this with a high quality PC sound card rather than a dedicated external audiophile DAC or Amplifier.

I made a huge mistake when I got these.... First thing I did was plug them into my phone and try to listen to some music... Bad idea! This is one of those headphones that I wouldn't even listen to until after 50 or so hours of burn in. The sound signature of these is specifically designed for gaming. Before burn in there is a very strong harsh and unpleasant spike in the upper mids. After burn in everything smooths out but there is still an upper mid bias. Why though? For the glory of gaming of course!!! To me these seem to have a fairly close to neutral bass and treble response with a boosted mid response. With no EQ and no virtual surround sound when gaming these aren't the most fun sounding headphones but they are very accurate. The mid spike makes footsteps and enemy movements really pop out at you. I am guessing that was absolutely the intent by Sennheiser when they made these. They are vastly different from the sound signature from most gaming headsets that have loose boomy bass and boosted treble. It takes a while to get used to but after you do you won't ever want to go back if you are looking for detail and want accurate enemy placement. For me where these really come in to their own is when you use virtual surround sound software with them. The 2 I have tried are Creative SBX pro and Razer surround pro. Lots of debate on what is better but for these specifically my vote goes to Razer. The creative software does the same thing as the sound signature from the Game Zero's... It boosts the mids. With that on top of the software boost it just becomes too much and a little harsh. The Razer software doesn't really EQ the sound it just adjusts placement of sounds. That works perfectly for these. The razer software also lets you boost the bass. These respond very well to that and become way more fun with a little added low end. I would rather they be flat and require me to use the surround software to boost the bass than to try to cut it out with a boomy sounding headset. With the razer software you can get a full enveloping surround sound experience with plenty of bass and no harshness. Now on to the mic... The mic on these sounds great... If your sound card can power it up. This mic with my Creative Sound Blaster Z might have been the absolute worst mic and sound card pairing I have ever heard. In fact once I got these my 2 year old SBZ got ripped out of my PC and thrown in a box. I have a Schiit stack now so it was time for it to go anyways as I was just using it for mic in. After researching I found that headsets all use small condenser mics that need power. Sort of like regular condenser mics that require phantom power but on a lesser scale. Usually headsets run on 'line power" between 2 and 9 volts. PC sound cards put out voltage to mics usually in the range of 2-5 volts. Most gaming headsets with tiny microphones are perfectly happy getting 2v and sound fine... However the mic on the Gzeros is a bit bigger and is pretty quiet with 2v going into it. More voltage = more sensitivity with condenser mics. Creative cards appear to only put out about 2V. With my Creative Sound Blaster Z I had to max the mic volume and mic boost to get enough volume from this mic which resulted in tons of white noise. Asus sound cards tend to put out a little more voltage to mics (Around 3V) so I would pick that over a Creative card if you are considering these headphones. I would also steer clear if you have Realtek onboard audio as all the Realtek chipsets I have tested put out about 2.2V. There are a few chipsets out there that put out 4.5V and I would assume that would be ideal for the Gzeros or G1's for that matter. Still trying to find a small USB sound card to use for mic input only that puts out 4.5V to use with the mic on these. So far I haven't been able to confirm voltage for anything other than the ones I have personally tested because that information isn't published by sound card manufacturers.

I was really excited about getting this headset for my setup.  I was pretty disappointed with them, though.  The sound isn't that great of quality and it doesn't muffle ambient noise at all.  It's almost like you don't even have headphones on while you are wearing them.  So if you are in an even remotely noisy setting and that is part of the reason for getting these, don't.  You can hear everything going on around you.  They are extremely comfortable for extended wear though.  That I will give them.  Otherwise, I'd say I was probably happier with my old $100 turtle beaches than I was with this $250 set. 

Well worth the AU$250 I paid. I liked them so much I bought 2.
 
Padding is AWESOME! Both, around the ear (my ears fit snugly inside) and the padding over my head. I can happily game for hours and not have a skull pain. This was very important to me.
I bought some GameTech cans and they had great ear pads - but the weight of the cans caused the overhead pad strap to really crush down on my skull - often causing me to have to re-adjust or reposition or after a couple of hours - take them off to let me head recover.
 
I have no such issue of weight across the top of my head at all.
In terms of cancelling out sound around you they are very good. 

This has been a very unique audio experience for me. I stumbled across an insane deal on this headset, so I though I would give them a swing.
 
Comfort: As an owner of quite large ears, I can say these are the first to fit entirely around my ears. I wear my headsets hours at a time, so comfort is a must. These are the most comfortable over-ear set I have ever worn. I don't think I get as sweaty using these as other closed headsets I have used.
 
Audio: I had 'closed headphone' expectations going into these, but came out with a cross-breed feel. The sound stage for a closed headphone is very good. I have no problem locating enemies in CS:GO. In fact, they are better than my last open headset. My complaint about these is that they seem a bit flat and lackluster sound wise at times. For example: the boom of an AWP can sound like a couple of tin cans being dropped if it's the right distance away. The sound is clean, and the bass is not as strong as most closed headphones. The bass, however, sounds fantastic. It is clean, not rumbly and muddy. The sound in a nutshell is a closed headset that wants to be open. 
 
Experience: This headset does benefit from an amp. The impedance is simply too high for most on-board audio. The volume dial on the side as well as a mic that blows most other boom style mics out of the water (yet not quite as good as a usb mic) are fantastic features. I did not have a fantastic music listening experience with these. I have no problem with this simply because they are tuned for gaming. It would be nice to get amazing music quality from such a high retail priced item. No grudge held here. They are still good.
 
I think if you can pick these up for a good price then they are worth every cent simply for the comfort factor. Musically, these are not my cup of tea. Gaming wise, they block out distractions, and still give positional feedback. These were designed with gaming in mind, and for that they are the best I have tried so far.

I just grabbed the Sennheiser G4me Zero. It isn't remotely similar to the PC 360 as mentioned elsewhere, apart from the basic shape and approach. The Zero is a closed headphone, while the PC 360 (and G4me One) is open.
 
If you need headphones that isolate well but still perform well for gaming, the G4me Zero is absolutely excellent. It's comfortable as heck with earpads (interior) measuring ~76mm (3 in) tall, ~45mm wide (1.75 in), and ~25mm (1 in) deep. The earpads are also thicker on the bottom than the top, conforming better to your face than most pads.
 
I'm listening to some liquid dubstep right now and really enjoying them. Audio quality is up there with Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pros for music, but presenting with Sennheiser's signature sound.
 
The Sennheiser G4me Zero feels like a closed version of the HD 598 (or a fun version of the 380 Pro), with better bass punch and a little less clarity and soundstage (like you get with any closed vs. open headphone).
 
If the G4me One is virtually the same but open instead of closed, I suspect it will be the better set of cans for pinpointing people in shooters (open headphones are better for positional audio than closed). That said, The G4me Zero is no slouch, and I am having good success in Battlefield 4 using a Creative X-Fi Titanium HD sound card's RCA outs (in game mode with surround on) into an Objective2 amp.
 
For super competitive FPS play, I'll pull out the HD 598 with Antlion Modmic instead of the G4me Zero, but I suspect I'll use the Zero for most other gaming.
 
I'm pleasantly surprised by the G4me Zero with its flashy marketing, stupid name (I can't not say "guh-four-me" when I see the name... yes, I know it's pronounced "game.").
 
I must admit that I am a bit of a Sennheiser fanboy because of their quality, sound, and--particularly--comfort. I have very tall ears (68mm) that only fit in a few of the circumaural headphones I've tried. I routinely use Sennheiser HD 555, Sennheiser HD 598, Sennheiser HD 650, Sennheiser IE80 headphones, as well as Beyerdynamic DT-880s with Brainwavz HM5 earpads (great pads for large ears--the infamously comfy Beyer pads don't fit me), Narmoo S1, and Logitech Ultimate Ears.
 
If you pick up the G4me Zero, note that they are 150 Ω and sound better with an amplifier, particularly when listening to music.