@Audeze @KMann
Regarding Sidetone, I want to give my 0,20 cents.
Have you ever considered it might be test group bias, a group of which isn't either particularly interested in the feature or have much of a personal experience or perhaps isn't able to tell whether or not they like it as there's no on/off toggle and if they had that ability they would likely be able to better tell if they like it more when it's on or off, if they like it more, one way or another, not just "not bothered by", it's still an useful toggle to exist.
I've had personal experience with sidetone, I'd say there's cases it's good and cases it's bad, it all depends on the user base and slightly bit down to preferences as well (some people just simply don't like hearing their own voice and is somewhat "creepy").
Which comes down to when is it good? I'd say the best possible case scenario is outside of gaming, during VoIP sessions, meetings and when ambient noise levels are higher to avoid making you shout.
When is it bad?
During competitive play. Competitive gaming is all about making sure you have the best possible ability to win over your opponent. There is visual clarity aspect (how "clear" is the overall visibility and free from visual clutter, effects and such), then there is aural clarity the same as the former but regarding sound, making sure there's no "excess noise" or whatever that distracts you from hearing the details you want to hear. Pros go the long distance to make visual clarity as good as possible by monitor and ini tweaks (as far as it's allowed that is) and the same regarding sound. If there's a way to reduce a loud rocket launcher firing blast, they will do it so the important details of your opponent or other important aural information doesn't go lost. That's where sidetone comes in, while you speak you'd be able to hear the ingame sounds worse, which could be the difference of a frag or death. For the same reason I'd also see custom EQ ability a valuable option as I'd expect some pro gamers might find it beneficial to perhaps give 6~10kHz range a 2~3dB boost and bass range maybe 2~3dB reduction in order to hear the critical details better (as if it's anything by the typical Audeze house sound the headphone is somewhat on the smooth and warm side where pro gamers often prefer the sound leaning ever so slightly towards the bass light and bright side)
I understand competitive play mentality as I've been there, after all I use a 240Hz monitor and been doing ini tweaks and such for several games I play more competitively that hurts image quality for sake of better visibility etc. I also follow e-sports a lot and I know for certain some players would want to turn off sidetone for the sake of hearing the ingame sounds as well as possible (footsteps in particular).
Which brings to my point, if you get successful within e-sports scene, there's far bigger growth potential than your LCD line could ever bring as the market is bigger and it also is very effective way to advertise towards regular gamers who follow the e-sports scene. I'd hate to see Mobius being rejected on the e-sports scene for such a small detail as not being able to toggle Sidetone off.
The sidetone
doesn't need physical button toggle, it
ONLY needs an on/off toggle inside the software as that's where 95% of the need would be. I'm a power user, the more options the merrier as it means I'm more likely able to configure stuff the way I want them to be, options are
GOOD.
I hope you don't take the sidetone toggle lightly as I want Mobius to become as widely adapted as possible and I think it has such a HUGE potential in the e-sports market where I'd start paying more attention to as far as feedback goes as that would lead to the biggest potential market growth.
