Pros: Comfortable, adjustable, clear, easy to control
Cons: Might be difficult to use on a Desktop Computer
The Bottom Line: This headset is great for any use. Whether you're an internet DJ, a online gamer or you just listen to music, this headset is for you.
The Labtec Axis 502 Stereo Headset is the greatest product for communication over your laptop on the market. I recently started being a DJ for an online radio channel. I started out using the microphone that came with my desktop computer. This was a small microphone that was no bigger than my thumb. It had to be held the whole time that you were talking into it. Practically I wanted to purchase something a little easier to use. I chose the Labtec Axis 502 Stereo Headset.
Pros
The headset has achieved everything I wanted it to and more. Usually when you DJ a show you are on the air for at least two hours at a time. I figured I would use the headset when I was talking and then put it down when I was done. To my surprise the headphones were so comfortable that I didn’t need to take them off. These headphones really are “ultra-soft.”
Also the sound quality is amazing. To broadcast live over the radio you need to have a microphone that picks up your voice loud and clear but blocks out background noise. These microphones do exactly that. I can be watching TV right in front of me (obviously the sound isn’t blasting) and the microphones will not pick up the TV but my voice will sound as clear and crisp as possible. I guess that would make this a really horrible microphone if you were going to use it to record things in the background too, but that’s not what its designed for.
Also the hearing quality is great. I have a pair of Sony headphones that I use for listening to music and playing video games. When I got this headset those headphones went under my bed. The sound quality on these headphones are better than if you went to the store and bought headphones that were solely for listening to music.
On the cord of the headset is a little dial that controls the sound and whether the microphone is on and off. I find this very useful for playing video games. I usually use a laptop and to turn the sound down you have to hit function + the sound button. With the dial on these headphones I no longer have to do that, I just turn it up or down depending on what I need at the time. Also being a DJ you need to know when to have the microphone on and off. This helps to ensure that when you have it turned off on the DJ software that it is really off. It would be pretty embarrassing if you were playing a song and in the background everybody could hear the DJ talking to his friends or something. This feature helps eliminate that.
The Semi Con
The only semi con that I could find was the layout of the cord. I think that when Labtec designed this product they used a laptop because the cord is built that way. There are two connections that you have to plug into your computer in order for you to use the microphone and the headphones at the same time. On the cord there is only about a six-inch split at the end of it were the heads come off. This perfect for a laptop because on most of them the two jacks that you put the connections in are right next to each other. When I tried to use this on my desktop computer, however, it was much more difficult. The microphone jack on a desktop computer is generally on the back of it and the speakers are usually right next to the monitor. This means that there is probably at least three or four feet between the microphone jack and the headphones jack. You can imagine how hard it would be to hook both of these up at the same time. I would say if you were using this headset for a laptop then there are no cons what-so-ever but if you’re using it for a desktop you better check to see how far away your headphones and microphone jacks are away from each other.
Overall
Overall these headphones are excellent and I would recommend them to anybody who needs a good microphone or for anybody who needs good headphones. These can be easily used as headphones because when you’re not using the microphone you can simply turn it up so it runs parallel with the plastic part of the headphones that run over you ear. When the microphone is turned up the headset virtually becomes headphones. This headset is flawless!!!
The superior comfort and control of this headset and boom microphone make it ideal for voice-over-IP applications. The NCAT-2 noise canceling micropho...More at eBay
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