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AudioTechnica PDG1 Gaming Headset Review

So recently I was lucky enough to win a giveaway from the great guys over at PC Case Gear in Melbourne and scored a set of AudioTechnica PDG1's! I've never been much of a headset guy myself so I was interested in finding out just how good these are in comparison to my current M50x's (Yeah I'm that guy). But to my dismay I couldn't find a single reliable review on them anywhere on the net bar a two paragraph forum post that didn't really give any valuable information at all. So why not give it a go myself!

 

First off the bat I guess I'll take on the build quality, general aesthetics and comfort.

 

And DAYUM! these things are brilliantly comfortable, They are so incredibly light on the head and it gives the illusion that they simply aren't there. Clamping pressure is perfect too, they are tight enough that you can't shake them off without some proper intent, yet loose enough that you don't notice them. The headband is a touch on the thinner side for my liking, yet again due to their lightweight nature they never become an issue at all, The foam in the earcups are also extremely soft and amazingly comfortable and the cloth covering also adds to the comfort of the headset, though I would like to see the inclusion of a pleather earcup in the box as cloth tends to make my ears a touch warm, but this is my general feeling towards all headphones/headsets. They also look really nice, I would like it if they didn't have so much red around them but this is entirely subjective. The materials seem to be on the cheaper side with a near entirely plastic construction bar from the metal arms that allow for size adjustment. Though again if this allows them to be this light and this comfortable then that is entirely fine by me. One point of possible failure though is the hinges that allow for some rotation of the earcups to better fit your head, though I doubt this will be an issue if they are taken care of like they should be.

 

My only real gripes with the fit and finish are size adjustment which is a firm sliding mechanism and can be troublesome to get to the right size, but once in place they stay put really well and only need to be corrected once every couple of weeks or so. I also wouldn't mind seeing the fabric earcups being abit deeper as my ears tend to rub the inside of the can a little and during long periods of usage this can be somewhat annoying. The inclusion of an optional pleather earcup would also be nice, I feel any premium headphone or headset really should have both options included as cloth tends to make my ears abit to warm for my liking.

 

In the box there are also a couple of detachable cables included which is a really nice feature. The first one having a flexible gooseneck microphone that is easy to adjust and holds it's position very well once set in place, Inline volume control and a mute toggle are also featured and terminates into a straight ended 3.5mm jack. The second cable has an inline mic with volume control and terminates to a right angled jack. While I'm a big fan of removable cables I really hate seeing proprietary cables and that ruins the appeal of having this feature for me, but the keying on the cable is fairly large so I'm going to go out on a limb and say you could probably get a regular 3.5mm male to male cable and fit it in there just fine. Also in the box we find a y splitter for using the headset with a PC that takes a separate source for your audio and microphone and comes in at 2m of length, I really love this cable as I can route it under my desk and have it locked in position right under the lip of my desk so I can easily plug the headset in when I get home.

 

The mic quality also seems to be really good too, During play sessions with the gooseneck mic my friends couldn't pic the difference between the built in mic and my ModMic 4.0 though the inline mic is pretty typical of the quality you can expect there which did disappoint me as I prefer in line mics as they don't hang out in front of your face.

 

But what's a set of cans if they don't sound good? and that brings us to the real matter at hand, how do they sound?

 

I've had about a months worth of experience in day to day usage with the headset and had a extended sitdown with them today listening to my spotify playlist, youtube music videos and a few FLAC files through my PC with a Fiio E10 DAC/AMP. I even plugged them into my record player and listened to some ABBA and overall, I'm pretty blown away.

 

This is my first real venture into the open back headphone game and I'm sold, the sound stage on these are incredible and make you feel like your on stage. The sound signature is surprisingly flat considering they're a "gaming" headset, highs are super crisp and mids really bring out the vocalists, the bass is kind of lacking due to the open back nature but after some EQ tweaking it became respectable and it sounds more like real life bass than any closed back headphone I've used has been able to deliver. After sorting out the EQ these things are nothing short of brilliant for my use, gaming is a joy and picking up directions of footsteps seems more intuitive than before, music seems to have more 'flavor' without going to the typical gaming headset signature of loose bass. One complaint about the sound from the PDG1's though is that they aren't very loud, like at all, At max volume everywhere they are still in the very comfortable spectrum of loud. Though this also means that they had zero distortion to them no matter what I could throw at them.

 

I wouldn't be far off saying that I'm starting to lean towards using these as my daily driver over my M50x's for in home gaming and content consumption. They just seem to have a bit more of a personality than the kind of boring signature the M50x's posses and for $20AUD less I think they offer a better overall package. I'm going to be addressing the issue of the earcups by sourcing a pleather replacement that's a touch deeper to better suit my own preferences, hopefully that will tighten up the bass just a tiny bit and make them louder by reducing noise leakage too. Then go about trying to make the colours a tad more neutral....... here's to hoping :)

 

In short the PDG1's are the headset that I think all headsets should try to be and finally gives gamers an all in one package that is comparable to a headphone/ModMic combo. At $179AUD they represent brilliant value in my opinion too.

 

If you're interested in these headphones you can find some more details.....

 

Here> http://audio-technica.com.au/products/ath-pdg1/

Here> http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=116_1156&products_id=29455

 

 

Please let me know if you found this helpful at all guys, Let me know if I can improve my reviews in any way, it's my first time doing this and I'm planning to do abit more of it in the future as I have a fair amount of tech that goes through my house :)

 

I also apologize for the lack of photos, I have came across a AA battery shortage for my DSLR and my closest supermarket has none in stock, I'll get some done in the near future :)

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nice review , got the astro a40s right now , i was going to get a better headset and a standalone mic but i might consider a pair of these now !

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nice review , got the astro a40s right now , i was going to get a better headset and a standalone mic but i might consider a pair of these now !

 

Yeah , I would really highly recommend them for the price, In terms of value compared to the Astro range you get a ton more for the  :)

 

 

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Nice little review. I'll still vote against headsets in general, but at least the price of this is under two big ones.

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Nice little review. I'll still vote against headsets in general, but at least the price of this is under two big ones.

 

Honestly, if you have the chance to try this set you might just change your mind. Obviously my review is subjective to the sound that I like. But they are bloody brilliant and completely break away from the typical bass heavy, loose sounding headset persona that headsets have built up :) The detachable cable also turns it from a 'headset' to a nice pair of portable cans that happen to have an inline mic. If there's a demo of them anywhere near where you live try them out for sure :)

 

 

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Honestly, if you have the chance to try this set you might just change your mind. 

 

Disregarding the fact that there are probably headphones that cost half as much and sound just as good?  :rolleyes:

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Audio Technica's lower to middle levels sounds pretty similar one another. Of course open backs compared to open backs, and also the closed backs. The ones that started to 'break free' of the stereotype are the wooden cup ones, the W series, I think. 

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Disregarding the fact that there are probably headphones that cost half as much and sound just as good?  :rolleyes:

 

I don't know if I'm right on this, but I believe they are based off the M40x's drivers, Just slightly tweaked. The construction seems to be a open back variant of the Pro5Mk3's. The M40x's go for $149.99AUD and the Pro5Mk3's aren't available here, but the Mk2's were a $220USD unit from what I can find. So the M40x's with a modmic would run you more than the PDG1's do in Aus. So they are pretty good value at $179.

 

The Closed back variant, the PG1's that retail for $189.99AUD seem to use the same drivers and construction as the Pro5Mk3 that retaiil for $220USD, so after currency exchange and adding a decent enough Mic they are ripper value considering what they are. But apparently the PG1's fall in to the 'Loose overdone bass' category of headsets.

 

I've got a mate who has a set of M40x's that I'm going to use just for a bit of comparison and see what's what :)

 

 

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I don't know if I'm right on this, but I believe they are based off the M40x's drivers, Just slightly tweaked. The construction seems to be a open back variant of the Pro5Mk3's. The M40x's go for $149.99AUD and the Pro5Mk3's aren't available here, but the Mk2's were a $220USD unit from what I can find. So the M40x's with a modmic would run you more than the PDG1's do in Aus. So they are pretty good value at $179.

 

The Closed back variant, the PG1's that retail for $189.99AUD seem to use the same drivers and construction as the Pro5Mk3 that retaiil for $220USD, so after currency exchange and adding a decent enough Mic they are ripper value considering what they are. But apparently the PG1's fall in to the 'Loose overdone bass' category of headsets.

 

I've got a mate who has a set of M40x's that I'm going to use just for a bit of comparison and see what's what :)

 

He's probably talking about things along the lines of Superlux, Pioneer, etc.

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He's probably talking about things along the lines of Superlux, Pioneer, etc.

 

I've never heard of Superlux :/

 

 

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That's a shame.

 

They aren't in Aus from what I've found now. They look interesting though.

 

 

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I don't know if I'm right on this, but I believe they are based off the M40x's drivers, Just slightly tweaked. The construction seems to be a open back variant of the Pro5Mk3's. The M40x's go for $149.99AUD and the Pro5Mk3's aren't available here, but the Mk2's were a $220USD unit from what I can find. So the M40x's with a modmic would run you more than the PDG1's do in Aus. So they are pretty good value at $179.

 

The Closed back variant, the PG1's that retail for $189.99AUD seem to use the same drivers and construction as the Pro5Mk3 that retaiil for $220USD, so after currency exchange and adding a decent enough Mic they are ripper value considering what they are. But apparently the PG1's fall in to the 'Loose overdone bass' category of headsets.

 

I've got a mate who has a set of M40x's that I'm going to use just for a bit of comparison and see what's what :)

 

It's kinda common for a good driver to be used within many headphones from a manufacturer, tinkering mainly done with the housing.

 

Oz may be one market where my statement doesn't hold it's weight, as availability of cheaper goods tends to favor the "popular" marketed brands. Many people in the audio scene on your big island setup complicated ordering methods to buy off the Japanese Amazon for the more obscure items - not something I can expect every 12 year old to want to bother dealing with when they're using their mom's card.

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