Logitech G35 Gaming Headset Review

Headset Design & Ergonomics
Developed by Irish firm Design Partners, the G35 headset takes a two-pronged approach to aesthetics that leaves a lasting impression. On one hand, it's incredibly boxy and angular, sharp even, that it will no doubt catch more curious looks than my Honda Element could afford. No, you won't be cutting fingers on it, but one could get lost in the number of 45 and 90 degree angles this thing has to offer. On the other hand, the overall design really should come as no surprise to anyone who's familiar with Logitech's post-2007 line of gaming peripherals. The red and matte black color scheme perfectly matches the G-series gaming peripherals and looks well in its own right if you have so much as a black PC tower.

Taking a closer look at the headset, we see that the user-customization aspect featured so prominently in the G-series is no stranger to the G35 gaming headset. The adjustable headband follows a notched metal track that's labeled so you can quickly set it to just the right position after traveling to a LAN party. Three swappable headband pads of varying thickness and form are also included that change how the Logitech G35 headset sits on the head, and also how much pressure is exerted on the sides of your head. The padding is held steadfast by two strips of Velcro hooks that run the course of the headband's upper trench, but you'll want to be careful when removing the padding as the Velcro may want to come along with the padding if the adhesive wasn't properly applied. Forgo your roll of duct tape (sorry, I know...) and just use superglue for this one.

How do I look?

Properly adjusted, the Logitech G35 is one of the most comfortable headsets I have ever worn. The circumaural ear-cups are large enough that my ears don't feel like they're being crushed, but there's still a good seal so bass vibes don't leak out into the open air. The headset doesn't have perfect isolation from ambient noises nor does it have any noise cancelling abilities, but it does provide significant dampening so I can focus on my music and gaming - not the loud case fans of the computer sitting next to me. As a LAN party aficionado that likes to hear the cries of his fellow gamers, I wouldn't have it any other way. The weight of the headset, while not insignificant, is also well balanced so that neither side of the headset feels heavier than the other, and it's light enough that my neck doesn't feel fatigued after hours of gameplay.

Like many gaming headsets currently available on the market, the Logitech G35 employs a noise-cancelling directional microphone that can be swiveled upright when not in use. It's not detachable, but the length of the microphone doesn't extend past the top of the headband either to make you look like a remote-controlled fool. Apart from swiveling up and down, the microphone is also flexible to a degree allowing it to be placed closer to the mouth. The microphone does have two unique qualities though: by stowing the tray table microphone in the upright position it will automatically be muted, and whenever the mic is muted a red LED indicator will light up, just within the bounds of peripheral vision. In the G35 headset software it's also possible to configure the LED to always be on or off.

An in-line control pod is nowhere to be found on the Logitech G35 gaming headset, instead replaced by rubberized controls located directly on the left ear-cup. A simple volume roller, mute button and three G-keys are all present alongside a toggle switch for enabling the Dolby Headphone support, better known as the reason you're probably looking at this headset in the first place. Though it's obviously impossible to see the controls when wearing the headset, the button layout is intuitive and proved to be no more difficult to operate while gaming than a normal headset. I actually found this implementation preferable to a traditional control pod since it doesn't weigh down the cord or require clipping to any article of clothing.

Durability and Travel Precautions
One thing that does concern me about the Logitech G35 gaming headset is its overall plastic feel. As a seasoned LAN party veteran it's easy to tell what's not likely to survive being placed in a stuff-sack or luggage to be manhandled by the TSA on the way to Quakecon, and it's quite evident that the G35 requires extra-special handling care. While the ear-cups do offer a small degree of rotation, unfortunately Logitech never designed the G35 to lie flat, nixing headset's ability to be transported in any rigid container smaller than the original packaging. Likewise, the oh-so-comfortable headband is largely inflexible, so you can't simply put the two ear-cups together and wrap the cord around them. For an asking price of $130 I seriously would have liked to see some sort of protective travel case included in the box.

On the bright side, at least the 10' cable is rugged enough to stand up to daily abuse. Imagine if you will the braided USB cable on the G5 laser mouse, then double it's thickness. I wouldn't think twice about it if I were to inadvertently run over the cable multiple times with my chair or accidentally crush it with my heavy PC chassis. As an added bonus, just over an inch of cable is protected by a flexible rubber sheath where the cord meets the headset - just the spot where cable shorts would normally occur on any other headset. Bravo, good sirs. Now if you feel that 10 feet of cable is too much (it's not), take comfort in knowing that Logitech attached a Velcro cable tie emblazoned with the G35 logo.

Drivers & Mic Performance
Though the G35 software is very simple to navigate and use, power users may feel slightly put-off by the lack of fine-grained control found in other audio drivers. The panel is broken up into four quadrants: sound levels, surround sound, G-keys, and voice morphing. The levels offer control over the master volume, bass, treble and microphone, but are sorely lacking volume control over the individual surround sound channels. A 10-band equalizer is also missing in action, although to be honest I don't think the headset really needs it; the G35 headset's bass adjustment is the only control I ever find myself using and even at stock levels it's more than sufficient.

Moving on to the surround sound quadrant, here we have a giant Dolby logo that turns red when the Dolby toggle switch is engaged on the left ear-cup, making it all the more apparent that Dolby Headphone and Dolby Pro Logic II effects are in play. The system tray icon will also turn red to indicate this. Underneath the gargantuan logo is a "Surround sound last heard..." readout that does its best to let you know if your game is in fact outputting surround sound. The v1.0.0.17 drivers that are available at press time were unable to detect the working surround sound in a small handful of games throughout my testing, though Logitech has a patch in internal beta testing that should take care of this so there's no need for concern.

In its current state the G-keys section is rather disappointing, offering nowhere near the programming capability of the G15 and G19 keyboards. Here you can map the three G-keys on the left ear-cup to control the bass, treble and microphone levels, activate the voice morphing technology, or act as playback controls for iTunes/WinAmp/WMP/PowerDVD/WinDVD. There's still no support from Logitech for open source projects like VLC or Foobar, but my fingers are crossed. Custom commands and Push-to-Talk for Ventrilo are also present, but contrary to the original press release, TeamSpeak support is nowhere to be found at this time. Multiple profiles for the G-keys can be created, although curiously there is no quick way to switch between them, not even in the system tray menu. Logitech has stated on their official blog that they're looking into expanding the functionality of the G-keys in future upgrades, so we'll just have to wait and see what the future has in store for this seemingly neglected feature.

Finally we have the Voice Morphing quadrant, a cut-down version of Screaming Bee's MorphVOX Pro that allows you to easily mask your voice behind one of six filters. This is probably the best use of the G-keys right here. I'll let the effects speak for themselves.

Webcam users will be delighted to know that these effects are real-time, and sync up with lips rather nicely. Without the effects turned on, the voice quality is above average, producing a clean sound without picking up the sound of my computer or air conditioner. The only downside there is to the microphone is some electrical crosstalk that can be heard as a soft, high-frequency whine in the right ear-cup whenever an application is making use of the microphone such as Sound Recorder or an active Skype call. This much is easily drowned out with some music or video game action, but can prove to be slightly annoying while in a phone call.

Update #1: Logitech has acknowledged the issue as a manufacturing defect, and says that new units should be arriving shortly from the factory to replace the bad stock. As soon as Logitech posts in their forums that the new stock has arrived, G35 owners should be able to contact Logitech Technical Support for a replacement.