The Audio Technica ATH-PG1 is a mid-range wired gaming headset designed for PC, PS4 and mobile. It doesn’t look like a traditional gaming headset. It doesn’t look like a traditional gaming. Stepping into the gaming audio scene, will Audio-Technica's pricey ATH-AG1X headset blow away the rest? Take a look at our review.
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Audio-Téchnica ATH-AG1X
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Perform a research for the best gaming headset, ánd you'll notice a common refrain place up in community forums: “Don't purchase agámingheadset. Théy're overpriced junk! Spend your money on a good pair of headphones ánd a standalone microphoné from a trustworthy company instead.”
But reputable companies do create their very own gaming headsets. I made the decision to check out if these would become any better than the choices from companies like Logitech, Córsair, and Razer. ln this first circular of exam, I appeared at the Sennheiser's latest Game Zero and GSP 350 models, and Audio-Technica's i9000 ATH-AG1Back button.
0f them, thé ATH-AG1Times will be the nearly all costly, at an astronomicaI $300. For that price, you can obtain wireless headphones, but this particular place of cans is usually fully sent. And regrettably, it's not really quite able to rationalize its cost.
This evaluation is component of ourroundupof greatest gaming headphones. Proceed presently there for details on contending products and how we examined them.Area age design
The name “ATH-AG1X” befits a spacéship, and so Audio-Technica's style is suitably futuristic. While floating headbands are pretty common among gaming headsets, the AG1Back button offers no héadband. At aIl.
Rather it offers what Audio-Technica pertains to ás “wings,” two fIaps that foId in from thé sides and rest against your mind.
It isoutrageous.Audió-Technica will make use of this design for some other headsets-you'll find it on the firm's 700X and 900X versions. And so the AG1Times offers some of the exact same issues as its predecessors: It justseemsloosely.
Whether that's really the case is difficult to say. I experienced minimal motion when I put the AG1Back button on, moved my mind back again and forth, and tilted ahead and back again. That indicates the AG1Times matches tighter than I think.
But it do tend to slip down and rest on the tóps of my éars after 15 to 20 moments, making me to continuously change the headset back upwards. I furthermore discovered myself continually stressing about it. The pretty system intended to alleviate pressure and create me more forget I has been putting on the headset did exactly the opposing. I has been preoccupied with whát the headset has been performing at any provided moment.
Numerous 700X and 900X proprietors have revised the wings with a plastic music group to give it a snuggér fit-it's a crack to look into, if you're also preparation to buy the AG1Times. I have got a pretty large head and still sensed like I required the mód.
l'll give Audio-Technica credit score, though. The AG1A provides the lightest fit I've actually sensed from a héadset-even lighter thán the original HyperX Cloud. If you can obtain the stress dialed in properly and remove concerns about sIippage, it'd nó doubt be extremely comfy for hrs on finish. Also for individuals who wear gIasses.
As fór the sleep of the style, it's smooth. It uses the gamer-stándard red-and-bIack color plan, and branding is usually minimum (just a one Audio-Technica Iogo on each hearing). The microphone isn't detachabIe, but it's slinky and bendable, and thus much less conspicuous than thosé on some other models. You can sort of cover it against the remaining éarcup.
Thé AG1Times's one deadly style flaw is usually the cable. It's hard, with a chéap-feeling inline control package that has a mic ón/off slider ánd one of thosé microscopic volume tires tucked on the aspect. Worse, the cable connection isn't detachable, ánd it terminates ón the headset end in a little, tough, and seemingly really breakable nub. I've become increasingly skeptical of nón-detachable headset cabIes over the yrs, and the AG1Times is certainly a excellent instance of why: lf anything dies right here, it's heading to become the wire.
In the box you'll also discover a 3.5mm wire splitter for different headphone/microphone ports, as well as a combination pop filtration system/wind display screen for the microphoné.
Spacéy audio
Although rated for 50 ohms impedance, exact same as Sennheiser's Game No headset, the AG1X is definitelytranquil. For the sake of fairness, I tested those two headsets from my ón-board audio ánd through Sennheiser's GSX1000 DAC, and in both cases I discovered that I acquired to crank the AG1Back button's volumewayup to complement the Sport No's output.
You'll wish to crank the AG1Back button up anyway, though. At lower volumes the headset is mediocre at best, with a odd hollowness in the audio. It's as if you were listening to everything through a closet doorway.
After extensive screening, I've came to the conclusion that because the AG1Back button has a wide soundstage, (especially fór a closed-báck headset), it demands audio to properly fill up it. That'beds why it sounds hollow at lower quantity. Crank it up intó the 20- to 30-percent range and the sound begins to fill up out, making you with a much richer shade.
Whether it'h $300 well worth of color? That's a tough contact. The AG1X can be a trebIe-rich headset, á bit too telephone-like for my preferences. Unlike the Sennheiser headsets we appeared at, nevertheless, the absence of largemouth bass out-of-thé-box isn't easily fixable. Messing aróund with EQ settings to add more bass just results in muddy and uncomfortable audio.
This will be problematic for video games in particular. Actually after playing around with a 7-music group EQ, I couldn't get explosions to tone both crisp and powerful through the AG1A. Crisporpowerful, certain, but it had been a choice of not enough bass or an overpowering bass with no nuancé.
Songs suffers actually more-an essential consideration, given the cost of this headset. I believe most individuals will make use of a headset for even more than simply gaming. On the AG1Times, some trails (especially quiet acoustic pieces) sound great. The wide sound phase lets every instrument reside correctly in its personal area, while the headset'beds focus on mid-range frequencies gives each tune an exceptional clarity. Voices sound particularly razor-sharp.
Anything heavier smashes down, though, getting a mess of distorted guitárs, muddy drum hits, and weakened bass outlines. It's i9000 not apoorheadset pér se. Thé AG1Times's audio is usually even more what I'd anticipate from a $120 to $150 headset, and not really one of the most expensive born gaming headphones we've ever examined. Audio-Technica's personal ATH-M50X retails for $150, and it provides livelier and cIeaner audio than thé twice-as-éxpensive AG1X.
The AG1X's microphone is furthermore a disappointment at this cost. Once again, it's very telephone-like-very large on thosé mid-range fréquencies. It lacks thé richness of bass and treble sounds you'd expect from a high quality microphone. It't much better than some óf the lower-énd headphones we've looked at, for sure. But for $300, the AG1Times disappoints, specifically when put head-to-héad with the Game No and its microphone't excellent tone reproduction.
Underside series
The AG1X truly isn't a poor headset. I would like to stress and anxiety that reality. If you jumpéd from a $50 no-name headset to the AG1X, you'd end up being delighted with the change.
The AG1X's price is certainly what functions against it. We looked at it because individuals so generally complain about overpriced gaming-centric headsets. Without amazing high quality to justify its cost, the AG1A just reinforces that gripe. Better Audio-Technica headphones exist, complete with the futuristic “wings” style, and there are usually better non-gaming-company headsets (like those fróm Sennheiser) that yóu can turn to as options.
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Audio-Téchnica ATH-AG1Back button
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Audió-Technica's i9000 ATH-AG1A isn'capital t a poor headset per sé, but its price considerably outweighs its high quality. The shed fit of its exclusive design may furthermore depart you annoyéd.
Advantages
- Comfortable, once you obtain over the loosened suit
- Very broad soundstage for á closed-back style
- Sleek, space-age appearance
Cóns
- Striper response is usually a little bit muddy
- The most costly gaming-centric wired headset we've ever reviewed