XPG PRECOG Analog Gaming Wired Headset Over The Ear Headphone with Mic – Black

These are unbelievable headphones at this price. I bought 3 of these( 2usb, 1 analog). All had damaged headband(manufacturing issue), but for the price, not an issue. Usb isn’t much special, just comes with extra modes, 7.1 and all, but it’s useless. Comfort is also adequate. Build quality is awesome, solid af. Coming to sound, these sound muddy and bassy out of the box, I was thinking of returning, but decided to Eq them, and these Eq damn well. Just increase the treble and mids, decrease bass and these will sound awesome. Soundstage is good enough with great imaging. I use Equaliser Apo software. I also have Akg k712pro and Hd599. So you can trust me. Ps I use them on analog mode through my Aune T1s. Through usb dongle sound is almost same, and it also enables red led light. Surprisingly got usb one for 1300 only. Analog is basically a Usb one but without the USB dac and carrying case.

The XPG Precog is one of the best gaming headsets on the market, and at an extremely low price for what it is. These are Hi-Res certified which basically means their frequency range is absolutely ridiculous (5Hz-50,000Hz for this model) and crystal clear, with an excellent speaker sensitivity rating of 102+/-3db. The XPG Precog analog is the same exact headset as the regular XPG Precog USB headset except it doesn’t come with the USB sound card/adapter cable. As I have an HT Omega eClaro sound card with a 124db SNR DAC, and a 24-bit/192 KHz sample rate, I certainly wasn’t going to invest in anything pertaining to USB audio. Most Hi-Res gaming headsets (and there aren’t many) are either discontinued (Roccat Khan Pro) or rely on the provided USB sound card such as with the SteelSeries Arctis Pro (retail at $250 USD.) In my years of experience, USB audio quality has never been as crisp as a standard analog connection. It’s also difficult to ensure that no additional audio processing is being performed because many things happen in USB sound cards due to fancy DSPs that do all kinds of things. I saved $40 buying this analog model and I am very proud of this! The audio quality is absolutely insane, and I’d like to take a moment to break this down into four sections, reviewing each component of the sound itself in 4 major categories; overall soundscape/atmosphere/feel, bass, mids, and highs. As a hardcore audiophile, I may have taken this review a bit too seriously. I’ve owned headphones by Sennheiser, Sony, Audio Technica, and Bose, and gaming headsets by Logitech, Roccat, Astro, Razer, HyperX, Turtle Beach and Tritton. For audio benchmarks, I used TOOL CDs, songs from Kaleo in FLAC format, some action sequences of several films such as Hawksaw Ridge, The Matrix, and Pearl Harbor on Blu-ray, video game titles where listening is crucial to survival such as Ground Branch, some dance/techno/EDM, and other misc genres.

Sound section 1/4: Soundscape/Atmosphere/Feel: The XPG Precog sets a very open, wide stage. This element really makes movies, music and games feel more alive, bigger and better. It definitely has a larger-than-life audio environment which is just incredibly immersive. I don’t really know how to explain this part exactly, but it’s as if it makes multiple sounds at once easier to distinguish by giving them more room so it’s less cluttered. The problem with virtual surround headphone technology like Dolby Headphone or DTS Headphone:X is that they not only alter the original source, but add filters such as reverberation and delays which not only sound fake and perhaps even annoying, but can send you in the wrong direction; a costly mistake with tactical and strategic FPS games. The XPG Precog analog allows you to experience the audio as the creators intended, without any altering of the source itself, and then some. While the XPG Precog analog is unfiltered, unprocessed, uncompressed raw audio, the design of this headset gives you a much more improved audio experience with this larger sound stage due to the hardware design. I’m not sure if it’s the ear cushions, the angles they work out, the electrostatic driver or what, but this definitely brings the audio experience to a whole new level. Positional accuracy is amazing with these too, my headset before this was the Razer Tiamat 7.1 V2, and these had 10 speakers in each ear cup, a true 7.1 speaker configuration. While the XPG Precog analog is not a virtual surround headset, it doesn’t actually need to be one. I can pinpoint enemies just as fast based on their sound, but this is a much more pleasant audio experience that adds even more immersion.

Sound section 2/4: Bass: Oh.. My.. GOD!! I’ve used many “bass headphones” before and with a lot of them, the bass may be intense, but the clarity is terrible, sounds muffled and dirty and it washes out the other sounds. The bass may actually cause the headphones to rattle inside and feel “loose.” They try and stick with speakers that are practically glorified subwoofers that are somewhat capable of other things besides bass, but that’s the problem; it’s a compromise, and a bad one at that. The XPG Precog comes with a dedicated subwoofer which is INCREDIBLY POWERFUL, but you won’t experience any unwanted vibration, or anything muddy or washed out. It won’t necessarily shake your skull, but to me that’s a good thing. I want to hear the bass with clarity, and the bass is definitely strong, but not with heavy vibrations, rather actually really smooth, crystal clear low frequencies, something you’d expect out of a Hi-Res headset. When listening to TOOL – 10,000 Days (Wings, Pt 2), the bass if anything is actually slightly overwhelming, absolutely no shortage of bass with these headphones! If bass is important to you, definitely get these!

Sound section 3/4: Mids: As mentioned earlier, this headset has a very large sound environment. With this, during very complex sequences with a lot of different sounds going on, the mids are easier to distinguish between other sounds as it’s easier on your ears. The mids are incredibly clear and I actually hear more detail in this range than any other headphones or headset I’ve used. I think the dedicated subwoofer is helping with this too, because not all of the sounds are being sent to same speaker.

Sound section 4/4: Highs: Before I begin, I’d like to state that I prefer the highs to be quite sharp. I’ve actually tuned my audio setups previously on occasion with custom equalizer presets to bring more fidelity out of the high-end which people have said it was grating on their ears. The XPG Precog is not very sharp when it comes to highs, and this is probably a good thing for most people. With EQ tuning on my sound card, I can definitely turn this up a notch and fine-tune the entire spectrum, but I usually prefer to leave the audio as least processed as possible as I am a bit of a purist. The wide sound stage that these have may slightly weaken the sharpness of the highs in my opinion but at the same time, it’s more comfortable on the ears overall and an easier listening experience.

Comfort: The headset is not one of the the lightest out there, however it is one of the most comfortable in my opinion. The headset features a detachable microphone, is extremely flexible, a glasses-friendly design and ear cups that rotate 180 degrees. The material of the ear cushions are made of very soft memory foam with a smooth finish. This keeps my ears cool surprisingly and with no tension on my ears or skull. I’ve worn this headset for over four hours and I can barely tell I’m wearing it.

Design construction/build quality: ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! A metal frame, rock solid thick plastic closed-back ear covers, the bearings they use are also a lot stiffer and feel much more sturdy than most headphones and headsets that I’ve used over the years. Bearings to me are important because those tend to wear out fairly quickly for me. This feels like it would last several years, definitely past the two year warranty period, easily. If anything changes, I will update this review.

Connectivity and compatiblity: This headset features a 3.5mm cable which is about 5 feet long, and an extension cable which makes it run roughly an additional 5 feet. The extension cable allows you to break up the single connection 3.5mm jack, to two separate 3.5mm jacks; one for input (mic) and the other for output (headphones.) I did not measure the cable. For PC sound cards, you’ll most likely want to use the extension cable not just for the increase of length but to have input and output on their own connections. For Playstation 4, and this part definitely took me by surprise.. I have a HyperX Cloud for PS4, and the XPG Precog which I was not planning on using at all on console, is actually LOUDER! The XPG Precog has fully replaced my HyperX Cloud because of this. I am not sure how the impedance works out but this is definitely louder when connected to the DualShock4 than the HyperX Cloud for PS4. This also works great on smartphones with a 3.5mm headphone jack. For both smartphones and the DualShock 4, the extension cable should not be used.

Overall: If you want a headset that sounds like a $300+ USD pair of headphones from some of the top brands, and are looking for a high-quality high-res gaming headset, look no further. Even if price isn’t a concern for you, I’d still recommend the XPG Precog. I actually teared up listening to these for the first time, and that’s never happened to me before, hence the lengthy review. The XPG Precog isn’t just an excellent gaming headset, it’s an excellent pair of headphones. Whether you’re a gamer or you take your music seriously, the XPG Precog is one of the best things out there and it will match your every occasion. The XPG Precog deserves a much larger following than it has and I hope this headset will make others buyers as happy as it made me.

Game on! Rock on! Dance! Embrace the movie! XPG PRECOG FOR THE WIN!