Sennheiser is one of the most legendary names in audio, a German firm that makes both well-regarded headphones for critical music listening as well as some of the best gaming headsets on the market. Its gaming division is set for a change though, as it is now set to de-merge from Sennheiser and become a new independent entity: EPOS.
The new company will continue to offer a line of existing products under a new co-branding scheme, including two of our favourite premium wireless headsets, the GSP 370 and GSP 670, which we like for their durable (if bulky) design, long battery life and generally warm, inviting sound. Of course new products are also coming, including one we’re testing at the moment – the GSX 300 external sound card. We haven’t finished our review yet, but so far we’ve been impressed with the device’s clean industrial design and even cleaner audio. It’s an encouraging first step, but the company will need several successes on the trot to bring the same cachet that Sennheiser enjoys to the new EPOS name.
To mark the re-launch, we spoke with EPOS’ senior director of product Andreas Jessen about the new company’s design process, its future lineup and the most important headphone features for competitive or immersive gaming. Enjoy!
What does the headset design process look like? Does new technology drive the development of a product that hits an appropriate segment, or vice versa?
The design process comes from two angles. First, we look at what makes an EPOS design, what are the unique elements that we can truly say make an EPOS product. Some of these include the comfortable ear-shaped earcup, the floating oblong design on our newer products, and the single-sided yoke – used to give the ear cup more rotation, and thus a better fit. We want people to be able to recognize an EPOS headset and for us to have a somewhat shared expression across our portfolio. Sometimes we succeed really well with that, and sometimes we just find something that looks really cool, so we take a first step in a new direction. Secondly, we look at what is popular in the market – this is more related to color choices, material choices and surface treatments. In the end, what matters is the overall design of the product as well as the user experience to ensure a premium audio solution.
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How do you balance the needs of core and hardcore players?
There is a lot of overlap of course, so it is not like we can say that hardcore players need better audio than core – they both need the best audio possible!
What we have learned by working with some of the more hardcore players, is that they really want two main things from the equipment: trust and control. When we create products for the really hardcore players, we make sure that they are not drowned in advanced features and we make sure the player is always in control. For more core players that like to experiment and have time to do this, we offer more features and ways to enrich their audio experience.
Apart from imaging, what headphone features are most useful for competitive gaming?
Balanced speakers (L/R) are vital to ensure you have the best starting point for localising sounds.
A tightly controlled mid-range that does not fluctuate too many decibels over a wide range of spectrum is also key. If you suddenly have a 5dB spike between 700Hz and 1200Hz, then sound being played in that spectrum would sound closer than it actually is in the virtual space – not ideal when you’re trying to locate other players. A flat, controlled mid-range is extremely important if you want to be able to trust your equipment.
What headphone features are most important for immersive experiences?
Making our product portfolio easier to navigate is a big part of our future plans – watch this space!
For an immersive headset experience, the important headset features depend a little on exactly what you are looking for. In terms of audio philosophy, we usually go after an increased bass response and then an increased high end – with a flat mid-range in the middle. We do this because when you are wearing headsets, you do not get that body impact of audio that you would otherwise get when experiencing something in real life. In order to trick your brain into getting that full body experience, we have to increase the low frequency response. When we do that, we need to also balance this out with a controlled boost of the high frequency to achieve a good tonal balance. This is truly a balancing act, and if you go too far in the low range, you end up with muddy voices. If you go too aggressive in the high range, you end up with hi-hat from a drum set hurting your ears.