Plantronics brings along some extra ammo: full Dolby Atmos support (and free access too). The RIG 800LX bucks the trend, with aggressive edges, multi-textured surfaces, prominent wiring and branding, and a bevy of controls on the rear. Most headsets (and headphones in general) feature a sliding headband for size adjustments, but the RIG 800LX instead opts for three predetermined holes on each side.
The RIG 800LX uses the floating headband design found in various other gaming headsets, including SteelSeries’s Arctis line and HyperX’s Cloud Revolver. This might be the most comfortable version I’ve ever tried though, owing mostly to the RIG 800LX’s lightweight frame, cushy earcups, and adjustable size. It successfully balances comfort with security, tight enough that I never worried about it slipping off but also barely putting pressure on my head.
Or put another way, it’s lighter weight than many of its wired brethren, including the aforementioned HyperX Cloud Revolver. It’s acceptably durable, and I spent some time flexing and twisting the headband to make sure it wouldn’t simply snap in half.
The rear of the left earcup has a volume wheel, power slider/pairing control, MicroUSB charging port, and a game/chat mixer, while the bottom of the right ear has a quick EQ adjustment button.
Both earcups are just large enough to make accessing these controls awkward, but they’re easy to distinguish by touch and are otherwise inoffensive. IDG / Adam Patrick Murray It’s also worth mentioning the battery, which Plantronics claims tops out at 24 hours of use. There’s a sliding scale, with music the hardest to nail (lots of complexity) and games/films a bit easier, but still, headsets typically fall into one of the two camps.
IDG / Adam Patrick Murray And even without Dolby Atmos enabled, the stereo presence is top-tier. You get a bit of vertical awareness in addition to the usual surround sound—a shot going straight over your head, for instance.
Plantronics RIG 400HS Review
The RIG 400HS’ earcups are large and round, with fabric-covered over-ear earpads made of memory foam. You need a Y-splitter if you want to use it with a PC that has separate ports for headphone and microphone; because the RIG 400HS is designed for use with the PS4, no splitter is included.
A wide microphone mute switch sits in the middle of the remote, and a small mechanical volume slider rests on the side, working separately from your connected device.
The low-end gets a modest amount of thump, and the highest volume borders on unsafe, but there isn’t quite enough deep sub-bass to really set your head vibrating.
Like most gaming headsets, the RIG 400HS ermphasizes low-mids over any sort of subwoofer-like response in the extreme lows. The acoustic guitar plucks in the opening of the song sound crisp, and the texture of the strings come through very well considering the headset’s price; greater high frequency finesse generally requires dedicated music headphones that cost twice as much. That said, the slap bass has more pop than thump, further highlighting the RIG 400HS’ relative weakness with low frequencies. I also played Nioh, which doesn’t have voice chat or require clear vocals to convey spoken instructions. The soundtrack sounded fairly full and atmospheric, though more low frequency presence would have helped make the experience more immersive. That said, Plantronics’ own RIG 500 series offers better sound and a slightly more comfortable fit, and the equivalent model to the 400HS is just $20 more.
The Bottom Line The Plantronics RIG 400HS is an affordable wired gaming headset with reasonably good performance for the price.
Customer Reviews: RIG 400HS Wired Stereo Gaming Headset for Sony PlayStation 4 Black RIG 400HS
While gaming, you can hear everything, foot steps of opponents so you can gauge distance from you.
Customer Reviews: RIG 500 PRO HS Precisely Tuned Stereo Gaming Headset for PS4
Call centers around the world, and truck drivers rely on their industry leading equipment to keep them in communication with crisp clear vocals. The “adapter ” is a rubberized piece of plastic, a ‘collar’ that sits around the base of the headphone jack, to ensure it is seated snugly into the controller port.
players are telling me, how crisp and clear the sound is, i’m like ” thanks its plantronics ” and i brag on the company… well i notice that my audio stops coming through a couple matches in, and i tried adjusting settings, restarting the controller, resetting the PS4.
then i played with the jack and realized the poor engineering is leading to a missed connection, not to mention the toggle drop down mic switch had already started to have issues maintaining its signal as well.
Plantronics RIG 400HS Review – Inexpensive or Just Cheap?
Budget products must wage an eternal war between price and quality, and gaming headsets present a perfect case study. The Plantronics RIG 400HS ($50) keeps costs down by using a cheap plastic frame and so-so audio drivers, but it also offers a workable, detachable microphone and a convenient setup for PS4 gaming.
More expensive console headsets offer better audio and wireless functionality, but the RIG 400HS does what it promises for a reasonable price, particularly for PlayStation gamers.
The shiny black plastic looks like it would be more at home on an action figure than a headset, and feels breakable, if not exactly flimsy.
Furthermore, you need to pop the ear cups out and in again to alter their positions, which only adds to the feeling that the plastic might snap in half at any moment. Both detachable and bendable, the mic on the RIG 400HS is extremely easy to connect, disconnect and mold to fit your preferences.
With breathable fabric over-the-ear cups and a plush headband, you could wear the peripheral for hours on end and suffer no ill effects. He also agreed with my assessment that the limited options for adjusting the ear cups meant that he couldn’t get a perfect fit. As such, I took a deep dive with two PS4 games: Call of Duty: Black Ops III to test the headset’s compatibility with multiplayer shooters, and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance to evaluate how well it plays with story-driven adventures. With breathable fabric over-the-ear cups and a plush headband, you could wear the peripheral for hours on end and suffer no ill effects. The shiny black plastic looks like it would be more at home on an action figure than a headset, and feels breakable, if not exactly flimsy. Players can make audio louder or softer without having to grapple with the PS4’s cumbersome devices menu, as well as mute or un-mute the mic.
Plantronics RIG 400 Gaming Headset Review: Quality Sound on a Budget
It features surprisingly strong audio quality and a deceptively comfy (if aesthetically divisive) design, and even goes so far as to include a removable microphone and complementary 3.5mm headphone jack splitter. Yet, despite all these positives, the RIG 400’s flaws can’t be ignored — chiefly, its inability to function well in noisy environments or deliver consistent mic quality. Plantronics’ RIG 400 really emphasizes the “gaming” part of its branding in its design, which is loaded with sharp angles, all sheening in an eye-grabbing black-gloss finish.
For all its superficial luster, it’s easy to see that the product’s design materials fall well within its $50 MSRP, which makes its outward appearance seem just a tinge too gaudy for its own good.
The headset also does an extraordinary job of delivering characters’ voices, meaning the low rumbles of Kylo Ren and sinister growls of Darth Maul sound rich and weighty. In Injustice 2, such foreground sounds include a bevy of laser blasts, meaty punches and fire effects, which the RIG 400 delivers with radiant buzzes, hefty impact and crisp crackles, respectively. And, though less essential to gameplay effectiveness, the headset also does an extraordinary job of delivering characters’ voices, meaning the low rumbles of Kylo Ren and sinister growls of Darth Maul sound rich and weighty. The RIG 400 delivered Injustice 2’s bevy of laser blasts, meaty punches and fire effects with radiant buzzes, hefty impact and crisp crackles.
It let rip the roaring engines of Rocket League’s combustible cars and delivered that game’s punchy, ceaseless suite of sound effects with verve.
On orchestral scores such as the Avengers soundtrack, the RIG 400 did an excellent job of picking up the most minor composition elements, such as faint singing from the choir and other quiet audio effects that can fail to register entirely on other headphones. Plantronics’ RIG 400 boasts a trio of fairly standard entry-level gaming headset features: a noise-cancelling microphone, “noise-isolating design” and adaptable cable functionality.
Plantronics RIG 400 gaming headset review
It’s the budget sibling of the RIG lineup, which means no wireless operation or noise-cancellation, but this also has the advantage of making it fantastically light. If you want a headset that you can wear to block out the outside world then the RIG 400 is not it, but if you play games in a quiet house then it’s less of a problem. This is a wired headset, and by default Plantronics uses a combination mic / headphone jack to transmit audio. We spent most of our time with the headset playing on PC, and we grew to become very frustrated with this splitter, which doesn’t obviously label its microphone and headphone sides.
Since Dolby Atmos is forming a key part of the RIG 400’s marketing push, it’s worth taking some time to explain exactly how this functionality works. Although detail was good, we were impressed most of all with how spacious the sound was, which really benefits a game like PUBG where spacial awareness is at its most important.
Our single biggest issue with the headset is that the amount of sound leakage is such that the microphone frequently picks up the output of the headphones. It’s a really unfortunate problem, and one that seriously undermines the headset as a communications device, even if the quality of both the headphones and the microphone are individual very respectable, especially at this price.
If you’re just looking for a pair of headphones to play single-player games with, particularly on Xbox One or Windows 10, then the Plantronics RIG 400 has a lot going for it. Audio quality is decent at this price point, fit is very comfortable, and the soundstage is lovely and wide.
The inclusion of a Dolby Atmos license is a great addition for anyone looking to try out the technology on those games that support it, even if you’re able to buy it separately for your current headset. But the unfortunate feedback problems between the headphones and the microphone mean that we’re not able to recommend the headset for use in multiplayer gaming where you’re going to be talking to others.
Be First to Comment