A few days ago, I got sent a pair of Lucid Sound LS35x’s from Bluemouth Interactive and rarely am I this impressed with a pair of headphones, while they’re not perfect (nothing is in my opinion) they are bloody close!
I couldn’t wait to get home to rip these bad boys open. Neatly packaged in their own little carry bag sat these beauties. The first thing I noticed after removing them from the bag was the build quality, super sturdy, without being stupidly heavy. The earpads were so soft, while still fitting firmly to my head and for someone who wears glasses this is very important.
Sound quality
I grabbed the included phone cable, plugged them into my phone, opened my music streaming app of choice and CRANKED IT UP TO 11!
MY GOD! As someone who goes through headphones like undies (roughly twice a week), I was thoroughly impressed with the sound quality and comfort of these headphones. Maintaining a clean audio signal while at its’ highest volume setting is something I’ve only seen in headphones worth more than twice as much as these. Solid bass response, crystal clear highs and very clean mids. Essentially everything you’d want in a pair of headphones used to drive music.
BUT THEY’RE NOT MEANT FOR MUSIC ROWEY!
I know. And for years I’ve always used “studio” headphones as my daily drivers, for production, editing, streaming, watching movies, pretty much everything, but these are something I could definitely see me retiring my old headphones for, the sound is that good.
They connect to the Xbox One with the touch of a button, and sound amazing for games, especially while the wife is sleeping. Noise Cancelling is another thing that really impressed me, I couldn’t hear my wife asking me to stop playing games! The surround sound from the headphones while hooked up to the Xbox One is quite impressive, supporting Dolby Atmos and Windows Sonic, I ran all the audio tests I run with all my headphones and you can clearly hear where all the audio is meant to be coming from.
Handsfree capabilities
Using them as a “handsfree” headset for your phone is great, using the built-in mic (not the boom mic), making it the perfect companion for the commute to and from work (for those taking public transport), being able to switch from streaming media to taking a call without doing anything is amazing. The audio controls on the headphones themselves make it super easy to adjust volume or even mute your mic, little things like this make me happy, as I hate having to get my phone out of my pocket just to turn the sound up or down a little.
Some flaws
But they are not without their flaws.
Anyone who knows me would know that I wouldn’t be able to do a review without mentioning microphone quality…
This mic, while perfect for in-game voice comms, would not be recommended to drive a stream (the mic is removable for convenience), in saying that, I am 100% a microphone snob.
While these are wireless (for Xbox One) out of the box, in order to hook it up to your PC, you will need an Xbox wireless adapter OR a breakout cable to split the audio and microphone signals while using a soundcard/interface. This isn’t a big issue by any stretch, but something to consider when buying.
Score breakdown
Overall, I would have to rate them a solid 8.5/10.
Breakdown as follows:
- Build Quality – 10
- Comfort – 9
- Sound Quality – 9
- Microphone Quality – 6
- Battery Life – 9
- Functionality – 8
Comfort
Weighing in at a mere 396g, these headphones are something someone could comfortably wear all day without causing pressure headaches (something that I have experienced quite a lot wearing glasses with tight headphones).
Final verdict
So, if you’re looking for an all-rounder that won’t break your bank, these are something I would recommend, while these aren’t PS4 compatible, Lucid Sound has quite a few options that are.
This post was by guest contributor Rowey. You can follow him on Twitter: @rowey_au
