Beyerdynamic DTX MMX 150

It takes something special to break into the gaming headset market on a good day. It's not enough to have a solid brand behind you, nor can you settle for solid sound and an acceptable microphone. There has to be a little X factor, a little design, a little flair, or maybe even innovation.

We have great respect for Beyerdynamic here, and have even praised several of their latest products aimed at the broader consumer market. But this gaming headset, more specifically the DTX MMX 150, lacks that extra touch, and for that reason, you'll forget about it as soon as you take it off, no matter how robust it may be.

Okay, so specifications. We're talking 40mm dynamic neodymium drivers in a closed-back design. They operate in the 5Hz-30,000Hz frequency range with an impedance of 32 ohms. They are wireless via a dongle, use a detachable microphone, and focus on comfort through memory foam ear pads that are so thick they could almost be called woolly.

The construction itself is a bit of a mixed bag, unfortunately. There is good padding and a nice aluminium headband, but it's all covered in the cheapest black plastic, which does not go particularly well with the coloured font on one side. It gets greasy when you remove the headset from the packaging and does not get any better with a few weeks of use. Furthermore, I'm still not a fan of a detachable microphone, and this one is so stiff in its cover that it really sticks out and gets in the way when not in use, which means you have to store it somewhere and pray to the gods that it will be there when you need it.

However, it's comfortable, and even though the on/off button is a little stiff and is turned off every day by a typical "switch", the volume wheel is simple and intuitive. The simple dongle also means that it can be used on virtually all platforms, either wirelessly or wired. And we also praise the META VOICE microphone (yes, all caps), a cardioid microphone in a large 9.9mm capsule that really works.

The sound is a highlight, too. There is a fairly broad profile here, which is not the most accurate in terms of 3D positioning, but much more basic things like the balance between bass and treble seem solidly calibrated. The DTX MMX 150 is quite comfortable to use in this way, and even though there aren't many proprietary technologies here, the headset's "baseline" is fundamentally comfortable.

The problem is that this relatively simple headset will set you back £160. That's a lot of money. Most Logitech G models cost less, Fractal's excellent Scape costs the same, and Sony's Inzone H9 is on sale for two-thirds the price. It just seems as if Beyerdynamic has settled for delivering on the most basic parameters and hasn't thought a little more ambitiously.

Yes, there is "Augmented Mode", which is a kind of passthrough that allows parts of the sound outside your digital reality to sneak in. It's a fundamentally good idea, but it doesn't work wirelessly, nor with a 3.5mm jack - only USB.

You're not getting a bad headset, far from it. But you're not getting anything particularly special here either.