In the PC world audio components are often overlooked. There are only so many items that your average consumer can keep track of. They know CPU, GPU Motherboard. Some will know about the power supply but really not much else. After all, Intel and others have been fighting to say the build in Audio CODEC on your average motherboard is as good as a discrete audio card so why should consumers think different? Well, if you think about it logically this does not make sense. After all, can you name one IGP (integrated graphics processor) that is as good as even a simple mid-range discrete GPU? I would not even say that the IGP on the i7 2600K is as good. So why would anyone think that an on-board audio CODEC would be better or even “just as good”? It is all marketing. We have tested multiple boards and also multiple add-in audio cards and can attest to this. Now I think I have found “the one”. The one audio card that finally brings the audiophile level expectation to the PC world. This is the Xonar Xense. It is Asus’ flagship audio card and one that has them partnered up with Sennheiser. The Xonar Xense comes complete with a pair of Sennheiser PC 350 Xense Edition headphones, a tuned audio card (complete with custom gain levels), and a head phone amplifier this is one serious piece of audio gear for your gaming or multi-media audio pleasure. So let’s put the PC 350 Xense headphones on, sit back and see what we can hear.
The Sennheiser PC 350 Xense Edition Headset -One of the major selling features of the Xonar Xense is this headset. It has been built to Asus’ specification by one of the leading manufacturers of headphones; Sennheiser. For those of you that have not heard of Sennheiser, well this bundle will probably not make much sense. At least not at the price it comes at. For those of you that do know Sennheiser then lets dive a little deeper into things.The headset in question is called the PC 350 Xense Edition, and it is only available from Asus. Sennheiser does have a similar set that was designed with team mTw (who commented on the Xonar Xense also) called the PC 360 but the only thing that is the same is the microphone. The rest is very different. For starters the PC 350 has a much higher impedance (150ohms as opposed to 50 on the PC360) the frequency range is also different. The PC 360 has a range of 15-28,000Hz while the PC 350 Xense is from 10-26,000Hz so you should get better low end response on the PC 350 than the 360.
Specifications aside the PC350 Xense Edition headset is also built for comfort. The ear pieces are intentionally oversized to prevent strain on the ears and the padding helps to reduce pressure on the sides of the head. This means there is none of the “crushed” ear feeling that you get with some headsets and less chance of a headache from pressure on the sides of your head. The crosspiece is also well padded while the entire headset is made of a fairly light material. This means you can wear them comfortably for long periods of time without strain.The boom microphone has some very nice numbers behind it as well. Its frequency response it 50Hz to 16,000Hz and has uses noise canceling to make sure you are not grabbing all the background noise. The sensitivity level is good at -38dBV (Decibels per one Volt) at 94dBSPL or 1 Pa (Pa=pascal; which is a measurement of pressure equal to one newton per meter squared). As all a microphone does is convert air pressure from your mouth into voltage the listing tells you how efficient it is at this conversion. In the US we use a base of 1 volt per Pa so it is common to see a negative number. So at 94dBSPL (or 1Pa) the microphone generates 38 less dB per Volt than the standard of 1Volt per Pa. This is pretty good compared to most products out there, but as we cannot find a listing for Total Harmonic Distortion we do not know how well this can handle rapid changed in air pressure from someone’s voice which means that it could be too sensitive. The boom itself is stiff and one of the few items that I am not fond of. To me the microphone should be removable as I would not always need it (or want it). You can rotate it out of the way, but it is still there and honestly takes away from the look of the headset.
The single cable that runs from the PC 350 Xense Edition headset to the computer is nice and sturdy it is thick yet also malleable. There is a combination volume microphone control switch that can be clipped to your shirt or perhaps a belt (although that can be a little difficult). At the end of this cable you have two separate 1/2 inch stereo plugs. These are used to give better contact and last much longer than the 1/8 inch plugs. It is a really nice headset even with the non-removable microphone. Now let’s look at what makes it work.
