Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. 7 Surround Sound Gaming Headset for PC

I'll start with the the pros and cons for those of you who want a quick idea, then I'll add a little more details on each point.Pros:- Solid materials- Excellent sounds- Excellent mic- On ear controls- Mic lights up when muted- Detachable/interchangeable USB - 3.5mmCons:- Small ear cups- Tight over ears- Not very flexible- Mic locked in position (read on for details)- Fingerprint magnet (for the glossy black version)Let me start by saying that I have a larger than average head, so many of the experiences I had will likely not be shared by most.The first thing I noticed when picking up this headset was the extremely solid materials used for it. Everything felt sturdy and it definitely feels like it would last a long time. I'm sure they used plenty of plastics in manufacturing, but it feels like a solid metal headset. Definitely seems like it was built to last. The ear cups also rotate inwards for easy resting if you take the headset off, although in my opinion they are too loose and pretty much freely rotate with gravity anytime you move the headset.That being said, all of that sturdiness comes at a cost. The headset itself is very tight, it clamped pretty hard on my head and the ear cups are pretty shallow, causing me pain after as little as 20 minutes of use. Again, my head is large so this may be more of an isolated incident. Then again, if I rested the headset on my neck and then wanted to take it off, the headset was not flexible enough to come off easily, and I had to maneuver it a bit as simply pulling it open was not enough to just pull it over my head.The setup of the headset was really easy, you go to the Mad Catz website and download their driver (this comes included with the software, and, as of the date of this review, you can only download from the "Drivers" sections, there is nothing in the "Software" section). During install, it will ask you to connect the headset via USB if you haven't already. Afterwards, the headset is good to go.The software is simple and straightforward. You have output volume control, mic volume control, mic mute and dolby on/off.The surround sound works great, and the sound itself is crystal clear, better than any other headset I've owned. I'm no audiophile and not a pro gamer, so I have no idea how good the highs, mids and lows are, but to me they sounded better than anything I'm used to. As a matter of fact, when playing around with the Skype test call, I thought that I was still hearing things through my computer speakers instead of the headset, and didn't realize it was the headset until I took it off. Pretty trippy actually.In games I had no issues listening to all the things that you'd look for in a surround sound headset: footsteps, voices and bullets whizzing past, etc. I could pinpoint everything based on the digital surround.As far as the mic goes, I really didn't get a chance to listen to myself much, but my friends say that it is by far the best mic I have used when chatting with them. Take this with a grain of salt, as I have never invested heavily in mics, so I don't really know what is expected here, but from the couple of times I did hear a recording of myself, it did sound perfectly clear.The physical mic is very flexible but rigid at the same time, keeping it in whatever position you moved it to. Another cool feature is that when you mute the mic, a red light turns on near the tip of the mic, letting you know that it is muted.There is one minor problem with the mic, and that is that you can only plug it in two positions into the headset, an "up" and a "down" position. The "down" position looks just like the picture, with the mic pointing towards you chin. The "up" position is about 45 degrees higher, pointing more towards your lips. This can be a bit of an inconvenience, as you cannot really move the mic out of the way without removing it entirely. This can be especially annoying if you are resting the headset around your neck with the ear cups rotated in, as the mic will almost definitely push against something and lose the position that you had set it to.One of the features that I really like was the on ear controls. On the left side, there is a mic mute button and the dolby surround button. The mute button is self explanatory, and the dolby surround allows you to toggle the digital surround sound and off. On the right side of the headset is a volume control dial, which is pretty convenient, but I found myself using the dial on my G19 keyboard more as it was far more responsive than the one on the headset.Finally, there is a cord that is only a few inches long that comes out of the headset. At the end of it is a female mini USB-B connection. The headset comes packaged with two cords to plug in there, one of them is a longer cord (I don't have the specific measurements on hand) that is male mini USB to male USB, and the other shorter one is male USB to male 3.5mm for plugging directly into any headphone jack. If you want to use the surround sound, you will need to use the USB connector as opposed to the 3.5mm one. It's nice having the 3.5mm connection as it can be used to connect to just about anything else, an mp3 player, phone, 3DS, Vita, etc.One thing I would like to point out is that when I first got the headset, the mic I received was faulty. It was giving me an annoying buzzing feedback and the mic itself was drooping and not staying in position. I contacted Mad Catz about it and their customer service was absolutely outstanding. They were very professional with me over the phone and through chat, and sent out a replacement mic in no time at all. The replacement worked perfectly. The only issue I had with their customer support is that their working hours are awful, being available only from 7 am to 3 pm PST. If you work a regular job like myself, you are going to need to call them on your lunch break or something like that to get a hold of them without doing the back and forth emails.Overall, the headset is really nice: very well made, amazing sound quality both from the mic and the headset (again, I'm not an audiophile or a pro gamer), easy to set up and use, and I like that I can use it to listen to music on my phone or to play on my 3DS or anything else. Unfortunately, the deciding factor for me on this headset was the comfort level. Even with all of the things that I like about it, the shallow ear cups and tightness of the headset made it painful to use for more than an hour, with my ears hurting before that. I don't usually game for hours on end, but to not be able to even put in a couple of hours without having to take the headset off is a dealbreaker for me. I ended up returning the headset, and I advise potential buyers to consider this factor before purchasing. If you have an average size or smaller head and ears, this headset will likely be perfectly ok for you, but if not, it may be best to avoid this headset.

After having a Logitech G930 for a very long time I was hesitant to make the switch. But My good ol' Logitech was dying and I needed a replacement. Never the less, I'm glad I made the switch. First of all the FREQ7 (Like all of Mad Catz products) was packaged superbly. Everything from the box to the set itself is designed extremely well and makes opening and trying theses guys for the first time sheer awesomeness. The headset itself is built extremely well. Made of good materials and no cheap parts. They sit comfy on your head and very snug. Like very snug. This helps a ton with noise isolation. When I put theses on volume was only at 40 when I couldn't hear anything in the room (dog barking, roommate playing music, tv). As for the sound they sound fantastic. The 50m drivers in these bad boys crank out great stereo sound. Which leads me to my only gripe. These cans are note TRUE 7.1. They're stereo... Even when you turn on the Dolby. It doesn't change the fact that these cans are Stereo. The DoblyXII or whatever it is only manipulates your stereo and adds a soundscape making it sound like a 7.1 headset. So unlike the LogitechG930 which actually has 6 different drivers and a sub theses cans have 2 drivers(an impressive 50m) being manipulated to sound like 7.1. Now don't get me wrong, the "7.1" surround" sounds AMAZING. I was extremely impressed how well theses cans mapped all of my games. So that's my only real gripe. But its not really a gripe. Oh, one more. The Volume Scroller is meh. I'm coming from a fantastic headset where the volume scroller is so smooth its ridiculous. The scroller on theses cans is ok... but its not buttery smooth and kind of feels rough. All of the buttons on the set are very easy to find and the mic glows red when its muted (which is such a nice feature(no more answering my phone and forgetting that im not muted as my friends on vent make fun of me for ages to come)). Over all the F.R.E.Q7 is great. It sounds amazing and is very sturdy and will last me a long time. My only gripes are the not true surround issue and the volume scroller. Other than that the set is awesome. Highly recommend it. But I am a little partial to Mad Catz products. Oh one more thing. The set isn't plug and play. You have to download the drivers from the Mad Catz site. However, its super easy. Just follow the easy step by step set up instructions that come in the box and you'll be good to go. Ok there you have it. That's all I really good say about these cans. They're good. Sound awesome. Build extremely well. And well... They LOOK COMPLETLY BA. It looks like you're wearing a transformer. Get em. They're worth the investment.

Short little review here.I tried this headset out for a week and decided I didn't want it. Now, the reasons are pretty important.You can have your own pros with this headset but here are my cons.- This headset has major bass, if you play fps' you will notice your gun has a very sharp pop and every single explosion feels insane. It can be too much at times considering it gets really intense. (In a good, headachy way)- As you can see on the headset it does offset the weight when it clamps on your ears, it's a very heavy feel behind your ear that you have to be comfortable with to deal with. The mixture of these two cons can make a mild headache if you are easily set off.- Many people say big heads don't work with this headset, that's entirely far from the truth. It fit my big head like a slightly (slightly) smaller glove. It isn't good for big heads over time but it is decent for short term uses.I mainly sent it back for these reasons but I do believe this headset is still a very good headset but not for a head like mine.In the end i settled for a Sennheiser GAME ZERO PC Gaming Headset.

Amazing headset.Have owned these for more than a year now, initially to be used as a headset for PS4 however I've used them more around the house when I would be long on the phone.The quality of the audio is top notch on both the speakers inside the cups and the microphone.From what I've experienced, the sound on the jack is much louder than the USB, don't know why.The quality of the materials and fit and finish is very good, the headband is metal and has a nice click to it, as well as the metal (aluminium?) construction that connects to the cupsThings I don't really like:The virtual surround is only available on USB.There is no option to control volume or turn off the microphone on 3,5mm jack, so when used with xbox or ps4 controller people can always hear you unless you pull the jack or mute the microphone on the console which sucks.Even on USB when plugged into a PS4, you cannot control volume or micrpophone over headphone controlls.

This headset is phenomenal it is insanely comfortable it has nice soft thick plush padding on the ear cups and a tiny bit thicker on the headband which allows you to be able to wear it for hours. You can tell just by looking at it that it is a quality headset and if you buy it you are like me you will probably be like wow this is outstanding quality. This headset will last me a long time. Its materials are incredibly robust with metal and hard plastic although they somehow managed to make it insanely light weighing only 335g. I game on a mac so I can't use the software although I am getting a custom built pc soon that will run windows 7 so I will be able to use the software then. The headset comes with a stand, a detachable flexible microphone, and a 2 YEAR WARRANTY, which is awesome that way you don't have to worry about it being defective, and it comes with 2 cables one is for your mp3 players it is 100cm and the 2nd for your pc or mac which is 200cm long they are both of excellent quality as they are braided although the universal serial bus or (usb) aren't gold plated. The headset does have 50mm drivers which deliver crisp and clear sound with nice bass and clear highs even without the 7.1 and when I do get the software to make it 7.1 it will probably be a lot better. I only have 3 things that I wish it had but I doesn't have which include software support for mac, voice monitoring, and the microphone has little grooves that go into the microphone slot I would have liked to see it have no grooves so that you can turn it freely instead of it staying in place but it is no issue it is just a preference. I only got it today bfollow up: The ear cups don't fit my ears very well and after a while my left ear starts to hurt so I had to return it because i'm not using a headset that hurts.

I read review after review of many types of similar headphones. In the end I decided to get these.They are excellent headphones with good features and they feel sturdy and fairly good quality.The only gripes I have are that 1) There is minimal customisation options in the software - but I do have to say what options you have do seem to do the job and in my opinion the Game equalizer setting is better for everything than either chat or music) and 2) you have to listen to your own mic in the headset if you are talking which although now I am used to, was a bit strange to begin with so would have liked to be able to turn this off as even trying to use windows setting to turn it off doesn't work.Excellent headphones with good quality sound and the surround features work perfectly for games, music and movies.

Overall great headphone, the look is awesome, the sound quality justifies £100, but still doesn't hide away the fact it's a bit expensive.People seems to complain about it being uncomfortable to the ears, for me it feels fine, it completely wrapped around my ear, maybe not so fine for people with large ears.The virtual, i.e.software generated 7.1 surround sounds good, but not enough to deliver a huge mind blowing difference in audio. It may not justify a £30 increase from F.R.E.Q 5 since the exterior look identical. Furthermore, I'm not the only person that has the issue of audio being left-side heavy when Dolby 7.1 is on, I have to manually balance the channels everytime I switch to 7.1.My only fear is that the headband feels brittle. The F.R.E.Q 5 is known for how easily the plastic snaps, especially prone for being a single band suspension headband. I haven't seen any reports of this happening on F.R.E.Q 7, hopefully they changed the type of plastic they use.

Amazing design, sound and comfort.The sound is very nice, with optional 7.1 surround sound, and good quality speakers in the earcups.The design of these are great. The eacr cups fold in so they can sit flat on your chest, the detachable mice works perfectly and the buttons are just great. The headphones do not squeeze your head at all, but sit really nicely on your head.The build quality is excellent, it feels really strong and resilliant.All in all, it is a great all round headset, especially for gaming.