You’re not wearing these out and about, and muting the microphone is more of a pain this time because the button’s so small. This is a bit of a lateral move, but the RIG 700HD and its dongle are too bulky to be used anywhere except at a desk, thus negating any need for a removable microphone. The RIG 700HD also uses a removable microphone, replacing the flip-to-mute design found on the RIG 800LX. Your opinion may vary, as this is one of those hot-button topics audio people like to debate, but I wish Plantronics had sprung for the Atmos license. You still get a spatial surround sound solution, but in my testing, Sonic isn’t as natural-sounding as Atmos. Instead there is Windows Sonic surround, presumably because the license is cheaper. First off, the Dolby Atmos support in the RIG 800LX has been stripped out for the RIG 700HD. Plantronics has duplicated it for the RIG 700HD. The latter was one of my favorite aspects of the RIG 800LX, which featured a width to the stereo mix that rivaled HyperX’s best efforts. Stripped-down songs, like piano-and-voice tracks, come through great thanks to the RIG line’s warm mid-range and open sound. It’s still not the most vibrant headset, but there’s more bass presence in the RIG 700HD and without all the nasty mechanical problems of its predecessor.Īnd simpler mixes still shine on the RIG 700HD. That said, the rattling and distortion that I noticed last time has been fixed, at least. The RIG 700HD hasn’t fully fixed the issue, and songs like “ Feel Alive,” which I used to test the RIG 800LX, still sound a bit thin through the RIG 700HD. And I’ll say this: Complicated mixes with a lot of overlapping sounds are still a problem for Plantronics. Thus heading into the RIG 700HD, those were the aspects I was most keen to test. …The RIG 800LX’s bass presence is busted though, as is the top of the treble range. I’d say probably 80 or 90 percent of what I threw at the Plantronics RIG 800LX, it handled well… The RIG 800LX is a conundrum because it doesn’t follow those rules. Good headsets usually sound good across music, games, and films, while the bad headsets usually sound universally bad. Onto the sound, which is where I had the most trouble with the RIG 800LX. I still wish Plantronics would choose a new design language, but maybe that’s for “Poly” to sort out. A strong logo, a splash of brushed bronze on the ears, these are a marked improvement to the RIG line. Don’t get me wrong, the RIG 700HD doesn’t look good-but better, for sure. IDG / Hayden Dingmanīut overall, it’s a decent redesign for Plantronics. Having one wheel per ear would be a lot more intuitive. I only wish it were easier to tell which was the volume wheel and which was chatmix without taking the headset off. Nowadays it’s a more common feature, seen on Turtle Beach’s $150 Elite Atlas Aero among others, but it’s still a premium touch on the decidedly budget-friendly RIG 700HD. Not so long ago, those were reserved for the best of the best. The chatmix wheel is a particularly welcome feature on a $130 headset. It’s easier to find the built-in controls as a result, though the back of the left ear is still very crowded: volume wheel, another wheel for mixing the game and chat levels, a power button, a MicroUSB charging port, and a mute button, all on one ear. But it sacrifices a bit of comfort and doesn’t have a detachable cable, which is a bummer because its cable is so short.Plantronics also scaled back on texture this time, abandoning the ribbed plastic of the 800LX for smooth piano black planes and curves. The affordable $70 RIG 500 Pro HX Gen 2 Remove non-product link offers more dynamic range to work with along with the ability to plug into nicer DACs, and it’s a good price for what you’re getting. On the other hand, it also comes with a more baked-in sound profile thanks to its integrated DAC, doesn’t have the nice flip-to-mute mic, and is $50 more expensive. If you’re just looking at these two gaming headsets, the $130 RIG 700 Pro HX Remove non-product link is a bit more comfortable, more durable, and much more convenient thanks to its wireless connectivity. I was reviewing the high-end Corsair Virtuoso XT Remove non-product link at the same time and boy I wish that headset was as comfortable as these. So which pair of RIG headphones would I recommend? If you favor comfort above all else, both of these headphones are worth a look over competitors. In that respect, the 500 Pro offers a higher ceiling, but a lower floor. Honestly, the moral of the story is that even a cheaper pair of headphones can sound better with a nicer DAC. Did the RIG 500 Pro HX Gen 2 sound better there? Well, it varied depending on the setup, but without a nice DAC of course it wasn’t going to sound as good. And before you say that’s unfair, I will say that I did try it with other DACs as well as using a standard motherboard audio port.
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