Audio Quality and Comfort
The comfort of the G430’s was great in short and long sitdowns with the headset on. This wasn’t a big surprise considering how comfortable their past headsets have been as well. The earcup design fits perfectly around my ears without putting any pressure on my ears. Typically that pressure is what causes discomfort for me over time. This is why I normally prefer over the ear designs over smaller headsets that press on your ears. Although I prefer floating top bands for their comfort, the padded top band on the G430 did a good job of keeping the pressure off of the top of my head. The mesh earcup design did help a little with keeping my ears from getting warm, but I still had to pull a cup off my ear for a little while when doing heavy gaming. Overall I would still prefer leather earcups for their softness but the mesh design isn’t bad as well.
When it came to audio performance I was impressed right out of the hole with the G430’s when listening to music. They are bass heavy so if you prefer a more natural sound you might not be a fan, but most people seem to prefer a lot of bass in their music, movies, and gaming. Logitech may have designed the G430’s for gaming, but I loved listening to music and watching movies on them as well. I ran through our test suite and the extra bass really gets your attention while watching the new Star Trek movie with its crazy fight scenes.
When doing through our mix of test music that ranges from classical to rap and even a little Eric Clapton I found myself impressed over and over with the G430’s. I’m not going to say that they would replace a high end pair of headphones designed specifically for music, but they did hold their own, something that a lot of gaming headsets don’t do. Where the G430’s really shined though was in game. Their directionality was great and this really came in handy in first person shooters. Highs were crisp, making it easier to hear gunshots but with the extra bass you will still get the full experience as well.
