The ULTIMATE Gaming Headset Mic Comparison – 2020 Edition!

Microphones on gaming headsets have been and improving since 2019. We did a full ultimate microphone comparison last year, but it’s 2020 now and it’s time to do another one. What I have done is taken the three most popular and best sounding microphones from 2019 and include them in this comparison, plus all the new and latest gaming headset comparison that have launched in 2020.

The Models

That includes headsets like the Logitech G Pro X Wireless, the new Razer BlackShark V2 X, the new Cooler Master MH 600 series – specifically the MH 630 and MH 670 – the new ModMic USB and ModMic UNI, and of course all my regulars like the Logitech G Pro X with the included USB sound card and with my own custom Blue Vo!ce settings, which actually sound pretty decent.

Of course we also have the Sennheiser GSP 300 and PC37X, the Fnatic React (which is incredible for its price point), and the HyperX Cloud Orbit S with planar magnetic drivers and a really disappointing microphone for the price point. We will also include the Razer Kraken Ultimate, which is a USB gaming headset with pretty lighting but not much else.

Microphone Test

For this microphone test I read the book Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall – which is a fantastic take on how geography has shaped world history – into each pair of gaming headset. The recordings were completely unedited and raw, with no filters or effects unless otherwise noted, like for the wired Logitech G Pro X were I recorded both with and without my custom Blue Vo!ce profile.

All the headsets – except for the wireless and the USB models – were recorded into a SoundBlaster X3 just for convenience, because I found very little quality difference between external USB sound cards and motherboard microphone inputs. If you want to hear what the microphones sound like click here for the sound test.

Noise Cancellation Microphone Test

Now as far as the noise cancellation that is built into the microphones, we are going to test that out too, again without applying any software or a noise cancellation filters. If you want to hear how the microphones sound with noise cancellation click here for the sound test. The Cooler Master MH630 has no noise cancellation, which is a good thing because you have beautiful vocals, but it does pick up everything that is in your environment, like keyboard strokes. The Fnatic React doesn’t have much noise cancellation, so you can also hear the keyboard strokes in the background. The noise suppression on the Sennheiser GSP 300 is pretty decent, since it does have built-in noise cancellation via the microphone (instead of via software). It does a good job of removing sound of the keyboard noise. The noise cancellation and suppression on the Razer BlackShark V2 X headset is fair bit worse than the GSP 300, you can definitely the typing keystrokes. The noise cancellation on the ModMic UNI is pretty aggressive since it has an an actual noise cancellation capsule, it’s not the clearest though.

The Logitech G Pro X also has good noise canceling, even without Blue Vo!ce enabled. If I enable my custom Broadcaster 2 presets, and therefore also Blue Vo!ce, it once again does a good job of cancelling out all the keystrokes in the background. I would place the noise cancellation on the HyperX Cloud Orbit S in the same group as the G Pro X. Speaking of which, the G Pro X Wireless without any Blue Vo!ce enabled performs about the same as its wired cousin. The Cooler Master MH 670 does an excellent job of masking all keystrokes, it has really impressive noise cancellation. The noise cancellation on the Razer Kraken Ultimate is basically non-existent, you can clearly hear every keystroke. Also, the cable noise of this model is crazy high, I can hear that noise more than I hear myself.

The ModMic USB actually has a noise cancellation capsule, and in omni-directional mode it is trying to capture everything. If we switch to the unidirectional mode the unidirectional capsule is enabled and it compresses more of the background keyboard strokes. The omnidirectional mode sounds so much better in terms of vocal detail and clarity as the uni mode sounds a bit too compressed in my opinion. Noise cancellation on the Sennheiser PC37X is slightly present, it does try to mute out all the background keyboard strokes.

Conclusion

After thoroughly listening back to everything that I recorded a few microphones really stood out. I was quite impressed with what both the Cooler Master MH630 and the Razer BlackShark V2 X deliver in terms of vocal clarity. They are also the cheapest headsets in this roundup at $59 USD, which is awesome. The Fnatic React headset had a bit more bass, but lacked the detail that you could hear with the BlackShark V2 X or the MH 630. The PC37X had good tones, but the cable noise is actually audible in the microphone signal, which is kind of unfortunate. The GSP 300 sounds a bit subpar in comparison to the best microphones. The disappointing surprises came from ModMic, the ModMic UNI is inexplicably bad. Both of the wireless headsets – the Logitech G Pro X Wireless and the Cooler Master MH 670 – sounded pretty bad in terms of really compressed, non-detailed and far away sound. Having said that, all of our ears and headphones and audio sources are different, so you will need to listen to our recording for yourself to decided which sounds best to your ears.

Buy items in this video from Amazon below (direct buy links further below!):

Logitech G PRO X – https://geni.us/GPROX
Razer Blackshark V2X – https://geni.us/BlacksharkV2X
Cooler Master MH630 – https://geni.us/MH630
Cooler Master MH670 – https://geni.us/MH670
ModMic Uni – https://geni.us/MODUNI
Modmic USB – https://geni.us/MODUSB
GPS 300 – https://geni.us/GSP300Headset
Drop PC37X – massdrop.7eer.net/PC37X
Fnatic React – https://geni.us/FREACT
HyperX Cloud Orbit S – https://geni.us/ORBITS
Razer Kraken Ultimate – https://geni.us/KRAKENU

Buy Direct From Companies:
Logitech G PRO X Wireless – imp.i125364.net/GPROX
BlackShark V2 X – https://razer.a9yw.net/bx3EB
BlackShark V2 – https://razer.a9yw.net/zEa7m
Fnatic React – https://fnatic.sjv.io/FREACT

Check out the new Lian Li UNI SL120 Fans – http://bit.ly/UNIF120