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[Review] Plantronics RIG 500E. With a passion for games

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Plantronics has a separate line of headsets with a pure gaming focus. Anyone who is interested in gaming events, in particular, CS: GO discipline, has certainly seen Plantronics headsets flashing here and there. As time goes on, the company has new and more advanced models. The review will discuss the company's top headset - Plantronics RIG 500E.





Box and equipment



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The headset comes in a very nicely decorated large and neat cardboard box with PET plastic windows. The box is decorated in calm black and blue colors, has some remarkable details, is not replete with information, but all the main characteristics and chips are shown on the edges of the box. The front of the image is embossed, and in addition to this, the headset itself is visible through the window. Behind a more detailed description, including in Russian. It is indicated that the headset is approved by the ESL organization - Endorsed by ESL nameplates are found on all sides of the box.



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Inside the box on a pedestal of PET plastic unassembled headset rests with all the equipment. The package bundle is quite rich: a headband with a moving inner part, two pairs of headphones, two pairs of interchangeable ear cushions, a removable microphone, two connection cables (analog cable and digital usb cable) and a set of all kinds of papers. Good set. Well, except that the little case is not enough, for sure there are a lot of people who need this headset with them on the road.



Design, appearance, modular design



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Plantronics RIG 500E - modular headset with two pairs of covering headphones; Each pair has its own acoustic design: closed and open. In each pair of ears are exactly the same dynamics, only the acoustic design and type of ear cushions differ. The frequency range - 20 Hz - 20 000 Hz, the mass of the headset (headband + a pair of headphones) - about 200 grams (excluding cable), the impedance - 32 ohms. Due to the different connection options - analog and digital - the headset is compatible with most devices: PCs, smartphones, consoles, and so on.



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At first glance it may seem like a lot of things at once. But, pretty quickly you come to the conclusion that this is perhaps the best set. In fact, the user gets an extremely simple and intuitive designer with a minimum of details and maximum possibilities. Two pairs of ears, two pairs of ear cushions - four different types of socks. Yes, ear cushions are interchangeable.



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The trick is that there are closed and open cups, as well as leatherette soundproof ear cushions and soundproof ventilated fabric ear cushions. Variable. Where you need to hear everything - closed cups + leatherette embouchures; where you just want to rest your ears, and insulation is not so important - open ears with cloth ear cushions. Each pair of headphones has a microphone jack. I will describe all usage scenarios in detail.



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The headset looks pretty modern and technologically. A simple design, a slightly catchy and unusual appearance is immediately noticed by the eye. Headband, headphones and microphone are made mostly of plastics, mostly of matte.



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The design of the headphones has a plastic frame and a hanging frame with a free stroke, which automatically adjusts to any head size. Well, until the crown finally rests against the frame of the headphones.



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The frame has attachment points for cups, and they are made in such a way that the design of the headphones is as comfortable as possible for any user. In total, the frame has three holes for fastenings on each side.



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Closed headphones cups are made of black matte textured plastic. This chip carries a rather decorative function, however, when putting the headset on the head, fingers on such a surface do not slip. The bottom of the cups is made of smooth matte plastic.



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Open cups are made predominantly of matte plastic with a less tangible relief, and this combination is complemented by glossy inserts. Also on the lids of the cups you can see a blue mesh, allowing you to determine the type of acoustic design.



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Each of the headphones cups has a mount made on plastic hinges. These two “dots” on the lid of the cup are pressed inward and fastened to the frame of the headset. Next to the mount are located inserts of dense polyurethane foam for a more secure fixation of each headphone and to prevent knocking and chatter when the cup touches the headset frame.



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Since the design of the headset is modular, each cup in its pair has a separate wire for connection. The wires are quite thin, wrapped in a smooth matte sheath. At the outlet of the cup, the wire has tough bending protection



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On the left cup of each pair of headphones, traditionally for this kind of device, there is a microphone input. For a more reliable fit of the microphone, a plastic pin is provided, although the microphone even without this mount sits quite securely in the cup.



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The cushions on the closed cups are made of ordinary leatherette, although the material is rather soft to the touch. Inside the ear cushions there is an elastic foam.



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The situation is the same with fabric ear cushions, with the only difference being that everything outside is upholstered with a dull and a little more soft-touch fabric. Mount the ear cushion goes all around the perimeter of the cup, but when replacing the ear cushions there are no difficulties: to give up one set to another is a matter of one minute.



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Inside the cups is a nylon mesh painted with an ESL logo. In none of the pairs the net touches the ears.



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The headband is made of two parts: the frame is made of matte slightly rough plastic and the inner movable part for landing on the head.



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The inner part is upholstered with a cloth and fastens on rubber bands, from which bracelets are usually made. The inner part can be removed, thereby maximizing the space for landing on the head.



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The microphone is made of hard glossy plastic and a flexible rubber part, with which the distance to the mouth is adjusted. The flexible part remembers the shape well, so the microphone adapts well to itself. The microphone has a simple switch-off mechanism: when you lift the microphone all the way up, you can hear a low click, notifying you that the microphone no longer works. The microphone turns on immediately, it is only necessary to lower it slightly from the vertical position. Excellent solution - no additional controls. So if you do not bring the microphone all the way up, it will continue to work.



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It comes with two wires for connecting a headset, which, in fact, are headphone extension cables. Not all the connectors are shown in the picture, but all connections are clearly shown. Each of the wires is wrapped in a matte smooth sheath; The wires are flexible, they quickly become straightened, but at first they have the effect of a wave.



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The first wire - analog connection - is designed to work with mobile devices, has a length of 1.2 meters and ends with a 4-pin 3.5 mm L-shaped plug.



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The second wire - digital connection via USB - works with a PC, has a length of 1.7 meters, a large control panel with a button to activate the 7.1-channel mode and ends with a conventional USB connector. The total length of the wires will be slightly longer, since the wires of the cups are 0.3 meters long. I wonder why such a big console? As much as 8 cm. It is likely that the filling inside is responsible not only for virtual surround sound.



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The performance of the headset leaves a very pleasant impression. Simple and practical materials, modular design with wide acoustic capabilities, soft ear cushions and extremely low weight. Someone may not be satisfied with the external "gaming" type of headset, but here it’s a matter of taste, all the more you should understand the target audience for which this headset is intended.



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There are a couple of comments about the design: I would like a more clearly marked position when turning off the microphone (earlier triggering, a stronger click), as well as hinges for attaching cups made of plastic. It is very possible that with frequent changes the plastic joints will be damaged (on the cups, on the frame), and therefore the cups will fall out of the frame.



Ease of fit, ergonomics, noise insulation



The headset is sitting very confidently on my head. In any cups and with any ear cushions, I practically do not feel it on my head, but even with a strong shake of the head, the headset remains confidently sitting in its place. Plays a role and weight, and landing, and rather deep cups, which cover ears well.



The headband of the headset does not press on the head at all, the cups do not press on the head either, but the size of the cups is too small, and therefore I feel how the upper part and earlobe touches each ear cushion. After a while, ears of leatherette leather ear cushions begin to bleed (parts of the ear become uncomfortable on the top, or a lobe flows), so sitting in them for days on end will not work. Yet the relatively small size of the cups played a role here. With fabric ear cushions, everything is much nicer - they are not felt by the ears, the ears do not sweat in them and almost do not numb, and therefore they can be in a much longer time without a break.



Noise at the headphones - a separate topic for conversation. Consider all 4 options.





Testing: sound in games, music, microphone



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What is good - Plantronics themselves indicate their frequency response for two pairs of headphones at once. But, as I understand it, closed headphones are considered here with leatherette ear pads, and open ones with cloth ones. It is noticeable that any pair of headphones is characterized by a V-shaped frequency response with a visible rise in the upper frequency range.



The headphones feel the microphone effect well, you just have to pull any of the wires on the headphone cup. It is quite tolerant, but still noticeable. The good news is that it is felt only where the wires come out of the cups. After the connector you can pull the wires as much as you like - there will be no effect.



Since this is already a gaming headset, then first of all the bet is placed on the sound in games. Shooters, I would even say, because the outcome of the battle often depends on the sound picture heard. The baptism of the headset took place in CS: GO. Considered all 4 use cases.





Such are the cases. It turns out that the lion's share of sound in these headphones depends on the ear cushions. In my opinion, the best option - closed headphones + leatherette ear cushions. Better for shooters not to come up.



Now about the music


I leave only two options: closed + leatherette + and open + fabric. Which go by default. Since the difference when changing cups is very small, it makes sense to consider only these two options. By the way, I listened to all 4 possible options, but to describe the nature of the sound, two will suffice for me.





Microphone


The microphone captures everything around, including the sounds outside the window. So partial background noise is still present.I don’t know if a windscreen is installed inside the microphone, but even when I brought it close to my mouth I didn’t observe overloads. It is likely that the receiver hole is very small, and in order to create strong interference it is necessary to blow it well into it, which, of course, no one will do. In general, the microphone transmits the voice well and quite naturally, keeping its character, but slightly changing the color. No mechanization. Even with a close location of the microphone, some whistling and hiccup sounds stand out against the general background, but this is also uncritical. In general, a good microphone for voice recording, but for more it is not enough. And from him this is not required.



Software: virtual surround sound



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Briefly about the software: EQ, EQ presets, 7.1 virtual surround sound mode, microphone display. All in one window, there is no Russian language.



Two things: the 7.1 mode will not work without the installed software, and the software will not work without connecting the headset via USB.



Virtual 7.1 sound mode works quite tolerably, but in games the sense of distance is lost. That is, what is happening far away, I hear quite well, but at the same time what is happening close up, I hear exactly the same and at about the same loudness. Therefore, in situations where it is necessary to understand and assess the distance to the enemy, the regime does not work well. But the overall sound picture becomes more spatial. In music - overload and slotting. Everything is as usual here - there is no good virtual sound when listening to music.



As a good effect in games, it can and will, but for the rest it is no good. Good stereo, once again, is better than any virtual mode. With open cups, the effect of the surrounding space is even better. But, again, all this is at the expense of proper positioning. So the mode is suitable for casual games or movies, in other cases it is better not to use it.



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But with the help of an equalizer, you can tweak those frequencies that are not enough in open cups, and slightly lower those that stick out with closed cups. By default, there are three permanent equalizer settings; all other settings can be selected by the user and saved as a separate installation.



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You can also adjust the sensitivity level of the microphone.

Very simple and visual software.



findings



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Headset Plantronics RIG 500E was able to surprise. Ergonomics and overall quality of performance are here at a good level. The main distinctive feature is the ability to choose the acoustic design of headphones and ear cushions to your taste. But this does not pass without a trace: you get two pairs of headphones at once (the most expensive part of the headphones is the speakers), and therefore you will have to put up with not the highest sound quality.



In general, the headset shows itself very well in games and movies, but not in the best way it is suitable for listening to music. In general, this is understandable, because the headset has a pure game orientation. Therefore, if you do not care about the music, the headset will be an excellent versatile option for every day. And on the road, and at home.



The price of the headset at the time of writing is about 8,000 rubles.



pros



Minuses



Special features

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/395791/



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