When I get to play a game, it’s a better experience when the audio supports the content. For example, RPGs tend to have really good sound effects and epic music composition that seems to carry you on your quest or journey. Even some FPS utilize very realistic weapons and action audio samples. If the headset I’m wearing isn’t up to par, it completely robs the game of its awesomeness.
Func, a manufacturer of some very appealing gaming accessories, announced their new HS-260 Gaming headset a few weeks ago. And, today, we’ve got the test results from not only my experience, but the experience of local gamers’ that I’ve had the privilege of corroborating with on this review. Have a look and see if the HS 260 is something your ears will love.
Features and Specifications
The Func HS-260 produces audio through a set of sizable 50mm 32 ohm drivers, one in each closed ear cup. The drivers are rated to carry 20-20,000 hz frequencies to your ear. At 20hz, there typically isn’t a lot of deep bass on open headsets, but enclosed tend to focus the response more efficiently to the ear. 20 khz is a good conservative range for higher frequencies as it’s commonly accepted that we can’t discern many higher frequencies. Audiophiles will of course scoff at this notion. That said, we’ve heard good quality conservative drivers like the ones here create impressive results.
A 3.5mm cable comes with the headset, and is braided throughout its 3M length. It’s not too long that you’re going to hanging yourself or a passerby, but it’s plenty long enough to route anywhere regardless of where your computer is sitting. The mic looks to be fairly standard, but isn’t noise cancelling. The mute function is actually on the mic itself, which mutes when slid forward. The mic boom flexes nicely holding just about every position.
What’s in the Box?
The headset presentation is done well, after opening the box Underneath the headset and mic, you’ll find two ear cup replacements, 3 meter long braided analog cable, and a manual with set up notes. This is a very simple plug-in-and-play headset so you won’t need the manual at all unless you can’t figure out where the mic goes, or can’t find the mic mute switch, or can’t locate the volume wheel. That is covered in the next two sections.
Given the extras, accessory and head set quality at a glance, FUNC’s flag ship headset isn’t set at too high of an asking price. Users will be able to purchase the HS 260 for $79.99 USD starting at NewEgg US. I suspect that there is room to wiggle at that cost so don’t be surprised if you see it for less online.
Features and Design
The FUNC HS-260 is a very attractive gun metal on black themed headset. The ear cups and some of the head band are covered with a matte black rubber material. The head band appears to have a wide metal band hidden inside that helps hold its shape. Light weight plastics cover all of the head band as well. About a 1/2 inch thick neoprene like cloth covers the head band, and is used for padding. The ear cups extend down the head band an inch and a quarter. The fit is relatively snug at all positions and will fit any size head.
Looking at the ear cups, you can actually see that it’s not completely physically enclosed. An attractive chrome external frame sits on top of the driver housing which sits another 1/2 inch underneath. This creates a vented speaker box of sorts. Depending on the space and thickness of the inside cup housing, it may or may not allow sound through or frequencies escape.
We’ll find out soon enough in the testing we have in store for it.
Connectivity and Audio Control
The speakers are connected via a removable analog 3.5mm male to dual-male jack. The single end plugs in to the base of either ear cup. This is a pretty great feature since some gamers like a different mic and cord placement. Naturally, the other two ends plug into your system’s analog audio main and mic out ports. It’s great to see Func provide the flexibility in this respect.
Audio is controlled with a thumb dial on the left ear cup. It’s not very big nor sticks out very far. The dial won’t easily be damaged from rigorous use. However, it will take a little practice getting accustomed to locating it from touch. The same can be said for the mic mute switch. It slides and clicks into place relatively easily, but may require two hands to activate.
Testing Method
I have many different headsets and speaker sets that can sound very good, or very bad depending on the audio source. And, that is the key when testing audio products. For this round of testing, I chose to use audio CODECS that would represent the price range of casual eclectic gamers. An integrated Creative X-Fi on a GIGABYTE G1 Killer Sniper 5, Realtek ALC1150 on an ASUS Z87 Dexluxe, and an ASUS Xonar DG audio card were used as audio sources. The Sniper 5’s audio is very comparable to the lab’s X-Fi card which, unfortunately, isn’t working properly. Otherwise, these are effective common audio sources gamers should be using if they want to really hear their games.
To gauge the FUNC HS-260’s audio quality, wet compared it to gaming headsets such as the Corsair Vengeance 1500, Tritton AX 180, Asus Orion, Turtle Beach Z2, and Thermaltake Cronos. Myself and several different gamers evaluated the headset. We used music from orchestras, game composition sets, and various mainstream music as well as RPG, MMO, and FPS games. Clarity, volume, noise, comfort, mic, and quality were the attributes rated.
Testing Results
Compared to other comparably priced headsets, the FUNC HS-260 offers a relatively decent audio experience. In default audio configuration settings, the HS 260 seemed a little flat and a bit like you were listening to audio coming out of a tube which is sometimes called the “tin can” effect. That effect robs the headset a bit of the mid-range frequencies, or voices commonly associated with RPG and MMOs. However, the headset sounds much better once you tune the EQ which often is the case with a lot of headsets out of the box. In fact, the headset actually produced some surprisingly solid bass during explosions and crashes in the RPGs and FPS games.
The mic on the other hand isn’t very sensitive and sounds flat. I checked the connection multiple times as well as swapped ear cup ports, but the results were the same. The mic settings had to be increased to 50% to be easily understood. Like many other analog microphones, mic boost is your friend. A redeeming attribute, given the mic design, is that ambient noise doesn’t make it in when chatting or calling out targets.
The FUNC HS-260 are the heaviest in the group tested. Despite the nice padding along the headband, the headset wears on you more quickly than the others. After about an hour, a small pressure point had developed where the pad makes contact with the head. The more you move your head, the more you will tend to notice this. The pad kind of comes to a curved point rather than spreading out like that of the Vengeance 1500, for comparision.
Final Thoughts
The FUNC HS-260 is a very attractive, yet good quality headset. It doesn’t exactly say ‘I’m a gamer’ but that wasn’t the goal of the design. There are plenty of gamers who don’t care for bright colors or gimmicky themes. Quite a few gamers appreciate style and sophistication. Really, all any gamer really cares about is whether or not the headset is a good, comfortable, design and whether the audio quality is enjoyable.
That said, the FUNC HS 260 seemed a little on the quiet side using both default integrated and external audio sources. That lower sensitivity robs a little mid range when playing MMO/RPG and FPS games as well as when listening to music. It’s possible some of the audio is escaping through the ear cup. However, a little EQ tuning transforms the headset providing a stout, clean audio experience. In fact, cranking the volume happily remedies quite a bit of what’s missing. In the end, the best results came from pairing the HS 260 with a capable audio source like the ASUS Xonar DG, which has its own built in headphone amplifier.
Ultimately, the FUNC HS 260 is a respectable gaming headset with integrated audio and an even better headset when paired with the right audio source. It is quite attractive, well made, comes with replacement ear cup covers, offers ambidextrous cable and mic connectivity, and only costs $79.99 US MSRP, which means it falls in a respectable price/performance void. All of which, are gamer approved items on the checklist, which gives us the ability to recommend them for your next online battle.
Pros
- Good quality construction
- Attractive high end design
- 3 meter long braided cable
- Cable and mic plug in to either ear cup
- $79.99 US/CA MSRP is a good price
Cons
- Mic mute switch not quick to find
- Mic not very sensitive or noise cancelling
- Somewhat flat audio without tuning or good audio source
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
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