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Eksa E900 Pro Review Wired Headphones With Boom Microphone

Monday, August 24, 2020

Anything that you can use for multiple purposes is always going to be more useful, cheaper and more convenient to own. Take for instance, the Eksa E900 Pro, which is a multi-functional gaming headset that you can use for voice recording, mobile gaming, listening to music, zoom chat, gaming on a computer and console gaming.
The neat thing about the Eksa E900 Pro is that it connects two ways - via USB and headphone jack - so, you can use the Eksa E900 Pro cross-platform with a computer and video games consoles with headphone jack such as PS4, Xbox One S and Xbox One X.You can even use it with the original Xbox One console, although you will need an Xbox stereo headset adapter (not included) because the original Xbox controller does not have a headphone jack.
Before getting an Xbox adapter though, it's worth knowing that you can buy a new Xbox One controller with headphone jack, which will actually cost cheaper than getting the official Xbox stereo headset adapter. The Eksa E900 Pro is not compatible with Xbox 360 and PS3. Thanks to the 3.5mm audio connectivity, the Eksa E900 Pro also works "plug-n-play" with smartphones without the need of an OTG dongle. The E900 Pro 50mm drivers are very sensitive (up to 118dB) and low impedance (32 ohm); hence you can drive them to very good fidelity without the need of an external amplifier. That said, the sound output will depend on a the internal amp of your smartphone. The LG V60 smartphone has currently the highest amp output.


If your phone doesn't have the best amplifier, you can always get a headphone amp/DAC for mobile gaming. For PC gaming, most newer computers should be able to deliver enough "oomph" to power the Eksa E900 Pro to its full potential. The audio dynamics are superb and you can tweak the sound to your liking via the Eksa Audio Center desktop software, which you can download free from Eksa's website.
The Eksa Audio Center replaces the old Eksa Surround 7.1 software with a cleaner user interface, although not yet intuitive as some settings are hidden. There is currently two icons: speaker volume and microphone volume for controlling the volume output of the headphones and microphone. You can access more settings by right clicking on the speaker icon and microphone icon.
Some cool features you can enable from the software include 7.1 speaker shifter to make the virtual sound closer or further to you. There is also a 10-band equalizer with 12 presets, sample rate setting (44.1kHz or 48kHz) and Xear SingFX for altering the voice pitch.
The Eksa E900 Pro integrates 7.1 surround sound effect, which is emulated through software; hence the term virtual surround. Most gaming headsets use virtual surround with only a tiny number of headphones using "true surround", which requires having multiple drivers embedded in the earcups. Multiple drivers in earcups is not as common in headphones as it's in in-ear earphones and, one of the reasons is price. Multiple driver headphones are way more expensive, making them hard to compete in a sea of very good and very affordable gaming headphones.
There is a huge debate whether true surround (via multiple drivers) is better than virtual surround via software emulation, although the fact that most 7.1 sound gaming headsets on the market use software emulation probably ends the debate. The Eksa E900 Pro delivers good spatial imaging that makes the soundstage feel wider than it is. The Eksa E900 Pro headset can only deliver 7.1 surround sound via the USB port because the current TRS/TRRS standard doesn't permit 7.1 surround sound delivery via a 3.5mm headphone jack. The E900 Pro virtual surround is only available for Windows computers (not Macs) and requires the download of an additional driver.
The Eksa E900 Pro are wired headphones with a single entry cable design via the left earcup; hence the wiring from the right driver runs across the headband into the left earcup where the USB-C headphone jack and 3.5mm headphone jack are located. The speaker driver wiring is exposed in both earcups, which is very common so, a lot of headphones tend to have this "exposed wiring" design.
In some headphones, the exposed earcup wiring is straight while in other headphones, like the Eksa E900 Pro, the exposed wiring is coiled like a telephone handset cord, which has the advantage of reducing wear as the wires can freely stretch. The Eksa E900 Pro earcups have a classic headphone yoke, which allows the earcups to tilt up and down. Some headphone yokes are deigned to allow the earcups to swivel left and right and also fully rotate inside out.
Some headphone yokes are made of plastic, while other headphone yokes, like the Eksa E900 Pro, are flat and made of anodized steel metal. The headband itself measures 3.5cm wide and, it's made of plastic and covered with artificial leather material and a large Eksa etching on top. The underside of the headband has very squishy memory foam padding similar to the new E910 5.8Ghz wireless headset.
The E900 Pro earpads have 2cm-thick memory foam padding covered with soft artificial leather and have an oval shape. The inner hole measures 6.5cm tall, 2cm deep and 3.5cm wide, while the outer measurements of the earpad are 10cm tall and 7cm wide. The E900 Pro are very comfortable to wear without sweatiness for a solid couple of hours of gaming. The low weight (255 grams) and low clamping force of the headset also helps.
The front panel of the Eksa E900 Pro earcups features perforated and concave perforated metal mesh with led lighting built-in at the centre. The led lights up a single color red on both earcups and will only light up when connected via the USB cable. The led cannot be turned off. The metal mesh on the earcups is just for aesthetics though because the Eksa E900 Pro are closed back headphones. The red ring around the mid-frame of the earcup is rubberized, while the earcup housing is made of hard plastic.
As far as button controls go, they are all integrated on-board the left earcup rather than in-line the audio cable. It is down to preference but, having the controls on the earcup instead of inline means no extra weight weighing down the audio cable. Control buttons include a mute switch to disable the sound of the microphone, which is located on a detachable and flexible boom arm that weighs 9 grams and measures 12cm long. The boom mic features a removable foam microphone cover too.
The type of microphone used is an electret condenser capsule unit similar in size (6 x 2.77 mm diameter) to a desktop microphone and very good sounding too. The microphone has an omni-directional pick-up pattern with noise-cancellation. You can adjust the volume and further tweak sound quality of the microphone
A headphone stand is also included, which adds to the value of the headset. The stand weighs 100 grams and, it is made with a rounded, hard plastic base (with rubber feet), steel metal bar (20.5cm long) and rubberized top support, which measures 8cm long and 5cm wide. The stand easily disassembles and assembles into three parts. The steel metal bar is anodized and measures 1cm thick. The base support has an 11cm diameter so, it's wide enough to support the weight of the headphones securely without falling.
A few other accessories include an Eksa-branded thick PU leather drawstring pouch (weighs 84 grams) for storing the gaming headset. The 3.5mm headphone cable weighs 25 grams, measures 1.30 meters long and, it integrates a twist lock at one terminal to secure it to the headset.
The boom microphone 3.5mm connector is also reinforced with a thick hard plastic plug to prevent damaging the connector. The USB-A to USB-C cable weighs 34 grams, measures 1.50 meters long and, it's unbranded. The 3.5mm audio splitter included measures 19cm long. You can buy the Eksa E900 Pro on amazon.

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