Sennheiser is a leading name in enthusiast and professional-grade audio, and its gaming division has split off into a new company, EPOS. The EPOS GSP 602 (official site) is one of the company’s latest products, and it joins the legions of gaming-centric headsets on the market.
If you’re a gaming enthusiast, you know there are tons of headphones out there that purport to be the first or the best. These RGB-laden, bright-colored devices do their best to garner attention, but how different are they? The GSP 602, on the other hand, is relatively understated.
Design and Comfort
The design of the GSP 602 is a variation on the black and red GSP 600 and black and white GSP 601, differing from them only in color. This set of headphones sports ochre ear pads and a predominately navy blue color scheme with black trim. It manages to pull of a “gamer” aesthetic without being incredibly garish.
This headset isn’t a featherweight, but its many adjustment positions allow users to get a comfortable fit. The earphones slide down a considerable amount, and the adjustable band allows you to get the right amount of pressure to hold the headset firmly in place without making it feel like your head is being squeezed. The leatherette earpads are soft and contain cooling memory foam, which is essential on a closed-back design. In all, the headset remains comfortable to wear for multiple hours at a time.
Unfortunately, the one thing that keeps the GSP 602 from becoming daily drivers is also one of its best gaming features. The microphone is built-in and features a mute that’s triggered by flipping it up and down. This makes it extremely easy to silence your mic (and be sure that it’s actually muted), but make it look silly outside of gaming applications. I can’t hold that against the headset since it’s specifically targeted toward gaming, but it does subtract from its versatility.
Playback Performance
The EPOS GSP 602 features drivers with a wide range of 10-30,000Hz, which is average-to-above average for a gaming headset in this price range. For the most part, this headset performs admirably for the price. Listening to a wide variety of music, I only experienced a bit of distortion in the higher frequencies when the volume was cranked, and that was infrequent.
My daily drivers are AKG K702 open-back headphones. While no closed-back set will ever beat out an open-back’s sound stage, the GSP 602 actually does an outstanding job as giving a feeling of wideness to the sound. The earpads are a great design and get a good seal, preventing sound leakage and all the negatives that come with it. The pads also serve as great passive audio canceling, which helps with immersion.
Some will be disappointed by the GSP 602’s lack of surround sound, but it’s not surprising considering it doesn’t come with a DAC. It excels at stereo sound, and if you pair it with a separately purchased DAC (like the GSX 300), you can use virtual surround sound to your heart’s content.
Recording Performance
There’s a reason why pretty much every streamer uses a dedicated mic. Headset mics are terrible. It’s something we as a culture need to come to terms with. The GSP 602 is no different. When it’s plugged directly into a computer, and you use the raw audio, it’s just not good. The design is excellent; the raw output just isn’t.
However, that all changes when you pair the mic with either a DAC or decent software. I reviewed the EPOS GSX 300 alongside this headset, and the experience was transformative. I won’t say that even with a DAC, the mic on the GSP 602 is on the same level as a Blu Yeti or other performance USB mics, but it definitely provides a clarity I’m not used to experiencing.
Price
The EPOS | Sennheiser GSP 602 can be had for $219.00 right now. I think that’s a bargain for the sound quality you get. Some will think it’s too expensive, but gamers as a whole skimp on their audio. When you get a proper headset, you realize what you were missing.
Although I believe the GSP 602 is a good value, I do believe it should have been marketed with a DAC. The headset doesn’t really shine until you pair it with an external sound card that can complement its strengths and eliminate its weaknesses.
Buy EPOS | Sennheiser GSP 602 on Amazon
EPOS | Sennheiser GSP 602 Review | The Final Verdict
The GSP 602 is a refined headset that gives excellent performance for a fair price. The only caveat I’ll add is that it should be paired with a DAC for the best results. When appropriately configured, the GSP 602 can stand tall amongst its peers in the $200-300 price range, and its two-year warranty outpaces most of the competition.
