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Reviews Rocketfish USB Gaming Headset

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The gap between cheap and inexpensive widens to a yawning chasm when you’re talking audio gear, which is why we’re so pleasantly surprised with the Rocketfish gaming headset. We didn’t realize this was a Best Buy private-label product until after we’d given it a listen, but we’re glad we didn’t dismiss it out of hand.

The Rocketfish headset looks much more expensive than its $50 price tag would imply, despite being fabricated primarily from plastic, thanks to earcups and a mic stalk that are wrapped in a matte black, rubber-like skin accented by glossy red stripes. The stalk is flexible, but non-removable (it pivots up out of the way when you don’t need it).

The mic supposedly has noise-cancellation technology built in, but we weren’t impressed with its filtering capabilities: It picked up plenty of both environmental and breathing noise. Despite that criticism, the mic sounded better than those that came with some of the more expensive headsets we’ve reviewed lately.

The Rocketfish delivers surprisingly deep bass response, and it sounds much better than we expected from headphones in this price range. The oval ear cups both pivot and spin, rendering them comfortable for long gaming sessions, and they do a good job of isolating your ears from outside noise. We found them to be just a bit small for our ears, but they still prevented audio from leaking out.

A volume control consisting of a thumb wheel and a slightly awkward slider switch for muting the mic is located on the generously long 9-foot USB cable. This is the best headset we’ve seen for gamers on a budget; in fact, the only feature on the Rocketfish that really passes for cheap is the cheesy elastic suspension headband

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The Rocketfish USB Gaming Headset looks and sounds much better than what you'd expect from a $50 product.

Rocketfish USB Gaming Headset
www.rocketfishproducts.com
plus
Piranha

Good looks; great price/performance ratio.

minus
Snakehead

Cheap elastic headband; poor noise-cancellation.

verdict:8

COMMENTS
avatarKick ASS

These are the first headphones I have used that don't hurt my ears after wearing them for a long time. Very comfortable for people with large ears.
I got these of eBay for 15 bucks, best money I have ever spent, would buy another pair even if I had to pay $50 for them.
Cons: The microphone does tend to pick a bit of background noise and breathing. USB connection I cant use my Creative extreme gamer sound card, but does sound better than on board audio.

Would recommend to anyone.

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avatarThis is amazing.

This is an extremely well designed headset for it's cost. The elastic headband may be cheap but damn, it is comfertable. I would imagine even with glasses that this headset is a "best buy."

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avatarComfortable with Glasses?

I have yet to find a headset that isn't a pain in the....ear. How comfortable is the Rocketfish for someone with glasses?
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