The Audio Quality of the Odyssey LCD Gx Gaming Headset

High-end details are what make the Odyssey LCD Gx gaming headset truly stand out. Whether you're listening to music or as a gamer like myself, listening for footsteps, the reproduction is incredible. The planar magnetic drivers and open-back design work together to create an immersive audio experience that rivals high-quality speakers in the room. However, there are some drawbacks to consider. For one, the open-back design means that anyone around you can hear exactly what you're listening to, which may not be ideal for gamers who want to focus on their game without distractions.

The stereo imaging and accuracy of the Odyssey LCD Gx are not compromised by its open-back design, though. The ears are designed to pick up sound from both sides, creating a wide soundstage that makes it feel like you're in the midst of the action. The audio is also incredibly lifelike, with clear and detailed sound that makes it easy to pick out individual characters and sound effects. For gamers who value immersion above all else, the Odyssey LCD Gx is definitely worth considering.

However, there are some practical considerations to keep in mind when using an open-back gaming headset like the Odyssey LCD Gx. One of the biggest issues I experienced was that I could hear everything around me, even at relatively low volumes. This meant that my partner and I had a few awkward conversations while we were gaming together, as I could easily pick up on every word they said. For some people, this may be a minor issue, but for others it may be a major drawback.

Another issue I experienced with the Odyssey LCD Gx was its comfort. The ear cups are surprisingly heavy and don't have much clamping pressure, which can make them feel loose and uncomfortable after extended wear. I found that they were okay for short periods of time, such as when I was just sitting down to record a video off the cuff, but I wouldn't recommend wearing them for long stretches of time without taking breaks.

The build quality of the Odyssey LCD Gx is also worth noting. The ear cups are made of what feels like a high-quality plastic, and they have a nice smooth finish that makes them feel comfortable against my skin. However, the flat strap across the top of my head felt a bit cheap and flimsy compared to some other gaming headsets I've used in the past.

The microphone on the Odyssey LCD Gx is another area where it falls short. While it's clear that the manufacturer put a lot of thought into designing a high-quality mic, I found that it didn't quite live up to my expectations. The included amplifier and direct audio conversion (DAC) didn't seem to make much of a difference in terms of sound quality, and I ended up having to use a separate microphone on my stream.

The inclusion of the microphone raises another question: why bother including it at all? If the mic isn't designed to be good enough for customers who are spending this kind of money on their gaming audio, then what's the point? Why not just say that it's not included in the box and save everyone a bit of trouble? It's a minor quibble, but one that I couldn't help but notice.

Despite its quirks, the Odyssey LCD Gx is still an impressive piece of hardware. The sound quality is exceptional, and the open-back design creates an immersive audio experience that's hard to beat. For gamers who value high-quality sound above all else, the Odyssey LCD Gx is definitely worth considering. However, for those who are looking for a comfortable and practical gaming headset with a good mic, there may be other options available.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- The first time I got my handson some planar magneticheadphones from Odysseywas when I treated myself toa pair of secondhand LCD twos.Now, I never made a video about thosebecause my reason forbuying them was so thatI would have somethingto use as a referencefor what truly high end sounded like.Giving me the context that I neededfor the consumer headphonesand the gaming headsetsthat I was evaluating.Fast forward a few yearsand Odyssey has broughta lot of that same technologyinto a gaming headset.This is the LCD GX.Does it have built in vibration motors?No.RGB?Also no.Dolby Digital dongle?No.But is it ludicrousoverkill in its own way?Absolutely.Origin PC just introducedmultiple courser case optionsfor their desktops and new laptopspowered by the latest Inteland in video technology.Check them out at originpc.comor at the link below.(tecno music)You know I thought thefancy case was becausethis is a reviewerskit but as it turns outit's only slightly modifiedfrom the retail one.Look at this thing, it's ridiculous.User guide and driver downloads and thena certificate ofauthenticity inspect aboutwow, that actually is signed by somethingyeah I think it is.Like what this is just a brochurethis is all their otherproducts you already got mefor the LCD GX, I don'tneed all this other stuff.Look at how cushy your cups are, Brandon.- They haven't changedtheir design language, really.- No, they really haven't, have they?They look just about identical other thanthe red gamery accents onthe air cups to the LCD twos.Instead of wood though, it's all metal.So you don't have thatthat woodgrain finishon the outsides here.About the same size adjustment mechanismthat I've never honestlybeen a huge fan ofkind of rudimentary feeling.That's the funny thing about thesehigh end headphone brands, though, right?Is that on the one hand,they are mass producing these things,but on the other, some oftheir manufacturing techniquesseem to be carryovers from when they werehand making dozens of them at a time.That is a gigantic ear cup.That is already such a large ear cutoutthat I don't touch it on any side.Curiously, unlike a lot of the headphones,they don't have a non-leather vegan optionfor the gaming skew.But this feels so nice.You can really tell when an audio productis designed to be disposableversus when it's designedto be used for many, many years.So these ear cups are wait a minute.Yeah, I don't think these areremovable, strictly speaking,you could definitely replace themby taking these off andgluing new ones on there.But yep, curiously,even though they've gota leather strap up herethat kind of looks likea suspension style headphone strap,it comes up right againstthe metal headband,so you can feel it through the top.Do I look ridiculous?Do they look too big for my head?- Yes.- Oh, well, I thought youwere gonna be nice about it.Let's have a look at the cables.- They look nice.- Okay well, that's nice.So I look ridiculously nice then?Is that what you mean to say?- Yes.- Thanks, Brandon show up at the LAN partywith one of these.Like sup, serious gamer now.- Aw, You have AirPods?(laughs)- Oh, that's adorable.Now, let's sort throughour cable situation.You don't actually need all of these.So on the bottom of eachear cup is a mini XLR.In that way you can replace the cablesthat come with it, withwhatever cables you wantor you can swap out betweenthe two that it does include.So this one right here,uses a quarter inch jackand is meant to plug intowhatever your PiFi equipment is.We're not gonna need that'cause we're gamers today folks.We're gonna be gaming.The right ear cup plugs in it as normal,and the left ear cup has actually gota little attached microphone on it.Again, no fancy featuresno mute when you lift itor indication LED on itor anything like thatit's not retractableor anything like that.It's just a pretty basic boom micwanna get that right by thecorner of your mouth there.Then we've got a simple fourpole three and 1/2 millimeterjack on the other end, which most people,if they're not plugging intoa laptop are probably going towanna plug into this splitter right hereand this is the extra piecethat came with the reviewers kit.So this is a shit hell.I know I don't make the rules,that's what the product is called.It's a shit audio hell and youplug in your two micro USBsand this is a USB Ampand DAC that also hasan input which is kind ofnice that you can hook upto your gaming laptop,or desktop, or whatever.And then you plug in your brandnew fancy pants headphonesat the front like that andyou are ready for some gaming.All right, so you think you're a gamerbut here's the thing.I lied to you guys a little bitthis isn't my first time opening these upI took them for a testdrive the other night.And the problem is thatimmediately after throwing them on,I was like, okay, well, I gotta set up OBSfor my new audio device.But why don't I throw on a playlistand I'll listen to some musicon them, before I go live.25, 35 minutes later, I'mkind of sitting there goingyeah, I'm not that much of a gamer.Do I really need to go live right now?Or should I just jam out to some tunes?Can you hear this throughthe microphone right now?- Yes.- Oh, okay,sorry about that.Also, I guess I've probably been yelling.Thing is the benefits ofplanar magnetic driversare several they are enormous, which meansthat they can move a lot of airwhich is what generates sound.And additionally, they're extremely light,like nano-layer light.So what that means is thatthey're incredibly responsiveso whether it's deep, thunderous bass,I mean the kind of thing thatyou feel rather than just hearor whether it's very highend details that you need.And whether it's whenyou're listening to musicor as a gamer likelistening for footsteps,the reproduction is incredible.They do have some drawbacks.They are open back which as you can see,even listening to music atwhat I would consider to bea high but still reasonablelevel anyone around youcan hear exactly what you've got going on.It also means that (snaps fingers)you can hear things going on around you.Now, I daily driveSennheiser HD six hundredsfor gaming, personally, which are alsoopen back headphonesand I'm happy with thatbut I would still hesitate to recommenda gaming headset that isn't closed back.Obviously from a stereo imagingand accuracy standpoint,there's no drawback the ears are designedto hear bleed over in your left earfrom what is playing to your right ear.That's how sound worksin the world around you.And a set of planar magnetic driversright next to your earholes is about as closeto great quality speakers in the roomas you can get.Odyssey rightly has aspectacular reputationin the audiophile communityfor their wide soundstage,and their lifelike audio.The issue is that it doesmake a big differenceto immersion to hear things around youunless you happen to beone of those lucky soulswho doesn't have to dealwith any ambient noise.Let's fire up a game.You know what?Sure, let's go completely tastelessand play some Duke Nukem Forever.The next thing I gottatalk about is comfort.The LCD Gxs I mean, there'sreally no way to describe themother than pretty heavyand they don't havea lot of clamping pressure.It's funny because you can seethey kind of snap righttogether like this.And it seems like they would havea lot of force but, they don't.They're kind of loose and they're actuallyvery reminiscent of the LCD twosthat even though I treated myself to them,I never ended upswitching to for daily usebecause of comfort issues.They're fine for a bitIf I was just sitting heredoing this video off the cuff,I would say these are very comfortable,like those super cushiony ear cups, great.But my problem with them isthat they're clearly designedto be worn while sitting,upright or reclined backwards,maybe while listening tomusic for a little while.And I don't see what if anything,they've adapted about theseto make the design for gamersof the vendor put a redaccent girl on the sideand microphone on here.So something that happens Ifind just sitting here gamingon a laptop, and oh look at that.And when I was using them the other night,and I went to grab something on my floor,is that they will justfall right off of my head.And it's always a balancebetween clamping pressureand strap weight.You can make up forthat with a great strap.But unfortunately, thetheory of a hammock likestrap up here, just doesn'thold up in the real worldand it feels more straplike and less hammock likeand that's 'cause I can reallyfeel the metal through it.Wearing them for two hoursin a row on the first night,the pressure points were a little bitfrom the foam in the earcups being almost too stiff,but mostly from theflat strap right acrossthe top of my head.Flat surface, roundobject, never a great ideaand I don't know why headphoneergonomics are so hard.You need a combination of the twoto really make it feel likeit's floating on your headlike some gaming headsets do so well.Man when you got great headphones,the bad voice acting sounds even worse.All right, time to punch some dudes.The audio sounds so clean though,you start to hear the characterstalking a little bit less,and the voice actors in thebooth talking a little bitlike it's almost too much.I don't mean it as a criticism.It's just something to be aware ofsomething it does getright is the temperatureeven though it's a leather type ear cup,I never really felt any excessive warmth.I guess it does help alittle bit to be open back.A bigger issue is thatI actually got a lot of complaintsabout mic quality usingthe included Amp and DACon my (murmurs) stream the other night.Now, I don't think that'sthe end of the world,I have a separate mic andUSB XLR interface for it.And honestly, so would anybodyspending this kind of moneyon their gaming audio.But I guess the issue isthat that kind of raisesthe question of if this microphoneisn't designed to be goodenough for the customerwho would buy this product,why bother includingit in the first place?Why not just say, \"Hey,if you like our products,\"just buy a pair of headphones\"and get a separate microphone.\"I don't wanna come acrossto complainy though.I don't hate this product.The LCD GXs sound amazing, as I expected.But rather than making mewant to switch to them,these ended up making me more curiousabout Odysseys lower tier Mobius,which seemed to compromiseon their classichangs off your head ergonomicsin order to cater better to gamers.Someone from the team,maybe James maybe me,I'm not sure yet is planningto take those for a test drive,At $400 my expectationsare still really high,but hopefully a lot of the cost savings isthe more plastic constructionrather than the sound quality.'Cause man once you hearsomething like this,it's like gaming headsets, eh.You know what's not eh.My (murmurs) to oursponsor, Vessi Footwear.Vessi footwear is made of100% waterproof materialusing a knit material that'sgot like this coating on itthat helps it repelwater, snow, mud and slashand all kinds of great stuff.Their diamond text material regulatesthe temperature of yourfeet helping you keep coolon hot days, and warm on cold days.And it's flexible and stretchy almost likea second pair of socks.Vessi footwear is some ofthe lightest in the worldweighing just 175 gramsfrom one of their sneakers.That's about the weight of an iPhone,and their herringbonetread pattern is designedto grip anything youwalk on, great for hikes.Antimicrobial insoles, keepyour feet smelling freshand they're available inboth women's and men's stylesin a variety of styles and colors.So check them out atVessiFootwear.com/Linustechtips.We're gonna have them linked below.If you guys enjoyed this video,maybe check out mystreaming setup upgrade.I recently set up myself witha pretty nice streaming setup.So it's pretty cool.You might wanna check it out.\n"