Creative HS-450 Communications Headset

What?! David Hollingworth can’t hear you! He’s testing headphones!

This latest headphone effort from Creative fills a handy little gap in their range, sitting just below the awkward to type Fatal1ty range, and sitting above some of the company’s cheaper options. Sixty bucks isn’t a lot to ask for a good sound (or even a sound sound experience – get it? No? Sorry…) experience, but does the HS-450 tend toward its cheaper brother or its higher-end cousin?

We’re quite pleased – and a little surprised, to say that these ‘phones are really quite good.

The HS-450 is pretty basic in design – simple black plastic, flouro trim and mic boom arm – but there a couple of flourishes that set it apart. The over-ear design features velour (Elvis would be proud) foam padding and has a real retro hi-fi feel. It clamps tightly – possibly too-tightly if you are large of head (like me –ed) – over your head and even during the most heated of tactical discussions or raid strategising it’ll be hard to shift. It also features a good 2.5m cord with an in-line volume and mic controls.

It’s pretty solid in the sound stakes, too. The headphones are unsealed, so the odd cry of “Screw you n00b!” or explosion may leak through to annoy others, but at least those sounds will be nice and crisp for the person actually intended to hear them. The high end is bit of a weak point, especially listening to music with a lot of crisp notes. Bass and middle range is good though, especially in gaming.

The microphone is perfectly serviceable for yelling at people, but it’s certainly not high-quality. Then again, you’re not really paying for high quality.

For the price these are a remarkably good choice for gamers who don’t lean toward high quality sound reproduction. They’re okay for casual music use, too, but if that’s your main reason to use headphones you’d be better off looking elsewhere (and possibly paying more, too). Still, a versatile set of headphones for general PC use.