Sony InZone H6 Air MDR-G600

Pros

• Excellent audio and mic quality
• Very lightweight and comfortable
• A lot of size leeway for headband, so good for smaller heads

Cons

• Relatively expensive
• Not a lot of mic settings

On paper, Sony's InZone H6 Air sounds like a typical analog gaming headset at an atypical $200 price tag. But when you factor in the excellent audio quality and smart, open-back design, the high cost becomes a little easier to handle. A discount would make it even more attractive.

Open-back headphones, characterized by ventilated earcups, tend to be pricier than closed-back models, to some extent because the market is dominated by audiophile brands like Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic. Like all headsets, though, they can run from cheap to expensive. An open-back design generally delivers better, more neutral sound quality, partly because the aeration prevents the sound from bouncing around within the enclosure. 

Sony's InZone H6 Air headset really delivers on sound -- unsurprising since it's based on the drivers of Sony's MDR-MV1 Studio Monitor headphones, which run about $400. The headset produces a sonorous bass, clear mids and highs, with low distortion, precise separation and a broad soundstage. I usually have to tweak equalizer settings in gaming headsets for music, but these sound great without it.

That makes them particularly suited to games with melodious soundtracks, like Clair Obscur. The InZone Hub offers a handful of EQ presets, surround audio (Sony's 360 Spatial Sound for Gaming) and a new Immersive preset targeted at RPGs and Action games. 

For best results, I liked combining the surround with one of the FPS presets to better isolate the effects from behind, especially with a soundtrack that can overwhelm, like the one from Doom Eternal.

The mic is really good, too. There's no noise canceling, but it's narrowly directional. It picked up some soft typing and some fan noise from my desktop right next to me, but not my noisy air purifier to the left. I prefer it to noise canceling because the sound doesn't suffer from compression and processing artifacts. And the audio from it sounds really good. Full and warm.

I wish, though, that the software had more mic controls than just sidetone volume -- most importantly EQ, so I could increase clarity for chat or customize the sound for streaming or recording. 

The headset includes a detachable 3.5mm analog cable and a USB-C adapter. As with all analog headsets, you've got to use the USB adapter to access the settings in the InZone Hub software. 

Those include the various equalizer presets for gaming, which predominantly boost the mids or highs and reduce the lows to provide greater clarity for voices and effects like footsteps or gunshots. You can also create custom presets. But you can only get them in software -- you can't download them to the headset, for example, to use with the 3.5mm connection.

The same goes for surround audio and mic sidetone control. It's not an unusual restriction, but one you should be aware of if you plan to connect, say, to an Xbox via the controller, or if you don't want to keep the software loaded while you play.

So comfy

I really like the headset design. All that empty space plus the aluminum construction also makes it exceptionally lightweight -- only 199 grams without the mic (it's removable) or 217 grams with, less than half a pound either way. But it still feels sturdy.

Open-back ventilation helps reduce the air pressure on my ears, something which more sound-isolating designs exacerbate, and helps alleviate ear sweats: I appreciated that as the temperature at my desk hit 84 degrees Fahrenheit while testing them.

The cushion covers feel like a light nylon, and while the padding's comfortable, it's not very deep or firm, similar to the lighter HyperX Cloud 3 models. The earcups rotate fully in either direction, which also helps reduce pressure.

You have quite a bit of latitude with the headband adjustment. It slides smoothly along the frame, and while I don't know at the moment how durable the mechanism is, it's one of the few that fits my head comfortably without relying on side pressure to hold it in place. Extended to full depth, it fits over the top hair clip I normally have to remove when I put on a headset.

There aren't many controls, just a volume dial and a mic mute button. The mute is in an unusual spot at the top of the left earcup, but it's big and easy to feel.

While I wish the headset had a larger feature set for the money, the comfort and quality go a long way toward softening the blow, especially compared to more convenient wireless headsets. 

If Sony's InZone H6 Air headset is discounted even a little after launch, it will definitely be a compelling option.