Logitech PlayGear Mod
Written by John Yan on 6/22/2005 for
PSP
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Logitech PlayGear Mod
Logitech’s PSP products continue to expand and I was able to see what they had lined up at E3. We’ve got two products that are geared towards the PSP crowd from them and today we’re going to take a look at the headphone set first.
The PlayGear Mod are headphones branded to match the sleek style of the Sony PSP. As you can see from the picture, looks like it’s just a behind the head design. The one piece design uses a shiny black polycarbonate that ends in two ear pieces that encase 30mm neodymium drivers. One wire hangs from the left side down that extends about 4.5 feet and ends with a gold plated 1/8” plug.
On each of the earpiece, there’s a plastic ring that has a loop to hang on your ears. The product also comes with two plastic rings without the loop if you choose to not use the rings and want just to have the pressure of the band keep it on your head. Logitech also included some extra ear piece coverings so that if they wear out you have another set to keep you going.
Behind the ear headphones usually rely on some sort of hooking mechanism to your ear to keep it on. The PlayGear Mod has the plastic loops to do this but the headphones mostly rely on pressure on your ears to keep it in place. Because of this, I found my ears would tire out a lot easier than the traditional behind the ear headphones. The pressure would start hurting me ears after half an hour of usage. Given that I can use my other ones for my full eight ours of work while I had to take off the PlayGear Mod periodically, that didn’t bode too well for long term usage of the product. I tried stretching out the band a bit to help alleviate the pressure. You might get used to it and I’ve found that it’s taking me some time to allow me to use the product at longer periods. You might not even have the problem that I do though. Either way, the comfort level of the product can start out, well, discomforting.
While the comfort level of the product needs some work, the sound coming from them is pretty good. The PlayGear Mod’s sound from the two 30mm neodymium drivers deliver good mids and highs with a very respectable bass. From movies to music, the headphones had a good range of sound but as with most headphones of this type and price range, the mids and highs were a lot better than the bass. Also, since it’s an open design whereby there’s no covering around your ears to help keep the sound from escaping before it hits your ears, the product is best used in a low traffic area. That’s not to say you can’t take it out to the public with lots of ambient noise, but you’ll have to crank your PSP up to really hear it well enough. Comparing to my various headphones, the PlayGear Mod stood out well and produced good sound.
If you want headphones to match the style of your PSP, the Logitech PlayGear Mod will suite you well. The quality of the sound is pretty good but the problem is if you will be using the product heavily. It can be a bit unconformable during prolonged use at the beginning though but you might get used to it. The price is a little bit more than similar style headphones from other companies as well. Overall, Logitech’s offering will satisfy those that want to coordinate with their PSP and want good sound but won’t be wearing them for long periods of time.
On each of the earpiece, there’s a plastic ring that has a loop to hang on your ears. The product also comes with two plastic rings without the loop if you choose to not use the rings and want just to have the pressure of the band keep it on your head. Logitech also included some extra ear piece coverings so that if they wear out you have another set to keep you going.
Behind the ear headphones usually rely on some sort of hooking mechanism to your ear to keep it on. The PlayGear Mod has the plastic loops to do this but the headphones mostly rely on pressure on your ears to keep it in place. Because of this, I found my ears would tire out a lot easier than the traditional behind the ear headphones. The pressure would start hurting me ears after half an hour of usage. Given that I can use my other ones for my full eight ours of work while I had to take off the PlayGear Mod periodically, that didn’t bode too well for long term usage of the product. I tried stretching out the band a bit to help alleviate the pressure. You might get used to it and I’ve found that it’s taking me some time to allow me to use the product at longer periods. You might not even have the problem that I do though. Either way, the comfort level of the product can start out, well, discomforting.
While the comfort level of the product needs some work, the sound coming from them is pretty good. The PlayGear Mod’s sound from the two 30mm neodymium drivers deliver good mids and highs with a very respectable bass. From movies to music, the headphones had a good range of sound but as with most headphones of this type and price range, the mids and highs were a lot better than the bass. Also, since it’s an open design whereby there’s no covering around your ears to help keep the sound from escaping before it hits your ears, the product is best used in a low traffic area. That’s not to say you can’t take it out to the public with lots of ambient noise, but you’ll have to crank your PSP up to really hear it well enough. Comparing to my various headphones, the PlayGear Mod stood out well and produced good sound.
If you want headphones to match the style of your PSP, the Logitech PlayGear Mod will suite you well. The quality of the sound is pretty good but the problem is if you will be using the product heavily. It can be a bit unconformable during prolonged use at the beginning though but you might get used to it. The price is a little bit more than similar style headphones from other companies as well. Overall, Logitech’s offering will satisfy those that want to coordinate with their PSP and want good sound but won’t be wearing them for long periods of time.
The sound is good but the headphones are just too uncomfortable.
Rating: 7.5 Above Average
* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.
About Author
I've been reviewing products since 1997 and started out at Gaming Nexus. As one of the original writers, I was tapped to do action games and hardware. Nowadays, I work with a great group of folks on here to bring to you news and reviews on all things PC and consoles.
As for what I enjoy, I love action and survival games. I'm more of a PC gamer now than I used to be, but still enjoy the occasional console fair. Lately, I've been really playing a ton of retro games after building an arcade cabinet for myself and the kids. There's some old games I love to revisit and the cabinet really does a great job at bringing back that nostalgic feeling of going to the arcade.
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