V-Moda BoomPro X assessment: flip your favourite headphones into the right gaming or Zoom headset

There’s one thing to be mentioned for affordable, easy devices. The BoomPro is a brilliant concept that’s executed virtually completely. With a single cable, you get a microphone (with a versatile arm for simple repositioning), quantity controls, and a mute change. It could actually substitute for the three.5mm audio cable that you simply’d usually plug into your favourite wi-fi headphones, instantly reworking them right into a a lot better communication software.

For years now, I’ve been utilizing V-Moda’s BoomPro microphone to speak with folks whereas gaming. In the course of the pandemic, I’ve additionally regularly used the $35 accessory to enhance the audio high quality on my finish of convention calls — after I don’t need to trouble with my desk-mounted Rode microphone, that’s.

This week, V-Moda introduced a brand new evolution of that concept: the $45 BoomPro X has a tweaked design, revamped mic, and extra streamlined controls. However in any other case it sticks largely to the identical system. You possibly can plug it in if you’re sitting down for some multiplayer or becoming a member of a Zoom assembly, after which simply detach the cable when you’re completed and use your headphones like regular. Antlion’s ModMic products are similar in concept, however they use a magnetic attachment.

The most effective facet of the BoomPro X is its versatility. You possibly can immediately convert any headphones you already personal right into a gaming or convention name headset. Positive, V-Moda would love so that you can use it with the corporate’s personal headphones — nevertheless it’ll work equally effectively with different pairs like Sony’s WH-1000XM4 or Microsoft’s Floor Headphones 2. So long as you’ve obtained headphones with a removable 3.5mm cable, you’re all set.

Some headsets (like these from Bose) use a smaller 2.5mm jack, however even then, you should use a 2.5mm-to-3.5mm adapter to get the BoomPro X working. USB-C adapters work advantageous too. In lots of circumstances, utilizing the headphones you already love may even provide you with higher sound high quality than you’d get shopping for a single-purpose gaming headset.

In comparison with the unique BoomPro, V-Moda has made fairly a number of adjustments. Essentially the most important distinction is the kind of microphone getting used: to assist cut back background noise, it’s now a cardioid unidirectional mic that’s designed to solely decide up sound coming from wherever it’s pointed. The older BoomPro used an omnidirectional mic, which allowed extra ambient sound to come back via. However now your voice must be higher remoted when on work calls or in the midst of a busy Name of Responsibility: Warzone match. I’ve frequently obtained both an air conditioner working or a fan blasting to fight the New York summer time warmth, they usually’re not practically as audible in my recordings with the brand new mic to date.

When it comes to mic audio high quality, the BoomPro X definitely isn’t going to strategy a correct podcasting setup or skilled microphone. It appears to favor decrease frequencies and lacks some crispness. Nevertheless it’s positively clear, and also you’ll get much better outcomes than you usually would via the built-in mics on wi-fi headphones. The increase arm makes all of the distinction for readability, and also you don’t have to fret about close by noise that your laptop computer’s mics would decide up throughout a piece assembly. In my exams on each PS5 and Xbox Sequence X, everybody mentioned my voice got here via loud and clear with none annoying audio hiss or different distractions.

The onboard controls have additionally been redesigned and downsized. They now look a lot nearer to the inline controls on many headphone cables, and the housing is way thinner and lighter. The previous controls had been so massive that V-Moda included a non-removable clip for attaching the plastic to your garments, however that’s gone — and so is the occasional pull/drag you’d really feel from the earlier, heavier controls.

However the controls themselves have additionally modified. As an alternative of a dial for adjusting headphone quantity, V-Moda switched to a slider. It does the job, however one thing concerning the dial felt extra pure to me. On the opposite aspect is a mute change, which works precisely as you’d count on. Since each of the controls now use related slider buttons, it’s arduous to differentiate between them by really feel, which is one more reason I most popular the previous quantity knob. However I don’t suppose V-Moda had a lot of a alternative contemplating how a lot smaller the brand new controls are.

The BoomPro X cable is shorter than the unique, however within the field you get an extension cable when you want extra size between your machine and the headphones. (Each the usual cable and extension are every 1 meter in size.) I like that, because you don’t at all times desire a ton of additional wire when you’re plugging right into a recreation controller or close by laptop computer. There’s additionally a Y-adapter included. New for the BoomPro X, V-Moda additionally throws in 5 totally different tiny microphone covers in several colours: this firm is known for its customization and personalized ear cup shields, however the mic covers are far more refined.

I’ve appreciated the BoomPro sufficient to hold it in my headphones case for a very long time, and I’m even happier with the BoomPro X because of the improved, unidirectional mic. That’s simply definitely worth the $10 additional, and in return I get a easy gadget that leaves me sounding higher after I’m gaming or working from dwelling — all with the headphones I’d be carrying anyway.

Pictures by Chris Welch / The Verge