There’s no reason why something functional shouldn’t look good while it’s at it, and both of these units nail it admirably. The design of each of the two headsets is subtle, but striking, with blue highlights in cabling and within the earcups on the black model, black highlights on the white one – if you’re after RGB lighting and aggressive lines then you’ll need to look elsewhere. “The design of each of the two headsets is subtle, but striking…” This is also very handy for those who wish to keep an ear out for the doorbell, the phone, or even the kids doing anything from demanding to be fed to falling out of trees.

Meanwhile, open back lets a little bit of the sound of the world in (and what you’re listening to out – so, not necessarily good if you’re playing next to somebody who’s concentrating on something else), resulting in a broader, airier sound that many find far superior.

If you’re not familiar with these terminologies, closed back are more your classic type of headset where the earcups completely wrap around your ears, doing a fine job of blocking out most of the world and really immersing you in what you’re listening to. Why are we combining two headsets into one round-up? Well, the ATH-G元 and ATH-GD元, each available in black or white, share many similarities both functionally and visually, but offer up one crucial difference – the former comes in a closed back configuration, while the later is open backed.

Audio-Technica have long been a name to look for when shopping for headphones or microphones, and their two latest release gaming headsets should have gamers giving them serious consideration, too.

Gamer headset svg