Gaming Earphones – Top Quality Audio with Minimalist Design

Key Takeaways

• Beyerdynamic’s first gaming headset, the MMX 200, is a solid wireless option, benefiting from the company’s expertise in producing headphones and microphones.
• The headset offers good sound quality for both music and gaming, and the microphone quality is impressive, surpassing expectations.
• While the MMX 200 may lack advanced features, it makes up for it with its comfortable design, durable construction, and wide compatibility with different devices.

Wired gaming headsets are great, but they can leave you feeling tethered to your PC or console, which is why wireless headsets are perfect. The Beyerdynamic MMX 200 Wireless is, somewhat surprisingly, the company’s first gaming headset, and they went for a wireless model right out of the gate.

Beyerdynamic isn’t just known for headphones, as the company makes several popular professional-level microphones as well. As the built-in microphones on gaming headsets—particularly wireless models—often leave something to be desired, this is a major plus.

The company has proven itself time and time again when it comes to traditional headphones, but does Beyerdynamic’s expertise work as well when it comes to gaming headsets? The MMX 200 are slightly barebones in terms of features, but they’re undeniably good when it comes to audio quality.

Beyerdynamic MMX 200

7/ 10

The Beyerdynamic MMX 200 may be barebones when it comes to features, but they benefit from Beyerdynamic’s years of experience producing headphones and microphones, making for a solid wireless gaming headset.

Brand

Beyerdynamic

Battery Life

35 hours max

Material

Plastic, metal

Bluetooth

5.3

Noise Cancellation

No

Microphones

Detachable

Colors

Black, Gray

Supported codecs

SBC, AAC, LC3

Foldable

No

Charging type

USB-C to USB-A

Driver size

40mm

Pros

• Good sound for both music and gaming
• Great microphone quality
• Thick ear cushions
• Dongle easily stores in headset
• Wide compatibility with gaming devices

Cons

• No included software
• Cable for Xbox use not included

Expand

$250 at Amazon

Design and Fit: Comfortable, But For How Long?

Kris Wouk / How-To Geek

Right away, the look of the MMX 200 is fairly standard. While the gray model doesn’t look quite the same as many gaming headsets out there—I tested the black option which is the more familiar color. That said, there are some bold orange highlights, but there aren’t any of the overly bright LED lighting features you’d expect from many headsets.

The headset isn’t too heavy, but it’s far from the lightest I’ve encountered. This is interesting, as the plastic that makes up much of the MMX 200 headset feels like thinner, lighter, more brittle plastic than I’ve encountered in other headsets. It doesn’t seem particularly prone to breaking, but if you tend to toss your headset in frustration after a bad game, you may want to be extra careful with these.

Where the construction is lacking in plastic, it easily makes up for in terms of cushioning. These are soft, heavy ear pads that both help make the headset more comfortable and add some passive noise isolation. This is handy, as there is no other noise cancellation here.

Kris Wouk / How-To Geek

That said, the cushioning has somewhat of a downside. Even on a cool day, after wearing the headphones for around an hour, I felt them getting warm. After another thirty minutes, I noticed the heat increasing even more.

Looking at other aspects of the build, the detachable microphone is useful for applications where you don’t need a mic in the way. The low-latency wireless dongle also tucks easily into the USB-C port in the headphones. This makes keeping it handy when not in use much easier.

Good Sound and an Even Better Microphone

Kris Wouk / How-To Geek

As with many gaming headsets, the Beyerdynamic MMX 200 Wireless features a 40mm driver, capable of delivering the entire hearing spectrum of most humans: 20Hz to 20,000Hz. Other specs like the 32ohm impedance don’t matter as much, as these are using an internal amplifier, so you don’t need to worry about how they’d work with another amplifier.

Listening to Beauty Pill’s “You Need A Better Mind “ showed off how well these handle music. Beauty Pill productions are often rich, with layers that reveal themselves over multiple listenings. While these headphones aren’t going to reveal details you won’t notice on other headsets, they’re better suited to music than many. Given the company’s history, this isn’t especially surprising.

As this is a gaming headset, I wanted to turn more toward soundtracks you would expect from a video game. There is plenty of bass in the song “2049 “ from Hans Zimmer’s Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack, and the MMX 200 did a credible job of delivering it.

Playing a few rounds of “Counter-Strike 2,” I noticed the sound wasn’t as immersive as I would have hoped. That said, the direction cues worked well enough that I definitely played better based on hearing the movement of other players around me. Conversely, nearly every sound in “Diablo IV” is accompanied by a low rumble, which these represented well enough, but the game world didn’t feel as immersive as I’d hoped.

One area the MMX 200 headset delivers impressively is the microphone. Gaming headset mics aren’t great in general, and they always seem worse with wireless models. That’s not the case here, as the microphone quality is impressive regardless of expectations, and even better considering them.

Barebones Controls and No Software

Kris Wouk / How-To Geek

While this headset is compatible with plenty of hardware, like many gaming headsets, it feels most at home on a PC. That said, it’s somewhat strange that there is no bundled software here. This may come down to Beyerdynamic’s roots as an audio-first company. Many headset manufacturers would prefer you sign up for an account for their app, there’s no such thing here.

The only bit of software for the MMX 200 Wireless headset is a firmware update utility. During my testing, there was a firmware update available, but all the update notes had to say was that it ironed out a few bugs. If you’re looking for EQ or spatial audio options, you won’t find them here.

Connectivity-wise, you have two options: the low-latency wireless dongle included in the box or Bluetooth 5.3. The audio quality isn’t horrible with Bluetooth, but I’m honestly not sure why many people would use it. I tried the dongle with both an iPad and an Android phone—both via USB-C—and both worked perfectly.

In addition to Android, iPhone, and iPad support, neither of which is mentioned on the box, you get support for basically anything with a USB-C port. Yes, this means PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Switch, but you can also use the headset with an Xbox console, provided you’re willing to spring for the extra analog audio cable.

The controls are simple. You get a stepped volume wheel on the left side, which you can press as a button. You also get a Bluetooth button for pairing and connecting. The right cup holds the power button. You can switch between the dongle and Bluetooth using the button, which is easy, but does take a few seconds every time.

Impressive Battery Life

Kris Wouk / How-To Geek

Beyerdynamic claims a maximum battery life of up to 35 hours on a single charge. During my time testing, I never ran the battery below roughly 20%, but the company’s claim seems fairly accurate. I can’t imagine most people needing to run this long between chargers, but it’s certainly nice to have it available for longer trips. Voice prompts when turning the headphones on will remind you of how much battery life you have left.

Price and Availability

The Beyerdynamic MMX 200 Wireless gaming headset retails for $249, which is roughly the baseline for a decent wireless headset. Unlike much of its competition, however, it isn’t only available in one color option. You can get the MMX 200 in black or gray .

Should You Buy the Beyerdynamic MMX 200?

As I was expecting, given my experience with other Beyerdynamics, the sound of the headset is as solid as can be. What I wasn’t quite expecting was that the built-in microphone would sound as good as it did. If audio quality on multiple fronts is what you’re looking for first and foremost, the Beyerdynamic MMX 200 Wireless delivers.

That said, as a gaming headset, the MMX 200 felt somewhat behind the times. While the overall sound was great, you don’t get DTS Headphone:X or any other spatial audio technology that immerses you in the game you’re playing. Spatial cues were still effective, but I never felt like I was getting lost in the game world.

If you’re looking for a gaming headset that can easily double as your everyday headphones, the MMX 200s are a great buy, as long as you’re not looking for extra gaming features.

Beyerdynamic MMX 200

7/ 10

The Beyerdynamic MMX 200 may be barebones when it comes to features, but they benefit from Beyerdynamic’s years of experience producing headphones and microphones, making for a solid wireless gaming headset.

$250 at Amazon

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