LucidSound LS25 ESports Stereo Gaming Headset Review

Its crazy how much choice we have now when it comes to headsets, LucidSound, SteelSeries, Corsair, Logitech, Razer and so on, but the question is always whats the best, or what’s the best for the price and does it have RGB lighting, the last one is a bit of a joke. In this review, I am taking a look at the new LS25 ESports Stereo Gaming Headset from LucidSound. Never heard of Lucidsound here is some background information;

LucidSound is committed to bringing change to the gaming industry. Comprised of industry veterans, our collective experience allows us to take a fresh approach to gaming audio with the knowledge to build a quality product. We recognize that gaming is truly for everyone and aspire to make products anyone can enjoy.

 

LucidSound crafts audio products specifically for the needs of gamers in their everyday lives. Our headsets are designed to be worn in the living room but include styling and features for use on the go. We believe less is sometimes more and that translates to our sleek designs and our simple intuitive controls. Our philosophy is simple, make it look great, sound great and feel great.

After reviewing a number of headsets, I am always on the lookout for something better, something that blows my mind, that recently happened when I reviewed the Cyrus SoundKey, it was just outstanding. During the review, I used the LS25 to see if the Soundkey could improve on the already exceptional sound, and it did. This is not me saying the sound is rubbish on the LS25, far from the contrary it is good, but if you can afford to buy the Soundkey, the sound will be improved. But let’s get back on point when you find this on that shelf of your local store.

So from the very start, you are looking for a new headset, the LS25 is compatible with PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Mobile and Nintendo Switch, so every console and every device with a 3.5mm audio jack. On the front they have chosen to features the headphones 50mm drivers, mentioning that its eSport in design, comes with a pro-gaming duel mic system and easy to use access controls via the earcups.

On the back, they go into more detail

1. Designed for comfort – Earcups use advanced memory foam, oval in design and offer superior comfort during long gaming sessions.
2. 50mm Neodymium drivers designed for gaming.
3. Precision Audio that allows you to easily identify, teammates, enemies, and in-game audio cues.
4. Dual Mic – Boom Mic and integrated mic.
5. Quick access control, one earcup controls the volume the other side mutes the mic.

I have reached out to Lucid to explain how they have engineered the 50mm Neodymium drivers to be perfect for gamers over many other drivers used in other gaming headsets and I requested information on the term ‘advanced memory foam’. This is what we got told;

Here is there response first the 50mm Neodymium Drivers – Unlike many gaming headset manufacturers, LucidSound have their own audio engineer experts working on site. Instead of taking ‘off the shelf’ drivers, using in a headset and shipping said headset out, LucidSound actually tweak the chosen drivers and tune them for a gaming audience. This is typically an exhausting process but ensures much better audio for gaming. For example, special attention is taken to ensure that spatial audio is properly enhanced, allowing gamers to pinpoint the locations of team mates and enemies in the gaming space.

And this is regarding the  ‘advanced memory foam’ – LucidSound has enhanced the memory foam used in the LS25 earcups. They are over-padded to ensure extreme comfort in tournament conditions, also aiding in noise isolation so that the gamer hears the game and his teammates, and nothing else. In addition, the memory foam allows the ear to breath, reducing sweat and absorbing moisture.

Then we have one side that gives almost the same information found on the back and front apart from two features – simple earcup replacement system, and the ability to use windows sonic and Dolby Atmos for PC and Xbox One. You will also be happy to know that this headset works great with Raidcall, Mumble, Skype, Ventrilo, Teamspeak and Discord.

The headset comes with two microphones one suitable for mobile devices so it’s discrete, it is not great, but I have never known a discrete microphone to be amazing. The Boom Mic is all bells and whistles, it is not up to a standard which you would get from a studio-grade microphone but its good enough to game with. The microphone is detachable, flexible and uni-directional (Picks up sound predominantly from one direction) and does help reduce background noise to a degree.  There is a small Red LED on top on the mic, to notify you if the mic is on or off, but its rather hard to see with the mic sleeve over the microphone.

I have done a short video in which I suck at playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which you can hear the microphone in use, in the background I had the TV on and an open window which can be a busy road during the day.

The headset comes with two cables one with a single 3.5mm audio connection on both ends and the other has 1 3.5mm audio connection on one end and a mic and headphone 3.5mm connection on the other end.

Now let’s have a close look at the headset, which comes well packaged as you can see from the image below;

The headband is plastic but has a metal band that allows you to adjust and swivel the earcup, the construction is extremely solid, however, swiveling the earcups takes some effort and feels rather tight, this is a good thing as some headsets that offer swivel earcups are loose and get be annoying, I do feel though there is some movement here to make them less tight. When looking at the headband, on the top LucidSound has placed their name and underneath you have soft leather, possibly memory foam with diamond shape etching.

The metal band wraps around the earcups and just below the swivel sections, you will find the L & R (Left and Right Earcup notifications) the earcup sections are securely attached with eight screws. There is plenty of Flex on the frame so it should be ok for many head sizes and the earcups offer immersive sound isolation, which I can confirm as I heard nothing apart from gaming when I was using them playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Under the stickers, (see below) there is a LucidSound logo etched onto a metal plate. When the headset is swiveled and put to rest on your shoulders they feel light and comfortable and do not get in the way that much when moving your head from side to side, of course, this is also based on head size.

The earcups themselves are soft and extremely comfortable thanks to the memory foam used and soft leather, they also have red etching around the edge. The earcups can be removed and replaced with alternative earcups if you wish to replace them, however, I am unsure where to purchase different earcups. As I would have liked the option to purchase cloth earcups as an alternative to these leather ones.

All control of the sound and microphone is controlled via the headphones, Right earcup mutes the microphone by pressing down the middle section and the left earcup controls the volume by rotating a dial wrapped around the earcup.

So what do they sound like? They are exceptional, the sound is perfect with or without surround sound, however, turning on Dolby Atmos opens up the audio experience to all new heights. Wearing these headphones for a long period of gaming, Lucidsound is correct in saying they are comfortable and they truly are, most likely due to how light they are. Listening to music on my Samsung S9, or on my PC through Spotify, everything sounded great, clear or what Lucidsound would call it ‘impressive acoustics’. Playing games with Dolby Atmos turned on, like Battlefield, Black Ops 4, Overwatch or any other games that require pinpoint accuracy these headphones performed admirably.

So final thoughts before I move on to my next review, The LS25 eSports Headset is truly comfortable, offers an amazing sound experience, with a microphone good enough to game with. There are only a few niggles but nothing to really warrant not purchasing.

Almost forgot, there is a user guide, which I never used, but if you need a little help, the guide has everything covered.