Creative’s lukewarm budget cans are all about compromise
For £40, you don’t expect to have your earlobes massaged into a state of rapture by an eSports soigneur while the last living castrato sings you lullabies about how great you are at noobstomping. It’s a question of compromise – you know you’re not getting the absolute best package at this price, so which attributes are you prepared to slum it with or do without, and which do you value above all else?
This humble correspondent wagers none among you mentally cast comfort into the wayside while reading that. Who cares what the bass response is like if you can’t bear to wear the bloody things? Well, the situation isn’t quite that dire for Creative’s Sound Blaster Inferno headset, but regrettably it’s comfort that feels most lacking from this offering.
Both earcups are finished with the kind of faux-velvet often found in the price range, and are generously cushioned. But the give of that cushioning – which is on the mid-point of the headband, too – is minimal, which means despite the Inferno’s overall lightweight design it really feels like it’s digging in almost instantly after putting it on.
Each earcup is also puzzlingly small, so many who put the headset on will find themselves unable to make use of the closed cup design and actually fit each cup over their whole ear. If you don’t have a closed cup, you get external audio leaking in, and your game audio leaking out.
Considering it makes such a poor first impression, the Inferno actually has a lot to offer elsewhere. Sound quality is clear and fairly punchy thanks to a pair of decently sized 40mm drivers, and despite the closed-cup problems there’s no seashell effect from outside noise. Pump up the volume past comfortable listening territory and you’ll hear the Inferno’s limitations seep through in the muddy low end; however, keep the levels cochlear-friendly and you’ll have little to grumble about from its sound.
The headband may be made of plain ol’ plastic, but it’s adjustable across just about every axis you’d care to extend or contract and doesn’t produce undue creaking or cracking when doing so. Even the mic’s alright, allowing plenty of adjustment and doing its noise-cancelling without too much pop and cut-out – this writer’s DayZ collective reported nothing more than a slightly more muffled sound than usual.
The inline remote offers the basics (volume, mic mute) and does so with little fuss, and the connection’s a good oldfashioned 3.5mm twin audio jack, so you can plug it into a sound card if you like. Or, pull out the twin-jack splitter and plug the single 3.5mm jack directly into your DualShock 4 on the PS4.
It has qualities then, factoring in bargain-bin pricing – but sadly the Inferno’s such an awkward headset to actually wear. “Hmmph,” you’ll say to yourself before every gaming session, “I suppose I’ll have to wear those again.” Look into the eyes of the eSports gamers promoting the Inferno on the box and the web: they know. Phil Iwaniuk
Comes close to delivering a genuinely commendable budget package, but it drops the ball on the most crucial: comfort.
VITAL STATISTICS
Price £40
Manufacturer Creative
Web www.creative.com
Driver size 40mm
Frequency response range 20Hz-20KHz
Connection type 3.5mm audio jack
Mic noise-cancelling condenser
Cable length 1.2m