Skullcandy PLYR 2 Headset Review

With a slick design, no overwhelming wires or complicated set-up, the Skullcandy PLYR 2 Headset is far superior than any other headset on the market. We got the opportunity to try one of these bad boys out, and the results did not disappoint.

First things first, the dreaded initial set up process. Surprisingly painless! It took less than 5 minutes for everything to be in working order. If you’re like me and have a set of wireless headphones from another big-name in the gaming headset business (rhymes with Snurtle Neach), you know how much of a pain it is to set up the headset. Put the blue wire into the blue port on the back of your TV – and whatever you do, don’t cut the red wire or else you have T minus 10 seconds until the bomb explodes. End scene. In all seriousness, I was prepared for a half an hour of hooking up, and making sure everything is put together correctly. It was a piece of cake.

I hooked up the Skullcandy PLYR 2 Headset to my TV and my Xbox 360. I’ve been on a bit of a Skyrim kick lately. I was hiking near Whiterun and I heard this little buzzing I had never heard before. Curious, I turned and saw little torchbugs flying nearby. The closer I got, the louder the noise was. It was insane to me that these little bugs had made a noise alerting me of their proximity, but I had never heard it before. This is one of my favorite things about playing games you love with a headset instead of your TV speakers: finally experiencing the special things the developers do, but unless you have an awesome headset, such as the PLYR 2, you won’t get to hear.

Then, I decided to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. I went on multiplayer to check out a few rounds to see if the headset helped my K/D at all. It seems as though the new COD doesn’t have as much emphasis on enemy footsteps as the last couple of games. But the headset DID help me hear from which direction enemy bullets were coming. Even those sneaky snipers who use the suppressor attachment – I could hear them. My K/D did go up, and it was so much more of a full immersion experience with Call of Duty than I am used to. Of course, I found myself yelling to my friends – not realizing how loudly I was talking. Embarrassing, but totally worth it.

I also wanted to scare the hell out of myself and play Condemned. That lasted about 5 minutes before I was screaming out of fear because I could hear someone laughing somewhere in the dark room, but couldn’t find him. Too scary.

A great feature of these headphones is when the microphone is in the “up” position (put up against the side of the headset), it’s muted. When you pull it down in front of your mouth, it turns on again. It’s really convenient. The headset itself is gorgeous. I got the color scheme pictured above. The yellow isn’t overwhelming, and the black has awesome etches on it. The ear pads weren’t made for girls like me who wear earrings, so I had to take them out when I was playing due to it pressing the earring back against my head. Ouch. I found it kind of difficult at first to get used to the pressure that the headphones put on my ears, as I think the pads could be just a little bit bigger purely for comfort reasons.

The headset can be used on your PC, Xbox 360 or PS3. The set uses 2.4GHz audio and utilizes Skullcandy’s Supreme Sound technology. This is honestly a great headset, and will be my go-to selection for all of my gaming needs for the foreseeable future. You can go out and get a pair for yourself, retailing now for only $129.99. Check them out at www.skullcandy.com.