The audio quality is clearly of massive importance for any headset, let alone for a gaming headset: mostly for when you need to know the exact direction the enemy is coming from. The Y-350X is not going to let you down in this department. Sounds are all crisp and individually distinguishable with some great depth to sounds especially when it comes to the bass. To boost the experience the Y-350X comes with a powered unit called the Y Sound Commander.
This panel plugs into an Xbox One gamepad and allows users to instantly, and on the fly, adjust their game sound and chat volume independently. This is rather helpful as it limits the time PC gamers will have to spent tabbing out of a game to fix chat audio, and enables players to quickly alter chat volume for important cutscenes. A mute mic button is also on the Y Sound Commander, perfect for when someone starts shouting in the house and you not wanting all your friends to hear.
As this panel plugs directly into an Xbox One controller it could make things awkward for some PC gamers but then again it does mean that it is always at hand for Xbox One users. The power pack that attaches to it however did take a bit of getting used to. It seemed a bit of an extra bit of bulk on the headset wiring, that was just a slight irritant but is a relatively minor issue.
Some headset manufacturers have utilized the side of the earcups for sound and mute controls. Personally, I prefer this earcup button system. Nevertheless, if you are a gamer whom will already have the Xbox One controller in your hand full time it makes much more sense for you to utilise the Y Sound Commander, as it won’t take your hands away from the action.
My major issue with the Y-350X comes in the form of its microphone accessory. As is often is the case with accessory mics, compared to built-in ones, the mic sounded a tad muffled. The mic itself plugs easily into the mic jack of the headset. It fits snuggly which means it won’t be coming out accidentally and is flexible to allow gamers to move it to the optimal position for them. It is just the audio quality produced from the mic disappointingly lets the headset down.
A gamer who spends a lot of time in front of an Xbox One or PC will certainly enjoy the superb audio quality of the Y-350X. Sound wise I cannot fault the headset and it is extremely comfortable for spending many hours with the headset on. Something that should only continue due to the memory foam materials used in the earcups. For that purpose, the headset is spot on however if you would be looking for top communication with teammates in-game or with friends over Skype/Discord the headset leaves a little to be desired. At the end of the day, when you’re paying for a premium headset you expect every box to be getting firmly ticked and the Y-350X just misses out due to the mic.
Thrustmaster’s range of Ghost Recon Wildlands gaming headsets will be available alongside the launch of the game on March 7, 2017. The flagship headsets will retail for £119.99/€139.99/$129.99 and the multiplatform headset will retail at £49.99/€59.99/$59.99.
[Editor’s Note: The Y-350X was reviewed plugged into a PC. The headset was provided to us by the company for review purposes.]
