The PlayStation 4 is roughly 5 years into its life cycle already which means that this far in, there are certainly more than enough gaming headsets available now for you to choose from. That however hasn’t stopped companies from steadily releasing more and while there are some already really good ones available to you, how many of them can you say have the PlayStation “Official Licensed Product” mark on them? Take for instance PDP Gaming’s just release LVL 50 gaming headset. This is an officially licensed product that has gone through arduous testing in order to meat first-party quality standards, and should hold up to thousands of hours of gaming.
The PDP Gaming LVL50 headset actually comes in two flavors, a wired and wireless edition, both featuring the same overall design, stereo audio from its large 50mm neodymium drivers, and a high quality bi-directional noise canceling microphone with passive noise filter. Both are pretty much the same, though the wireless edition of the LVL 50 does have a couple extras built in. It has Dual audio modes, one for Pure Audio and one for Bass Boost. It also comes with a wireless dongle that you need to insert into your PS4 USB slot.
In terms of design, both versions of the LVL 50 look the same so I’ll just go over the design aspect of them once. For starters, the LVL 50 is made almost entirely out of plastic. The top band is in a matte black color with a contrasting shiny black stripe. The adjustable portion and ear cup covers are matte dark gray. The only hint of color you’ll see here is the spooled up cable in blue on the inside of the adjusters and the blue cloth on the inside of the ear cups. I’m sure this is a nod to the official PlayStation colors seeing as this LVL50 is an officially licensed product.
On the right ear cup, you’ll find an large adjustable volume dial that makes it easy to find while you’re playing. It has a really nice tactile feel and won’t interrupt your gaming sessions trying to find it. On the left side you’ll find the mic that you can flip up and down. When it’s down, you get full usage of the mic. When you flip the mic up, it automatically mutes your mic. Again, another really handy feature that keeps you in the game uninterrupted. With the cushioning, the LVL 50 has breathable mesh that fits around your ears as well as cushioning on the headband. It makes for a pretty comfortable set up.
Now on the wireless version, there are a couple additions not found on the wired version. For starters it has a power button as well as a mode button to switch audio modes. Lastly you will have to charge the LVL 50 with use so there’s an included charge cable that plugs into the micro-USB port on the left side. Again, aside from these differences, the wireless and wired versions look near identical and function almost the same as well.
As for the audio, both versions of the PDP Gaming LVL 50 sound pretty good. Both offer stereo sound and both can get quite loud when you need them to be. Just because these are stereo though, doesn’t mean you’ll lose out on any of the detail compared to surround sound headsets. These pick up every little bit of detail in your games whether it’s a first person shooter or a puzzle game. You’ll be able to hear things you didn’t even know were there and isn’t that what you want in a gaming headset? It really doesn’t matter that these aren’t full surround and these stereo LVL 50 headsets will be perfect for almost everyone, save for the hardcore.
With that said, I’m pretty impressed with the PDP Gaming LVL 50. While the wireless version of the headset has a couple extras, you can’t go wrong with the wired version. The wired one is also about $30 cheaper, so those on a budget might want to consider those. You also don’t have to worry about recharging with those. Regardless of choice, both are pretty good and more than enough for your average gamer who wants something that not only sounds good, but is also well made and comfortable.
The PDP Gaming LVL 50 Wired Stereo Headset is $49.99, and the LVL 50 Wireless Stereo Headset sells for $79.99. Both are available now at GameStop and pdp.com.
