Gamdias HEBE M1 RGB Gaming Headset Review

A Closer Look

The M1’s cable is pretty cool, it comes with a clear protective layer, with braiding on the interior. If you’re often breaking your cables, this is a good solution, and it is very durable, while still being flexible and lightweight; it’s also very hard to knot or tangle.

The in-line controller is quite big and feels a little hollow, but it’s easy to reach and the controls are clearly laid out, so using it mid-game is pretty easy. There’s volume on the side, microphone mute, lighting mode switch, and a button to trigger the vibration drivers on/off.

The headset looks pretty robust, ok it looks very robust. The drivers may only be 50mm, but the ear cups are massive and will easily fit around your ears with room to spare. There’s some lighting build into the back of each ear cup, which I’ll demonstrate shortly, and the left ear cup even has a retractable microphone boom that can be kept out of the way when not in use.

The headset uses an auto-adjustment inner headband mounted below to durable metal bands, so just pop it on your head and it should give you the perfect fit. However, the ear cups have zero adjustments, so you can not turn them at all, and that could mean the drivers don’t sit flush on everyone’s head, as no two heads are the same shape after all.

The inner headband is durable, but also quite forgiving and features a bit of soft padding on the inside. It does a great job of distributing the weight of the headset and is very comfortable even after extended use.

Those huge drivers look a little unwieldy, but they’re nowhere near as heavy as they look and sit very comfortably over your ears.

The ear cup padding is plentiful, with a soft leather coating and lots of thick memory foam that helps mitigate some of the issues of not being able to pivot the drivers for a better fit. They create a nice clean and comfortable fit around your ears, helping to block out a lot of external noise, while also locking in the sound of the drivers to the listener. This has the added side effect of giving the bass frequencies more punch too.

The microphone is hard-wired but tucks away into the ear cup housing while not in use.

Simply pull it out when you want to use it, just remember that you’ll need to mute/unmute it manually on the in-line controller when you do so. The microphone is actually pretty decent too, it’s loud and clear, doesn’t pick up too much background noise and is more than up to the job of online gaming or a few Skype calls.

Once powered up, the headsets ear cups come to live with some lovely multi-colour LED lighting, and you can easily cycle through colours or even turn the lights off if you wish using the in-line controller, making customisation quick and painless.

The headset certainly sounds impressive, with a powerful maximum volume that’s borderline uncomfortable. Not that I’m saying you want a headset that can deafen you, but having that power and range can come in handy if you’re dealing with a quieter audio source. The bass is powerful, the mid range is a little lacking, but that’s not uncommon in a gaming headset vs dedicated music headphones, and the treble is bright and clear, with plenty of detail that’s great for FPS gaming and dialogue.

The vibrational drivers are exactly what I thought they would be, a pointless gimmick. They give the impression of bigger and deeper bass without actually creating either. You get that rumble on the ear cups that tricks you into feeling bigger bass and explosions, but really it’s a bit annoying. It doesn’t work much at all at low volume and at high volume the headset vibrates that much it can be distracting or even tickle your ears, which is strange to say the least. Some may love it, some may not, but you can turn it on or off with a single button on the remote, so it shouldn’t put you off a potential purchase.

The build in uni-directional microphone works pretty good overall, and it’s got a nice range to it that doesn’t pick up too much ambient noise. It’s easy to deploy and the handy in-line mute switch is always welcome for online play. I tried it out on Mumble and Skype with no problems with it on either, so it’s more than up to the job for work and gaming.

Movie, music and gaming all sound great on this headset, it’s powerful, has a punchy yet surprisingly balanced sound to it, and those massive padded ear cups are very comfortable for long-term use. It could do with some ergonomic tweaks, but overall it’s a fun headset to use.