Call of Duty: Ghosts Ear Force Spectre Limited Edition Gaming Headset (or CoD: GEFSLEGH, for short) is a pair of closed-back circumaural headphones with a removable boom mic and a variety of adapters to allow you to use this one headset with a PC, console or cellphone of your choice.
The in-line controls on the CoD: GEFSLEGH are greatly simplified compared to the Call of Duty: Black Ops II headphones I reviewed last year, but this is actually an improvement, as the controls on that headset were problematic, especially due to its capacitive touch controls. The in-line amplifier of the Spectre has separate volume controls for Game volume, Chat volume and Microphone Monitor volume, as well as separate controls for Treble and Bass. There is a slider switch that allows you to place the microphone in one of four modes: Mic On (High), Mic On (Low), Phone Call Mode and Mic Mute. Mute turns the microphone off and High and Low set the microphone gain for in-game play to a low level or a higher level, but Phone Call Mode diverts the microphone input to the phone/aux audio device. Note that you will hear game-related audio and phone-related audio regardless of the microphone's setting, but your voice will be heard by the phone only in Phone Call Mode and by the Game only in Mic On (High or Low) Modes. To make it easier to determine at a glance what mode the microphone is in, there is an indicator LED.
And while I'm making comparisons, Turtle Beach's CoD: GEFLSLEGH is quite comfortable for a circumaural headset; the ears can get a little warm during long play sessions, but they are currently a close second in comfort to my personal favorites, Astro Gaming's A30 headset. However, this Call of Duty Limited Edition headset also features customizable speaker plates, similar to the customizable speaker tags, allowing you to express your own personal sense of style.
This Limited Edition Turtle Beach Spectre headset doesn't have active noise reduction, but the cushioned ear cans cover the ears entirely and the cushioning greatly diminishes ambient sounds, allowing the headphones sounds to take center stage. Additionally, base response is solid, even when used without the included powered control box, simply using the mini-phono jack. I tried them with some ambient music and binaural audio tests and was quite impressed with their spatial reproduction.
The removable boom microphone on this headset is simple, flexible and sturdy. The shaft of the microphone is made of a segmented metal shaft; it protects the wires while allowing you to flex it as desired to place the microphone head where you want it and shaping it as you like. I've seen a lot of headphones with more rigid booms and rarely am I able to get the mic just where I want it. This boom mic, however, lets you position it how you want and keeps its shape. Connecting the microphone is simple, as well; it's just an audio plug that plugs in and there are matching black dots on the microphone and the port on the left headphone to indicate how to line them up.
