Plantronics Audio 655 headphones

The Audio 655 headphones from Plantronics are designed for computer users, for both gaming and voice chat – in addition to the standard two headphones there is a microphone attached to one side which can be swung down for the user to talk into.

Installation was easy – just plug the device into a USB port and it will work straight away in Windows XP and Vista. That’s one downside, though – it can’t work with any portable devices as it requires a USB connection.

It sets itself up as a separate sound device in Windows so if you have a soundcard it will bypass that entirely, and you may need to tweak the sound settings in the control panel to hear certain things.

The headphones cover the wearer’s ears and the pads are comfortable, although those with larger ears will find them a bit small. There is the usual band at the top that can be adjusted for head size, though.

Sound quality was impressive - for music its response wasn’t up to the level of a dedicated pair of headphones but for voice and games it was extremely good.