Aside from our Hermes E1 gaming keyboard and mouse combo experience with Gamdias, they also sent over their latest Hebe M1 Gaming headset. Just in case you’re not familiar, Gamdias name their products based on greek mythology.
The Gamdias Hebe M1 has two versions, a regular 3.5mm audio jack and USB version with 7.1mm surround and vibration drivers for low-frequency audio.
Gamdias Hebe M1 Specifications
- SENSITIVITY: 119±3dB
- IMPEDANCE: 32 Ohm + / – 15%
- DRIVER DIAMETER: 50mm
- DRIVER MAGNETS: NdFeB
- MICROPHONE SIZE: Φ6*5mm
- MICROPHONE SENSITIVITY: -40db±3db
- MICROPHONE PICKUP PATTERN: Unidirectional
- VIBRATION UNIT SIZE: 30mm
- CABLE LENGTH: 2m
- PLUG TYPE: Gold-plated USB plug
- DIMENSION(LXWXH): 188 × 104 × 230 mm
- APPLICATION UI: Yes
Now, I know that explaining gaming headphones is tricky, but we will try to explain things as easy as possible.
The M1 has a 50mm driver with 30mm vibration units that converts the low frequency into bass-like vibrations. To give you a better understanding, it’s similar to seating on a vibration chair in those Dolby atmos cinema but isolated in your head.
The Hebe M1 has a solid construction of two metal bands that holds the circular shape, while a leather-like strap with soft padding supports your head when worn.
Leather wrapped paddings with machine stitches make up the ear cups, overall it gives soft support to the ears even if it’s big. The plastic body matches with the leather cover to give a close color for a unibody look.
Here is how the RGB lighting is working
At the side is a futuristic-like pattern that composes the RGB LED lighting. The RGB lighting only gives one mode of lighting where it is a soft breathing pattern while changing through the RGB spectrum.
How’s the microphone?
The microphone is also retractable and flexible with a unidirectional noise-cancelling feature for ambient noise cancellation. In our experience of playing Overwatch, testimonies over our co-players said that our mic was loud and clear.
What’s good about the microphone that it is a pull-out with great sensitivity. It’s short enough that you’ll barely see it in your sight, a nice way as well to avoid high “ph” or “b” sounds.
How does it sound?
As for sound quality, the Hebe M1 on flat equalizer mode gives a slightly more favorable side for the low to mid frequency. High frequencies such as voice are also clear, but ambient sounds are suppressed by the vibrations. For gaming, the sound for voice and in-game sounds are accurate. Footsteps are considered as vibrations so you will get a distinct difference between other sounds when in-game.
For gaming, the sound for voice and in-game sounds are accurate. Footsteps are considered as vibrations so you will get a distinct difference between other sounds when in-game. It’s nice to hear and feel vibrations as well when firing weapon shorts to even receiving one.
It just makes the game more immersive as compared to the usual headphone setup. It might not give the immersive 4D experience, but it’s definitely better than a more clear sounding headphone as it adds “sense”.
Surprisingly, the M1 is also pleasurable for watching videos and movies. The 7.1 surround sound mode via the Hera software gives a more immersive cinematic movie experience.
We don’t advise using the 7.1 surround sound when playing games as it can alter your experience due to that it only simulates the current 2.0 channel output.
Cable
The cable is a plastic wrapped braiding cable for additional structural safety. It has a considerable 2M cable length, but we find it short when the USB is connected at the back of a PC.
So make to consider this if you should buy this headset, perhaps it’s best to always dedicate a USB port at the front access of your desktop for convenience.
The quick access control for the headset is also nice, made of plastic with chrome buttons for the LED lighting switch, microphone, surround sound & vibration and the volume up and down at the side.
Is there any downside?
Perhaps with the only downside, we encountered with the Hebe M1 is the lack of airflow in the ear cups. Due to the leather wrapping which is necessary to give good vibrations, the downside is sweat is unavoidable.
Paired with the vibration that generates heat, this results in an increased temperature in your ear area making you sweat. More so it takes around 10 minutes of wearing the headphones before experiencing sweat.
So we recommend a fan or even an air-conditioned location ventilating you when worn, this will lessen the sweat encounters but unfortunately, it won’t remove it.
Moving forward, we think Gamdias could improve the air circulation in the earcups to avoid this.
Conclusion
The Hebe M1 retails for Php2,590 which is a considerable amount for a gaming headset with a unique vibration feature. Considering the nice built, decent sounds and multi-scenario usage, the Hebe M1 is already a steal.
Aside from the issue with sweating because of the ear cups, we would gladly recommend the Hebe M1 to anyone. But should you have any health-based issue with sweating, then it’s completely up to you.
If you also need a gaming keyboard and mouse, you can check out our review the Hermes E1 combo from Gamdias as well.
You can know more details about the Gamdias Hebe M1 at their official website. Also, Gamdias and their full lineup are available in IT stores nationwide and online store Lazada.
