Asus Xonar Xense bundle review

Asus's Xonar Xense combines the Xense One sound card, which has a specification based on Asus's top-of-the-range Xonar Essence STX card and Sennheiser's acclaimed PC 350 gaming headset. It's a lot of money, but is actually a good deal, costing around £40 less than buying both the PC 350 and Essence STX separately.

Rather than just shoving two random components in box, these special Xense versions of the sound card and headset have been designed to work together. Even the standard version of the PC 350 headset requires a high-gain input source, which is where Asus's fine tuning comes in.

Like other Xonar cards, a driver option lets you change the card's output to suit different headphone impedances. It does this by increasing the level of gain (level of amplification) on the headphone output. As well as settings for Normal (<64 ohms), High (64 - 300 ohms) and Extra High gain (300 - 600 ohm) headphones, there's an option designed to match the PC 350 headphones' 150 ohms. Perfectly matched impedance ensures that the audio won't be either under or overpowered.

Our usual reference sets of 32 ohm headphones sounded underpowered at the <64 ohm Normal setting, preventing us from proper testing with them. This also means you might not get the best results out of your current favourite pair of headphones unless they're also high impedance; a fact that shouldn’t bother anyone buying this double-pack with its supplied Sennheisers.

Audio quality from the headphone output to our studio monitors was nothing short of outstanding, with crystal clear trebles that reproduced all the subtle harmonics of our most challenging test tracks. Mid-tones are lush and bass notes were rich but not overwhelming.

The PC 350 headphones are well designed for gaming, with a 3m cable and plenty of padding, although their weight means that a couple of hours' constant play can result in neck ache. Whether you like their audio characteristics is a matter of personal taste.

They produce loads of volume, a resonant, detailed midrange and an emphatic bass, which all works well for positional and environmental audio in games. This is one of the few gaming headsets that can hold a candle to dedicated music headphones. However, although it does a good job on bass and mid-tone reproduction, we found the sound a little muddy and lacking in treble when compared to similarly priced Shure in-ear headphones. The microphone, although prone to picking up odd bits of background noise, is just as loud and clear.

If you like the way Sennheiser's headphones sound - and many do - this is a good bundle, with a high quality headset and soundcard combination. However, it's hard to recommend when you can get sound that's almost as good for a fraction of the price, namely by using Asus's own excellent Xonar DS sound card, which costs a bargain £40.