Plantronics 80935-21 Audio 655 USB Multimedia Headset with Noise Canceling Microphone for PC and Mac

What's UP with all the BAD REVIEWS?????? I bought this headset over a year ago so it's strange coming back to finally write a positive review only to see all of the negative reviews that have been left since then. Product issue or a user issue? Probably the latter. I go through headsets like they're going out of style.....not because I have to have the new next best thing but because I am a little irresponsible and impatient.......I forget to take them off while jumping out of my seat which breaks the cord, I set them on the floor by my bed at night before going to sleep......only to wake up and step on them. Friends come over and don't see me attached to the t.v. and walk right into the cord ripping it out breaking the connector.....etc. This is close to my 30th headset in 7 years and I have to say......I love them. My wife accidentally broke my last set a month back because I didn't put it away properly so I just went ahead and reordered another set 5 minutes ago which made me think to leave this review. It seems like most of the bad reviews are due to popping and hissing sounds along with "big ear", "big head" discomfort and recorded background noise (which isn't a big issue if you have a good recording software). There's nothing I can say to help with the "big ear", "big head" discomfort.....I have relatively small ears in comparison to some of my dumbo eared friends so the set fits me perfectly and I don't have an overly large head so they do not feel like they are trying to "squeeze" the grey matter out of my noggin. I can however comment a bit on the hissing and popping sounds and the recorded background noise.......so here we go: If you are running either Windows Vista or Windows 7 64 bit version then there is a patch/update you will need to download and install that will completely eliminate the hissing and popping noises. The patch/update has nothing to do with Plantronics as the issue effects a ton of other audio recording/listening devices.....not just this one. I had the same issue when I first bought my headset, but unlike many others MY first thought wasn't that the product was defective but rather that Windows 7 64 bit had an audio driver issue......which is exactly the case. Ask questions first, shoot last. Keep in mind that this happened over a year ago so I have no idea where I downloaded the patch/update, however, I could have only got it from one of two places which are either on the Microsoft site itself or it may have been an audio driver update for my Nvidia sound card. If it was the audio driver update then you would need to find out what sound card you are using and then go to the manufacturers website to see if they have an updated version for you to install. Most manufacturer sites nowadays have a "scan" feature that will scan your pc to detect what model of sound card you have which will then give you a link to your update when finished scanning. Once I had installed the patch/update I restarted my laptop and voila! All of the hissing and popping magically went away and I was blessed with absolute silence and superb audio clarity. Best Headset I have Ever Owned for the Price!!!! and I do say that from first hand experience. I even returned my Sennheiser RS 180 Digital Wireless Headphone System that I purchased on January 25th 2012 from Amazon due to the fact that the audio quality of the Plantonics was comparable to a headset that cost 10 X more AND I could use the headset to record audio which I couldn't do with my Sennheiser. Do I miss the walk around the house, never trip over a cord again $300 headset with charging station? A little.....but not enough to get them again. As far as the microphone goes......is it sensitive as all heck? You bet. Is that a bad thing? Not in the least. 1. First thing, is don't have the mic right next to your mouth otherwise you will hear your monstrous breath hitting the mic and you will even hear your your lips macking as you talk. I always put the mic about 2 inches up from my mouth. 2. Second thing is the background noise.......the mic picks up EVERYTHING so you either need to be in a soundproof room while recording........or.......you need to purchase a recording software that enables you do get rid of the background noise post production. I personally chose the software route because a soundproof room just isn't an option for me. I use Camtasia Recording Studio for all of my audio and video recording because I do a lot of online video tutorials so this works perfectly for me. The background noise cancellation feature is absolutely amazing.......and I live on one of the NOISIEST streets in Waikiki, Hawaii where when the buses go by they sound like they are quite literally driving through my living room. My experience with this headset has been nothing but all A pluses as has my experience with most electronic I have bought here on Amazon.....or anywhere for that matter. Keep in mind, the average pc user hasn't the foggiest of what they are really doing once they go beyond sending out emails or web browsing. They expect to "Plug and Play" without knowing how to properly troubleshoot or to even read the manual for compatibility issues. Most of the "Bad Reviews" left for ANY electronic device or product have nothing to do with the product itself and have EVERYTHING to do with the reviewer's own ineptitude. No offense meant, but that's a fact that I see all too often in my line of business. Definitely a good buy if you are able to troubleshoot and problem solve. If not, then this won't be the only headset you'll leave a bad review for.

So I have been using this for the past few months and wanted to review it. I know a lot of positive reviews over this product and I would like to talk about my experiences with it. So Here are my experiences with this Headset: Pro's: <->The Mic is excellent for podcasting. I have been using this for sites that request to do a podcast with me. This works really well and produces the highest possible quality without having a sound board. All the podcasts that I have been on have told me my audio was the easiest to edit due to the quality. <->The Sound from the Headphones are really sensitive and can even pick up bass sounds. I use this for a game that uses a lot of bass sounds and I can feel it vibrate on my ear almost tickling my ear. <->The Volume Control is on the left ear piece. Although this can be both pro and con because of the location, I find that it can be quite helpful when you are podcasting and don't want to make noise by using the mouse. Con's: <->It is bulky to a point. Now I don't mind bulky if it works well and it does but I had to put in the con's because I can't take this on the road so I have order the Plantronics Mobile Convertible Headset for when I am on the road. I will report back when I get a better chance to use it. <->It isn't made for BIG ears. If your like me and have your ears being a little more bigger than average ears then you will find that the ear cushions will push down on parts of my ear and after while will start to make them hurt. This head set is good for short periods due to my above average ear sizes. <->Sound Canceling isn't really sound canceling. While I was using this headset for a few podcast the sound sound canceling didn't really work. I don't know if was me or if it was the headset. For all I know it could be software, but no matter what I did, I would have to mute myself when I wasn't speaking, although the quality was good it was sometimes to sensitive. All in all, if your like me and have to do some interviews over Skype for podcasting. This is a good headphones to use when you need quality in both headphones and Microphone!!

Decent Sound but Uncomfortable Fit This Plantronics Audio 655 USB headset has a lot going for it in terms of sound and microphone quality. Plug-and-play was seamless on both PC and Mac, and the noise-canceling mic does a solid job of keeping background chatter out during calls. Music and videos sound good enough for casual use, not audiophile-level but better than most budget headsets. The problem is the fit. The earcups press a bit too firmly, and after about 30 minutes my ears and head start to feel sore. The padding isn’t as plush as it looks, and the clamping force doesn’t seem adjustable enough to relieve the pressure. For short meetings or quick gaming sessions, it’s fine, but anything longer becomes uncomfortable. Bottom line: If comfort is your priority, you may want to keep looking. If you just need decent sound and mic performance for short-term use, this headset delivers, but extended wear is tough.

Edited to add on 4/28/12: After going through several other headsets and having to return them, I went back to this one. The second one was much more comfortable and the sound quality is excellent. I'm guessing that I just got a defective one the first time. I've had this for 9 months now and it is living up to my usual expectations from Plantronics. I didn't like it covering my ears, but I've adjusted to that over the months. Overall, I'm now pleased with this headset and glad I gave it another chance. Leaving the old review just because. I got this headset after doing quite a bit of research. My Plantronics GameCom Pro 1 was the best headset I've ever had, but it died after 2 years of use. I went with this one as a viable replacement. I sent it back after only one day. Comfort - Not at all. I have a small head, yet it was quite stiff and squished my ears. Maybe if I'd kept it longer it would have loosened up, but other issues made that a moot point. Quality - very bad. I was very disappointed at the sound quality, both incoming and outgoing. I use this primarily for Ventrilo, while I'm gaming, using my desktop speakers for game sounds. It doesn't have to be fancy, but people heard a distinctive hum that I simply couldn't trace. I had to turn up the volume to max to be heard. I had to do this in the Vent settings and in Control Panel. Then it kept defaulting back to low, so I had to do this every time I logged in. The incoming sound was also erratic and I was always having to adjust someone. Ease of Use - Having to constantly reset the levels made this a nightmare. I want to stick a headset on my head and not worry about it, once I get the initial setup done. Maybe I got a defective set, but considering I'm ordering this, I didn't want to take a chance on the same thing happening. I'm not thrilled with the replacement (Logitech Clear Chat), but at least I don't have to mess with levels every 30 seconds. Amazon, as always, was wonderful and I was able to return this easily.

These headphones aren't real bad honestly. They do a decent job of isolating outside noise when listening to music, or whatever. They do have rather small ear cups for being what I had assumed were over-the-ear headphones, but I have rather large ears. For those that think music should be felt as well as heard, these have plenty of low-end response. My only complaint about the sound is that the high-end is a tiny-little-bit tinny, and that the overall volume is dictated by the on-board sound device (being USB, it's part of the headphones). I personally wish they were a little bit louder overall, but that is just my personal opinion. If you are thinking about buying them for any VoIP apps, like Skype, you won't be disappointed at all. The mic is good and clear, well constructed and tucks neatly away. My only other complaint(and actually my biggest one)is that the blue LED in the left-side earpiece housing lets a bit of light out the side, between the driver/earpiece and the housing itself, so if you happen to wear glasses, expect to see a bit of glare/reflection in the corner of your left eye at all times. This just may have been a deal-breaker for me at the time of purchase, had I known about it then. If you don't wear glasses, ignore those last two sentences and pick these up for sure. Overall, these have been the best thirty bucks I've spent in a long time. Also, as far as the other comments regarding them being too tight on the ears are concerned, I have a large head, and I've so far worn these comfortably for about 6 hours without issue. I guess it comes down to personal preference, but for the price, you won't lose anything trying these. Purchased 2010. Update: So here we are, years later. (End of 2014.) I still have these and they still work well. Initially I was concerned about the longevity of the small wire size (as I am not gentle on wires (Roll over them with the chair, etc..)) but these have taken the abuse and shown no signs of fatigue. My only issue now is that the boom of the mic has loosened a bit and will no longer stay in any position besides all the way up or all the way down, and if it's up and you tilt your head way down, it will fall down. This isn't a giant issue for me as now I exclusively use this headset JUST for the mic because it sounds great on the other end and beats any other external mic system I've used (desktop mics, earpiece mics, etc.) I simply leave the headset around my neck and leave the boom down. It's comfortable and the mic still stays in place perfectly in front of the mouth. All of my incoming audio goes to my surround system and everybody's happy. If I decide to listen to stuff incognito, I just switch my audio device in Windows back to the USB (This headset) and put 'em on. After five years of high volume rap music-type abuse, they sound as good as day one. STILL the best 30 bucks I've spent. (Except for that one night in Mexico.) ...But anyway.

Somewhere, somehow in recent weeks I managed to lose my headset that came with my Rosetta Stone Deutsch. While not the highest quality headset, it came with the package, was meant to work with it, and it still did the job. Thus, I went looking for a new headset that would play nice with Rosetta Stone. I have had several other Plantronics devices, including monaural gaming headsets. These stood up really well to use and abuse, and still functioned admirably. My first inclination after fruitlessly searching for my original Rosetta Stone headset was to replace it with a Plantronics offering. I spent several days researching the most optimum headset, taking into account factors such as microphone and earphone quality, long-term wearing comfort, and most importantly, compatibility with Rosetta Stone. Price, at least for me, was not a factor as I will happily pay more for a higher quality product. I settled on the Plantronics Audio 655 USB Multimedia Headset and placed my order. The headset arrived in two working days. The packaging was pristine and undamaged. I anxiously unpackaged the headset and plugged it in to my computer's front USB port. Much to my delight, it was "plug-and-play". Rosetta Stone immediately recognized it, prompted me for a "sound check", then went right into the lesson. Sound quality through the headphone speakers is excellent, while Rosetta Stone easily and perfectly recognizes speech through the microphone. The microphone boom easily adjusts closer or further from the mouth, and lifts completely out of the way when not needed. Comfort leaves a little bit to be desired as the pads for the earphones do not completely surround the ear, but sit on top in a couple of places. This leads to occasionally lifting one earpiece or the other every 30 minutes or so. Other than that, the Plantronics Audio 655 USB Multimedia Headset is stylish, sturdy and works perfectly with Rosetta Stone. I highly recommend this product.

Cannot get the microphone to work. I bought this headset for the microphone, but I can't get it to work at all. My system recognizes the use as "C-Media USB Audio Device", and I can hear sound. But, the mic does not work at all. With a standard mic that you plug into your sound card (which I HIGHLY recommend) you can "monitor" what the mic is picking up. The very first time I plugged this one in, I could not hear anything that the mic was picking up... (yes, it worked once - poorly, but it worked once). I ran my audio editing software and hit RECord. Strangely, I could see that the mic was picking up my voice. So, I talked for a little while, adjusting some settings, and then stopped. When I played it back, I was horrified. The recording sound quality was DISGUSTING. Not just bad, but HORRIBLE. I thought it might be the USB port that it was plugged into. So I tried two others. They did not pick up the mic at all. I've rebooted several times. Changed the port a couple of times. Tried to delete the device from Device Manager and let it re-install. Rebooted some more. No luck. I plugged it back into the original USB port (the one with horrible quality) and now NOTHING. There is no software to install/reinstall. There are no manuals to offer any assistance. I tried to get support at there website, it didn't have my model in the list of support documents, it did list the 955 (1 step up) but there was virtually nothing there, I also got a lot of 'page not found' errors on some of the things I tried just to see if there was a tip that might help. I thought Plantronics was better than that. Pros: - Audio PLAYback sound quality is very good - Very comfortable to wear Cons: - THE MICROPHONE DOESN'T WORK AT ALL - Plantronics support is EXTREMELY lacking (ie. it doesn't exist) - NOTE: There is something in the Plantronics Knowledgebase that says there may be a problem with VIA USB controllers, which I might have. It even gives a link to an updated firmware. BUT, the link leads to a 'page not found', and FUNNY ENOUGH they tell you not to install it on a computer with a VIA controller. Which is [I can't even come up with a word for how stupid it is].

As an ex-call center worker I wore a headset 5/6 days out of the week for for 1.5 years. I got this for gaming (i.e. TF2 and L4D) and skype. I have to say thing is a really nice headset. My priority's where: 1) mic quality, 2) price, and 3) speaker quality. It has an analog to digital converter for the mic that is impedance matched. This will be beat the common 3.5 mm headset to sound card solution because of the impedance miss match (since they are designed to different engineering specs). Getting the all to common too low or high mic level. Price is pretty good considering this is a preforming and durable headset. I have owned this for over a year and it is still going strong. Speakers are pretty good. However, it is not going to come close to headphones like the Grado SR80. But that doesn't even have a mic so it a fair compromise. They are closed headphones and do a decent job of blocking outside noises. Cons: If you using a windows machine like I am, you are going to have to open sound under the control panel to direct the sound BEFORE you start your audio application. This is because most software will send the audio to the default audio device and you will have two sounds cards. The exception is that skype has settings that will remember where to play what sounds. (i.e. ring tone on computer speakers and headset, call audio to headset only) This is no fault of the headset but how applications/operating systems are programed. The speakers seem to be over powered. I have to set the level to 1-3/100, anything more and it is just to loud. (I like to protect my hearing.) This is only a problem when changing from desktop speakers to headset and i forgot to lower the volume. Then I get a surprise to turn down the volume. :/ Overall very satisfied.

- El audio de los auriculares es de calidad, mas de lo esperado. - El audio del micrófono es bueno para la función para la que ha sido pensado, hablar con gente, no lo es tanto para poner audio a vídeos pues añade ruidos de fondo. - La construcción en general es buena. - La ergonomía no es nada buena, como los auriculares aprietan mucho y no cubren la totalidad de la oreja eso hace que provoquen unos dolores muy fuertes tras media hora de uso. Conseguí solucionarlo temporalmente forzando el puente para darlo de sí, el problema es que eso duro poco tiempo y el plástico volvió a su lugar. Conclusión: No los recomiendo, en su lugar compraría mejor los que uso en el trabajo que son los Plantronics 81960-15, tampoco son cómodos pero no aprietan tanto por lo que se pueden llegar a usar durante 1 o 2 horas.

Sound clarity and ease of use is fantastic. Only issue I felt is the ear cups are small and hence causes pain in earlobes on prolonged use.

la unica razon que le doi 4 estrellas y no 5 es que no me gusto el deseño de el control esta en el audifono y la cuerda esta bien delgada y parese que no va durar tanto. Pero me llego en 3 dias en lugar con envio gratis, me gusto eso mucho. El precio se me ace barato para la calidad del sonido. Bueno vendedor y envio rapido gratis. Estaba que lo iba recibir el dia 12 y los ordene el dia 3 de febrero 2018 llego ayer en la tarde como a las 3pm.

Goog condition.

My wife prefers this model although it's an old model for video conferencing