The ear cups of the
Y-250P are bigger than average - not necessarily larger cups, per se, but thicker. This extra thickness helps to increase the natural passive suppression of ambient sounds. Combined with the circular shape of the ear cups and the solid bass-boost feature provides a personal audio environment where you can concentrate on your game without being distracted by background noises. On multiple occasions, J.R. Nip or Psibabe had to step into my periphery and then wave their hands to get my attention. And, no... it wasn't turned all the way up.
The Y-250P's are only stereo, so you're not going to get surround sound out of them, but in addition to doing a pretty good job of blocking out ambient sound, they also produce really nice sound quality, from nice mids and highs to surprisingly high-fidelity bass. You will want to dial the volume up only to where you need to, however, as they could likely cause hearing loss if used at full volume for extended periods of time... at least, that's what the warning in the booklet says, and, having tried out the headphones and dialed them all the way up, I can believe it.
The Y-250P Headset is marketed as being designed for the PS3, but "also compatible with PC." I tested them with the PC and, yes, they work well with the PC. You can use the headphones by themselves, although the cord is really a bit short for that. The suggested manner of using the Y-250P with the PC includes using the in-line control box as well. This gives you several feet of cord, which should be more than enough slack for any PC setup. Additionally, it allows you to tweak the volume and microphone gain easily. The cord has a clip that's used to fasten the box to your shirt. I heartily recommend using it to keep the mixer control high up on the front of your shirt.
I enjoy games on the PS3, but I really don't play any games on the PS3 that call for chat. I tried to test out the chat in Gotham City Impostors, one of my favorite multiplayer games on the PS3, but I was the only one with a headset. That's kinda what I'm talking about. However, I tested it out, functionally, using the PS3 Chat application. I found the microphone gain to be much better than other headsets I've tested recently; the maximum gain allowed me to move the microphone comfortably away from my mouth and to pick up my voice perfectly, unlike other headsets that require the microphone be almost in my mouth. Also, the mixer control features a switch that lets you choose to either hear your voice directly looped back to the headset or not. For example, if you're using the voice shifter and you have the Voice switch on, you will hear your voice both normally, playing directly in your ear as you speak, as well as shifted, as it's coming back from the PS3. Flip the Voice switch off and you no longer hear your voice directly via the headset. You'll still hear yourself from the PS3, allowing you to hear what your voice will sound like to others.
While the headset is corded and added a cord draped from my entertainment system to the couch, it was long enough to do so without being suspended in the air as a tripping hazard or requiring me to sit on the edge of my seat or worse, on an ottoman or beanbag in the middle of the room. With the Y-250P's cord, I was able to sit comfortably on the couch across the room. That was nice.
