I’ve been through my share of gaming headsets and checked out countless pairs of earbuds, but the PSB M4U 8 MKII Headphones are my first set of premium, wireless headphones. I feel like I’m spoiled now. There is a surprising difference between a gaming headset with a microphone, and a pair of headphones strictly dedicated to your audio experience, I get it now.
I’ve consistently used my Razer Kraken V3 Hypersense headset at home, just removing the microphone when I don’t need it. Though Razer is an excellent brand, PSB brings something that was missing with the M4U 8 MKII. The headphones came well-packed, with additional cables and plugs to adapt the Bluetooth headset to a wired one with an Airplane Adapter and ¼ Stereo Adapter. The unit itself comes folded neatly in its own carrying case, with a polishing cloth and carabiner, just for fun.
The headset looks and feels premium. The band and earcups are padded and covered with a soft leather-like material, with the rest made with metal and durable, smooth plastic. The PSB M4U 8 MKII is extremely comfortable. At its smallest setting, it fits me perfectly, though I will note that the size of the earcups might be an issue for some, as it is designed for your ears to sit inside the cup, which isn’t very large. For myself, I could wear it for hours on end with no pain or discomfort and little adjusting, though it did get warm in there.
Straight out of the box, the PSB M4U 8 MKII Headphones sound great. The sound is rich, though I found they lean a little more into treble than bass. The PSB Headphones app allows for updates and little adjustment outside of a standby timer, making it generally irrelevant for me. What it does offer, however, is something called Personal Sound.
This takes you through a series of questions while wearing the headphones, asking if you hear a beep, where you hear it and so on. You can set up multiple profiles on one headset, so each user can adapt the PSB M4U 8 MKII Headphones to their own Personal Sound. This is how they describe the service:
“Through a series of audio tests and questions, Audiodo’s Personal Sound technology quickly creates a personal hearing profile for you that compensates for anomalies in sound perception and hearing abilities, allowing you to fully reveal the True-to-Nature sound signature PSB Speakers is known for.”
Though that is all well and good, I can’t say I noticed a large change from when they were right out of the box. For $549, I’d like some settings to be adjusted to my personal preferences, rather than just relying on a program to do so for me. To some, the technology is worth it, but I didn’t see a benefit.
“You can set up multiple profiles on one headset, so each user can adapt the PSB M4U 8 MKII Headphones to their own Personal Sound.”
RoomFeel is another premium setting for the PSB M4U 8 MKII Headphones that sounds great but does very little. PSB boasts, “With the latest generation of its groundbreaking RoomFeel technology, PSB uses precisely designed target curves to recreate the experience of in-room hi-fi listening in headphones.” Though the headphones sound good, I wouldn’t say they go anywhere close to above or beyond any other pair of decent headphones.
The PSB M4U 8 MKII Headphones feature Active Noise Cancelling, which is always a plus. A small switch on the side allows you to turn them off, on, or turn ANC on. It works as expected, blocking out additional noise when you want to, and letting it in when you do. Other switches on the device include a volume control, and the play, answer call, and skip buttons. They are all incredibly responsive, and easy to find since they are switches instead of buttons.
The headphones are just that, a good pair of headphones. It seems like a lot of buzzwords were thrown at the PSB M4U 8 MKII Headphones to justify the premium price, but in reality, the services fall flat. A lot of features you’ll find in other brands are missing here. The PSB M4U 8 MKII Headphones look, sound, and feel good, but you are likely to find a better pair, with useful features at a more affordable price.
