Sony’s latest InZone gaming headset offers great open-back audio

Sony’s PC-focused InZone brand is covering a lot of ground, now adding open-back headsets to its growing catalog of gaming accessories. The $199.99 H6 Air borrows the comfortable, easy-to-adjust design of the flagship $350 H9 II wireless headset, makes it wired, and pokes a bunch of holes in the ear cups, resulting in an open-back design that sounds more natural and fits more comfortably than most other headsets.

Like other open-back headphones, the H6 Air isn’t built to reduce outside noise. Instead, sounds coming from the headset’s drivers are mixed with outside sounds. Open-back headsets or headphones are a bad choice if you’re easily distracted by sounds happening near you, but they offer some benefits that might make them worth trying nevertheless.

They’re light and comfortable. My ears stay cooler than they otherwise would in a closed-back headset, and the H6 Air’s build weighs around 200 grams. Also, letting the drivers breathe enables a different listening experience than closed-back drivers can offer. Audio sounds less processed, and music soundstages are more expansive, letting me appreciate details I hadn’t noticed before in some song mixes. Games are no less immersive, except for when there’s a lot of noise happening outside. I’ve been playing a lot of Marathon recently, and the H6 Air’s open-back design doesn’t hinder my ability to hear footsteps or other useful auditory cues.

Sony opted to use the same drivers found in its MDR-MV1 open-back reference headphones, which were made for use by editors in studios. Given their pedigree for reference-level accuracy, I had some doubts about their performance for listening to music and playing games. My concerns have been put to rest after having used the H6 Air for about two weeks. The drivers sound spectacular, with plenty of bass presence that doesn’t compromise the mids or highs.

The sound is good by default, but you can toggle audio settings in the InZone Hub desktop app. Doing so requires using the included 3.5mm-to-USB-C adapter (oddly, using this accessory with beta software introduced some audio blips as I loaded apps and scrolled around my browser, which weren’t present when the headset’s 3.5mm jack was plugged directly into my PC). The software offers several equalizer settings, the option to enable spatial sound, plus the ability to adjust sidetone and mic volume for the detachable boom mic.

The mic doesn’t make my voice sound particularly good (and it’s not an omnidirectional mic), but it’s serviceable for chatting with friends and participating in video calls.

Open-back gaming headset models aren’t in plentiful supply; there have always been fewer options available at any given moment compared to closed-back options. That has pushed some gamers to opt instead for pricier open-back audiophile-grade headphones from the likes of Sennheiser and Audeze (Asus’ new-ish $299 Kithara blurs the line between open-back gaming headset and audiophile headphones thanks to its HIFIMAN drivers). Yes, $200 is on the pricey side for a wired headset, especially considering how many features are in something like SteelSeries’ wired Arctis Nova Pro. But the great sound and comfy, open design of Sony’s latest headset make it worth considering if it’s within your budget.

Photography by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge