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The Asus Echelon Forest Gaming Headset does not come with its own software driver to adjust EQ settings or set up virtual surround sound- what you see is what you get.
I have been using the Asus Echelon Forest as my main headset for over a week now and overall, my impressions are very positive. This headset uses a closed back design, which does have a knock on effect on the overall sound and natural noise isolation.
Noise isolation performs well, I live near a very busy motorway so it is fairly normal for me to hear cars driving at all times of the day and night. Positively, this headset did a very good job of blocking that out and immersing me in the game.
Asus has adjusted the frequency response curve to make footsteps more prevalent, which really helps in shooters- particularly if you are playing competitive Counter Strike. However, some virtual surround sound would certainly have helped with positioning.
While Asus doesn't provide its own software for this, there are third party solutions available from companies such as Razer. We didn't test any third party solutions but if you really want virtual surround sound then it is useful to know that the option is out there.
The Asus Echelon Forest does a good job of reproducing a range of frequencies. The audio signature is particularly well balanced, throughout my testing I didn't find one frequency range dominating the balance. High and mid frequencies were clear while the bass was nice and punchy.
We have established that the sound quality is good but a headset can be severely let down if the microphone doesn't perform up to scratch. To account for this, we have gone ahead and evaluated microphone performance in Skype and Team Speak.
The microphone performs fairly well on both Team Speak and Skype, my voice came through clearly without distortion but I did notice a little bit of feedback coming through at times, which can be a little distracting during quiet moments.
That said, the microphone does a decent job of dampening outside noises, such as keyboard presses and mouse clicks. While these sounds aren't entirely in-audible, they are softened significantly and won't drown out any conversations.
As far as comfort goes, the Asus Echelon Forest was nice enough to wear. I didn't experience any fatigue after long gaming sessions and the clamping pressure has been fine tuned to provide a tight fit without causing any headaches. That said, the padding is a little on the firm side – I tend to prefer something a little softer, such as the memory foam found in the Corsair H1500, although this is purely based on personal preference.
