Reviews You Can Rely On

beyerdynamic MMX 300 Review

While this headset does deliver exceptional sound, it is exorbitantly expensive compared to the rest of the group
beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review
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Price:  $350 List
Manufacturer:   beyerdynamic
By David Wise and Austin Palmer  ⋅  Aug 29, 2018
65
OVERALL
SCORE


RANKED
#11 of 16
  • Comfort - 40% 5.0
  • Audio - 30% 8.0
  • Microphone - 20% 8.0
  • Ease of Use - 10% 5.0

Our Verdict

For a headset that comes at such a premium price, we would have expected the beyerdynamic to have done a bit better compared to the rest of the group. It costs almost as much as our three best scoring headsets combined and is less comfortable than all three of them. While it does very well when it comes to both sound and microphone quality, but it isn't that much better than many of the other products, making it quite difficult to recommend.
REASONS TO BUY
Amazing audio
Microphone quality
REASONS TO AVOID
Exceptionally expensive
Not amazingly comfortable

Compare to Similar Products

 
beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review
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Price $350 List
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Overall Score Sort Icon
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Pros Amazing audio, microphone qualityAwesome haptics, great bass, plush ear cup padding, removable micFlip to mute mic, great mid and treble sound quality, replaceable cord, removable mic, closed backFlip to mute mic, sturdy build, comfortable ear cupsInexpensive, exceptional microphone quality
Cons Exceptionally expensive, not amazingly comfortableCord is stiff, cord can't be removedShort cable, mic could be more adjustableCan get hot, headband relatively difficult to adjustNot the most comfortable, sound quality could be bette
Bottom Line While this headset does deliver exceptional sound, it is exorbitantly expensive compared to the rest of the groupThis headset offers great sound quality, awesome haptic feedback, and comfort to keep you in the saddle for hours on endAn all-around awesome headset, but if you want noise canceling, this isn't the device for youAn all-around decent quality wireless headset that performs above average while costing less than averageThis headset has a great mic and offers strong value for more limited budgets
Rating Categories beyerdynamic MMX 300 Kraken V3 HyperSense EPOS H6 Pro Corsair HS80 RGB Wi... Kingston HyperX Clo...
Comfort (40%)
5.0
9.0
9.0
8.0
6.0
Audio (30%)
8.0
9.0
8.0
7.0
7.0
Microphone (20%)
8.0
8.0
8.0
7.0
8.0
Ease of Use (10%)
5.0
5.0
6.0
6.0
7.0
Specs beyerdynamic MMX 300 Kraken V3 HyperSense EPOS H6 Pro Corsair HS80 RGB Wi... Kingston HyperX Clo...
Platform Compatibility Wired Wired Wired Wireless Wired
Measured cable length 8.6 ft PC
4.4 ft console
USB-A: 6ft 5in 3.5mm is 4ft 5in Wireless
charging cable is 6ft
10.5 ft
How to mute the mic Switch Toggle Lift mic Lift Lift mic
Detachable mic No Yes Yes No No
Control location Inline Headphone Headphone Headphone Headphone
Measured weight 10-3/4 oz 13 oz 11.4 oz 12.8 oz 9-1/2 oz
Measured ear cushion size 2-1/4" 1" x 7/8" 7/8" x 1" 1" x 1" 1-5/8" X 2-9/16"
Ear cup shape Round Oval Oval Oval Oval
Ear cup fabric type Velour Memory foam, leatherette, cooling mesh microfiber fabric Microfiber fabric Leatherette

Our Analysis and Test Results

The MMX 300 finished just ahead of the Cloud Revolver S and behind the Cloud Stinger. It is less comfortable than both and less convenient to use, but does have the best audio quality. It also has a better microphone than the Cloud Revolver, but matched the performance of the Stinger in our mic quality tests.

beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review - the beyerdynamic mmx 300.
The beyerdynamic MMX 300.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Performance Comparison


To score and rank these products, we first had to determine which ones even had the potential to be crowned the best gaming headset. We did this by looking at as many other reviews and user experiences we could find, then picked the top models to purchase and test each of those headsets head-to-head. Our testing process is divided up into four weighted rating metrics, with the beyerdynamic's results below.

beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review - the mmx 300 can handle large ears.
The MMX 300 can handle large ears.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Comfort


Responsible for the largest chunk of the overall score at 40%, being comfortable is the most important characteristic for these products. We scored each product on the opinions of a panel of testers that wore each of these headsets for a full day if they weren't overly uncomfortable. Unfortunately, our group of users wasn't too enamored with the beyerdynamic, earning it a 5 out of 10 for its lackluster results.

This headset has absolutely giant ear cups, so there weren't any issues with it cramping your ears, but it tended to squeeze the majority of our testers' heads in an uncomfortable way.

beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review - the mmx 300 fit very tight against the cranium.
The MMX 300 fit very tight against the cranium.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

This meant that the bulk of them called it quits wearing these headsets after 3 or 4 hours, deeming it way too unpleasant to continue wearing. Only one of our testers was fine wearing them for a full day.

beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review - a comfortable headset like the beyerdynamic mmx 300 will keep you...
A comfortable headset like the Beyerdynamic MMX 300 will keep you smiling through your gaming adventures.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

The headband on the MMX 300 is padded and covered with leatherette. Surprisingly, it doesn't feel incredibly tight when you first put it on, especially with the main complaint with this product being that it over-squeezes your head.

beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review - the mmx 300 had numbers to get equal adjustment on each side of the...
The MMX 300 had numbers to get equal adjustment on each side of the headset.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

It has semi-firm padding in the ear cups, covered in velvet, but this wasn't enough to abate the excessive pressure. However, we did find that the velvet ear cups are quite nice, even though they tended to get a little sweaty when playing in warmer rooms.

beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review - the mmx 300 had excellent audio quality.
The MMX 300 had excellent audio quality.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Audio


The MMX 300 redeemed itself in our sound quality test, which is worth 30% of the total score, earning an 8 out of 10 for its stellar performance. We looked at how both voice and music sounded through the beyerdynamic, as well as how easily you could identify the origin of a sound and how it did in a suite of dedicated audio benchmarking tests.

This headset does an excellent job of playing back other players' voices, recreating them as if they were sitting across from you in the same room. It is always crystal-clear and easily understandable — on par with the best headsets that we have seen.

It did equally well when listening to music or the soundtrack from a game, delivering exceptionally well-balanced sound, again matching the performance of the other top products. The beyerdynamic continued its dominance in our benchmarking tests, delivering booming bass with only a tiny amount of parasitic buzz in our bass quality test and having well-matched drivers all the way through the frequency spectrum in our diver matching test.

Moving on to how it dealt with position, the beyerdynamic again did very well, as expected at this point. It delivered an almost perfect performance in our binaural benchmarking test but did a little worse with our in-game testing. Our testers were able to correctly identify the location of in-game sounds about half the time, whether it was quiet footsteps or approaching aircraft.

We also liked that the MMX 300 filters out undesirable background noise, like people talking or a fan running, reducing it by about 40% for voices and about 15% or so for white noise.

beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review - the mmx 300 had one of the best mics.
The MMX 300 had one of the best mics.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Microphone


Moving on to the microphone test, the beyerdynamic again did very well, matching its score in the sound tests with another 8 out of 10 — tying for the top spot overall. This headset does a fantastic job picking up your voice, with some of the people we played with always being the most excited when we used this headset. Your voice comes across very clear and close to real life, with the only slight distortion being a minimal lowering of your voice. There were also some tiny amounts of fuzz and feedback. However, these were only minimal issues and we were blown away in our sibilant sound and hard "t" tests — much better than the majority of the headsets we tested.

beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review - the mmx 300's didn't do so hot identifying the direction of sound...
The MMX 300's didn't do so hot identifying the direction of sound but it did produce some high-quality music.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

This product also does extraordinarily well at filtering out background noises if someone wasn't talking, totally filtering out the sounds of typing and extremely reducing the noises of a fan running or if you were eating. Unfortunately, it does an almost too good job at picking up voice, picking up every side conversation around you, even if it is happening 10- 15 ft. away.

beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review - the volume control for the mmx 300.
The volume control for the MMX 300.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Ease of Use


For our last set of test, we looked at how much work it is to use each headset on a daily basis and if there are any particularly annoying attributes. The MMX 300 did fairly well, earning a 5 out of 10 for its middle-of-the-road performance in these tests, which account for the residual 10% of the total score.

This model has inline controls, allowing you to adjust the volume and mute the mic without using your keyboard, as well as a few other buttons for media control, accepting calls, and temporarily muting the mic.

beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review - the in-line controls of the mmx 300 are simple.
The in-line controls of the MMX 300 are simple.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

However, the cord is a bit on the short side, restricting your motion and the switch to mute the mic can't easily be hit quickly.

beyerdynamic mmx 300 gaming headset review - detachable cables, like on the beyerdynamic mmx 300, are a plus...
Detachable cables, like on the Beyerdynamic MMX 300, are a plus. This way you won't have to replace the whole set when your puppy chews the the aux chord.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

The cable is detachable — and replaceable — but there is no way to activate a mic sidetone or detach the mic.

Value


The beyerdynamic is a terrible value, scoring below a handful of headsets that cost hundreds of dollars less.

Conclusion


It is hard to recommend the beyerdynamic MMX 300 with its less than distinguished performance and its exorbitant price tag. It has excellent audio and microphone abilities, but so do headsets that cost quite a bit less.

David Wise and Austin Palmer
 
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