Mad Catz F.R.E.Q.9 Wireless Surround Headset with Bluetooth Technology for PC, Mac, Android, iOS, Apple iPhone 7, Smartphones, Tablets, and Gaming Consoles

Beautiful, just beautiful......... There amazing just amazing that's all I gotta say thank the mad catz gods for these wonderfull pieces of art sound quality is out of this world the sound cancelling is amazing I love mad catz products I own the that freq 5,7 and now the 9 and wow they just kept on getting better.... Wow I would totally recommend this well....not for gaming but for pure audio quality like for listing to music and stuff

unfortunately the cons outway the positivesPros:Best surround sound i have ever seen.Audio was amazing, Crystal clearSturdyI have a larger head and i though they werent heave and comfortable.great rangeCons:Horrible audio delay. sometimes it only .2 seconds. most of the time its .5 seconds or a full second. (if this is the fault of the bluetooth adapter then madcatz should include a dongle that works well for this kind of price)Audio would convert to low quality whenever mic was activated. Support told me to reset the headset, it did not work.the wireless adapter makes the headset useless (which they do tell you) but it greatly reduces sound quality.What killed this headset for me was the audio delay and the mic issue, mainly the delay. .5 seconds or higher is insane for gaming. I ended up returning the product. I love madcatz products but they should have used the same wireless tech as in their rat 9 and not blue tooth.

I have yet to see a very detailed review of this new headset from Mad Catz, as most reviews omit quit a bit of testing. Most know this is the flagship headset that's been in development since early 2014 at the CES. It was one of the few headsets aimed at the high-end market with features and quality to support that claim. I am an adult user and as such didn't care about the cost as much as the quality.The first thing you will notice is they come in a very nice box that is presented very well. It reminds me of Apple products in that regard. Inside you will find an assortment of cables for just about every connection type you need (EXCEPT XBox One), an input box for connecting to other devices and the headset itself. You will find the headphones in a nice HARD shell protective case, which is very nice to find. It's not just a cheap bag or soft case like many others.This is NOT my first expensive set of headphones and I've had several headsets for the PC as well. However, this is my first all-in-one headset that tries to cover all the major devices for PC, Mac, Consoles, Smart Phones, etc. As such, it's sort of a jack of all trades which I found to perhaps be a shortcoming in the end.Audio Testing:I'm am using Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit and had no trouble pairing the headset via Bluetooth to my Bluetooth USB adapter. So, I began testing the video and audio playing back various movies and music from my library. For the most part, the results were smooth with no problems losing pairing or drop outs during playback. However, I did notice several times it made some LOUD audio pops at the start and lasted for maybe 2-3 seconds. Once it was over, it didn't have any problems, only at the initial start of playback. This can be a bit of an issue though, because it did hurt my ears and I had to remember to turn the volume down to start, then back up.In terms of audio quality, it's a very good headset overall for musical playback. However, I was left disappointed in direct comparison to a couple of others I have. If I didn't have them to compare, I would rank them as possibly the best sounding of all GAMER or PC headsets currently on the market. But again, this is where they fall apart, trying to be a jack of all trade and possibly due to them being a gamer company and not an AUDIO company such as Sennheiser, Bose, etc. Their biggest issues lie in the mid-range and bass. I tested with tracks from Bruce Springstein, ZZ Top, Led Zeplin, Grace Potter, Susan Boyle, Adele and others. The other headsets were: Bose Bluetooth Ae2w and Sennheiser Momentum 2.0, each with "aptX" support as well. I would playback the same track from each artist and rotate between the FREQ 9 and the other two.As I listened to various tracks, the FREQ 9 did an admirable job in musical playback. It was MUCH better than most other GAMING headsets by a wide margin, such as the top model Corsair and Logitech. In fact, I wasn't really expecting a huge difference before trying my other headsets, but I was wrong. While it did sound quite nice overall, it simply couldn't compare to either the Bose or Sennheiser models. The mid-range and bass on both the Bose and Sennheiser was noticeably better and by a significant amount. The mids really opened up and felt more life like and smooth in comparison to the FREQ 9. You could simply hear more detail in the instruments and the vocals slightly sharper. It took me several times listening to the same track, but you can really begin to pick apart the shortcoming with the FREQ 9 mid-range once you do. Also, while the bass is good, it's not as good as the Bose and doesn't even come close to the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0. Yes, the FREQ 9 does have fairly decent low end and it's again better than many GAMING headsets. But, when compared to a music type of headset it simply can't compete.Game Testing:The M3D's Zirene Surround Sound is claimed to be superior to 7.1 Surround used in other FREQ headsets and brands. Due to the audio issues I encountered connecting to the Sony PS4 (see Other Issues below), I did ALL my testing with games on the PC paired via Bluetooth.I tried games from Call of Duty, Assassins Creed, Walking Dead and a few others. The conclusion after testing is the quality of the 3D Surround Sound fell drastically flat and disappointed greatly. While I wasn't expecting a dramatic difference, I was at least expecting 7.1 quality of other gaming headsets. However, that was not the case. Turning on the FREQ 9 Surround Sound did not reveal any great separation of channels or openness feeling of audio overall. Instead, it was barely noticeable at all between having it turned on or off. Yes, you could hear SOME difference with it on, but not enough to say it was beneficial. I have had other gaming headsets from Corsair, Logitech and even Turtle Beach that were better with their 7.1 surround. In fact, it may be Mad Catz other FREQ model of headsets that do 7.1 surround are better too. The bottom line is their so called 3D Surround Sound really failed to impress.Microphone:Now that we have covered the audio and it's shortcoming, I will address the mic. This has been the most problematic for me in terms of it having issues. I do a lot of Skype conference calls, Google Chats and instructional videos. Having a good headset and mic is very important in my work. The problem I had is the mic would suddenly just stop working at random during a chat. Audio was still there coming from the ear cups, it was just the mic was gone. I tried several things and only re-booting my PC would work sometimes, others it didn't. When it was working though, it seemed to be a good mic and people said they could hear me fine. Also, the ANC seemed to work well and was better than some other headsets, just not as good as something like the Bose QC 25. I did not feel any discomfort with ANC activated and felt it worked as claimed. Bottom line is for me, the mic had many issues, but when it worked it was fine.Other Issues:First, the battery life I was getting is no where near the 22 hours claimed. Even with ANC turned OFF, I was getting maybe 10-12 out of it on FULL charge. I kept wondering why it would suddenly power off when I knew I had not used them for that long. Then, I noticed the battery indicator light was flashing red. So, I don't know if the battery is just defective maybe in my headset or if others may have this issue too.Second, are some issues I had with the audio being low overall when connected to the included input box. If you connect via Bluetooth or direct using just the 3.5mm audio cable, bypassing the connector box, then the audio doesn't drop. However, I tried it with a Sony PS4 using the box and noticed a large drop in overall volume and it seemed quite muffled. No matter what I tried, the audio levels still did not match that from a Bluetooth or direct connection. Some others have reported this issue as well and say Mad Catz is looking into it.Build Quality:The FREQ 9 is very well built and doesn't feel cheap at all. In fact, they feel like a very good quality headset in overall design. However, they are WAY too RIGID and hardly flex any at all. When you take them out of the box, that's almost the way they stay. You would think they would've tested this and asked for feedback with prototypes. It's not a big issue for some people, but if you have a larger head or want more give and flex, then they are not going to open up. If I were comparing them to my Bose and Sennheiser headsets, they are MUCH better in design for flexing open/closed and overall comfort. In fact, a family member had to fit the FREQ 9 around their head from the back first, then kind of rotate them up to the top of their head since it wouldn't open wide enough for them to get on. The good news is each ear cup is adjustable and snaps up and down in place very sturdy. However, I think they need to be a little larger overall. Also, while the headset is quite heavy, I did find the top padded headband and padded ear cups to be very comfortable. Their weight seems evenly distributed and I used them for over 4 hours with no issues.Conclusion:I tried contacting Mad Catz support about the issues I encountered, but like most just received a generic answer of "Try doing a Hard Reset by inserting a toothpick in the headphone jack at the bottom and pressing it." Well, I did that and also tried re-pairing it on my Bluetooth for the mic issues and audio problems with the input box connections to no avail. It also didn't help my battery life any and everything still remains as it was with several issues unresolved.Bottom line is Mad Catz made a decent effort and are heading in the right direction, but there needs to be several key improvements and fixes. Maybe a Firmware upgrade will fix some things, but that's unknown. Hopefully, they learn from the FREQ 9 as they are getting close, but still have a ways to go. Due to the problems encountered, I can't recommend the FREQ 9 and had to return it.

I've owned this for about two weeks now, after reading the reviews I was hesitant. I'm glad I made the purchace. I think the negative reviews are for the people who don't have good Bluetooth connection. However I wish the connection box would include some sort of mic connection as well. With such a high price tag I'm giving it one less star for effort. However compared to others they all have the same fault.As far as audio performance. It's awesome for gaming/media headsets. Loud enough to give you a headache and distance is astounding. The actual transponder box volume is a bit lower. But if your running on a pc it doesn't matter because you are able to turn it up.3d surround is very accuracy. With Bf4 and advanced warfare I hear foot steps very clearly. Great advantage.Cross compatability is a awesome feature. Switching from my phone to pc is easy once you get the connection process down. The instructions are insanely dumbed down.You are paying for high quality headset and you are getting it I'm very impressed. I had very low expectations. With wireless being not very well regarded in the gamer world these are awesome. Everything is very high quality.Once again good job Mad Catz. My only disappointment is again no mic with trans. Box.and my R.A.T 7 tracker problems.

I'm mad af the fact that I have to connect to through my controller then have it go through the dogle to use it but works magnificently it is "PS4 compatible" but not the way you want it to be. Going through the controller makes the headset go into monotone with no background sounds or high quality sounds. But if you use it for your switch or anything that has Bluetooth or a computer it's amazing

Jolie appareil et sympathique

I've got the FREQ 7 so knew what I was getting into.Sound quality is excellent, from both my Ipad and my laptop.the surround sound works (which is nice!) - its as good if not better than other headsets I've tried.The range is more than enough for me to walk around my 2 story home.The microphone is also fine, I've had no trouble with people understanding me over comms (vent & team speak) - although I'm yet to try a phone call with them.Battery life appears good, I charge them about once a week and wear them practically every night.the noise cancelling does work - it does make me feel like I've got pressure on my ears however.I prefer the build of these to my FREQ 7s, it feels & looks high quality. The ear cups are comfortable for hours at a time.They are heavier than my FREQ 7s, but not too heavy to wear.I particularly like the buttons on the headset itself, its nice to be able to mute my mic (normal) and to skip / repeat and pause music tracks.I cant tell what the other 1 star review talks about - I have no problems with my Mic on a PC.sometimes when i turn them on i do get an odd very low quality connection, however all i need to do is turn them off and back on again and its fine, this has happened maybe 3 times. If the connections good it stays good though

excelente producto de gran calidad estoy muy contento no me imaginaba que unos auriculares Bluetooth fueran de una calidad tan excelente puedes estar jugando en el PC y tener vinculado el teléfono móvil a la vez y poder atender las llamadas a la vez lo recomiendo totalmente un gran producto felicidades.

produit conforme, mais cesse de fonctionner rapidement

This product is bad.I have the product connected to PC via Bluetooth the sound quality is very poor with buzzing, static and interruption.If i move more than 6 foot from computer the sound is even worse and i have to take it off because the buzzing is intolerable.The microphone is also bad quality recording.