EKSA E900 Pro Review: A Value-Oriented Review for Immersive Gaming

>AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. As an eBay affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.

I would like to thank EKSA for sending the E900 Pro to review!

Full disclosure: This is a paid review but I made it clear to them that I do not guarantee positive reviews or recommendations – I make in-depth, honest evaluations based on my impressions and the ultimate value that the product may or may not provide.

Greetings mate and Welcome aboard!

Stuart Charles here, HomeStudioBasics.com helping YOU make sound decisions, so…

I want to talk about gaming for a second. Gaming? That’s right.

Ya know Stu, gaming is not a sport, it’s a way of life. It’s no hobby.

It’s a way of lookin’ at that game and sayin’ hey bud, let’s party!

Jokes aside, gaming is near and dear to my heart, and every time EKSA asks if I want to try a gaming headphone, there’s no way I can say no.

Gaming represents that one thing in your childhood that still feels like just yesterday.

*Grandpa Lou Pickles voice*

Back in myyy day, we didn’t have all these new-fangled gaming headphones. We listened through the Television’s speakers! And if we wanted to buy a new video game, we had to walk FIFTEEEN MILES to the nearest big box store! In the snow!!

No really, there’s something incredibly peaceful in thinking about those times, and that’s why gaming will never get old to me. I could be on my deathbed, barely able to move, but you say Super Mario Bros. and I’m ready to play.

Speaking of playing, how does EKSA’s E900 play?

Today we’ll take a look and find out what it’s all about; discussing build, features, sound, and more.

By the end of this article, you’ll know if it’s worth a purchase, and if not, I’ll point you in the direction of something that is.

Deal?

Cool.

Let’s .. jump in!

(Specs at the bottom!)

EKSA E900 Pro

Price: Check Amazon! | Check EKSA! (Automatic 20% OFF)

1x EKSA E900 Pro Gaming Headset

1x Detachable Microphone

1x Microphone Foam Cover

1x USB Audio Cable

1x 3.5mm Audio Cable

1x 3.5mm Cable Splitter

1x User Manual

1x Carry Pouch

Build, Comfort, & Accessories

The E900 Pro just may be your new featherweight companion, coming in at a breezy 306g (Around 10.4 Oz.) It doesn’t feel cheap, but it’s also pretty light.

The unit comes with a very rugged Type-C to Type-A cable (for consoles, your PC, etc.) and Type-C to 3.5mm (for PCs/Amps & DACS/etc.), as well as a female 3.5mm to dual male splitter, carrying bag, and what looks to be a 2.5mm detachable microphone with a foam cover.

They even include velcro strips to keep the cables tidy. As most of you know, nearly all companies use twist ties and after demoing hundreds of products, I absolutely cannot stand them. xD

So bravo, EKSA!

The package provides a little more than you’d expect for the price paid, but one of the main draws here is certainly comfort. Because they are so light, you’ll hardly feel them on your head – even during extended gaming sessions.

The plush protein leather memory foam contributes to this and feels much foamier and softy woftier than most faux leather/protein leather/leatherette outfits.

The cups are also pretty deep which is great for resolution, immersion, and directionality. More on that later.

The adjustable stitched headband? Also leatherette, and very plush. EKSA’s logo appears at the top, and the wiring that connects the right and left driver comes out of each cup in a squiggle formation.

Overall, the headphones are pretty malleable, as you can bend them a bit without worry.

The outside of the cups have a real “gaming” looking design, and they also light up which does look rather neat at night. You can turn this off by pressing the button on the back left cup.

Speaking of, the back left cup contains your volume dial, mute button, and the On/Off light button that we just discussed. Below that, you’ll find the USB-C slot and mic jack.

The cups don’t rotate fully in any direction, but they do move a little (up and down, side to side) so you can get a good fit on your head.

Overall, build and comfort are exactly what they need to be here considering the E900 Pro was made for long-term listening/gaming sessions.

Speaking of, how does it perform sonically?

Sound

Console Used: PS4
Game(s): Resident Evil VII, Wolfenstein 3D, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Fallout 4, more soon.
Source for music: Spotify Premium, Playlist here!
Amps/DACS Used: HIFIMAN EF400, more soon.

Don’t be put off by the fact that this is a gaming “headset” – it performs admirably.

One of the first things that jumps out at you is directional cues; they’re excellent. If you’ve ever had trouble discerning exactly where an enemy or sound is coming from, worry no longer.

The E900 Pro lives up to its namesake here, as I’m easily able to prepare for a gunfight before it happens. This exemplary trait also allows you to keep your head on a swivel; constantly on the alert for new baddies or game sounds.

In playing Amnesia: The Dark Descent, I’m always on high alert but any sound or utterance that happens is rendered perfectly from the right direction and location in the Soundstage.

Likewise for Wolfenstein 3D. Except for the Green Mutant that shoots a gun by winding his arms up and down (creepy, I know), all enemies in the game speak in German before attacking you. With the E900 Pro, I’m able to know exactly where they are which aids in being able to quickly take them out right as they turn the corner or pop out from behind a door.

In terms of Soundstage, don’t expect a grand, spacious image that makes you feel like you’re a part of the actual environment.

Sadly, the E900 Pro is still pretty in your head despite being an open-back headphone, and, unlike, the K702, you’ll rarely feel as though sounds are happening outside of you.

Much of this depends on the track itself and how it was recorded, but the point remains.

Related: Closed Back vs. Open Back Headphones

That said, the separation of sounds is rather good, but the overall tuning is questionable.

Let’s take a listen.

Bass

The bass response is not my cup of tea for general music listening and does come across as way too boosted.

As with most consumer headphones, there’s a giant bass shelf across the entire low end, which is extremely problematic for music and admittedly sounds rather awful.

So not only do you get mud/bloat in the 200-300Hz region, but the bleed/fuzz/hum also comes through in the low low sub-bass area.

Click here for a rant on why getting the bass right is super important.

Mid-Range & Treble

Because of that, the mid-range sounds considerably pushed back and under the bass, and the treble has too many strange peaks and dips for my liking.

Even so, I’m never hearing any sibilance or bite, but the delivery isn’t quite there like overrated Digiorno pizza.

All in all, these can work for music in a pinch (if you have nothing else), but please don’t rely on them full-time or expect anything close to resembling a balanced signature.

7.1 Surround

That said, EKSA includes a pretty nifty driver that allows you to tweak and fine-tune the sound to your liking. In the app’s EQ function, I’d go ahead and pull everything from 30Hz to 250 DOWN by about 8-10dB. xD

No really, it’s amazing what can happen when the bass is tuned correctly. Because the entire low end was boosted by about 10dB, we can give a simple EQ curve that mimics how it’s actually supposed to sound: minimal sub-bass, a boost at 60-90Hz, a cut in the bloat/mud regions of 200-300Hz, and for the rest of the sound, a bit of a rise at the 2kHz presence region, and a bit of air after 10kHz.

Remember, it was overly boosted, thus why my bass curve is a little below 0dB.

You can play around with this as you see fit, but here’s my Bassmaster Stu Preset:

They even look like those mushroom-top things from Super Mario Bros., so it’s a win-win! This general EQ curve actually makes these listenable for music and even improves the Soundstage a bit.

Wow, who would have thought not having gobs upon gobs of sloppy bass could make things sound clearer and more open? *rolls eyes*

Just listen to “Mistleflow” by Ben Bada Boom with my EQ setting. You can thank me later. Again, I’m not against boosting certain parts of the frequency response. It just has to be done correctly.

Other than that, there’s a volume control, sample rate, environment effects, 7.1 virtual speaker shifter, Xear SingFX, and Xear Surround Max.

I have to admit, playing with the Environment Effects is a rather fun endeavor, as you’re able to choose from a plethora of different things. Want to hear music in a Bathroom? You’re probably saying no, but it actually sounds interesting LOL.

You’ve got a bunch more options including Generic, Padded Cell (oh boy!), Room, Living Room, Stone Room, Auditorium, Concert Hall, Cave, Arena, Hangar, Carpeted Hallway, Hallway, Are you still reading this? Stone Corridor, Alley, Forest, City, Mountains, Quarry, Plain, Parking Lot, Sewer Pipe, no really, why are you still reading, Underwater, Drugged, Dizzy, Psychotic, and Karaoke.

You can also use the Virtual Speaker Shifter which allows you to rotate the sound around the axis (your melon) as well as adjust the dB of the entire 7.1 setup.

Xear SingFX allows you to pitch up or down the music, there’s vocal fading, and lastly, you’ve got Xear Surround Max which does space things out a bit similar to the G6’s Scout Mode feature.

Required Reading: Creative SoundBlasterX G6 Amp/DAC Review

Don’t expect to actually feel like it’s surround sound though. I just want to warn you upfront.

Mic Test

Here I was testing with an old favorite in Fallout 4. I haven’t played it since 2021 so I was a bit rusty. It makes for some funny gameplay though:

If you were curious as to why I laughed so hard at 6:48, click here and here.

E900 vs. E900 Pro

I also happened to demo the original E900 a while back, and the Pro version improves in some ways. This time around there are a couple of cable options and they’re detachable.

The E900’s single cable was not and thus rendered the headphones less professional and kind of dated.

The sound is about the same, but I feel as though directional cues in the Pro version have improved. If you’ll recall, I wasn’t that impressed with the 900’s imaging.

The Pro version is also pretty comfortable. In my E900 review, I complained a bit about comfort and it was in large part due to the shallow cups; ones that dig into your ears more than necessary and cause varying amounts of pain over time.

This time around, the padding is more plush and the cups are deeper. I believe this also makes them a better option for gaming as discussed because, given your ears are away from the drivers, directional cues and overall resolution are much improved.

With the E900, I could never see myself using it and haven’t since I first received it in the mail.

Before we give a final verdict, let’s recap.

What I liked:

Comfort is better.
Detachable cables automatically make this more of a legitimate purchase.
Directional cues have improved.
The app is a great add-on.
Mic quality is really good for $50.

What needs improvement:

Tuning is way off and needs work.
The Soundstage could be a bit better.

Considerations for next time:

I would love to see EKSA make it so you can use the app while the headphones are plugged into a separate Amp/DAC. As it stands now, you can only use it if they’re plugged into your PC via USB.

This limitation is somewhat of an inconvenience and disappointing when you consider that the headphones absolutely need EQ to sound halfway decent for music.

Final Verdict

EKSA’s E900 Pro is a definite improvement over the original; now with detachable cables, better comfort, improved directionality, and yes, they even light up. That shouldn’t make or break your decision, but the included App functionality certainly helps solidify these as a good overall value – even despite the flaws we discussed.

The stock tuning isn’t all that great, and I would like to see the app work full-time regardless of how it’s plugged in. But for $50, this is a pretty easy purchase.

SEE WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ON AMAZON

Specifications

Headset

Interface Type: 3.5mm / USB
Driver Diameter: 50mm
Sensitivity: 118 ± 3dB
Impedance: 32Ω
Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz

Call Mic

Size: 6.0mm * 2.7mm
Sensitivity: -42 ± 3dB
Impedance: 2.2kΩ
Supply Voltage: 3V
Current Consumption: Max 0.5 mA

Well, that’s about it for today my friend! I hope you’ve enjoyed this EKSA E900 Pro Review, and are better equipped to make a purchasing decision!

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