Gamdias HEPHAESTUS P1 Gaming Headset Review

By Meng Vang

Manufacturer: GAMDIAS Technology, Inc.
Product Name: HEPHAESTUS P1 RGB Surround Sound Gaming Headset
Model Number: GD-HEPHAESTUS P1
UPC: 848475002965
Price As Tested: $79.99 (Newegg | Amazon)

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by GAMDIAS.

The Gamdias HEPHAESTUS P1 RGB surround sound gaming headset is a new addition to the brand’s line up. It features RGB illumination with virtual 7.1 surround sound and real vibration from bass impact. The HEPHAESTUS P1 also has cooling ventilation on both drivers to keep the drivers cool during long gaming sessions. Because it does not utilize a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack, the headset communicates through a USB 2.0 cable. This allows for software support with Gamdias HERA to fine tune RGB lighting and audio settings. In this article for Benchmark Reviews, we take a look at the HEPHAESTUS P1 and test its various features.

• 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound
• RGB Customizable Breathing Lighting
• Feel The Sound With Bass Impact
• Omnidirectional Microphone built on a Swivel base
• Oversized Earcup Design
• Smart Remote Controller
• Cooling Vents

The HEPHAESTUS P1 is currently available online for $79.99 (Newegg | Amazon) and comes in a standard box. The box has a picture of the product along with features and specifications listed around it. There is also a plastic show cover to let us have a peak at the product inside.

Once opened, we can see the product nicely packaged in a plastic material. This prevents any physical damage to the product during shipment.

The silver color design of the HEPHAESTUS P1 looks very stylish especially with the brushed aluminum headband. We can see the large ear cups and the aluminum cooling vents on both drivers.

At the rear, we notice the cable coming from the left driver. This reduces the amount of wires going to the headset, which can prevent unwanted sounds when the cable rubs against a desk or clothing.

On the side, there is the company logo in the center of the driver and a few other texts. These texts point out the virtual 7.1 surround sound, cooling structure, and vibration function.

Here we can get a better look at the top aluminum headband. It does give a modernized look to the HEPHAESTUS P1. But like all shiny modernized gadgets nowadays, it attracts fingerprints like no tomorrow.

In the next section, let’s go over a few more details on what the HEPHAESTUS P1 has to offer.

In terms of connectivity, the HEPHAESTUS P1 connects to a computer via a gold-plated USB 2.0 cable. On the 1.8m braided cable, there is a smart remote controller for volume, vibration, and microphone controls.

On both drivers, there is a built-in cooling structure to keep the ear cups cool during long gaming sessions.

In front of the left driver is where the omnidirectional microphone connects to. The microphone is not removable, but it is built on a swivel base for easy adjustment.

The HEPHAESTUS P1 provides about one inch of adjustment to the headband. Unfortunately, there are no numbers or labels to tell us how much we have adjusted the headband.

In the next section, we will take a look at the Gamdias software for the HEPHAESTUS P1 gaming headset.

The newest version of the Gamdias HERA software is available online for download. After a few installation setups, the HERA software will recognize the HEPHAESTUS P1 and bring us to the Main Setting tab. Here we can select a few sound settings as well as play around with the 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter.

In the Equalizer tab, we can tune the different frequency levels just like on a sound card. There are a few presets we can choose from instead of customizing our own.

In the Environment tab, we can choose between four preset environments, which includes Bath Room, Concert Hall, Living Room, or Rock Cave. Towards the right is where we can choose the size of our room to better handle the sound environment.

Luminance is where we can adjust the RGB LEDs on the headset. There are a few preset modes to choose from. These include LED OFF, Static, Breathing, Rainbow, or Flash. The RGB color sliders will allow for some fine tuning to match a specific color.

In the next section, we will assess the HEPHAESTUS P1 to see how well the headset performs.

During my testing period with the HEPHAESTUS P1, I watched several movies, listened to music, and played a few games like StarCraft Remastered, Planetside 2, and Quake Live. Because the HEPHAESTUS P1 gets sound through the USB port, I was unable to use it with my Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D sound card. That meant I had to rely on the Gamdias Hera software and enhance the sound through Windows. The microphone was tested during games to see how other players would pick up my voice.

• Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4
• System Memory: 4x8GB 2666MHz DDR4
• Processor: Intel Core i7 5820K @ 4.5GHz
• Audio: Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D
• Video: MSI GeForce 780 Ti
• Disk Drive 1: Crucial MX100 256GB SSD
• Disk Drive 2: WD Blue 3TB HDD
• Enclosure: NZXT H700i
• PSU: EVGA 850P2 850W Modular
• Monitor: HP 23bw 23″ IPS display
• Operating System: Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit

The HEPHAESTUS P1 provided good sound quality overall. I did notice a difference between two speaker mode versus virtual 7.1 surround sound. In virtual 7.1 surround sound mode, the sounds were easier on the ears and did not sound too harsh when there was something towards only the left or right. With a few settings adjusted in the HERA software, the sound quality sounded better as explosions created a nicer punch, which activated the vibration mode at low to medium volume levels. Using the smart remote control, I was able to adjust the vibration of the drivers to give more kick during an explosion. I was also able to turn off vibration when watching a movie or listening to music.

The microphone was okay as it was mostly quiet but had a nasal-like sound to it. Players were able to hear and understand me while playing games, but I did expect a little more at this price range. The sample rate and bit depth of the microphone and speakers were 16 bit at 44100 Hz with no other option. This was okay for most players and games, but it may limit productivity.

Although I am not a fan of having sound coming from the USB port, the additional functionality of the Gamdias HERA software did improve sound quality as well as add RGB customization options. The only problem I had with the USB interface was not being able to use the HEPHAESTUS P1 with my sound card.

Comfort

When it came to comfort, the HEPHAESTUS P1 was pretty comfortable with its soft ear cups. The drivers were just the right size for my ears, but the headband adjustment did not stay put very well. After long hours of gaming, I had to readjust the headband as it kept wanting to expand. I also did not see too much of a difference with or without the cooling structure when compared to other gaming headsets. The HEPHAESTUS P1 may have been one or two degrees cooler at best, but it was not nearly as noticeably as I expected it to be.

RGB Lighting Accuracy

I always like to test how well RGB peripherals do with producing a pure white color. From my test, the HEPHAESTUS P1 was unable to produce white at 255, 255, 255. Instead, it produced orange, as if the blue LED was not as bright as red and green. I was able to get white with 64, 128, 255, but customizing different colors was a challenge because red overpowered both green and blue.

Software

The HERA software was really buggy for the HEPHAESTUS P1 when adjusting RGB lighting and audio settings. There were no instructions on what the various features do, so I had to play around with them to find out. I could not wrap my mind around how the 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter worked. My expectations was that every blue dot was a speaker and I could move each one anywhere to get that perfect virtual 7.1 surround sound experience. But it did not work as expected because clicking on one of the blue dots would either increase or decrease the volume. Sometimes, only one side of the headset would play no matter where I put the blue dot. I just turned this feature off instead.

The equalizer was a similar story. It does not work like on a sound card, and some presets were noticeably louder than others. Some of them were so quiet I had to turn up my volume just to hear anything. After playing around, I noticed that for each frequency, 0 dB was the same as -12 dB, and -1 dB was the same as 12 dB.

Because the HEPHAESTUS P1 did not store these equalizer settings in the headset, I had to manually reopen the HERA software every time to readjust these settings. This was a tedious process especially without a save function to store the equalizer settings. If this headset had a 3.5 mm headphone jack with a USB port for RGB customization, the sophisticated audio driver of modern sound cards would take care of the sound settings automatically at startup.

Let’s go into my final thoughts and end this review with my conclusion in the next section.

The HEPHAESTUS P1 provides a good virtual 7.1 surround sound experience with an exceptional build design to go along with it. The aluminum headband with the soft cushion enhances durability and provides an extra bit of comfort to the user. What holds the HEPHAESTUS P1 back is the HERA software, which has multiple glitches with RGB and audio customization. Having to manually open the software at startup to readjust equalizer settings is really frustrating. But if you can cope with the HERA software and live with what Windows provides, the HEPHAESTUS P1 can still make a good virtual 7.1 surround sound gaming headset.

Even without an equalizer, the HEPHAESTUS P1 provides a good listening experience with movies, music, and games. The bass is pretty good at times, and the vibration function enhances the gaming experience with its responsive kick. When watching a movie, I personally would turn the vibration off especially when there is dialogue. The microphone was okay, but it did not sound very natural compared to previous gaming headset I have tried. Players could still understand me in game, but I would not expect to do much voice recording with it.

With the silver and black color choice, the HEPHAESTUS P1 can match any type of gaming setup. The aluminum headband looks great with its brushed texture, and the glossy black finish on the drivers adds that shiny finishing touch. It is unfortunate that the shinier things are, the more they attract dust and finger prints. RGB lighting is the poorest I have seen with any RGB capable peripheral. The HEPHAESTUS P1 would occasionally not respond to color changes made through HERA, and colors were not accurate at all except for pure red, green, and blue.

As for construction, the HEPHAESTUS P1 feels very sturdy with the aluminum headband and durable plastic design. The ear cups are really soft to increase comfort and have a protective layer to prevent bodily fluids from entering the cushions. I would have liked to see a stiffer headband/driver adjustment because I had to readjust the headband several times after several hours of gaming.

In terms of functionality, the HEPHAESTUS P1 works fine without the HERA software. But without HERA, adjusting sound and RGB lighting is not possible. The software seems unfinished without any form of explanation on how to use the various features. The sound settings are dependent on the software, meaning I had to manually start it up every time I turned on my computer and readjust the audio settings. This is one reason why I personally prefer sticking to a headset with a 3.5 mm jack. This way, the headset depends on the audio driver of the sound card. Audio drivers from Realtek or Creative already have many years of development, meaning they are mostly hassle free without having to readjust everything during startup.

As of March, 2018, the Gamdias HEPHAESTUS P1 RGB surround sound gaming headset currently sells online for $79.99 (Newegg | Amazon). This seems a little high in my opinion as the Corsair VOID Pro is marketed at a similar price but with better software support. I am hoping to see an update that can improve its software functionality to make the HEPHAESTUS P1 easier and less frustrating to use.
+ Good sound quality
+ Excellent build quality
+ Virtual 7.1 surround sound
+ Mostly comfortable for hours of gaming
– HERA software needs improvements

• Performance: 8.50
• Appearance: 8.50
• Construction: 9.00
• Functionality: 7.00
• Value: 7.00