Polk Audio has been turning out some great stuff lately. The Baltimore-based company recently introduced a new line of affordable, high-performance speakers, has been busy developing a classy headphone lineup along with a new multi-room wireless speaker series, and, now, is bolstering its gaming headset lineup with the introduction of the Striker Pro Zx.
This new passive set of gaming cans don’t do fake surround sound, built-in amplification, or complicated DSP (digital signal processing). But what they lack in fancy electronics, they make up for in connectivity and sound quality. In the box with the headset are all the connecting cables needed to connect to PCs, current-gen gaming consoles, and mobile devices. You’ll find the green Xbox One logo on the box, but that’s just because a wireless controller adapter is included. In fact, since the included boom microphone is detachable, and the included mobile device cable has an in-line microphone, you can use the Striker Pro Zx as a standard pair of headphones. And you’ll probably want to, because they sound pretty great.
Generally we’re skeptical whenever the term “audiophile quality” is bandied about, and in this case it may be a little misappropriated — the cans don’t exactly exhibit what you’d call a perfectly balanced frequency response. But that isn’t to suggest they don’t sound great. We find the Pro Zx to have well-controlled, slightly boosted bass which is just as adept at handling grenade explosions as it is reproducing upright acoustic bass; an open and honest midrange; and the treble, while a little bit on the forward side, adds sheen to sound effects while avoiding harshness.
At $150, the Polk Striker Pro Zx have plenty of competition, but few of their contemporaries can claim to offer such versatility paired with such impressive sound. You can pick up a pair soon at Amazon and Best Buy, or enter Digital Trends’ latest giveaway contest (ends on 10/01/2015 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time) to try your luck at scoring a pair absolutely free!
