Closer Examination

If you're familiar with Beyerdynamic's headphone portfolio, you probably don't need me to tell you that the MMX 300 2nd Gen looks nearly identical to their DT 770 PRO reference studio monitoring headphones, although there is the obvious addition of a pivotable microphone affixed to the left ear cup. The differences between the two come down to the way the product name is presented on the ear cups and the color of ear cushions, which are black instead of gray in the case of the MMX 300 2nd Gen. The black-on-black color scheme results in a subtle, professional-looking exterior, which comes as a breath of fresh air in a sea of headsets with aggressive gaming aesthetics.


The ear cups are completely sealed. They're made out of robust plastic, which could easily be confused with metal due to its matte black color and general sturdiness. It's safe to assume that Beyerdynamic went with plastic in order to keep the headset as light as possible because gamers tend to use their headphones the same way professional audio engineers do: for many hours at a time.


The ear cups are held in place by a massive metal frame that arches from one ear cup to the other and functions as the headband. The metal frame connects with each ear cup in two places, which gives the ear cups a certain freedom of movement. To be exact, they can be angled, with the range of motion set to about 30°. That's a welcome move in terms of making them adjustable to various head shapes and sizes.


The entire upper part of the aforementioned metal arch is heavily padded and wrapped in leather. If for some bizarre reason you want to remove the padding and expose the metal insides of the frame, you can certainly do that—the leather cover is attached by Velcro, most likely to give us the option to replace it, should it ever wear out.


The microphone is affixed to the left ear cup and has a range of motion of almost 360°. The user manual suggests you should pivot it by using the holder (pictured above), but don't worry, nothing bad will happen if you grab it by its arm close to the holder and adjust its position that way. The arm can easily be bent, with Beyerdynamic suggesting that you position it approximately two centimeters away from your mouth. The contraption is made in a way that completely removes any chances of the microphone arm accidentally moving into a different position.


The head of the microphone can be left exposed, but most users will want to leave the supplied windscreen on it for a more professional look and less heavy-breathing-related issues. The condenser capsule has a cardioid pickup pattern and its quality is terrific, but we'll get to that in the microphone performance section of the review.


The MMX 300 2nd Gen sports a detachable cable with the appropriate connector on the bottom edge of the left ear cup. The rubberized head of the plug fits snugly into the hole—make sure you push it all the way in, which may require a bit more force than you would expect. The headset comes with two cables, one with dual TRS plugs (PC) and another with a single TRRS plug (consoles, mobile devices, most laptops). Both cables haven an in-line remote control.


The in-line remote control contains a microphone mute switch, volume knob, and multipurpose button. The latter can be used to temporarily mute the microphone (PC version of the cable) or play and pause songs, switch between them (double and triple-click) and answer phone calls (console/mobile device version of the cable). It has no clothes clip attached to it, which would make it easier to find without looking.


Here's the difference between the two supplied cables—one has a pair of 3-pole TRS plugs, and the other has a single 4-pole TRRS plug. Both are standard 3.5-mm audio plugs, of course.