Closer Examination, Build Quality, and Comfort

Here's the MSI Immerse GH61 in all of its glory. MSI was smart to go with a gray-on-black color scheme as it makes for a rather unassuming presence for a fairly large gaming headset. They were obviously aiming for a more serious look, which is fortified by the complete absence of RGB LEDs or effects. You won't hear me complaining!


After closer examination, it quickly becomes apparent that the headset is mostly made out of plastic; the ear cups are completely encased in plastic, as is the outer side of the headband. The plastic feels rugged, and there are no sings of wear after I've been using it as a daily driver for more than two months, but note that some parts of it are very prone to squeaking and creaking. This issue is most apparent when you try to rotate, tilt, or pivot the ear cups. Take a look at the video I made demonstrating it.

This sounds and is annoying, but doesn't get in the way of using the headset. Once you pop it on your head, which stops the joints from moving around, it thankfully stops creaking.


The inner headband is heavily padded with memory foam and covered in pleather. The ear pads are very soft as well, regardless of which pair you decide to use. MSI includes two pairs with the Immerse GH61, pleather and cloth. They differ in terms of passive noise isolation (the pleather pads block out more incoming and outgoing noise), heat accumulation (the cloth pads have better ventilation), and sound performance (the pleather pads sound bassier, the cloth pad is leaner in the low-end, but generally airier), but are pretty much identical in terms of wearing comfort. Overall, the MSI Immerse GH61 is a very comfortable gaming headset that can be worn for many hours at a time even if you forget to occasionally take a break.


The ear pads can be removed and replaced without much hassle. I suggest trying out both pairs (pleather and cloth) to see which one works best for you. For the most part, I'd stick with pleather ear pads, but I'd definitely switch to the cloth pads in the hotter summer months, especially if my room wasn't air conditioned.


I demonstrated the adjustability of the MSI Immerse GH61 in the video above. Here's an additional trick up its sleeve: it can be folded. Foldability isn't something you'd expect or necessarily need from a headset of this size, but if you do plan to carry it around, you'll be happy it's there.


The height can be adjusted by sliding the ear cups up and down the inner headband made out of metal. The sliding mechanism produces a satisfying "click" for every step of its movement range.


The left ear cup contains a retractable microphone. The arm of the microphone is rubberized and does a solid job of staying put once bent as desired.


The microphone capsule doesn't come with a windscreen, which isn't surprising given the retractable nature of the microphone. You should have no trouble figuring out which side should be face towards your mouth.


The braided 1.2-meter cable is affixed to the left ear cup and terminated with a 3.5-millimeter 4-pole (TRRS) plug. This gives you the flexibility to plug it into the supplied ESS Sabre DAC/amp and use the MSI Immerse GH61 as a USB headset, or simply plug it into any other 3.5-mm audio port, like those on your console's gamepad. It's safe to assume most users will stick with the supplied ESS Sabre module as they wouldn't be looking to buy a USB headset otherwise.


The ESS Sabre DAC/amp is implemented as an in-line module with four buttons on the front and a clothes clip on the back. The buttons are used for volume control, microphone muting, and 7.1 virtual surround sound activation/deactivation. They're decently clicky and generally pleasant to use. The microphone mute and 7.1 virtual surround sound buttons glow white when engaged.


The braided cable with the ESS Sabre module is terminated with a standard USB Type-A port.