Closer Examination

Two things immediately came to my mind after pulling the Rosewill Nebula GX50 out of the box: this is a large headset, and there's no way one could correctly guess its price just by looking at or playing with it as it feels more expensive than it is.


The outer headband, the one that connects the left and right ear cups, is made out of metal. There's also a secondary, inner headband, suspended on a couple of wires, padded with memory foam, and covered in soft pleather. That one sits on top of your head and stretches as much as necessary to fit your head properly, without ever applying any excessive pressure or feeling uncomfortable. Yet again, the dual-headband design works great, resulting in both comfort and everyday practicality simply because you never have to adjust anything. You just pop the headset on your head and are ready to go.


The point where two headbands connect with each other is decorated with a brushed metal plate. The clearly visible hex screws are a nice touch, as is the rubberized protection for the wires that go through the inner headband and connect the ear cups. Many other manufacturers leave them hanging out, and I often find myself worried about cutting them by accident. That never actually happened, but the fear remains. Not so with the Nebula GX50 where said wires are well-protected, however.


Another detail that strikes me as very nice in terms of the general look and feel of the Nebula GX50 is the rubber coating used to cover the ear cups. It increases the overall feel of sturdiness, but isn't too prone to smudging, and it's simply a pleasure to hold in your hands. You'll be touching the surface on these every time you want to put this headset on or take it off. While we're looking at the ear cups, it's also worth noting that they look perforated, but actually aren't - it's just a decorative mesh with RGB LEDs underneath. The design of the ear cups is closed-back, so excessive sound leakage isn't something to worry about.


The ear cushions are massive. They measure 10 centimeters in diameter, with the inner diameter being 6 centimeters - enough to completely surround your ears without having these rest on any part of them. They're covered in pleather and supposedly filled with memory foam. I have to say the filling feels like regular foam to me as it immediately springs back to its original form after being depressed with my fingers. Regardless, the ear cushions are fairly soft and don't cause any discomfort during prolonged use.


As already stated, the RGB LEDs are under the mesh that surrounds the outer side of the ear cups. It's possible to turn these on or off by using a switch on the in-line control unit, but that's about it - you cannot control their color, effect, or anything else. The effect can be described as a rotating color wheel, sort of. I made a short video so you can see it for yourself:



Some will like it, some won't, and most of us will keep wondering about the point of having an RGB lighting system on a device we keep on top of our heads and don't see while using it.


The supplied microphone can be detached from the headset if that's something you'd like to do. The connector is made in a way that makes how it has to be orientated properly pretty obvious.


To make the microphone arm, Rosewill went with the familiar metal-ring construction, which usually results in a very bendy microphone that has no trouble staying in the position you put it in. That's the case here too, and it's a good thing as well because you really need to keep its head as close to your mouth as possible in order to get enough volume out of it. More on that later.


About 35 centimeters down the braided, non-removable cable that comes out of the left ear cup, Rosewill placed the in-line control unit. It's equipped with two switches and a volume dial. The switch on its side (or bottom, looking at the photo) is used to instantly activate or deactivate the microphone. The one in the middle of the control unit turns the RGB LEDs on or off. A clothes clip isn't a part of the control unit, so you won't be able to affix it to something you wear. Luckily, it isn't placed too far down the cable, so it manages to stay within reach in a normal sitting position.