Review on Logitech H540 USB Headset: High Performance for Windows and Mac, Skype Certified by Heidi Ward

Unfortunately, my previous Logitech H530 headset stopped working. I really liked this headset. Unfortunately, this new version of the headset is far inferior to the H530. What's wrong with the headset: - Thick hard cable that rubs on everything. Because the cable is attached to the side of the microphone, any movement or vibration is transmitted to the microphone. You have to be absolutely still when speaking, otherwise you will hear boom, boom, boom at the other end. - The mute and volume controls produce a loud sound into the microphone when pressed. The previous model had the switch and cable on the opposite side of the mic, and for good reason. - The microphone does a poor job of filtering out background noise such as computer fans. - Voices are not dynamically aligned very well. The previous model had a switch to select the language mode. It doesn't work, and any dynamic alignment it can provide just doesn't work. Voice communications have too much basis to be clear and it can be difficult to make out the sound of voices when there is background noise at the other end. It gets tiring after a while. - The sideband function (returns a small part of what is said to the speakers) must have a delay or something because the sound of my own voice is very confusing. This is a nice feature for a headset that fits snugly around your ears because your brain is waiting to hear what you're saying. However, if your voice is delayed too much or the tone is changed a lot due to bad EQ, the result will sound very wrong. I usually love Logitech products. I've bought many of these over the years because their product designers put *thought* into their designs. It's amazing how they've come this far from the H530 to the H540 and I hope this isn't the start of a new trend in Logitech's approach to products. This is a terrible headset for voice comms and I strongly encourage anyone reading this to look elsewhere. I ended up buying a Plantronics Blackwire headset and I'm very glad I did.