Plantronics’ newest creation the .Audio 476 (MSRP $39). Light weight, foldable, USB headset (meaning with mic) that generally breaks the mold as far as travel headsets go.

First, you should know that I’m not a big fan of over-ear headphones or headsets. I generally don’t like the way the sound comes in and find they’re too cumbersome.

Big can style or completely over the ear/studio style headphones, they’re too in the way. Can+boom-mic styles may have some great sound from the earpieces, but the mic makes you sound nasally. You can hear breathing noises and that doesn’t make for conversation over Skype or any other chat program. They also get heavy and uncomfortable after a while.

I mean, c’mon, who wants to feel like they’re flying or landing an airplane? (Unless you’re actually doing it in a game or something)

The in-ear headphones that I prefer usually have some awesome bass and good sound isolation. The silicone plugs cover your entire ear hole, so you’re not getting a lot of ambient noise. Light and easy to carry around, but the drawback here is they can make your ear canal feeling pretty tired after extended use.

Plantronics .Audio 476, happily, finds the perfect middle in my opinion. These headphones come with Plantronics’ signature excellent mic. It’s so good, that NASA used them during the moon landings. Just like velcro, memory foam, freeze dried coffee, Tang, food in a tube…if it’s good enough for NASA, it’s good enough for me. At least that’s how I’ve always felt about Plantronics.

On board you’ll find pre-tuned, a fully equalized pair of headphones, with built in DSP. All that really means is that Plantronics has tuned these headphones for reproducing the sound that comes out of your computer (games, music, chats, etc).

The overall effect is really sweet. You’ll find a pretty decent bass response, which is really surprising with an over-ear pair of headphones like these. Nice mids that are a little muffled, but not much. The high’s however, are well produced and only just a little bit shrill.

Crank the treble to high and you’ll hear a shrilly cackle as the headphones work to really try to reproduce it. It does the job admirably though. Understand that the test I put it through, most can headphones would muffle the high’s and in the ear ones would make you deaf.

I’m being real picky here as I expect a lot from one of my favorite headset companies. You won’t notice it listening to MP3’s, music from iTunes and playing a few games. In fact, the sound stage overall is pretty impressive. Not totally in your head like in ear, but a happy balance between a can’s “edge of your head” stage and an in-ear-in-head presence.

Great news is no tinny sound. Overall, a very warm sound with a lot of depth.

If I just left it at that, I think many folks would be happy and might be inclined to try a pair. But the sound quality is just a single aspect of this headset.

Next comes weight and feel. It’s going to sound strange, (and creepy), but these headphones are extremely light. To the point that it feels like there’s nothing there. Extended wear during our testing (up to two hours or more by our testers) really had no adverse effect. All of our testers felt that this was one of the most comfortable headsets, if not the most comfortable, around.

This bendy-foldy headset is extremely small and easy to travel with. No wider than 1 1/2 standard Post-It notes, they make an excellent travel companion, especially if you do a lot of Skype or on-line calling (Google Voice, iChat, etc.). The mic moves up or down and when in the up position, it tucks in nicely to the headset and doesn’t get in your way. Other boom-mic style headsets remind you of where the mic is. You’ll feel it in the weight or in how awkwardly the headphones sit on your head. Plantronics doesn’t do that. Tuck it away and it’s gone. Drop it down to talk, and you hardly notice it.

Sound quality on the mic is superb and everything you’d expect from Plantronics. No nasally sounds and the other part won’t hear you breathe. Of course, .Audio 476 includes noise canceling as well as echo cancellation. Add both of those together and whoever you’re talking to has no idea you’re using a headset.

In our tests, we couldn’t tell a headset was being use. Perhaps a direct mic, but not a headset. We tried the same with other headsets and there was a noticeable difference in voice quality. So, Plantronics did their job right on this.

No need to install any drivers, Mac OS-X picks it up easy and identifies properly. You’ll also find perfectly functioning in-line controls or volume up/down and mic mute. The mic mute button has a red LED to let you know that it’s on mute.

You’d think I’m done showering some love on this headset? But no, I’ve got one more thing.

The packaging is worth note here. Most gear that we get comes in the “cut your finger” off plastic. I mean, really. We use an old steak knife around here to get through it sometimes. Usually, it’ll be a cut from the plastic or a cut from the knife, either way not pleasant.

Plantronics has done a little simple pre-cut job on their package, which makes us really, really happy (and wondering why everyone else can’t do this). I mean, to open, you just flip the package around and you’ll find a pre-cut opening. Tear, and it’s done. Be careful, it’s still sharp enough to scrape, but no surgery to open up.

The voting on this one was especially close. However, almost all of the editors and testers agreed that these deserved our Golden Bucket Award.

It’s a great headset and one we can’t recommend enough. The price might seem a little steep for a headset, but the sound quality on the headphones and the crystal clear mic far out-weight the price. Add to it the fact that it’s extremely light-weight and comfortable, and you’ve got a winner.

It’s not available yet, but keep checking out Plantronics.com for more details.

Congratulations, Plantronics!

(Legal Note: Our lawyer wants us to tell everyone that this is an independent review of Plantronics .Audio 476. Tech Bucket Blog LLC did not pay for the product being reviewed. We requested and received these items from representatives of Plantronics. We are never and were not compensated for our opinions or recommendation of this or any other product we review. We offer our opinions based upon our own independent testing. As our policy is not to be compensated for our reviews, we are never directed in one direction (positive or negative) about this or any product we review.)

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