Review: EPOS Impact 460 – Sound Beyond Calls: Music and Media Performance

The EPOS DNA can be traced as far back as 1904. In its incarnation as Sennheiser Communications, it formed part of the Danish company Demant, which manufactured medical hearing aids.

After they parted company in 2020, EPOS forged its own niche in the commercial sector with a range of professional headsets. Hmm, I seem to recall another big event that happened in 2020… Oh yes, the Covid pandemic! As the 9-5 working paradigm changed for the world that year, many people found themselves working from home and many continue to do so in a somewhat fractured, hybrid working environment.

The pandemic gave rise to the likes of Microsoft Teams and Zoom to flourish. We found ourselves using Teams and Zoom to chat with relatives, friends and colleagues from all over the world. The incessant need to refrain from touching things like telephones (lest we allow the virus to spread) made video calls and conferencing the best way to communicate and carry on with daily tasks. The irony of the pandemic was that although it was a deadly virus, technology brought people together at a time when physical contact was not possible. This, in turn, was an opportune moment for headset manufacturers like EPOS to announce their presence.

Currently, EPOS has a range of over twenty headsets in its product catalogue, with each model equipped with specs to meet the needs of users with differing requirements.

The Impact 400 Series is a budget-friendly, no-nonsense headset boasting features like:

• a dual-microphone system with advanced filtering algorithms. This helps ensure greater clarity in voice transmission, reducing unwanted noise.
• Professional-grade speakers that are fine-tuned for voice calls.
• Super comfortable design for all day use.

Unboxing and First Impressions

I received two boxes surprisingly. One box contained the Impact 460 headset while the other box contained a ring light. I expect the ring light would appeal to vloggers or influencers to which neither I belong but I’m obliged to review both items anyway!

The Headset

The first thing I noticed was how light the box was. I’ve seen some headsets that are used by the armed forces and they looked much chunkier and heavier than the size and weight of this box suggested.

Inside I found a cool, grey, felt pouch with a netted pocket.

The headset can be connected to both USB-A and USB-C ports thanks to the dual connector options available. The ear pads had hard, protective covers, which, to me, seemed surplus to requirements. The ear pads can rotate 180º and have a very soft, tactile finish that, when in use, offers endless hours of continuous, comfortable use. The flexible microphone (boom) is attached to the left ear pad and captures the user’s voice exceptionally well while filtering extraneous ambient noises. I feel this would be ideal for open-plan offices or situations where vocal clarity is paramount. The part of the boom arm that is connected to the earpiece is also home to a call button, allowing seamless transfer between calls. The boom arm is additionally fitted with a sensor that can determine whether the arm is raised or lowered. This allows the user to mute/ unmute calls by simply lifting or lowering the arm as needed.

The left ear pad is also home to volume control buttons and LED lights that indicate when the microphone has been muted or when connecting/connected to Teams.

One ever-so-minor observation I made was that while the boom arm, buttons and LEDs are on the left ear pad, the illustrations and photos on the website appear to show these on the right ear pad. It’s not clear if the earpieces are interchangeable or whether different markets require the boom arm on the right ear pad, but I feel I should point this out in an effort to give an honest review.

Here is a more detailed breakdown of the headset’s features:

Audio Quality

Although nothing to write home about, the quality of sound reproduced by the headset was perfectly clear to both me (the user) and my friend (on the other end of the call). There was no immediately discernible difference in the sound quality with or without the headset. The headset performed reasonably well when listening to music as well. I did however, feel the maximum volume level didn’t feel all that loud when listening to music. The maximum volume seemed (to me) around 85% of what it ought to be. The sound isn’t as punchy as I’d expect with a good set of regular headphones, but for the cost, I imagine most would be happy to overlook this.

Microphone Performance

The microphone also gave a satisfactory performance. To test the noise cancellation, I played some music in the background while conversing with a friend. She was able to hear me loud & clear even with the music volume turned up to a significantly boisterous level. The lift-to-mute function took me a while to get to grips with but I can see this being a useful feature for some users.

Comfort and Design

I found this headset very comfortable. The ear pads are welcomingly soft and don’t squeeze the head with prolonged use as many headphones tend to do.

As the earpads rotate 180º, this adds to their comfort so, unless you have a head like Shrek, the Impact 460 would suit a variety of head shapes and sizes.

Connectivity and Compatibility

One of the best things about this headset is that it comes with USB-C and USB-A connectivity options. No longer do you have to scramble around searching for adapters to connect the headset to your device. I would have liked it even more if, for example, my MacBook automatically recognised the headset as the required sound output source. I had to select this myself, which says more about how lazy I am than a shortcoming of the headset.

Features

The left earpad is also home to an LED busy light which, in normal use, is invisible but switches on when a call is in progress to alert neighbouring colleagues that work is being done and not to disturb you.

Value for Money

The Epos Impact 460 is by far a quality product which is laden with as many features as are truly required for most users, in my opinion. At a sub $70 price point, it will appeal to many users, whether they’re occasional vloggers at home or if they work in a busy call centre and most occupations in between.

The Ring Light

The Ring Light I received is a pretty straightforward item. I suspect most influencers have a ring light setup of some description. Being USB-powered, I did find it a bit fiddly to assemble as the cable wrapped around itself as I screwed the ring light on to the fixing bracket that it came with. I found the clamp very grippy, to be polite. It required some effort to clip it to the side of my desk.

However, once attached, it was plain sailing from then on. The light is made up of LED lights housed in a circular (ring) formation, and there is a controller attached to the cable which allows the user to select from three light settings;

1. Normal (white) light
2. Cool white (similar to a daylight bulb)
3. Warm white, which bathes the subject in a warm glow.

You can see the effect of each light setting in the pics below of this err… devilishly handsome model!

Further information

For everything you need to know about the Impact 460, head on over to the Epos website here; There, you can configure your own headset to create a bespoke product to meet your requirements.