Sony INZONE H6 Air review: Finally, a headset not just for FPS gamers

Too many companies think that gaming is only about competitive gaming. However, there’s a whole world of game genres that people love to immerse themselves in. Action games and role-playing games are the forte of the Sony INZONE H6 Air, and it’s about time a headset came along to cater to them. Is this the gaming headset that keeps you immersed in your next adventure? Or will the world sound flat and lifeless? I’ll walk you through the Sony H6 Air to find out.

What’s it like to use the Sony INZONE H6 Air?

The INZONE H6 Air is almost identical to the recent INZONE H9 II in terms of build. The difference isn’t just that it’s an open-back headset; it’s also wired-only. Holding it in my hands, the H6 Air treads the line between feeling sturdy and lightweight. The aluminum earcups are surprisingly solid, despite being perforated, and I’m not worried about them caving in accidentally.

The headband uses a suspension strap that can be adjusted with buttons at both ends. The slider mechanism slides the band smoothly, but it does have notches, so the band sits in a specific position. When adjusting the headset, I can’t tell which notch I’m on, which annoys me a little because I prefer the headband to stay at the same level. Still, that doesn’t affect the headset’s fit.

The INZONE H6 Air is the most comfortable headset I’ve used so far. Its lightweight build keeps it on my head with very little pressure, reducing the need for excessive clamping force. However, the small gripe I have with the fit is that the earpad cloth has a rough texture, unlike the INZONE H9 II. Granted, this prevents the headset from sliding around, and it hasn’t gotten too itchy even after over 8 hours of continuous use. Other than the wire reminding me I’m wearing the INZONE H6 Air, it’s comfortable enough for me that I almost forget I’m wearing it. The wire itself is excessively long, but it comes with a cable tie, which is great if you plug it into the PC’s back panel.

The wire means that all the controls on the INZONE H6 Air are analog. All controls and connections are on the left-hand earcup. There’s a mute switch, volume scroll, and two 3.5mm jacks, one for the boom microphone and one for audio. I love the feel and clicky tactility of the knurled texture mute switch. A red band is visible when the switch is in the mute position. If you want to know without looking, the mic is active when the button is flush with the headset. The volume scroll, on the other hand, feels cheap. The scroll is dampened, but it feels like it stops abruptly instead of smoothly. It’s a minor detail that doesn’t match my preference, but I also tend to adjust the volume through the PC or console instead.

Should you use the INZONE app for the Sony INZONE H6 Air?

The included USB dongle is used to access the INZONE Hub software on a PC. This gives you access to the INZONE app features, multiple EQ presets, a customizable 10-band EQ, dynamic range control, spatial sound, and my personal favorite, app sync settings.

Despite the 10-band EQ and multiple presets, I can’t help but crave a little bit more customization. You’re not able to adjust the bands or the Q-value for fine-tuned adjustments. However, you get some access to Spatial Sound through sound-field personalization. You’ll have to scan your ears to get a personal adjustment to the headset sound. I haven’t had much luck making it sound good, but some people may enjoy it. The microphone also has an automatic gain control feature, which is appreciated. This makes sure you’re not too loud or too quiet. While there is sidetone, I would suggest turning it off, since you can already hear yourself, given that the H6 Air is open-back.

The app sync settings let you use a different profile when you launch a game, without having to change profiles manually. You can have the INZONE app do it for you in the background. However, with the audience being Action and RPG gamers, the worst-case scenario is that you’ll tweak the overall sound of the Sony INZONE H6 Air closer to your liking. I would suggest boosting the sub-bass using my personal EQ in the screenshot above. Speaking of which, with the launch of the INZONE H6 Air, there’s now a new RPG preset. The new preset isn’t locked to the H6 Air and can now be used with any Sony product compatible with the INZONE app. One thing to note, any presets made through the INZONE Hub App are tied to that program and aren’t tied to the dongle, but the good news is that you don’t need to create an account to access any of these features.

How do you connect the Sony INZONE H6 Air?

The H6 Air uses a 3.5mm TRRS connection to accommodate the microphone. It also includes a DAC, so you won’t need to provide your own. The included DAC has official support for Windows and PlayStation. However, I also tested the dongle DAC on MacOS, iOS, and Android, but none of them support the INZONE app, which means you lose out on the EQ features.

If you connect the INZONE H6 Air to an external DAC such as the Fiio K11, there’s no significant change that warrants losing the microphone. Despite that, I do wish that there was an adapter in the box to split the 3.5mm termination into separate microphone and audio jacks. It’s a minor gripe, but it would be nice for the few people like me who tend to use other equipment, such as microphone interfaces.

How well does the Sony INZONE H6 Air attenuate noise?

With open backs, it’s more about how much noise leaks through instead of how much it blocks. The sound bleed from the Sony INZONE H6 Air is more than noticeable. It’s as audible as small speakers, and I can clearly hear what is playing through the headset from a few feet away.

There is only a slight attenuation in the high frequencies, which slightly reduces perceived clarity and spaciousness. It’s only enough to notice, but not a significant volume change. You definitely don’t want to buy these unless you have a quiet environment, as sound can pass through even at ear-splitting levels. However, at ear-damaging volumes, it will drown out most sounds.

How do the Sony INZONE H6 Air sound?

The Sony INZONE H6 Air targets Action and RPG gamers, and it excels in that regard. Since that genre is common in today’s cinematic gaming experience, it’s a great time if you want to lose yourself in a virtual world.

The drivers in the Sony INZONE H6 Air are the same as those in the Sony MDR-MV1, a studio open-back headset. This can make the INZONE H6 Air a gaming headset that can double as studio monitors. If you’re the type of person who would like a single headset for both casual use and studio use, they aren’t a bad pick.

Reviewer’s notes

Editor’s note: this review uses a hover-enabled glossary to describe sound quality based on a consensus vocabulary. You can read about it here.

Objective Measurements

Looking at the frequency response chart, the Sony INZONE H6 Air follows the SoundGuys preference curve pretty closely. The dip in the upper treble and sub-bass makes the H6 Air look a little mid-forward compared to the preference curve. It’s almost as if the headset is running a low-pass and high-pass filter. Normally, this cleans up some sounds that would otherwise reduce the perceived clarity. There’s a spike from 5kHz to 10kHz, which typically adds presence to vocals and instruments. However, the dip from 10kHz to 20kHz affects spatial sound effects such as reverb, but this is mostly negated by the open-back design. The sub-bass dip affects the rumble, reducing the pressure from sounds.

Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Scores (MDAQS)

The chart below shows how the Sony INZONE H6 Air’s sound was assessed using the Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Score (MDAQS) algorithm from HEAD acoustics.

The Sony INZONE H6 Air scores are pretty high for a gaming headset. The Timbre score is significantly higher than most gaming headsets, and most people would agree that the sound is very enjoyable. Both the Distortion and Immersiveness score is within the average for most gaming headsets. With a Distortion score of 3.7, people are likely to find it sounds natural. Despite being a gaming headset, the Immersiveness score indicates that people would find the ability to localize sound sources in space to be decent.

How good is the Sony INZONE H6 Air’s microphone?

The microphone on the Sony INZONE H6 Air is unidirectional, which shouldn’t normally pick up much environmental noise. Sadly, it picks up a lot of the environment. Thankfully, the noise-to-signal ratio is pretty good, making it more than intelligible, albeit a tad annoying. Despite that, the microphone picks up high frequencies very well, which means low whines can sound like screeching. However, the microphone sound is great and almost natural, making this one of the best microphones on a headset. Listen to the samples below to hear for yourself.

Sony INZONE H6 Air microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Sony INZONE H6 Air microphone demo (Office conditions):

Sony INZONE H6 Air microphone demo (Reverberant space):

Should you buy the Sony INZONE H6 Air?

For long gaming sessions, the comfort alone on the INZONE H6 Air is hard to beat. It sounds great for most gamers, even the competitive ones. The only downside is that it has to be used in a quiet environment. The open-back design allows sound to leak in and out of the INZONE H6 Air. But for daily players at home, the INZONE H6 Air is one of the best wired headsets I’ve used for gaming. The microphone is great, but again, you do have to use it in a quiet environment, as it picks up noise easily.

Sony INZONE H6 Air price history

What should you get instead of the Sony INZONE H6 Air?

If you’re looking to go more into competitive gaming-focused headsets, Razer makes some great ones, and they’re also wireless.  The Razer Blackshark V2 Pro ($199.99 at Amazon) has a great microphone and sound, which are good for general gaming. If you want the comfort of the Sony INZONE H6 Air for long gaming sessions, there’s the Sony INZONE H9 II ($349.99 at Amazon), which has the same design but is closed-back and wireless instead. It is heavier than the INZONE H6 Air, but it has the same general build and is more geared toward the competitive gaming crowd. However, if you are looking for an open-back gaming headset there is the Asus ROG Kithara $299.99 at Amazon. The ROG Kithara is closer to a studio headphone with a microphone.

Sony INZONE H6 Air review: FAQs