ECS WordMaster Transcription USB Headset, Over-Head, Padded Around-Ear

I work as a virtual medical scribe, and have found these headphones to isolate spoken voice very well compared to other headphones I have tried. I do not use specific software, but a secure cloud based UI, and these work great without issue. The $50 price tag is worth it for the sound quality. I have noticed most of the ambient noise and artifact in the recording is more filtered and I can hear mumbles clearly, where as before I would have to replay the sound clip several times to understand what was said, slowing my productivity. I also like the ability to further increase the volume of the headset. The USB plug works great. Drivers installed automatically. While the recording is playing, the noises around me are not noticeable, however they do not have true noise cancelling technology. I have no complaints in that regard, however, as it does not affect my work. I have tried a number of different earbuds and headsets ranging in cost from $1- $300. The $300 ones were superb with comfort and noise cancelling, but the headband broke within 4 months. Other over the ear headphones I have tried have not had this quality of sound. The headband is a bit large, but they do not fall off my head. I will try to remember to update this review about the durability in 6 months or so. UPDATE: Afew months back one of the wires was coming loose. I contacted the manufacturer/seller and they had me send back the old ones and sent me an new pair at no cost. Excellent customer service!

I can't say enough good things about this headset. The sound quality is excellent. It is made specifically for the speaking voice, and so you don't have to deal with adjusting bass and treble, etc. I never realized until I purchased this headset that you don't need to pay a whole lot of money to get a good headset -- the ones I've owned in the past were very pricey but they were made to listen to music and did not produce the voice sound quality that this one does. I love the fact that it has a USB connector and doesn't go into the computer soundboard but is adjusted directly through the volume control. The ear pads fit comfortably on my ears and do not bother me even after several hours of wearing. I highly recommend this headset.

Excellent. Volume is very loud. I love that the headset can be adjusted to fit a large head. In the past, the headsets I purchased were snug because of my hair however, this headset has alot of room.

Just know before you buy that these are not noise cancelling headphones. There is great sound that comes through the ear pieces, they are not very heavy and fit the ears well. But they definitely do not block out noise from outside. So, if that's an issue, these will not work for you.

I do like this headset. The sound quality is great and voices are clear. The volume control works well when you have different level speaker volume. It's easier and quicker to adjust than using the transcription software controls. The one issue I have is that the headphones are really loose. If I turn my head or bend down just a little bit, they fall off. I do not have a small head; my head size is large/average. I bought this headset because the description says they are comfortable, even for all day transcription. I sometimes transcribe for 7 or 8 hours a day and wanted something that didn't give me a headache, like most headphones do after an hour or two, and that don't fall out like earbuds do. Unfortunately, these fall off!

I am working on a transcription course and was able to hear the audio much more clearly through these headphones than anything else I've tried. It's easy to adjust to volume and the sound quality is loud and clear. I have noticed, however, that after wearing the headphones for an hour or more, the band makes the top of my head sore, other than that, they're great!

I really like this headset...except that it doesn't last very long. There is a faint buzzing sound, but for the most part I could overlook that because otherwise the sound quality was pretty good and they're pretty comfortable (although I have a small head and they are a bit bulky). But ultimately, they stop working way too fast. The USB starts to fail each time after a few months of use. I've purchased these four separate times...it wasn't that bad when I happened to catch them on sale for $30, but paying $50 for such a poor quality product that has to be replaced every few months is ridiculous.

I used to use the ECS Wordslinger on-ear headphones. I liked the extra volume, but I found them very uncomfortable on my ears and there was always a constant high-pitched sound coming through the headphones when they're plugged in. It's faint enough not to interfere with audio, but still annoying. I moved on to a pair of over-ear headphones from a different brand, which I really liked, but I had to replace them recently when the sound started going in and out of one ear. Then I discovered these ECS Wordmaster over-ear headphones and thought they would be great. They are more comfortable than the Wordslinger ones since they don't press on the ears, and they do have louder volume than normal headphones, but that's partly negated by the fact that the ear cups don't fit snugly over your ears. They're very loose. My other over-ear headphones weren't officially noise-canceling either, but they did a pretty good job of dampening environmental noise just because they fit snugly over the ears with no gaps. These leave a bit of gap between the ear cups and your head and there is zero sound-dampening effect. I don't really find much benefit from the extra volume because any good over-ear headphones will usually sound plenty loud enough if the ear cups fit properly. Also, I've gotten used to headphones that have volume control on one of the ear cups, which I find much more convenient to tweak quickly than controls on the cord like these ECS headphones have. Also, while I know these ECS headphones are supposed to be designed specifically to make human voices more clear over other sounds in the recording, I personally have never noticed much difference between ECS transcription headphones and regular headphones in that regard. I returned these ECS Wordmaster headphones for a refund and am happily using a pair of bluetooth over-ear noise-canceling headphones (yes, it turns out some bluetooth headphones can be good enough for transcription nowadays)!

Made for larger heads and ears - just a bit smaller would be fantastic. Plus if it could be used around the neck as well as over the head. This company provides professional above and beyond customer care. I was contacted to see how a different product would suit me and to ensure the product met my needs. I was shipped Wordslinger which is a smaller headset and fits and works perfectly! Product is quality design and performance - really a specialty to suit customer needs. I would totally recommend this company and their product as top rated. A big thank you for the above and beyond service in seeing I got the right one.

I have tried a few headphones for my job and found them to be uncomfortable, and the sound not as clear. The Transcription Headset from WordMaster Around-The-Ear Deluxe Overhead are brilliant. Comfortable around the ears. Sound is excellent. If ever I need to buy again I would buy these.

Working well so far. The controller was discoloured white, not sure what from. I wiped it with a microfibre cloth and some of it came off. Only gave 4 stars because of that.

Worked fine for about 1.5 years for transcription, then didn't use it for a year because I got an at-home call centre job and required a headset with mic, and didn't start using it again for about a year. It worked fine for about less than a month and then it died suddenly, no gradual decline in quality, it just died. In retrospect, not sure if the ECS was better for transcription then logitech headset because the ECS would let in a lot of outside sound. It SUCKS for listening to music with, but that is not what I used it for. It was primarily used for transcription, had great volume, almost too good, could transcribe very faint audio, but then if someone loud came on it would temporarily deafen me. At least it lasted longer than the in-ear SPECTRA-VC-5 3.5mm Deluxe Twin Speaker Headsets with Volume control and Stereo/Mono Switch, which I also purchased through Amazon. Those crapped out after less than six months.

I was skeptical to try these but decided to take the plung given they state they are designed for low frequency audio. I have a pair of traditional transcription headphones and a pair of Sony noise-cancelling headphones, and would sometimes find myself switching between the two constantly, which is irritating. The best way to describe these headphones would be to say that my two original pairs had a baby, minus the noise-cancellation aspect. I do not find these as comfortable as my Sony pair, but they are much more comfortable than my transcription headphones (Those ones hurt the insides of my ears after only a few minutes because the plastic is so hard. And yes, I have the covers on them.) Anyway, I'm happy I picked these up. My coworker has the earbuds and likes them and I may invest in those eventually, but earbuds in general irritate my ears, so I am very pleased with these and haven't used anything but them since they arrived.