A gaming headset for audiophiles
The Master & Dynamic MG20 is a wireless gaming headset that excels at sound quality, but doesn't deliver on gaming performance enough to justify its high price.
Master & Dynamic is a company best known for its headphones and earphones, offering high-end design and audiophile-pleasing sound quality for a premium price. The MG20 is the company’s first wireless gaming headset, and its pedigree is apparent as soon as you lay eyes (or ears) on it. The headset offers a fantastic, accurate sound profile and top-notch build quality, and can work wired or wirelessly with a USB transmitter or Bluetooth. It also costs $449, and neither its boom microphone nor its 7.1-channel simulated surround sound feature impress us much for the price.
As it certainly should for its price, the MG20 looks and feels nicely premium. The headset is available in black or white, with magnesium earcups bearing the Master & Dynamic logo on the outside. The earpads are lambskin leather, with breathable fabric on the insides where your ears make contact, and are held on with magnets for easy replacement. The headband is sturdy canvas on the outside, and faux suede on the inside. The earcups connect to the headband with quarter-circle metal arms that can rotate 180 degrees and tilt very slightly up and down. All of this adds up to a sturdy build and a comfortable fit.
The back edge of the left earcup holds most controls and all ports for the headset, including a USB-C port for charging or wired connections, a connector for the detachable boom microphone, a mic volume wheel, and buttons for power/Bluetooth and toggling 7.1-channel surround sound. There is no 3.5mm port for analog connections, but a fabric-wrapped USB-C-to-3.5mm cable is included, so you can still plug the MG20 into any headphone or headset jack.
The boom mic is a silver-colored, cylindrical metal capsule on a flexible metal arm. The capsule features a built-in pop filter and an indicator light that shows when it’s muted. The headset also has an onboard microphone built into the left earcup, allowing voice communication when the boom mic isn’t attached.
Besides the USB-C-to-3.5mm cable and boom mic, the MG20 comes with a small USB receiver for connecting to a PC, as well as a USB-C-to-USB-A cable and a female-to-male 3.5mm splitter for computers with separate headphone and microphone ports. All of these parts and the headset itself fit nicely into a black canvas carrying bag. The main pouch on the bag closes with magnets so you can easily access the headset, while a smaller secondary pouch zips shut to securely carry all the accessories.
The MG20 is primarily designed to connect wirelessly to a PC with the included receiver to provide the best quality and most responsive audio with 7.1-channel simulated surround sound. It can also connect over Bluetooth to any compatible device, and uses Bluetooth 5.0 with support for AAC and aptX. In addition, it can work with any 3.5mm headphone or headset jack with the included cable, though it doesn’t seem to support a wired USB connection; the USB-C-to-USB-A cable is solely for charging.
Master & Dynamic doesn’t provide any Windows software for tweaking the headset’s settings or updating its firmware. Instead, you need to install the M&D Connect app for Android or iOS and tweak it with your phone. The app is sparse, only letting you adjust the sound with a five-band EQ and set the auto-off time.
The headset’s boom mic sounds generally clear, but it won’t blow you away with range or crispness. Test recordings were easy to understand, if slightly sibilant even with the wind filter on the capsule. You’ll have no trouble with video or voice calls, but the mic doesn’t offer quite the clean sound needed for content creation. Of course, at that point, we recommend getting a dedicated USB microphone instead of relying on a headset mic.
Master & Dynamic is a headphone company above everything else, and it shows in the MG20’s music performance. The headset can put out plenty of power, with strong coverage across the frequencies. Our bass test track, The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” comes through at maximum (and unsafe) volume without a hint of distortion, with the kick drum hits putting out plenty of thump.
The opening acoustic guitar plucks in Yes’ “Roundabout” get loads of detail from the lows to the highs, with each note showing strong, deep resonance combined with delicate string texture. When the track properly kicks in, all of the elements sound balanced. The bassline has enough presence to anchor the mix, while the guitar strums, drums, and vocals can all be clearly discerned. It’s an excellent sound that should satisfy audiophiles with its detail.
The Crystal Method’s “Born Too Slow” feels exciting and active on the MG20. The backbeat doesn’t reach quite into head-rattling sub-bass levels, but it still gets plenty of low-frequency presence to drive the track while the guitar riffs and vocals stay centered in the mix.
Game audio also sounds excellent in terms of frequency range, balance, and precision, though the built-in 7.1-channel simulated surround sound isn’t very impressive. The feature can be toggled directly by pressing the surround sound button on the left earcup, but besides a very soft click, there’s no feedback that you’re switching modes. There are also no settings to adjust in the app, or even a demo to illustrate the mode’s effectiveness. It’s clear that while Master & Dynamic’s audio bona fides are undeniable, spatial sound is not the company’s forte.
Sound effects in Doom are clean and unique, with proper bass response when warranted. The heavy assault rifle and shotgun are punchy and forceful, and the rocket launcher has some thunder without reaching too deep into head-shaking territory. The industrial soundtrack is nicely grindy and grimy, and the growls of demons come through clearly.
Enabling the 7.1-channel mode on the headset makes the sound field seem larger than it does with stereo audio, but it does little to give a sense of directionality. It’s a nice effect that provides a better sense of immersion than the stereo mode, but you won’t get much tactical information from it, like the precise location of nearby enemies.
Fortnite offers a similar experience on the MG20. The audio is crisp, and every element of the game’s mix can be clearly heard. Distant gunfire and close footsteps are all clearly discernible, and it’s easy to tell how far away the action is. The default 7.1-channel surround mode in the headset doesn't give a very good sense of what direction the threats are coming from, though. Again, the mode provides a better feeling of space than the stereo mix, but2 little in the way of directionality. A software-based simulated surround system like Dolby Atmos for Headphones produces much better aural information with its left-right mixing. This type of software can easily be used with the MG20, but you’ll need to spend an extra $10 to $20 on a license for it.
Master & Dynamic’s first wireless gaming headset is built around what the headphone company is best at, and that’s build and audio quality. The MG20 looks and feels premium, and its sound signature should please even picky audiophiles. With wired, wireless USB, and Bluetooth connection options, it’s a wonderful way to enjoy listening to content at home or on the go. Its simulated surround feature is less than impressive compared with software solutions, however, and its boom microphone isn’t particularly crisp. Those are significant areas to fall short in, considering the headset’s $450 price. If you simply want an excellent wireless listening experience, the Master & Dynamic MH40 provides the same luxurious feel and fantastic sound without the gaming features or USB transmitter for just $300.
Among gaming headsets, the $299 Audeze Penrose and $329 Bose QuietComfort 35 Gaming Headset are our favorite splurge-worthy options, costing about the same as the MH40 while offering similarly high-quality sound. They don’t have simulated surround features at all, and only offer Bluetooth and wired connection options. But as mentioned, you can get better spatial audio with software anyway, they cost much less than the MG20, and their mics sound better. The Bose model also has excellent active noise cancellation.
For wireless gaming headsets, the Razer Barracuda X is one of our favorites with its strong performance and very friendly ($100) price, and it works with the PlayStation 4 and 5. For a bit more, but still much less than the MG20, the $200 JBL Quantum 800 features any headset gaming trick you can think, including active noise cancellation, DTS Headphone:X spatial audio, and RGB lighting.
The Master & Dynamic MG20 is a wireless gaming headset that excels at sound quality, but doesn't deliver on gaming performance enough to justify its high price.
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I’ve been PCMag’s home entertainment expert for over 10 years, covering both TVs and everything you might want to connect to them. I’ve reviewed more than a thousand different consumer electronics products including headphones, speakers, TVs, and every major game system and VR headset of the last decade. I’m an ISF-certified TV calibrator and a THX-certified home theater professional, and I’m here to help you understand 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and even 8K (and to reassure you that you don’t need to worry about 8K at all for at least a few more years).
Home theater technology (TVs, media streamers, and soundbars)
Smart speakers and smart displays
I test TVs with a Klein K-80 colorimeter, a Murideo SIX-G signal generator, a HDFury Diva 4K HDMI matrix, and Portrait Displays’ Calman software. That’s a lot of complicated equipment specifically for screens, but that doesn’t cover what I run on a daily basis.
I use an Asus ROG Zephyr 14 gaming laptop as my primary system for both work and PC gaming (and both, when I review gaming headsets and controllers), along with an aging Samsung Notebook 7 as my portable writing station. I keep the Asus laptop in my home office, with a Das Keyboard 4S and an LG ultrawide monitor attached to it. The Samsung laptop stays in my bag, along with a Keychron K8 mechanical keyboard, because I’m the sort of person who will sit down in a coffee shop and bust out not only a laptop, but a separate keyboard. Mechanical just feels better.
For my own home theater, I have a modest but bright and accurate TCL 55R635 TV and a Roku Streambar Pro; bigger and louder would usually be better, but not in a Brooklyn apartment. I keep a Nintendo Switch dock connected to it, along with a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X so I can test any peripheral that comes out no matter what system it’s for. I also have a Chromecast With Google TV for general content streaming.
As for mobile gear, I’m surprisingly phone-ambivalent and have swapped between iPhones and Pixels from generation to generation. I favor the iPhone for general snapshots when I need to take pictures of products or cover events, but I also have a Sony Alpha A6000 camera for when I feel like photo walking.
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