As a tech journalist there are not too many products that stays on my desk for very long. Aside from the usual churn and upgrades, I give it away freely to family, friends and the school STEM room. There has been one notable exception to the rule, the EPOS Impact 1000 is still my daily driver three years on.
I have reviewed a few EPOS products since, and the latest addition to the family is the EPOS Impact 500 that is officially launched today.
What’s New in the EPOS Impact 500?
By now the EPOS Impact is a mature product line. It has always been a consistent performer, and I have never stopped appreciated the noise-cancelling and BrainAdapt technology.
If you need a quick refresher on BrainAdapt technology. It’s EPOS’ proprietary tech that helps boost focus and productivity, by reducing the cognitive load caused by poor audio and noise.
The Impact 500 of course, has BrainAdapt built in. It also features EPOS AI to remove unwanted noise in conjunction with highly tuned microphones. The goal is to make remote conversations feel as real as it is in person.
By highly tuned microphones, the Impact 500 has adaptive microphone technology that is powered by EPOS AI. This comes on top of the adaptive beamforming technology with the three microphones that is scanning the environment 32,000 per second.
My review unit is Teams certified, and as has always been the case, comes with a Bluetooth dongle. This time it is a USB-C version, with a USB-C to USB-A converter included.
The form factor is stereo, on-ear type with leatherette cups.
Again as has been the case, the boom arm can rotate 270 degrees so it does not matter which side you wear it on.
All Those Work Calls: Hybrid ANC and EPOS AI Performance
Let’s start off with, the hybrid Active Noise Cancelling on the Impact 500 is amazing. On one of the first sessions of using it, I was oblivious to my partner trying to talk to me from about 6 metres away. If I earn money at the rate I can earn death stares … I will go in this a bit more later.
On an average work week I would have a couple of shortish meetings a day. That’s the general scheduling. Then when the proverbial hits the fan, I am buckled into the same call for hours non-stop. This is when I have relied on my EPOS Impact headset to help me go the distance.
The stuff I do is not life and death, I am not a surgeon. But the systems I support can have far reaching consequences when they are down.
And as I have pointed out in previous reviews, I also work from some pretty random locations. Since COVID most of my clients generally couldn’t care less as long as I am focus on resolving their problems, I prefer to at least sound professional on the call.
Right off the bat I was up and running in seconds. Full disclosure – I have the EPOS Connect installed on my machine,, although that is not a prerequisite for using the IMPACT 500.
The USB Dongle is pre-paired to the headset out of the box. Power on and the connection is fast and solid. It takes a few seconds and the Impact 500 will confirm in ear that the Bluetooth dongle is connected.
The all important question was, how did it perform? This review was done on a tight turnaround in order to meet the launch date, so I didn’t quite get the full spectrum of environments I would normally work in.
So by simulating some of those environments, I got a pretty good feel for how the Impact 500 performed. Along with some feedback, or rather, lack of feedback from my colleagues. My colleagues is well aware of my DRN gig and would absolutely sing out unprompted if I start sounding different on calls.
The combination of technology in the Impact 500 works some serious magic. I have cranked up podcasts on speaker, traffic noise, music, whilst talking into the headset. What the other side hear very clearly, is my voice.
When I am not talking, the ANC is superb and all you get is pure silence. Even when I am holding a phone playing all my test noises up near the microphone. When I am talking though, I notice from time to time some muffled but very muted noise comes through before the ANC catches it and does it’s magic.
When the noise is played on the inward side of the microphone – where it is expected to be positioned next to the mouth, this background noise leakage is just a smidgen more than on the leeward side.
In all aspects though, my voice sounds as it would. The algorithms and tuning that EPOS does in the Impact 500 does not change the timbre in my voice. I still sound warm (probably a tad warmer than I really am, being as cynical as I am). There is no hollowness or robotic quality to it (yes Jo calls me a robot but at least I don’t sound like one).
A bit more on noise cancelling
The Impact 500 are on-ear type headset, rather that over-the-ears which is my personal preference.
The active noise cancelling, as I mentioned earlier, is brilliant. When there is audio playing, I am really out of the loop on what is happening around me. The Impact 500 is really effective at creating a cocoon of silence and only projecting the sounds I want.
Passive noise cancellation with the Impact 500 is not quite as effective, which is to be expected. A rough estimation based on my experience would be about half the background noise is cut out. That’s based on having my daughter singing away in the background while I try to work.
If you need to talk to someone whilst the headset is on, you can toggle the talk through mode so you don’t need to take the headset off.
Audio Quality: Tuned for Clarity and Focus
The reproduction of sound on the Impact 500 is excellent.
I have been using them heavily for work calls and video editing this week. It’s been hours and hours of actual usage and for this kind of work – business audio, there is little to complain about. It is a solid performer. Naturally this is as expected for a business grade headset which EPOS is known for.
Changing over to music scores, it will be just fine if you want to just tune out from work. It is not going to satisfy an audiophile (and it also doesn’t cost a few body parts either).
Listening to Sweet Dreams (are made of these) cover by Golden Salt, a powerful instrumental remix cover with violin and electric guitar. The sound separation between the instruments is clean, with the mids and high coming through with clarity. The bass felt a little meek, not quite pulsing through the body as it should.
However since the human voice in normal speech is in the low-mids, for the natural presentation of human speech, the Impact 500 is understandably tuned in that frequency range.
Changing over to something that should fit the EPOS tuning, I opt for the Golden cover by Park Dahye (PPAK) from K-Pop Demon Hunters. Dahye has a no autotune version and a production version, both are amazing covers on their own.
What I was looking for was a faithful sound reproduction that would do justice to that amazingly clean voice. As I had to explain to my daughter, Golden is a technically very difficult song to sing.
The Impact 500 really delivered an experience here, right down to the voice crack when she sings “play both sides“, then dipping into the falsetto that follows immediately. Challenging to the singer, challenging to the headset. This is my new favourite test audio track at the moment and it sends shivers down my spine.
Comfort and Battery Life for All-Day Use
In very headset I review, I have always comment that I am particularly sensitive if my ears get warm.
I have worn the Impact 500 for a few hours at a stretch, not the least right now at 2.30am when I have worn them for the last four hours straight, pushing hard to get this review done on time.
It is one of those things, I can feel the headset on my ears. It’s not a strong clamping force, not as light as a lover’s touch. It’s there like a comforting touch, telling you that it is right where it should be.
The warmth is there too on the ears, but it does not feel wrong. It feels like a signal then everything is a-ok. You will feel the coolness of the air when you take them off, but I never got to the point where I just wanted to rip them off my head.
The Impact 500 is rated for 35 hours of talk time, far longer than my social battery can last.
I got a few days of semi intermittent use out of them when they first arrived, without even charging them up.
Other Features and Upcoming Updates
In a coming firmware update, EPOS will be adding support for Teams over native Bluetooth, if you want to go down the naked dongle free way.
The Impact 500 also supports Microsoft Swift Pair for almost instant pairing with Windows devices.
Like all the EPOS Impact headset, it has a busy light signal that warns everyone that you are busy. Everyone except my daughter who knows and ignores it, or my partner who starts a conversation before she comes into view.
The Impact 500 also comes with a nice felt carry pouch with a pocket for the (included) USB cable and dongle.
Gripes – A Minor Drawback
There is just one feature I miss on the Impact 500, and it would be the charging stand that the Impact 1000 has.
Charging is via USB-C, which is how most things go in this day and age. But the one thing that keeps me going back to the Impact 1000 is that I can charge it up by just putting it on the stand – the wireless charging pad is at the point where the headset hangs on the stand.
First world problem I know.
The other “complaint” I have is the bass. It’s not deplorable by any means, but it isn’t quite there for bass heavier music. I have already explained above why this is the case.
Final Verdict: Is the Impact 500 My New Daily Driver?
This sound incredibly petty, but that one point about the wireless charging is what stops me from replacing my existing headset with the EPOS Impact 500. In three years I have never once run out of charge because of that charging stand.
I can even overlook the on-ear cups in the grand scheme of things.
The EPOS Impact 500 is a seriously sweet piece of kit. With the upcoming dongle-free firmware update, it will be even more convenient at a time when USB ports are at a premium.
Yes I absolutely used it to help me focus to complete this review on time.
As the press release says, “The IMPACT 500 continues to reflect our industry-leading pedigree based on cutting-edge innovation and exceptional audio performance, from finely tuned microphones to hybrid ANC and our renowned BrainAdapt technology. Native Bluetooth represents the next step in our pioneering headset technology journey, ensuring simpler pairing and no USB port requirements.”
Perhaps the most surprising part for me is the price. The EPOS Impact 500 is less than half the price of my beloved Impact 1000 at launch. The MRSP is A$325 and is available now.
You can get more information from their website.
DRN would like to thank EPOS for their continued support, and making the headset available ahead of the official launch. So …. any chance of an updated Impact 1000 with a USB-C dongle (or the update to be native BT)?
I am going to award this one the Pulse Award. I think EPOS has nailed it for the features, quality and pricing. Congratulations EPOS!
