The NEW Gaming Headset/Headphone Topic! (REQUEST STICKY PLZ) - Page 155

Yep. Yep. Yep.

Yeah man, I hear you. I'm not happy with the situation at all. On PS3 you have a dozen fully wireless options. On xbox, you have two. One which is a dirty hack that sounds terrible (TB), the other technically isn't out yet, and costs 50% more than the xbox itself. I just can't justify the price for them. I'm still on the table for the devastators, but they don't have a date yet, so who knows if they're coming out this year.

Anyways, since the ergonomics are basically the same, how do you feel about the comfort level of the warheads? I thought the dets were pretty heavy, really tight around your head and ears....although I never got a chance to play with them for an extended period of time.

They're a little firm compared to the X41's, but not so much you'd really notice. I think I'm actually gonna order the XP400's and see if they're a little brighter on the treble side of things(Amazon will let me return them no problem). The bass in Warhead's 7.1 is just a little too overwhelming for my taste. They should've included a "bass reducer" or something. 5.1 works amazingly well, but then you're not getting the full use the set. On balance, the XP400's battery can't be swapped out. So the battery gets low and now you have to play tethered til it's charged again? Seriously, just open the compartment and include another battery w/ it. Would it have been that much more expensive? Most of the reviews of the set have been very good except for the charging battery pain in the butt thing(a few about the mic working fine but sounding "robotic"). We'll see how it plays out-maybe I'll get used to the Warhead's bass(since the X41's conditioned me the other way).

BTW, does anyone here have the XP400's, and if so how are they working for you? Would love to hear from an actual owner...

I had them for a bit - they're far more treble heavy and have better overall clarity than the trittons - but that's because they're essentially incapable of the same depth of bass. I can totally understand how someone could be overwhelmed by the bass on the warheads - they really do go overboard with it by default....but cant one of the EQ modes tame it?  There was nothing you could do to get any real depth out of the XP400s. They just sound so thin and weak. 

Their surround tech is vastly different than dolby - it didn't add echo, and noticeably degraded overall quality - to the point where it was basically a wash between tritton and TB.  However, the positioning was absolutely superb, and you can even tune the virtual speaker positions. 

I think there's definitely a lot of people who could love the XP400s. Even if you dont like the sound either, you'll definitely wish every headset could be as light and comfy. 

I've been playing around w/ the 7.1 in music, game, and movie mode. So far 5.1 is the only one that doesn't give me a slight headache. It's not like I'm sensitive to it-I had the bass boost on all the time on my X41's. I'm getting more used to the bass in 7.1 game mode though. I'm forcing myself to use it get weaned off the 5.1 mode(which I've gotten used to from the X41's). Might still experiment w/ the XP400's from Amazon...

Why are you against the 5.1 mode?  The xbox itself and all it's games are all 5.1....the 7.1 is just adding an artificial layer of processing. I dont think it's fair to say you're not getting full use of them if youre not using 7.1 - I can think of a lot of reasons to want the warhead, but 7.1 isnt one of them.

Im really struggling to find a good reason why they even included that mode on an xbox only set to begin with. They're headphones, they're strictly 2.0. I cant imagine what purpose artificially upmixing discrete 5.1 to matrixed 7.1, before downmixing to 2.0 could possibly serve, other than to degrade the signal. 5.1 rightfully should sound better. Even still, if theyre doing it correctly, it should sound virtually identical except for sounds placed directly behind you - if there's a drastic difference, especially in frequency response, theyre probably doing something wrong.

I think its purely marketing. 7.1 is a higher number than 5.1, so it must be better I guess. It honestly never occurred to me that the 7.1 actually meant anything other than that dolby headphone was capable of 7.1.
Edited by bd2003 - 8/2/12 at 8:19pm

For some reason, the difference in bass is enormous. I can use 5.1, but even though the console/games are 5.1, part of what you paid for was the 7.1 processing. True, it's just another layer of processing, but I ordered the xp400's just to compare. They'll be here 2nite, I'll probably test them 2morrow...

Something is definitely not right then. All PLIIx should be doing to a 5.1 signal is making the rears more clearly defined. It shouldn't have anything to do with bass. Must be some sort of firmware bug or "feature" they added in to to differentiate the modes. PLIIx has a tendency to add significant bass when upnixing from 2.0 to 7.1, but if that's happening from 5.1 to 7.1, something is amiss.

Are you sure your Xbox is set to output 5.1 and not just 2.0/digital stereo?

Curious, does the 7.1 mode also have more echo/reverb than 5.1?

I've read in other reviews that they weren't happy with the 7.1 because it is bass heavy. Seems to be across the board.

Lets get these reviews up STAT fellas! I want to hear all about the Astro A50 vs. Warheads...

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/03/madcatz-tritton-warhead-7-1-wireless-surround-sound-headset-for-xbox-360-review/

Engadget review. I'm reading it now.

Kind of a bizarre review. Seems like they heaped more criticism than praise on it, then they go on to say "the Warhead 7.1 offers the best overall user experience we've seen in an Xbox 360 headset."

Daekwan buy these then sell them to me used for cheap :P

Got to say that review killed any excitement I still had left for the Warheads. Its seems for everything they do well, they do something else worse. And once you get past the "100% wireless" part.. they seem to fail in the two next most important catergories: sound & comfort. So once again I'm at a crossroads. Stick with the $300 A50's that fit & sound great.. but still have lots of cables to hookup/charge/chat OR trade those cables for absolute wireless for iffy sound, so-so comfort and questionable build quality.

Why does this have to be so hard? Why couldn't Astro release a bluetooth puck or fight to get access to the MS proprietary wireless signal A50. Or why cant the Warheads get sound & comfort right.. I mean its a $300 headest and they've had over a year to work on it. It seems like every single solution available, still has a pretty major drawback.

Good luck with buying them "cheap". As of this December I will have had my A40's for 4 years now. USED A40/mixamp 5.8 combos are still selling for up to $250 used on Ebay. Look at this auction that just ended:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Astro-A40-Wireless-MixAmp-5-8-Official-MLG-White-Color-Extras-GET-IT-/180942757414#ht_1164wt_1182

I paid less than than $250 new for the setup I have now!! ($225 for the original A40/mixamp. Sold the wired mixamp for $85, and bought the 5.8 for $99. So $240 total investment). How can you not absolutely love the resale value of something like that. I've been trying to tell people on AVS this for years now, but few listen. Its the main reason I had absolutely no worries about pre-ordering the brand new A50's. Cant wait to try them and see just how irritating that chat cable is 1st hand. I wont be trying the Warheads until I can buy them from a B&M Best Buy, where they would be easy to return if unsatisfied.
Edited by Daekwan - 8/3/12 at 1:12pm

I was really hoping these warheads would be awesome. I'm so tired of my AX720's due to the fact that I can't seem to fix this echo issue and I'm so annoyed by the chat cable.

I am considering picking these up from Best buy once they have them as well just to see if they work for me. If the sound is at least as good as my AX720's then I won't know what I'm missing from a higher quality set.

Just thinking about all the times the cables have been tangled and standing up and having the chat cable yank my controller all over the place makes me angry, haha.

Yeah man, it's frustrating. It just has to be patents or licensing deals that they just can't overcome. Even if they at least included Bluetooth you could buy the TB puck separately.

I knew what to expect from the warheads from my experience with the dets, but everything else is so disappointing. There is just no ultimate solution, and this is so simple to get right.

Looks like my F540s were delivered today, so I should have some impressions up tonight. Hopefully its a good solution for those who want/need to integrate with a receiver. When I think of quality headphones Logitech isn't the first name to come to mind though.

Imagine if sennheiser got off their asses and made a real wireless gaming headset. I'd deal with the chat cable in a heartbeat if it meant audiophile quality sound.

360 is in 5.1, tv volume is off, and echo/reverb is huge in 7.1 vs 5.1. Gonna hook up the xp400's 2nite or early 2morrow morning. If the warheads simply had a bass reducer/booster like some of the other sets, they'd be golden. I didn't find the comfort to be an issue. You know they quality checked 'em. No one noticed the bass echo/reverb in BF3 7.1? You'd have to be deaf.

I hope when you get to try your A50s for the first time, they work. I'm sending mine back on Monday for repairs, with any luck, they have a fix for them soon and I can actually use them!

The Astro forums are full of people posting the same issues I have, seems like very few have fully working A50s without any issues. Some youtube videos are showing up with not so happy customers too.

Hmm...this is what I think is happening then. Signal comes in as 5.1. Dolby headphone virtualizes to 2.0, adds one layer of reverb. Then Dolby IIx upmixes 2.0 to 7.1, adds a layer of bass. Then dolby headphone virtualizes that back down to 2.0 again, adding a second layer of reverb. 

A single added layer of reverb is already too much when the games (especially BF3) have their own. So when you're playing BF3 in 7.1, you've actually got three layers of reverb. No wonder it sounds like an echo chamber. 

I gotta say.. those forums do have me scared. Not to mention all the people waiting on firmware updates that wont come for another month. Im a bit surprised Astro shipped such a half azzed product, especially considering the only thing truly "new" about the A50's is that that mixamp is built into the headset. I mean its not like they included bluetooth or something

That actually makes a lot of sense considering the effect reduction in 5.1 mode. It's sorta like b4 there was true 1080p video, components would upscale from 440/720. Unless you had a really good processor(like HQV Optix), it made things look worse. I'm too tired to mess w/ the XP400's tonite. I'll post about 'em tomorrow(still hating the cable recharge thing).

I was looking forward to either one of these but I think I will stay with my PC360/5.8 combo. Still the best sound I've heard out of all the ones I've tried.

What I don't understand is how Tritton could take that long/delay the release and wind up w/ bad sound mixing. They sure as hell didn't rush it. I'd be willing to bet the large majority of purchasers are playing shooters like COD/BF3. If they knew most people would be playing those type of games, why the extra bass/reverb then??? They obviously didn't need it. I'm gonna play some more open/larger maps on BF3 2nite and see if the 7.1 is still too much.

So, the F540s are pretty good. The first thing you'll notice out of the box is how stunningly cheap the plastic looks. It seems well built enough, not as light and flimsy as TB...but just the materials itself just seem low budget. And that's fine, cause they clearly put more resources towards everything else. 

Sound quality is decent, what you should expect out of a $99 headset. Bass is present, but not overwhelming.  Better overall balance than the TBs or the primers.  The amps are strong enough that it doesn't distort as at decent volume like the primers either. The TBs might have the edge in overall clarity, but they're more expensive too. Definitely beats the primers in all areas of SQ. 

The wireless is good, theres no constant audible whine or hiss like the primers. It's 2.4ghz but I had it right near my router and there were zero issues. Having multiple inputs is definitely a plus. There's no surround processing, so you have to bring your own, and that's such an important feature that you should probably spend more on something that can provide it, if you can't. That's probably a dealbreaker for most. 

Very comfortable too. Nice and light, pads fit comfortable around your ears, instead of on top like the primers. They don't squeeze your head either. 

Overall, they beat the primers hands down in every area. Not even a competition. The dets/warhead have stronger bass, but the clarity is about equal. Build quality is lower than tritton, but it makes up for it in comfort. 

Of course it requires the dreaded chat cable, so take that into consideration, but for $99....I don't think they can be beat. There's nothing else like it in that price range that's nearly as good. 

One thing I noticed is that when the mic isn't muted, it has sidetone/voice monitoring always on. That's fine if you're using them in a quiet room, but if you're using them in a noisy room, you have no way to turn it off without cutting off the mic entirely. Not an issue for me though. 

I read that review Daekwan, and quite honestly the only thing I took away from that was that it seemed like that guy (emo d-bag) had an axe to grind with Tritton. That or he was payed to trash them. I am always skeptical of the popular tech reviews when it comes to these sorts of things. Pay-to-play happens way more than people realize when it comes down to these reviews.

Right now I'm leaning towards the warheads, because the A-50's have MAJOR issues right now. It's basically a crap shoot buying those right now with all the sound issues people are having. Have you seen the amount of complaints on their boards??? While the warheads in 7.1 seem to have problems, everyone is raving about the 5.1 sound.

My 2 cents...

I played a lot of MW3/BF3 on the open maps last nite and the bass didn't bother me that much. Went back to the smaller maps, and the bass didn't seem to be as prominent. Well, obviously nothing changed so...Maybe because the bass was so much lighter w/ the X41's(even w/ the bass boost on) that starting off on Metro(w/ all the CQ explosions) was culture shock. Are my ears just adjusting? I think it's a combo of factors at this point. I still think the bass is too heavy(RB62 was "different"), especially if others are experiencing the same thing. If there's a number of others that wind up w/ the same impression, it's highly likely they came from a Turtle beach product. I'll try to get the XP400's hooked later for comparison...

OK question:

If I were to get a wireless set of headphones that don't have Dolby Headphone, such as THESE

Could I connect them through the Astro MixAmp to get the surround sound? So it would go Xbox360 -->MixAmp-->Headphone's wireless transmitter then [WIRELESS DOLBY SIGNAL TO THE HEADPHONES]

I've heard that this is possible with the Logitech F540s, but I don't know if it would work.