I use Turtle Beach X-41′s. The faux-7.1 Surround Sound is at its best with BF3… the fidelity, volume and positional audio is freakishly good. Battery life is excellent too and it’s so nice to crank the sound while relaxing on the couch if your family/flatmates are trying to sleep.

monkb:
http://headphones.com.au/psingle?productID=180

plus

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=211&products_id=13280

its all you will ever need !#@$

I have a Xonar Essence STX with my headphones as well.. I second this comment.

- Cheaper
- Nice sound quality
- 7.1 (it really makes a difference, which is easily noticable when switching it of)
- Automutes the mic in vertical position
- Mutebutton on the left earpiece
- Volume control on the left earpiece
- 3 macrobuttons on the left earpiece
- Tiny LED on the tip of the mic, that indicates when it is muted
- Very durable fabriccable
- Exchangable cushions in different sizes

It has almost every feature you could possibly want from a gaming headset. ^^

plus

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=211&products_id=13280

its all you will ever need !#@$

Yeh, where did my edit go?
The Sennheiser’s I might add, auto mute the microphone when you put it back into the vertical position and have a volume adjuster on the right earpiece.

http://en-de.sennheiser.com/pc-360

nekosan:
Another note though: you left out the most important part of a headset review, what sort of cable does it have? I don’t care about sound quality or comfort if $170 is going to buy me some plastic sleeved junk that will break after 2 months becasue the cord is the thickness of a pin.

Sure thing! Cables are rubber-sleeved in orange and about 4mm thick across.

Another note though: you left out the most important part of a headset review, what sort of cable does it have? I don’t care about sound quality or comfort if $170 is going to buy me some plastic sleeved junk that will break after 2 months becasue the cord is the thickness of a pin.

Having never used surround sound before until 2 weeks ago I can honestly say I would never (given the choice) play another shooter without it ever again, and it’s easy to just flick a switch and turn it off when I want to watch something that requires sound quality.

Emulation might not be as great as real surround sound, but it’s sure as hell better than stereo and for $170 worth of gaming headset I’d want to be getting it.

instinx: But they already have that function with their Megalodon for roughly the same price. These headphones are designed to compete in the gaming market with steelseries, with audio quality over surround emulation. I am almost considering getting these as some people are saying they outperform steelseries’ 7H and i want a headset with mic.

There’s no denying that the sound quality on them is excellent, but if they can put emulated 7.1 in there, why wouldn’t they? It seems like you’re paying the same price for less functionality. Is the sound quality on the Megalodon really bad? I haven’t used it, but the emulated surround headphones I have used have had just as good sound quality as the Blackshark offers.

Tim Colwill: Oh, for sure – but for the price tag, and for a ‘Battlefield 3′ brand, it would have been nice of Razer to move up to USB headphones and offer that functionality.

But they already have that function with their Megalodon for roughly the same price. These headphones are designed to compete in the gaming market with steelseries, with audio quality over surround emulation. I am almost considering getting these as some people are saying they outperform steelseries’ 7H and i want a headset with mic.

having a jet fly overhead is just….wow

wmc90:
Emulated 5.1 and 7.1 sound is really something coming from the sound card, so you can’t expect it from non-USB headphones. I agree it’s nice but you can’t demand it from something that has no right actually providing that functionality.

“3.5 mm computer headsets connect to the computer via a soundcard, which converts the digital signal of the computer to an analog signal for the headset. USB computer headsets connect to the computer via a USB port, and the audio conversion occurs in the headset or in the control unit of the headset.”

I’m not an audiophile at all, but I’m fairly certain there’s a lot of bullshit being thrown around here by people seeking to justify the pricetag of an auditory placebo effect.

wmc90:
Emulated 5.1 and 7.1 sound is really something coming from the sound card, so you can’t expect it from non-USB headphones. I agree it’s nice but you can’t demand it from something that has no right actually providing that functionality.

Oh, for sure – but for the price tag, and for a ‘Battlefield 3′ brand, it would have been nice of Razer to move up to USB headphones and offer that functionality.