How do you review a product for something that isn’t there, and isn’t supposed to be there? That’s the distinguishing trait of the Turtle Beach X32 headset for the Xbox 360. It’s identical in nearly every way to its X31 predecessor, released in 2009, except for one. A big one.
When BioWare delivered my copy of their latest game last month they used some rather novel packing material: Razer’s officially licensed Star Wars: The Old Republic gaming mouse and headset. I excitedly set the two packages aside and started playing the game.
Drop your cynical protective shields and listen up. MyEars 3D Audio is not the ‘virtual surround sound’ you think you already know. Where other products use generic Head-related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) to filter the sound, MyEars lets you build a custom HRTF to suit your ears and the headphones of your choice. Suddenly you’re getting near-perfect 7.1 channel surround out of your 2 channel headphones. Right now MyEars is just $USD19.95. What better holiday gift to yourself than customised headphone listening profiles to enjoy the future of headphone gaming?
If you’re going to play like Maxwell, you might as well look like Maxwell, with a pair of attractive plush headphones available to GameStop customers that preorder the adjective-infused Super Scribblenauts.
Over the years sound has increasingly taken the back seat to the other important elements of a PC gaming experience from mouse and keyboard to the graphics and light-kits.
Astro Gaming’s A40 Audio System is largely pitched at the “pro gaming” market, a headset and amplifier combo that offers a private audio experience and the necessary options for voice chat while playing others.