Xbox One Stereo Headset unboxing (Vienna)
Xbox One Stereo Headset unboxing (Vienna)
Have a look at this video I found on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBbvoXLLS5g
Mine has arrived and I also have unboxed and tried them out. I used my Lumia 1020 to audition them. The only comparisons I have are with the rather nice Nokia headset/buds that came with the 1020 and Sennheiser PC 300 headset/buds which are reasonably good.
Sound quality quick review.
Settings, flat tone and no volume adjustments between headsets.
(Caveat, I have serious HF hearing damage .)(I originally forgot to put in damage.)
Bass - Good and solid. Substantial sound pressure. Not muddy at all. I can hardly wait for those TITANS to run by.
Treble - Very clear but the volume was lower than in either earbuds mentioned above.
Volume - Noticably more efficient (louder) than either earbuds. I did not push to distortion.
Tone Quality - Not cheap sounding at all. I'm guessing the drivers are of good quality.
Sound transmission from controller wire (flat cable) was minimal and far less than wires to earbuds.
Comfort
Ear cups are over ear and not on ear. Thank goodness.
Ear cushions are very comfy. Worn too briefly to have opinion of comfort after and hour or so.
Headband is sprung plastic with adjustment on both sides. Does not hurt anywhere but long term over eye glass arms is a question to be answered.
Ear cups do not lay flat on your shoulders.
Not used with Stereo Adapter
So, no finality to this review. The Mic is untested etc.
Visual Appeal
By themselves, they look clean but a bit cheap.
On you head, laughable. They look a bit like two Pumpernickel Bagels over your ears with the effect accentuated by the smallish headband. Imagine Princess Leia in SW IV. You would not look cool at a Pro event.
Value
Worth the money but don't let anyone see you wearing them. I'd hate to pay more for a fancy set and have them sound less worthy.
Nice review DEEP, thanks for sharing!
Just tried this headset out with Forza 5 and Tomb Raider Def Ed.
Excellent quality sound. Very loud capability. Sharp high frequency. Solid Bass.
One comparison of note. Have you ever heard the special effect sound for highlighting contextual objects in Tomb Raider Def Ed? On my full system with two subs, that sound is fairly remarkable and moves a lot of air. This headset has a very similar sound. I am impressed.
I'm hoping future surround enhancements are just as remarkable.
I've worn the headset for over an hour listening to music and did not find it uncomfortable.
thanks deep!
I preordered the Turtle Beach XO7 which, according to Amazon, I should have Monday. I am moving from Astro A40's so I have high expectations of a headset that is $160, and I hope I am not let down. I'll post a quick review once I get them with some feedback in case anyone is on the fence whether to go aftermarket.
Ever figure out what the USB cable is for?
Nice that they included it. I already had one and did my updates yesterday. I preordered this set based off your review. I like that there are no batteries to recharge or replace. I had to buy an adapter either way.
To update my controllers, I used the USB that came with my nook
LOL. I used my Kindle one.
My TurtleBeach XO Seven's came in today, and the sound quality is fantastic; they function almost exactly like the Official Stereo Headset by Microsoft, so they are powered by the controller (sorry no seperate power supply), unlike the M$ headset which has controls on it, the XO's do not, so you just control Game & Chat volume through the M$ Chat Adaptor, but really that's all you need on the XO's
I did also experiment with the adaptor using other headsets, I tried my TurtleBeach PX4's, as well as using my Sony Pulse Elite; well the quality of sound with the PX4's was not in par with the XO Sevens, it sounded a little scratchy at times, and that particular headset has it's own power supply and controls for Tremble, volume, etc. Now on the other had the Sony Pulse Elite Headset sounded great, but I found the volume lower in tone, compared with the XO Sevens, I had to crank the volume up a bit, using the adaptor, but there was no static what-so-ever.
But I did get to try out a pair of the new Microsoft's Stereo Headset as well, and I agree that is anyone that is looking for something, but can't afford anything above $100.00, that headset is decent enough for the price, I know that I would have to handle it with extra care or I would break it easily.
One thing, the MS stereo headset doesn't have any controls. Same as XO SEVEN, volume control is from the adapter. How would you say these two sets compare sound-wise?
Glad to hear that the XO7 sound is good. I am expecting mine Monday or Tuesday. Btw, I updated my controllers with the usb cable that came with my Android phone
I am just guessing, if you updated without the stereo adapter plugged in, you may need to do it again. I say this because the instructions specifically say the adapter must be plugged in with a headset attached before applying the update. Of course instructions are usually partially incorrect.
Figures.
I got my Titanfall headset today and they sound good. They are basically the XO Fours with Titanfall paint. The only complaint I have about them is there is no sidetone. Unless I am missing a setting somewhere I can't hear myself when I speak into the microphone so I always feel like I'm yelling :(
Yeah if by some chance you already updated your Xbox 1 controller; your going have to do it again, if you didn't have the adaptor and a headset connected; because I had to go through the entire update process over again for each controller that I have, but it f goes by quickly, so no big deal.
Someone asked me about sound quality between the TurtleBeach XO seven's and that of the Official Xbox Stereo Headset; my buddy John who runs the Gamestop Store that I shop at, had an Xbox 1 set up with the adaptor and the M$ headset attached to a controller, because he's been getting a lot of customers inquiring if they need to really spend a shit load of cash on a quality headset; my personal impression was the sound quality was pretty good, there was no static what-so-ever, but compared to a headset of a higher caliber, such as Astro's A50's for instance, than yeah the stereo surround sound is not exactly on par; but hey if your tight for cash and want something that's going to work and provide decent quality sound, you can't go wrong for the price. The only issue for me, is that it felt like I could easily break it, if I mishandled the headset (it felt flimsy to me, and I could easily snap the mic), so I went with the XO's, but the only major difference between them and the XO fours is there is more padding on the headset, and better noise filtering.
Gee I almost forgot that IGN posted up an article about various headsets that have been released for the Xbox 1, here is the link:
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/03/07/xbox-one-gaming-headset-roundup
Thanks.
The guy who did the video in the OP did a sound test too. Said they sounded very good and he had actual Mic audio which was at least as food as the others he tested.
I was a little concerned my poor hearing caused me to give an incorrect review. Phew!
My little review of the Titanfall Headset:
Comfort: The headband is plastic with a little bit of padding but I had these things all pretty much all night last night and it was very comfortable. The material used for the ear cups does a great job of keeping your ears from getting hot. I picked these things up around 6 P.M. and had them on til probably about 1 A.M. with the exception of a few times where I needed to do something. So they are comfortable.
Sound: These are a stereo headset and the sound is good. I'm not an audiophile so I can't tell you if it was clipping sounds or anything like that. They just sounded good to me. It did take me a bit thought to figure out the adapter as I didn't realise initially how to adjust chat volume vs game volume. Once I got that figure out I enjoyed using them in COD. Now a second part to this I discovered after a couple of hours. I have a recharble battery pack on my controller. I started with around a 3/4 charge yesterday. After a couple of hours the sound in the headset started cutting out, sometimes for a few seconds at a time. I checked that the adapter was in securly and that the headphones were plugged in. Then my controller shutoff. After just a few hours these headphones had drained my battery. I can usually go a few days without charging but since these things have no other powersource they pull it all from the controller. So I basically had to play the rest of the night with my controller plugged in. I didn't test them out on my other controller that uses standard batteries to see how fast they drain.
Sidetone: There is none. This is something that I'm dissappointed in that there is absolutely no sidetone. I feel like I'm yelling everytime I try to talk to my team and I have no way of knowing unless I notice my name on the screen that my mic is active. For some this might not be an issue but I am so use to headsets both at home and work where I can hear how I sound over the mic through my headset.
Overall I think these are good headsets but I will admit that I am going to be returning them. The fact that they deplete my controller so quickly that I have to have it plugged in all them time is something I wasn't expecting. If they had their own power supply I would have no problems keeping these headsets and being content. Having a controller plugged in all the time to power these things is to me the same as having to have a wire from the X1 to the headset. So while they are wireless you need to be ready with the charging cable or extra batteries for your controller.
I am using 2400MAHr NiMh batteries in mine. I will try to give an estimate of usage soon. Should be a hard usage test since I probably have the volume louder than most.
Battery life was certainly one of my concerns. The more inefficient the speakers, the harder they will be on batteries.
I have the Nyko Xbox 1 Recharge Kit for my controllers, so I will see how hard my XO Seven's will by on the battery life, and give my impressions later on.
I was bummed when I read this. I have the 7's incoming and I hope it doesn't drain that fast. Makes sense though since it pulls all power through the controller. Well, if it sucks I'll give these to my oldest kid and tell the wife I need new ones when better options come out. :)
Yea I bet they will release headsets later on that have their own power supply. Honestly I was suprised when I noticed that these things were not rechargable themselves, or have a battery pack. The sidetone I could get by with but having to constantly have my controller plugged in defeated the purpose of a wireless headset.
I don't know if anyone else has the XO7 (besides Garfy), but they are a bit of a letdown for me. They are well made, sound quality is really good, they are comfortable, but they drain the batteries much faster than I had hoped. I played for four hours on Tuesday and had to swap batteries once, but not sure how long they would go max with a brand new set of batteries to start. I will test that this weekend and log the gametime vs battery life. I am considering getting one of the charging stations now that charge two controllers simultaneously and putting them on a rotation. Its either that, or buy the big multi-pack AA at Costco on a regular basis.
I have several hours in with the headset while using the same 2400mAh with few issues. I generally forget I have them on.
Minor Issue with headset.
When worn over glasses, the ear cushions make a creaking noise occasionally. Might put some silicone on the arms for prevention. Not a biggie.
Minor Issue with stereo adapter.
Difficult to know what the game/chat audio blance setting is. I discovered there are 16 increments from max game to max chat. To set balance, press chosen button until it beeps followed by 8 presses on the other button. Use +/- for master volume.
I recommend you set Game specific game/chat audio options to max and use the stereo adapter to lower the volume.
unfortunately with no talkback in the headphones, any of these headsets are a non-starter for me. I have to be able to hear myself, otherwise I'm yelling at midnight and waking up my wife and kid.
I always yell anyway, but I understand the lack of talk-back it is an issue for some people. The MS headset is very noise isolating too. My son was jabbering away next to me and eventaully, between games he said, "You can't hear a word I'm saying".
As an aside, I could easily hear people online eating cookies and sniffling from a cold. I won't say who the cookie-eating, snot-slinging bugars were. ;)
Update on Batteries.
No exact timing but my guess-timate is +6 hours from out of the package Duracell NiMh 24000 mAh. Probably better than that but I don't want to give false impressions.
So, 3 big sessions of TF before a battery loadout.
You guys need to buy some Eneloops. They are the best rechargeable batteries out here. Get 8-12 and you won't ever have to buy another package of AA's.