It’s very seldom that virtual surround gaming headset gets such high approval but the Corsair Vengeance 1500 Gaming Headset proved to be a real head-turner. This latest gaming-centric but still multipurpose headset has garnered high marks for sound quality and compatibility. Almost every physical feature of it has been upgraded. The padded ear cups fit better and are more comfortable than previous models and do an excellent job of sound isolation without actually requiring noise canceling features. The cable has a nylon mesh wrapping for tangle free flexibility but warns against unwanted feline affinity.

The 5.1 and 7.1 audio driver flexibility seems to be the key feature of this headset allowing for compatibility for many old and new games alike. The 1500 provides game changing environmental awareness for games but movies and music are similarly enhanced. They appear to be very evenly balanced without favoring treble or bass. The reviewer actually seemed to struggle to find flaws with the Vengeance. In fact, the only complaints seemed to be around some of the nuances of microphone performance. Gamers that use the microphone for in-game communication are rarely concerned with music hall performance so that should be a non-issue for most. See the entire review at Everything USB for more details on this new prodigy from Corsair.

[Corsair Vengeance 1500 Gaming Headset Review @ Everything USB]

In the highly competitive market of computer gaming headsets, a few companies such as Logitech, Razer, and Steelseries have predominantly dominated in the last few years. Recently, a few unexpected manufacturers such as Corsair and Coolermaster have introduced their own headset lines hoping to invade this tightly knit stalemate. Thermaltake also introduced their eSports lineup of gaming accessories recently hoping to make an impact in this market, and leading the charge is their flagship gaming headset eSports Shock One.

The eSports Shock One offers great sound quality after the initial break-in, and brings a refreshing sense of balance and fullness to the sound compared to the competing headset from Corsair. With the DTS Surround Sensation certification, the Shock One headset brings great treble and bass with great dimensionality, which shows from its impressive performance in gaming, movies and music. Although it did not offer the best experience out of the box, with the occasional bit-rate issues, acquired comfort, and the acoustically unsound pleather pads, the Shock One brings a nice package overall for Thermaltake’s first step in the headset market. In all, the Shock One shows everything a gaming headset should be and brings some stiff competition to the $100 range. In-depth review available at Everything USB.

[ Thermaltake Shock One Gaming Headset Review @ Everything USB ]

This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

Last we were lucky to receive the Sonar 5.1 Championship PC Gaming Headset from Cyber Snipa. I was fortunate to be able to take this headset to the past LAN War at Indiana University and really put it through the gauntlet so-to-speak. After a long tandem of hourly gaming, I’ve got the stats on this superior headset.

The Cyber Snipa Sonar 5.1 Championship headset is a bit unlike any other headset I’ve used. The design is really top-notch, and to be honest, it just looks really cool. It’s very comfortable on the top of your head, but you may run into problems if you have large ears like me. The ear pieces are comfortable, but smaller than they look. I first thought I could turn them, which would be cool, but they’re fixed and won’t slide.After a while, though, you don’t really notice the issue, so it’s not a big complication.

Technically the headset performs at the top of its class. It connects through USB, so it’s great for on-the-go gaming. The drivers installed instantly and the headset was ready to go. With 8 individual speakers, it’s great to use when you’re in a room with a lot of ambient noise. Sitting in a crowded area with gamers all around me yelling, computers buzzing, and people conversing everywhere, the Sonar did a great job of producing enough sound to keep me focused on the game.

Here are the tech specs on the speakers themselves:

SPEAKERS

Along the connector cord is a channel controller that allows you to change the volume of the main, rear, center, front, and subwoofer speakers in the headset. These come in handy when you want to fine-tune the sound to any game, video, or style of music you’re listening to. Add that to the adjustment software that’s available for download with the Sonar, and you have limitless ability to adjust the settings to near perfection for your playing needs. I was able to hear every spoken word, every creeping monster, and every shot fired in my direction.

The Sonar even comes with its own carrying case once you take it out of its packaging. The case makes it easy to pack up and travel to wherever your gaming takes you, enabling you to take the headset along for the ride. It’s not one of those cases where it’s impossible to fit everything in. I takes about ten or so seconds to pack, zip up, and get going.

The Cyber Snipa Sonar 5.1 Championship Headset performed great for what it was designed for. With its travel case and USB connection method, it was a great headset to have with me when traveling to game. While it was a little bit uncomfortable to me, I eventually lost sight of that while using it. It did get a bit hot since the ear pieces are insulated to cancel out noise, which required me to take breaks. All in all the headset worked out great for me. Sitting at about $80, this is a perfect headset for the price, and Cyber Snipa delivered with it. If you’re looking for a cheaply-priced headset, the Sonar Championship is what I recommend for you.

[ Cyber Snipa ] VIA [ GamerFront ]

If there is one area of the computer industry that is darn near recession proof it is the gaming peripheral niche and many companies are aggressively pursuing these elusive consumers called “gamers”.  While not exactly new to this market niche, Logitech is certainly doing everything they can to grab an even bigger slice of this pie.  It seems every time you turn around Logitech has released another newer and better product with this niche in mind!  Their latest and greatest offering is the G930 wireless gaming headset.  

On paper, these virtual 7.1 gaming headphones are not just a mere wireless “upgrade” of the G35 cans, but boast much needed refinements on the software side of things.  The most notable addition to the software is its ability to allow tweaking each of the virtual speakers. This really makes a day and night difference for hardcore gamers who wish to adjust everything to their preference. The G930 cans will last for 9 hours before they need to be recharged with its micro-USB cable. The headset’s dual antenna setup is another killer feature that provides virtually interference-proof wireless surround sound over range of 40 feet. The game compatibility has also been improved immensely. There’s one caveat though: the $140 price tag. Everything USB has the full review.

[ Logitech G930 Review @ Everything USB ]

This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

Any professional gamer will tell you that having good audio equipment is almost as important as having a good video card. Ideally, you’d want a good 5.1 surround sound setup, as most headphones can’t achieve true 5.1 audio. Unfortunately most people can’t have a perfect surround sound system for their gaming. Usually there are other people in the house that really don’t want to hear you mercilessly slaughtering masses of people. Thus, many people do turn to headphones. When you still want the best audio possible, where do you turn? Psyko Audio thinks they’ve got exactly what you need.

The Psyko Audio 5.1 Surround Sound Headphones have been shown off at the international CES (Consumer Electronics Show) for the past two years, and even snagged one of their coveted CES Innovation Awards. Naturally, there’s a lot of hype around these headphones, and with a $300 price tag, one has to wonder if it’s worth it. The guys over at Psyko Audio were nice enough to send us over a pair to check out. Naturally, I’ve spent the last few weeks playing a lot of games to see if these live up to the hype.

First Look

When you first take a look at these, there’s a lot to take in. First, they’re huge. The five speakers on top and extra-large earpieces make these dwarf every other pair I’ve owned. In the box you’ll also find an amp, which will also serve as your master volume control, as well as letting you adjust your bass. A removable mic is included as well.

The headphones themselves look stylish, with a nice gray/silver look with red trim. You will look a little funny with them on, as they stick up a good inch and a half from your head. (Don’t worry though, no one’s going to laugh once you start playing.) There also appears to be a lot of cushioning, both on the earpieces and below each of the speakers, so you don’t experience any discomfort while wearing them.

One other little detail you’ll notice is that the earpieces each have a piece of clear plastic in the middle. These actually open up to provide ventilation. If you’ve ever worn headsets for hours on end, this is something you’re going to appreciate.

Comfort

I try to avoid wearing headsets for prolonged periods while gaming. Generally my speakers do an adequate job of providing sound, and most headphones aren’t much better at true directional audio. Of course, the main reason I avoid them is because of comfort issues. After an hour or two, most of them start to hurt. Be it from pressing down on my ears too much, or any number of other things, most headphones just aren’t that comfortable. I have to say that this is one of the rare instances where I really don’t mind.

The earpieces were designed so that the cushions sit directly against your head, and don’t even touch your ears. This is a concept lost on most other manufacturers for some reason. This alone makes me very happy. The earpieces are adjustable, like most other headsets on the market. Also, the insides of the earpieces do provide great ventilation, as I pointed out earlier. Opening these up can get some much-needed airflow to your ears when you’ve had them on for extended periods.

One thing I will point out is that these suckers are top-heavy. When I first started using them, this seemed uncomfortable, and I worried that it would detract from my enjoyment of the game. I was right for a little while, but it’s something you get used to. Thankfully the cushions below the speakers do a good job of holding the headphones in place, so you don’t actually have to worry about them falling off. I think this is one of the main reasons I was originally bothered by the weight, as I kept thinking that they surely must fall forward at any moment. Now I don’t even notice it.

Technology

So what exactly is it that separates these headphones from the others on the market? The main difference is that while other headsets can only simulate true 5.1 surround sound, these deliver it. This is accomplished by having five individual speakers along the top of the headset. The sound is then delivered to the earpieces by “PsykoWave guides.” These are small tubes that are supposed to carry audio waves very well.

So why exactly are the speakers located on top of your head? The idea is that now the sound waves have to travel along the tubes to reach your ears. Think about this for a moment, if an explosion happens to your left, it’s not actually going to reach both ears at the exact same time, right? Well that’s exactly what this is simulating. Not only are the sounds delivered to the correct area of your ear by these pipes, but they also deliver the correct timing.

Audio Quality

While comfort can make or break any pair of headphones for me, the audio quality is what really has to sell these. After all, I’m not going to spend $300 on a pair of comfortable headphones with mediocre sound. Thus I have spent a lot of time playing a variety of FPS titles to get a good feel for them. I chose FPS games because they are going to make the most of the 5.1 audio.

To give you an idea of the games I’ve played, they include Battlefield 2: Bad Company, Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Borderlands. Between the four games, I felt I could get a great idea of how the headphones would perform in most other FPS.

Overall, the headphones worked exactly as advertised. In Battlefield 2 and CoD4 I could actually sit somewhere and pick where each shot was coming from. In games like this, you might only have a single shot to figure out where your opponent is. These headphones make sure that once that shot has been fired, not only can you move out of the way, but you can turn around and find your man very quickly. The effect it had on my scoring was incredible to say the least.

Left 4 Dead 2 was a whole different animal. In this shooter, you depend a lot on sound while creeping through various areas. You want to be able to pick off a zombie from as far away as possible, or know that one is lurking just around the corner. Worst of all, you want to know exactly where the witch’s cry is coming from. No one wants to stumble upon her by accident. Needless to say, I was able to pick off the undead much quicker, simply by hearing them before they were even in sight.

I can’t stress enough how much of a difference the true directional sound makes when playing these games. It adds a completely new dimension to your gaming. Think about the experience you have when watching a great action movie in the theater, where their surround sound system is setup perfectly. You can hear every footstep, and know where the person is. That’s what it’s like playing with these on.

It does have a detachable mic, which works just fine. I’ve had no issues where people have any trouble hearing me, so there are no complaints there.

Other Notes

There are a few things I want to touch on before I wrap up the review. First, the headphones are specially tuned for gaming. Audiophiles won’t want to rock out to their favorite tunes with these on, as the mix will not sound right. It won’t sound terrible, but if your ears are trained, you’ll pick up on it. This may be disappointing to some people, especially when you’re dropping $300 on a pair of headphones. But again, this is for the hardcore gamer, not the audiophile.

I do tend to use my desktop speakers most of the time, which presents a problem when using these headphones. You connect them to the three correct stereo jacks in the back of your computer where your speakers would normally be plugged in (plus an extra one for the mic). This means I’d have to crawl under my desk and swap out plugs every time I want to switch between speakers and headphones. But instead, I’ve routed my speakers to the front headphone jack of my PC. A minor annoyance, yes, but one worth mentioning. I wouldn’t mind seeing a future version that takes advantage of the optical output that goes to waste on my motherboard.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve got a spare $300 burning a hole in your pocket, buy these, plain and simple. It will change the way you play games. Until 3D technology makes a few more leaps in the right direction, this is probably the best thing you can do to change your gaming experience. It’s a purchase that you won’t regret.

[ Psyko ] VIA [ GamerFront ]

By Chris Scott Barr

One of the reasons I enjoy PC gaming is that you have a lot more choices when it comes to your peripherals. I can pick my keyboard and mouse, or even choose to use a controller for input. If I want to use a headset, I have hundreds on the market to choose from. Unfortunately that’s not the case with console gaming. If I want to chat with my friends on Xbox Live, I’m stuck either using the dinky headset that came with the console, or finding one of the special headsets that is on the market. I’m always on the lookout for new ones, and Rude Gameware has a rather interesting offering.

The new Primal Wireless Xbox 360 headset is one of the very few wireless options that you’ll find. It uses an infrared wireless transmitter to deliver sound up to 25-feet away. The biggest hurdle is always getting the sound from the 360 to your ears. Since most people connect their 360 via an HDMI connection, there is little room to connect your headset between the console and the TV. The Primal Wireless headset gets around this by using the audio output connection from your TV. The mic connects directly to your controller.

This new headset may prove to be an excellent choice, as I know I hate being tied down to an audio cable. The $100 price tag is a little steep, but for a completely wireless solution, may very well be worth it, depending on the quality of the audio.

[ Rude Gameware ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Being a PC gamer, I’m no stranger to headphones. Whenever a new pair comes out, there are generally wild claims that accompany the release. Phrases like “most comfortable,” “clearest sound” and many others get tossed around. Sure, some of them have an innovative feature or two, but it’s rare to find one that seems truly innovative. The Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming Headset falls into that very small group.

It’s not uncommon to find a headset that promises 5.1 surround sound capabilities. But with all of the speakers right there in your ear, it’s hard to really get a true 5.1 sound. Psyko takes a new approach to this by placing all five speakers on top of your head, leaving only a pair of subwoofers in your ears. Now what good does having speakers on top of your head do? Quite a lot, if the sound is actually piped down to the front and back of your ears.

The sound is carried from the speakers to the front and rear of your ears by “PsykoWave guides.” These look like little tubes, and carry audio waves rather well. Doing this allows you to hear the sounds from exactly where they originate inside the game. To take things a step further, you actually hear it at the right time as well. This means an explosion on your right side will reach your right ear slightly before it reaches your left.

I got my hands on a pair of these briefly at CES, and while playing a bit of CoD I could definitely tell a difference from some of the other headphones I’ve worn. It was easier to pinpoint enemy fire simply by where I heard it, rather than by looking for someone.

The Psyko 5.1 headset also has a few other notable features. You can actually choose whether or not you want to block out external sounds by opening or closing a set of ear vents (which also helps to keep your ears from getting sweaty). The headset also comes with an in-line amplifier, which will give you control over bass and audio volume. The headset will go on sale sometime early this year for $299.

[ Psyko ]

By Evan Ackerman

We got a hands-on look at Emotiv’s EPOC neural controller back at the Game Developer’s Conference in 2008. The idea is that you put this funny looking thing on your head, and it reads your brain waves and translates them into commands for your computer. In addition to 14 separate sensors, the headset has a gyroscope that can keep track of where your head is pointing. Hypothetically, it can interpret abstract commands (thinking “up” as opposed to thinking “down”) and read muscle commands (like blinking or smiling).

The demo version I used at GDC didn’t work very reliably, and I wasn’t sure whether it was the hardware, the software, my brain, or some combination thereof. When it did work, though, it was incredibly cool. Like, Clint Eastwood in Firefox cool, except with less needing to think Russian. Or, like the Mattel Mindflex, except a lot more sensitive and with many more options.

So far, you can’t do much with the headset… You can play a game or two, or control a virtual keyboard. Emotiv seems to be hoping that they can sell dev kits and someone else will do all the program the interface work, which would be great if it happens, but it’s already been a couple years. In the meantime, though, you can buy yourself your own headset (and download a few programs that work with it) for $299.

[ Emotiv EPOC ] VIA [ Core77 ]

By Ian Chiu

Four years after the inception of the famous G-series peripherals, Logitech surprisingly hasn’t made one gaming headset, until now. The Logitech G35 is the company’s first foray in the highly competitive gaming headset market. So what makes the Logitech any different than say a pair of regular USB headsets or a pair of 8-driver cans? For starters, the Logitech G35 is powered by 2nd-generation Dolby Headphones – a glorified term coined for virtualized surround sound. Dolby Headphones 2.0 is now able to simulate 7.1-channel audio (up from 5.1) through just two drivers. It also supports Dolby Pro Logic II audio tracks (for DVD movies), and its voice morphing (which can be activated through one of the G-keys) allows you to easily mask your voice behind one of six filters.

Everything USB has recently reviewed it and has a rather mixed view on the G35 gaming headset. While the sound quality is simply breathtaking, the voice morphing is a lot of fun and the Dolby Headphone effects are actually better than the reviewer could have ever imagined for virtual surround sound, the fact that G35′s surround sound option only works with 60% of the games tested is a let down. And at a MSRP of $130, the G35 USB headset constitutes a ‘serious investment’ for any gamers. Read on for the full review which includes a comprehensive compatibility chart and a voice morphing demo.

[Logitch G35 Gaming Headset Review @ Everything USB]

By Ian Chiu

Headsets come to mind when you often play late at night, or at a LAN fest with a cadre of other gamers. In the latter scenario, headsets even become a necessity as speakers aren’t allowed in the venue. Thanks to all manner of 3D APIs, you don’t really have to worry about losing out on positional audio even when you limit yourself to a pair of cans. Creative recently brought us two USB gaming headsets united by the use of X-Fi as their sound processor to create emulated surround sound.

Despite this similarity, the HS-1000 (left) and HS-1200 (right) are largely different in that the latter is wireless – relying on lossless compression to deliver richer sound than Bluetooth. The HS-1000 wired USB headset however is reminiscent of the analog original Fatal1ty analog headset endorsed by none other than Johnathan Wendel. Everything USB has taken an in-depth look into both headsets, and provided comments on aural experience during gameplay of three different games, including Call of Duty 4, Mediveal II: Total War and Battlefield 2142. They found out that both headsets perform equally well in games that rely on OpenAL, EAX X-Fi as well as X-Fi CMSS-3D emulation. But since they don’t include any Dolby processing, just don’t expect these cans to replace other surround options when listening to music or watching movies.

[Creative HS-1200 Review, HS-1000 Review @ Everything USB]