In order to get the best out of your gaming experience, you have to feel the noise. Yeah, Quiet Riot did have it right all those sixty or so years ago. With the advances in audio gaming technologies, we can now “feel” the power of a shotgun or experience the thud of falling from a roof onto the ground. Watching movies with 3D sound is okay, but gaming with it is the first step to Game Nirvana. Do you know what it feels like to take an artillary round in your ear-hole? You will.
Xoxide has hooked us up with yet another sweet little toy that will change the way you game. Leave it to Xoxide to give us gamers the happiness we crave. If Santa ran a computer company, they would be it. This one is called the Audio2 FX Force Feedback Gaming Headset. Here’s a little information on it before we get down and dirty in the gaming world:
Expanding upon it’s already-popular design, the AudioFX2 Force Feedback Gaming & Audio Headset is here to offer the next generation of pristine gaming and audio performance. Boasting a huge array of excellent new features and gorgeous design elements, the AudioFX2 offers the perfect blend of stellar audio and genuine comfort.
Most notably, the AudioFX2 Headset comes with it’s long-renowned Force Feedback feature, which offers sound comparable to an advanced home theater system. This is accomplished through realistic bass audio sensations and increased situational awareness, which makes for an incredibly satisfying gaming experience.
It’s stylish, lightweight design provides sleek comfort through the inclusion of premium soft fabric for extra cushioning in the earcups, as well as additional padding packed into the fully-adjustable headband. The Headset also comes with a noise-cancelling detachable microphone that’s been Teamspeak Certified to work with all applications, including VOIP. In addition, the AudioFX2 Force Feedback Gaming & Audio Headset will also work perfectly with all portable devices, including IPods, PSPs, and the Nintendo DS.
Features:
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Specifications:
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Did you read that? The best part is the price; $39.00. That’s pretty cheap compared to alot of gaming headsets that do the same thing or less. Sometimes much less. But now I’m going to open this baby up and see what comes in the box.
First off, it’s not a box. It’s that annoying blister packaging that I hate so much. But once you are through that, you’ll find a plethora of cables papers. There’s the usual instruction book that I’m going to ignore, the headset itself, the detacheable microphone, a USB power adapter, and a AAA power adapter. It’s pretty simple to set up. The mic plugs into the underside of the left headphone and is easily adjusted to where you need it. Then you choose your power supply. For gaming at the PC, I would say go USB for uninterrupted power. Anything on the go, like with the PSP, it would be best to use the batter power pack. And it only takes two AAA batteries to provide hours of realistic bass.
Now to get into the testing. I’m going to test this on both PC using Left 4 Dead and Wanted: Weapons of Fate as well as on my PSP with God of War: Chains of Olympus (read our walkthrough). I figure there should be plenty of bass-rattling action in each of these games to ensure a nice little test platform. I’ll be testing the microphone in L4D, as well as with Skype to ensure clarity. So now you know what’s going on, time to get stupid with this thing.
Starting with God of War for PSP, I was thrilled to find how much bass actually carried through from the gaming console itself. I was actually expecting a very dumbed-down experience compared to a full-sized system like an Xbox or a PC. But the rumble of the thunder overhead as I battled giant beasts was mystifying to say the least. It’s amazing how much more realistic games can become when you feel the sensations instead of just hearing them in a flat, monotone sound. I give the PSP experience two thumbs up.
Moving on to Left 4 Dead, I switched the primary sound over to the headphones and proceded to play. I asked the other players in the game how clear my voice was coming through, and they all claimed that it was perfect quality. One guy told me it was as good as a phone call on a landline. I was pretty happy with this result. The microphone gets my seal of approval. So I moved onto the gaming portion of my test. As I blew away zombies with my trusty shotgun, I felt the shockwave of the gun going off in my ears. The realistic 3D sound allowed me to hear when a Smoker was behind me. And when I blew away a Boomer right next to me (yes, I was vomited on… alot.) the explosion was very realistic. Especially with the sound turned up.
I probably played this a little longer than I intended for the test, as I went through an entire campaing before switching over to Wanted, but I noticed during that time that the headset did not become uncomfortable or sweaty during that time. With a lot of headsets my ears get itchy and hot and I want nothing more than to sling them across the room. But the Audio2’s feel was very comfortable.
I got the same experiences in Wanted as I got in L4D. The power of a gunblast is a thousand times more realistic here, and hearing people sneaking up on you from behind is much easier when you are wearing a headset with this kind of sound quality. At one point I decided to jump off the top of a building to see what it would sound like to make a thud on the pavement below. It was just as I expected. Loud and dull, just a body should sound when it hits concrete at high speed. Once again, I give these things two thumbs up.
After it was all said and done with, I decided to call my friend back in Tennessee on Skype to see what he was up to. When I told him that I was calling him via Skype he thought I was lying. And if I didn’t know better, I would have sworn I was on a regular phone. I turned off the Rumble Bass, of course, but the sound quality was superb. I am very happy with the results of this headset.
To conclude, I think that for the price, this headset gives many more expensive headsets a run for their money. The sound is beautiful, and the vibrating bass gives it an atmosphere all its own. The volume and bass controls are right at your fingertips, and if you want to take it on the go all you have to do is connect the battery pack. This is the ultimate in stationary gaming audio, but is a little more cumbersome for portable audio. And for under forty bucks you’re not likely to find a better deal for this quality sound.
It’s hard not to compare this set to the great Teknmotion PulseWave headphones (reviewed here). They too deliver great bass (thanks to the rumble effect), have a similar removable mic, and battery power for the rumble effect. As stated in that review, these are great PC headsets, but don’t translate well on the go. The wires, inline remote and battery pack are just cumbersome if you’re not at a desk.
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1 Comment
I got the headset to use flying on line.I have microsoft fx and windows vista. I want to seperate the sounds so the gameing is on speakers and vatsim is on headset. Can I do this with this headset or do I have to get another sound card?