Being a gamer does present a few problems, for instance, you want to play a few games with your friends on XBL and let’s say the wife or your roommates are sleeping. Not the best time to crank up the surround sound system and have at it unless you want to get earfuls from the wife or your roommates, not to mention if you have small kids sleeping. So what do you do? You’re up and want to play but really don’t want to disturb anyone else in the house?

It’s not a new issue but in the past the best option was to turn down the volume really low and try and not make too much noise. Now gaming systems include online gaming so you’re not only worried about the action from the game, but the talking to your friends or team. Turtle Beach may have a solution for you. They sent me over their eight speaker powered headset known as the Ear Force AXT. Read on to hear our thoughts on this product and to see if this one will help out.

Initial Impressions

The Headset comes in a large green package which includes the headset with four speakers in each ear, power supply control unit, the mike that is attached to the left side of the headset and swings down to use, and a control unit with a cable to plug into the Xbox communicator. This also acts as the main control unit for the volume control. You will also see two RCA female couplings. These are adapters that are used to connect the male RCA jacks and sort of looked like an after thought in the overall design. More on this in the how it works section of the review. The headset includes instructions and at first sounds fairly simple to set-up and use.

The angle Turtle Beach was going for was to make a headset that could be used without bothering anyone else in the house while at the same time allowing the user to enjoy a simulated 5.1 surround sound experience by allowing the four speakers in each ear to kick in at a certain time. They also added the mike to allow it to be used on Xbox live. It is a powered headset just like a powered sub-woofer or any other high powered audio component. The RCA jacks have an extra cord where the power jack plugs in. You can look at the screen shots to get the idea and I have to say at first it looked like a well thought out design.

Product Images

AXT Full Shot AXT Volume Controls

Setup / Ease of Use

I noticed a few issues with the system after the first time hooking it up to test it out. The biggest design issue is the fact the RCA cord is too short and unless your gaming system is very close, you will need to buy or dig out another RCA extension adapter. My gaming rig is very close and even I needed to add a few feet to the RCA connectors. They should have thought about this before releasing the unit for sale. My other complaint is the fact the power cord attaches to the RCA jacks. Anyone who knows about audio equipment will tell you the closer the power supply is to the audio connection the bigger chance of feedback or ground loop hums from the unit. While there is a low hum, it’s bearable but adding another way to connect the power supply would have eliminated this issue.

The other issue I had is the length of the master control pack (volume control amplifier pack, shown on the right above). It not long enough to lie flat and is almost hanging in mid air at all tines unless you’re lying down or sitting on the floor. Still even then it feels a bit awkward. The couplings the female to female jacks really are not an issue, just more to connect. Depending on you’re gaming rig, if you only have an Xbox, for example, the headset is going to perform better for you than say someone who has a full rack of gaming systems hooked up. You will need to plug in the power adapter in a plug separate from your other systems to prevent feedback when trying to talk on Xbox live.

I found adding another extension cord and plugging it in to plug farther away made the unit work better. If it sounds like a hassle to set-up, in a way it can be. Again it all depends on your gaming rig. Here is another issue at first I tried to play PGR 2. I was told several times to adjust my mike or mute it and that I was causing major feedback. I was in a room of friends so luckily they understood. I found moving the RCA jacks away from the Xbox helped a bit and was able to not create a problem for my friends in the room. Some games seem to work better or easier than others. This may be due to the way the game was made or just a coincidence. Although, it seemed the older Xbox Live games worked with little trouble.

Value

The Ear Force AXT is ideal for the college student or those who only have one gaming system. It is a decent headset and has the look and feel of the older studio headsets. The mike seemed to want to flop down a few times when not playing a live game, but I could live with that. It is not an easy set-up but once you find the right way based on your gaming rig, it does work well. I am a bit fussy when it comes to the way things sound and while the headset brings a full sound, it’s not always accurate. You will hear things from behind even though it is in front and this is expected whenever anything simulates a 5.1 surround sound system. At $79.99 retail you need to think how your gamming rig is set-up and if it’s worth it to you. I think it performed better overall on games that do not have the Xbox live feature. That is one reason I question the overall design. If it is geared and marketed for both, then it should perform equally well offline or online.

It is a good idea and had a cool sound. I even hooked it up to a portable gamming system and it worked great. This may be another reason to decide if it is for you. I only added that it can be used for other systems although this is not the intent for the unit. It looks impressive and with some effort it works. It just seems more complicated than it needed to be.

Features

  • Eight speakers create wide sound field in your head
  • Multi-channel amplifier boosts audio signals.
  • Stereo-to-surround sound converter creates simulated surround sound from stereo games or music
  • Built-in microphone for interactive gaming with Xbox Live.
  • Enjoy Xbox Live online gaming without being limited to hearing the game through your TV or external speakers
  • Enjoy Xbox Live without disturbing others in your home.
  • Oversized ear cups provide comfortable gaming for hours on end.
  • Multiple speakers in each ear cup provide an expanded sound experience
  • Handy inline volume control.

Overall Score

Overall Score: 7.4/10.0

Related Links

Link: Turtle Beach Earforce AXT Detail Page

Filed under: Reviews

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