Audio FX Pro 5+1 Gaming Headset - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 4th Feb 2008, 06:30

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...ming_headset/1

Designed by distinguished modder Ben Heck, the Audio FX is a USB headset that boasts 5.1 channel surround sound, bass boasting force feedback and TeamSpeak certification. Now, we find out if that translates into a decent headset or just a fleet of empty promises.

Sparrowhawk · 4th Feb 2008, 08:03

Ah, good! Reading Benheck a lot made me wonder if these were any good. Love the looks.

xrob · 4th Feb 2008, 11:42

these look appalling! that tan orangy fake leather makes me feel sick, and why the hell would you want the headphones to vibrate?
these things look so cheap and nasty, big and bulky, and by the sounds of the review perform just as bad.
and who the hell is this ben heck guy, his website sucks and barely works, and that little plug he gives the headset is so annoying. who the hell eats pizza while playing games, fat americans i guess, this thing is designed for stupid americans that think it has everything they want, and because it has some guys name on it makes them good.

Bauul · 4th Feb 2008, 12:47

Somebody seriously needs to invent a headset with a built in EQ. All the problems of levels being off would be removed in one fell swoop.

To be honest, as with most 'geek celebrity' tie-ins, this is all trouser and little else. To be honest, as soon as I see a 'famous' name on the box, I run a mile, and with usually good reason.

HandMadeAndroid · 4th Feb 2008, 13:01

Those suck so much

airchie · 4th Feb 2008, 13:14

Looks like benheck.com has been slashdotted (or bitteched?

).

Also, the pics all make it look like the mic is on the right cup but the last pic confirms it is indeed on the left.
Had me confused for a while.

G0RD0N FAN · 4th Feb 2008, 15:50

May be one to consider. I need a new headset.

[USRF]Obiwan · 4th Feb 2008, 16:59

Maybe mr. Benheck is deaf. And now he can actualy hear something. If this is the case then this headset probably is the best thing he has heard.

rav666 · 4th Feb 2008, 19:41

Wheres the sharkoon's, they been out for a while now and Bit havent reviewed them ?

I have them and they are great, can you do a review and show everyone else how great they are ??

antipatico · 4th Feb 2008, 20:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Martin

The headset may look a little contrived to some, but personally we kind of like the whole faux leather, old-school look.

So the cushions are made of faux leather?
<3 animal friendly products

jpinks · 4th Feb 2008, 20:47

These things are a total piece of junk!!! I have been thru 3 of them because I didnt catch that it wasnt returnable to Newegg for a full refund only replacement. Microphone was very horrid and the audio buzzes constantly. I cant believe these things got any kind of good review. I got suckered dont let yourself be suckered either.

Kipman725 · 4th Feb 2008, 22:02

Get real headphones. £40 will get you some grado SR60! which are pretty awsome for music aswell as games. Particularly at the old mini gun while listening to hard rock thing

CardJoe · 4th Feb 2008, 22:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpinks

These things are a total piece of junk!!! I have been thru 3 of them because I didnt catch that it wasnt returnable to Newegg for a full refund only replacement. Microphone was very horrid and the audio buzzes constantly. I cant believe these things got any kind of good review. I got suckered dont let yourself be suckered either.

Buzzing? Not for me and the mic held up fine. There were problems, but not those.

Bdodo · 4th Feb 2008, 23:03

I normally only read the articles and reviews here. But, since I have tried this headset I thought I'd share my experience with you guys. Just a personal opinion though, so you don't have to agree,.. I'm just a newbie on the forums here

Here we go...

If you buy a headset mainly because of the looks,.. this might be something for you. It looks nice, and build quality feels pretty good too. I'm not talking about how comfortable the set is when you wear it, but building quality. I think you can drop this thing on the floor without doing much damage to it, if any.

If you buy a 5.1 headset because you want to experience 5.1 surround sound with good quality sound waves,.... you'll end up crying yourself to sleep after every single gaming session. I seriously do NOT understand the "high" ratings in the review. I would have if the product would have been a regular stereo headset with build in vibration. I might even agree with most of the numbers then. I'll try to clarify myself a bit:

The sound while gaming only seems to be clear when you push it up half way. Which is okay I guess,.. but this is where another problem seems to occur; the artificially boosted bass (which I think there is) cancels out other sounds. I have tried this in COD4, several times. With music I experience the same issue. I might be a bit picky, but I question the quality of the cones inside this headset. I think without this very present bass, sounds would have been a lot easier to identify and distinguish.

While I am nagging about the quality of the speakers, I'll slide into something equally important to a 5.1 headset. And that would be true 5.1 sound. It isn't there (as clearly pointed out in the review). There's not enough pinpoint accuracy to put the 5.1 label onto this product. Far from it. Sure,.. if you really try to imagine the place where the sound might come from you can mentally pretend you have pinpointed the source of the sound. That's not nearly good enough when you're playing a game though, one where it matters where the bad guy is inside your virtual little battle ground. If real surround sound is what you expect from a 5.1 headset (and I think anyone should expect that when you can clearly read "5.1") you' will be extremely disappointed with this product. If money is an issue just opt for the cheapest 5.1 speaker surround set you can find, and it will be 100 times better than this. You could even mount them onto a helmet and hang them around your head,.. still heaps better than what this headset provides you with when it comes to surround sound.

The vibrating stuff is fun. Not useful, it seriously won't help you,... didn't add an extra dimension for me anyways. I'd rather see a set without the sex-toys build in, but with good (doesn't even have to be perfect, considering the price range) surround sound of decent quality. The microphone appears to be good. I didn't have anyone complaining about not being able to hear me,.. sometimes people asked me to stop screaming,.. which was a side-effect of having to turn the sound up to be able to hear things clearly, and not being able to hear yourself talk properly when things get loud "around" your ears.

It's a try-out toy for fun purposes. For anyone that takes either movies, music or gaming slightly serious (yes, some people do that), this device will most likely end up on your head,.. only if it's freezing outside, or inside, and you want to keep your ears warm. I can't find any other purpose for it. But I am quite sure it will do a good job at keeping your ears warm.

If this product would have been sold as a "Stereo Gaming Vibrator with Imaginary Virtual Surround Sound" I would have given it a 7/10. Now I can't rate it higher than a 3/10, and that's me being generous. So buy this one only if you have low expectations of surround sound experiences, find it kinky to have an artificial concussion while going deaf,.. or if you suffer from ever lasting cold ears.

-slightly off topic-:

I would not use Mp3's to test any sound producing device. A compressed audio format that is both lossy and contains high fidelity quality does not exist. If you want to test speakers or headphones you should throw the best you can find at them when it comes to quality. Using Mp3's is a bit like taking a Formula One car and putting ordinary gasoline in it. Yes it will most likely move, but you can't really test the extremes of the vehicle because the fuel is the limiting factor.

You might want to say "Yeah, but this is not really a top-product of the high end range." Might be very true, but if your Mp3's are not pushing the device to its limits, you can't really give it a rating, because the sound source is the limiting factor.

But, that's just my opinion of course. I enjoyed reading this review, and many others. Thanks.

Jordan Wise · 5th Feb 2008, 14:07

i bought this headset a few months back, and here's how i found them

1) Force feedback- Genius. Not necessary by any means but just like subtle graphical effects make me stop gaming for a second and just appreciate them (such as the waterfall in crysis, with the rainbow spray), this feature made me smile while my squad and i were getting blown to smithereens under an artillery barrage in battlefield 2

2) Surround- Meh, its alright, not worth buying the headset over, if you really need 5.1 get some z-540s for a little more, they're brilliant

3) Volume- Joe, your spot on

4) Mic- I found it too quiet in TF2, but others haven't, i might have the settings wrong or something. Sounds fine in normal sound recorder

5) Sound quality- For music, a little blunt, watered down from what i normally get through my z-540s. Had to play around with the equalizer quite a bit to get it worthy of led zep. For gaming though it's spot on (don't know why theres a contrast) and thanks to the feedback, explosions really sound like explosions

Amon · 8th Feb 2008, 02:38

This looks like it's just a beefed up version of an old Altec Lansing stereo headset design.

4th Feb 2008, 06:30	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Audio FX Pro 5+1 Gaming Headset http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...ming_headset/1 Designed by distinguished modder Ben Heck, the Audio FX is a USB headset that boasts 5.1 channel surround sound, bass boasting force feedback and TeamSpeak certification. Now, we find out if that translates into a decent headset or just a fleet of empty promises. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

4th Feb 2008, 11:42	#3
xrob Modder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Manchester Posts: 64	these look appalling! that tan orangy fake leather makes me feel sick, and why the hell would you want the headphones to vibrate? these things look so cheap and nasty, big and bulky, and by the sounds of the review perform just as bad. and who the hell is this ben heck guy, his website sucks and barely works, and that little plug he gives the headset is so annoying. who the hell eats pizza while playing games, fat americans i guess, this thing is designed for stupid americans that think it has everything they want, and because it has some guys name on it makes them good. __________________ Lian-Li V1000+, DFI SLI-DR VENUS, X2 3800(2.8), Team Group 2Gig, 8800GTS, 1 x 36Gig Raptor, 2 x 250Gig Spinpoints, 2 x Koolance HX-360 Rads, Koolance CPU-305-V10, Laing DDC-1 with Plexi Res.

4th Feb 2008, 12:47	#4
Bauul Sir Bongaminge Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Godalming, near Guildford Posts: 1,553	Somebody seriously needs to invent a headset with a built in EQ. All the problems of levels being off would be removed in one fell swoop. To be honest, as with most 'geek celebrity' tie-ins, this is all trouser and little else. To be honest, as soon as I see a 'famous' name on the box, I run a mile, and with usually good reason. __________________ Pentium 4 CPU 3.4 Ghz \| 1Gb + 2x512Mb Corsair DDR2 667 Mhz Sapphire Radeon HD 4770 512Mb\| WD Raptor 36Gb, Seagate 300Gb \| Asus P5LD2 SE Ibanez RG 470 Japanese Edition \| 1991 Japanese Lo-TRS Tremolo \| V7 S1 Custom V8 HSH Pickups

4th Feb 2008, 13:01	#5
HandMadeAndroid Multimodder Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Newcastle Posts: 125	Those suck so much __________________ Give them cake

4th Feb 2008, 15:50	#7
G0RD0N FAN Jeff Gordon #24 Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 96	May be one to consider. I need a new headset. __________________ ASUS M2A-VM / Palit Geforce 8800GT Super+ 1GB / AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2.2GHZ / Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10,000 RPM / 2GB G.Skill DDR2 800 PC2 6400 / Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Gamer

4th Feb 2008, 08:03	#2
Sparrowhawk Wetsander Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Kentucky Posts: 546	Ah, good! Reading Benheck a lot made me wonder if these were any good. Love the looks.

4th Feb 2008, 16:59	#8
[USRF]Obiwan Ultramodder Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,220	Maybe mr. Benheck is deaf. And now he can actualy hear something. If this is the case then this headset probably is the best thing he has heard. __________________ Mascleta: "The most accurate simulation of thunder, humans can simulate..." The answer is 42, so... whats the question again? If you know what 'Peek' and 'Poke' represents, then you are probably as old as me.

4th Feb 2008, 19:41	#9
rav666 Modder Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: london Posts: 60	Wheres the sharkoon's, they been out for a while now and Bit havent reviewed them ? I have them and they are great, can you do a review and show everyone else how great they are ??

4th Feb 2008, 20:47	#11
jpinks What's a Dremel? Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 2	These things are a total piece of junk!!! I have been thru 3 of them because I didnt catch that it wasnt returnable to Newegg for a full refund only replacement. Microphone was very horrid and the audio buzzes constantly. I cant believe these things got any kind of good review. I got suckered dont let yourself be suckered either.

4th Feb 2008, 22:02	#12
Kipman725 When did I get a custom title!?! Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: UK Posts: 1,753	Get real headphones. £40 will get you some grado SR60! which are pretty awsome for music aswell as games. Particularly at the old mini gun while listening to hard rock thing __________________ Sn45g game server mod My Electronics Site Hardware: 3400+ Sempr0n, 1GB RAM, 1.28TB local storage, x1950pro,Razer Viper,M$ comfort curve 2000,L70S + 17", Fujitsu 17" CRT Audio: HD-650's, PE congress amp, Sound Blaster AWE64, Soundblaster 24bit

4th Feb 2008, 23:03	#14
Bdodo What's a Dremel? Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1	I normally only read the articles and reviews here. But, since I have tried this headset I thought I'd share my experience with you guys. Just a personal opinion though, so you don't have to agree,.. I'm just a newbie on the forums here Here we go... If you buy a headset mainly because of the looks,.. this might be something for you. It looks nice, and build quality feels pretty good too. I'm not talking about how comfortable the set is when you wear it, but building quality. I think you can drop this thing on the floor without doing much damage to it, if any. If you buy a 5.1 headset because you want to experience 5.1 surround sound with good quality sound waves,.... you'll end up crying yourself to sleep after every single gaming session. I seriously do NOT understand the "high" ratings in the review. I would have if the product would have been a regular stereo headset with build in vibration. I might even agree with most of the numbers then. I'll try to clarify myself a bit: The sound while gaming only seems to be clear when you push it up half way. Which is okay I guess,.. but this is where another problem seems to occur; the artificially boosted bass (which I think there is) cancels out other sounds. I have tried this in COD4, several times. With music I experience the same issue. I might be a bit picky, but I question the quality of the cones inside this headset. I think without this very present bass, sounds would have been a lot easier to identify and distinguish. While I am nagging about the quality of the speakers, I'll slide into something equally important to a 5.1 headset. And that would be true 5.1 sound. It isn't there (as clearly pointed out in the review). There's not enough pinpoint accuracy to put the 5.1 label onto this product. Far from it. Sure,.. if you really try to imagine the place where the sound might come from you can mentally pretend you have pinpointed the source of the sound. That's not nearly good enough when you're playing a game though, one where it matters where the bad guy is inside your virtual little battle ground. If real surround sound is what you expect from a 5.1 headset (and I think anyone should expect that when you can clearly read "5.1") you' will be extremely disappointed with this product. If money is an issue just opt for the cheapest 5.1 speaker surround set you can find, and it will be 100 times better than this. You could even mount them onto a helmet and hang them around your head,.. still heaps better than what this headset provides you with when it comes to surround sound. The vibrating stuff is fun. Not useful, it seriously won't help you,... didn't add an extra dimension for me anyways. I'd rather see a set without the sex-toys build in, but with good (doesn't even have to be perfect, considering the price range) surround sound of decent quality. The microphone appears to be good. I didn't have anyone complaining about not being able to hear me,.. sometimes people asked me to stop screaming,.. which was a side-effect of having to turn the sound up to be able to hear things clearly, and not being able to hear yourself talk properly when things get loud "around" your ears. It's a try-out toy for fun purposes. For anyone that takes either movies, music or gaming slightly serious (yes, some people do that), this device will most likely end up on your head,.. only if it's freezing outside, or inside, and you want to keep your ears warm. I can't find any other purpose for it. But I am quite sure it will do a good job at keeping your ears warm. If this product would have been sold as a "Stereo Gaming Vibrator with Imaginary Virtual Surround Sound" I would have given it a 7/10. Now I can't rate it higher than a 3/10, and that's me being generous. So buy this one only if you have low expectations of surround sound experiences, find it kinky to have an artificial concussion while going deaf,.. or if you suffer from ever lasting cold ears. -slightly off topic-: I would not use Mp3's to test any sound producing device. A compressed audio format that is both lossy and contains high fidelity quality does not exist. If you want to test speakers or headphones you should throw the best you can find at them when it comes to quality. Using Mp3's is a bit like taking a Formula One car and putting ordinary gasoline in it. Yes it will most likely move, but you can't really test the extremes of the vehicle because the fuel is the limiting factor. You might want to say "Yeah, but this is not really a top-product of the high end range." Might be very true, but if your Mp3's are not pushing the device to its limits, you can't really give it a rating, because the sound source is the limiting factor. But, that's just my opinion of course. I enjoyed reading this review, and many others. Thanks.

5th Feb 2008, 14:07	#15
Jordan Wise Baby called to see the boss... Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Newcastle Uni Posts: 597	i bought this headset a few months back, and here's how i found them 1) Force feedback- Genius. Not necessary by any means but just like subtle graphical effects make me stop gaming for a second and just appreciate them (such as the waterfall in crysis, with the rainbow spray), this feature made me smile while my squad and i were getting blown to smithereens under an artillery barrage in battlefield 2 2) Surround- Meh, its alright, not worth buying the headset over, if you really need 5.1 get some z-540s for a little more, they're brilliant 3) Volume- Joe, your spot on 4) Mic- I found it too quiet in TF2, but others haven't, i might have the settings wrong or something. Sounds fine in normal sound recorder 5) Sound quality- For music, a little blunt, watered down from what i normally get through my z-540s. Had to play around with the equalizer quite a bit to get it worthy of led zep. For gaming though it's spot on (don't know why theres a contrast) and thanks to the feedback, explosions really sound like explosions __________________ Favourite Max Payne quote: "He was trying to buy sand for his hour glass, and I wasn't selling any" Steam ID:jordanwise

8th Feb 2008, 02:38	#16
Amon inch-perfect Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: cannoning into the reds, Toronto, Canada Posts: 2,456	This looks like it's just a beefed up version of an old Altec Lansing stereo headset design. __________________ Defunct Socket 939 San Diego 4000+::2GB PC3200::Radeon 9600 SE 128MB::200GB HDD::24" Dell 2407WFP-HC::WinXP x64/x86 dual boot Dell Vostro 1500 laptop::Socket P Merom T7100::2GB PC5400::Go 8600m GT 256MB::660GB HDD::15.4" WXGA+, 24" Dell 2407WFP-HC::WinXP::Fanatec 911 Wheel+Pedals