Introduction About 18 months ago, I had the opportunity to review the initial incarnation of the AudioFx gaming headset. Now, eDimensional have come out with a new version of this headset as designed by Benjamin Heckendorn.
Installation and Documentation The product comes with a mini-DVD and a 25 page paper manual. The DVD contains the Software drivers for Win2000/WinXP/WinVista. Once the drivers are installed a reboot is necessary for the changes to take effect.
The nice thing about this headset is that it is all run from the USB port. The headset has one USB 2.0 Plug and Play connector with an integrated 5.1 surround sound decoder. The original AudioFX headset had 3 connectors at the end of the cord. One for the USB port, one for the microphone and one for audio out. The advantage here is that most PC's have USB ports on both the front and back of the machine, now there's no need to pull your PC out of it's home to access the back USB ports. Once rebooted, you can open the icon in your system tray and commence setting up your headset to your personal taste. Configuring Your Headset
The Main Settings page allows you to select your audio system, whether this be just your headset or a 5.1/7.1 surround sound speaker system. The Mixer/Microphone page allows you to set your master volumes, sound balance, CD volume and balance, as well as the microphone volume and on/off switch. The effects page comes with 31 pre-configured environmental settings such as your living room, a pub environment, a hallway or even underwater. It was fun to experiment with some of these settings, but I'm sure most of us will just use one of the normal house environment settings. The ten-band equalizer comes with 21 pre-set modes for your personal musical or environmental preference. You also have the option of manually configuring the equalizer and saving the settings as a user defined input. The karaoke page allows you to adjust your microphone settings and the amount of echo feedback that you wish to hear. A nice function to the overall product but it's got to be a long boring flight for simmers to start singing to themselves through their headsets. In Line Controls
About 2 feet down from the headset is an inline control switch containing a volume control, a mute switch for the microphone and an on/low/high switch for the force feedback effect. This is an improvement on the original headset which only had the force feedback on/off switch. I would have liked to have seen a clip attached to the back of this inline control switch so I could attach it to my shirt vice having it just hang on the cable. Microphone The microphone on this headset is about the same length as the original but is a more rigid design. No need to bend this one to a comfortable position for your mouth and voice pickup. The improved sensitivity of this microphone had ATC hearing me loud and clear. I also use this headset during online video conferences with friends and there's no problem at all with clarity at the other end.
Headset Comfort and Sound This fully adjustable headset with new oval leather-like ear cups are extremely comfortable for those long flights. The ear cups fit more "around the ear" and also block out most external noise. The built-in surround sound feature allows you to hear and feel true stereo effects from all directions. That subwoofer? It's all in your head, literally. This headset is also a lot lighter than the original AudioFX headset. The outside of the ear cups has 2 sets of four small LED's to signal the intensity of the force feedback vice large multi-colour bands on its predecessor. I found this to be more esthetically appealing when watching the headset in action. Conclusion If you are in the market for a replacement headset or are trying to decide on a gaming headset as a new purchase, I highly recommend this one. All of the features can be used outside of the gaming genre making this a perfect all-around headset at $79.95. I can use the Track Clip Pro from Natural Point on this headset with no problems as the headband is slim enough for this device to clip on to, unlike the previous headset version. |
