Turtle Beach X1 Headset Review

In today’s age in gaming, online play is essential and any system that doesn’t have it will simply not be as popular in the long run. Playing against people around the world, “owning noobs,” and getting your rank higher has become almost an obsession when it comes to gaming.

Online gaming in general is becoming a “sport” in it’s own that requires just as much communication as football or basketball for example. Communication is the key when playing online, especially with competitive gamers.

So, to help you guys out there with communication here’s the headset that I use, the Turtle Beach X1 headset.

Turtle Beach is known for their headsets and their products always deliver and they’re always worth the money. The X1s are the first installment of the “X” series that Turtle Beach develops. The great thing about this headset is the ability to make the game’s sound come through the headset instead of the TV. This feature alone sold me especially for those late night gaming extravaganzas that are all too frequent in my life.  This is done by the audio splitter that comes inside the package. Now, the only thing anyone can hear will be you screaming at another guy who shot you with a “noob tube” in Modern Warfare 2.

Wearing the headset is not bothersome at all. Over the top of your head is a soft leather cushion that is very light and you forget it’s there. The earphones are also coated in the same leather material as the one on top of your head which is the most important part. If your ears are not comfortable it’s not a very good product and fortunately that’s not the case here. The headphones are also sound proof which is both good and bad. Good because all you’ll be able to hear is the game which works great for a very audio heavy game such as Dead Space. Allowing you to hear every groan, squish, and footstep that occur. Bad because someone could easily sneak up and scare you, interrupting your gaming experience. But that’s more of a personal problem I suppose.

But don’t the games volume clash with the voices of other people? Not really. This is all handled with the use of the two independent volume controls. One volume control affects only the game (plugs into volume hub) and the other affects the volume of people talking (plugs from HUB to controller).  So you can create the perfect balance of explosions and cursing when playing online. Or, if you want to hear just the game unplug the microphone portion or just turn the volume all the way down for voice chat and vice versa.

The microphone is also great and the fact that you can adjust it vertically and horizontally is fantastic. The other players will hear you loud and clear and there is hardly any breakup when using them. The ability to move the microphone away from your mouth in both directions really allows the most clear reception when speaking to friends.

Now, my favorite part of the headset is the fact that it’s wired. What!? Wired!? Yes, wired. And I prefer it that way. From a personal standpoint, I don’t like having to charge everything before I use it and plugging the headset into any of the 3 USB slots provided on the 360 prevents that. The cord is 16 feet long, so it’s just as good as being wireless. But, 16 feet does mean it does tangle easily but it’s a minor problem really.

With all that said, there is one problem that I found with this and for some it could possibly be a deal breaker. If you want to have the game’s sound come through the headset, it will not work with gamers who use the HDMI cord. The splitter requires you use the red and white audio inputs. So if you plan on getting a HDTV in the near future, invest in one of the wireless models.

Despite that one somewhat big problem, this headset is a great buy and will definitely last for a very long time. Comfortable, clear audio, and no need to charge sounds good to me.

This product sells for $60 from the Turtle Beach site, but can be found cheaper on online site such as Amazon.

And one more thing, it works perfectly with your PC as well.