Ear Force X4 Dolby Digital Wireless (Headphones)
by Turtle Beach
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Our Price: $159.99 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $155.00 (click here) Category: Video Games See more product details |
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Video Game Reviews of Ear Force X4 Dolby Digital Wireless (Headphones)
Customer Review: DO NOT BUY IF YOU HAVE A PLASMA!
Summary: 1 Stars
Nice head set...only wish I would have researched it a little better before I bought it. I have a 50" plasma that I play my XBOX360 on and when this head set was hooked up the constant buzzing in the earphones (which is noted in the manual) was so bad that I had to send them back. I then purchased the X41's and they are truly amazing and work just great!Customer Review: Excellent!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was skeptical that these headphones were worth the cost, but I am very pleased with them and glad I got them! As soon as I removed them from the packaging, I was impressed with the quality of the design and construction, and that is a rare thing for me. I've had my headphones for about a month now and have used them many, many, MANY hours (playing Modern Warfare 2 almost exclusively) and have no complaints. All the features work great, including the dynamic chat volume adjustment (when the game sounds get loud, the chat volume is temporarily increased), the bass boost, the Dolby 5.1 sound, and more. I wasn't sure if Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound actually works in headphones (other than simple left and right), but it really does -- I can easily locate sounds that are behind me and in front of me, too. I never noticed any hissing until several days after I started using the headphones, when I didn't have an audio signal, so I have absolutely no issue with hissing. I have a great Dolby Digital 5.1 receiver/speaker system, but since I got the headphones, I quit using the speakers and I only use the headphones for gaming now (due to the ability to hear subtle game sounds like that fool trying to sneak up behind me).
My only issue is that I had to purchase a new Optical/RCA Audio adapter for the XBox and had to wait for that to arrive before using the headphones. I wish I had known about that in advance. The issue is that my XBox is connected to my home theater system using an HDMI cable. The headphones (that is, the wireless transmitter component) are connected to the XBox by digital optical cable which connects to the XBox's Optical/RCA Audio adapter. On the XBox (at least on my model and with the cables that came with it) you cannot plug in both the HDMI cable and the Optical/RCA adapter at the same time because the Optical/RCA adapter is too big and blocks the HDMI port. You have to get a smaller Optical/RCA adapter in order to continue to use the XBox's HDMI connection. Turtle Beach describes this (rather poorly) at their support site: [...]. I was able to find the required replacement adapter (made by Microsoft) at Amazon for less than a third of the list price (3rd party seller). If you don't use HDMI to connect your XBox to your TV or receiver, none of this will be a problem for you.
Customer Review: Incredible, definitely worth it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the X4 and the AX 720. I ended up returning the AX 720 and kept the X4. I didn't test out the X41 since it uses a wireless RF signal that can be deteriorated by a WiFi router signal, causing cracks and pops in the audio. My 360 sits right next to the WiFi router and I can't put it anywhere else, I read that you'd be OK with the X41 if the RF unit was >8 ft from the router, but mine would be 2 ft at most.
Pros of the X4:
-Wireless (much nicer than I thought it would be, so relieving to be free of wires everywhere that I would constantly snag things on).
-Excellent audio quality (no cracks or pops unless you are 30 ft away from the signal or the IR unit is completely blocked from the headphones).
-Very comfortable to wear.
-Easy to access volume/power/bass boost on the headset without having to look or pause the game.
-Bass boost feature sounds incredible, really adds a lot to the experience.
-Headphones auto shut off after 2 min if there is no sound going to them, to save battery.
Cons of the X4:
-Takes batteries (having wireless is definitely worth the trouble of batteries though, I use rechargeable).
-Some very faint white noise comes through the headphones when on (only noticeable if there is dead silence in a game).
-When the headphones are on, there is a red light on the left ear cup that flashes. This is to indicate the unit is on, when the batt. is near dead the light goes solid red. Kind of annoying when it flashes, but not a big deal.
When I read about the white noise coming through the X4 in reviews, this is why I wanted to test out the AX 720. However, it was a mistake picking up the AX 720; the white noise in the X4 is not audible when any sounds (game or music) come through the headphones. Really, the only time I hear this faint white noise is when I put the headphones on before I turn the 360 on.
A really great feature of the X4 is that its IR unit has an optical input and output on it. This way I can plug my 360 into it and have an output go to my surround sound receiver, so if I want to use my surround sound speakers for a change, I don't have to unplug anything. Also, there is a normal stereo input, I have my PC plugged in this way and use the X4 for my PC too, without having to unplug or redo any wiring. When I turn my 360 on, then the headphones default to it, that's really awesome. This was not the case with the AX 720, there is only one optical input, that's it. When I wanted to use my surround sound receiver, I'd have to redo the wiring. In addition, if I wanted to use these with the PC, I could, the AX 720 comes with a normal headphone jack adapter, but it was just much more work to get things plugged in right and set up.
I completely recommend the X4 over the AX 720. The AX 720 was bulky and heavy, the X4 is more comfortable to wear and it doesn't have wires to snag on things. Also, the X4 has an easier to access volume control. On the AX 720, I would always have to pause the game to find the little plastic piece on the wire to change the volume, and then try and read which control was for the volume; since there are quite a few different buttons/dials on it the same little plastic piece. The audio quality of the X4 was also much richer and deeper; it also had much more bass (if you hit the bass boost switch). The AX 720 really, really lacked bass.
I am really impressed with the X4, I will always buy Turtle Beach for my gaming headphones from now on. I was blown away by the difference these headphones made vs regular stereo headphones while playing my 360. Just want to add, I didn't consider the AX Pro unit because I heard the four speakers they have in each ear cup does not sound better than the large 50 mm speakers in the X4 or X41.
Furthermore, for those considering the X41 with 7.1 surround sound vs the X4 with 5.1 surround sound. Please correct this information if it is wrong (with sited sources), but the Xbox website claims the 360 can only output 5.1 from its optical ([...]). I don't see how the 7.1 in the X41 would benefit anyone with a 360, maybe if you plug the optical cord into a blueray player with a movie that does 7.1, but that's it.
Thanks for reading, I tried to answer all the questions I had when I researched these, hope this helps!
Customer Review: A great sound solution
Summary: 4 Stars
I read many reviews of this product before I bought it and decided to give it a shot since Amazon has a good return policy. I primarily use the headset with Modern Warfare 2 and it really does make a difference. The claims of "hearing enemies sneaking around you" are actually true (unless they are using Ninja pro... lol). The sound quality is great though the Bass Boost function is a little too strong for me and it makes it a little more difficult to differentiate the direction of the noise. The "Hiss" that everyone complains about is not present at all during actual gameplay when the console is sending sound to the headset, but during load times or periods of no input to the headset the hiss is not as bad as everyone says. As far as the durability of the headset, as long as you don't let little kids or dogs play with them like a frisbee, you should be just fine. The only function that I found to be spotty is the Xbox live headset integration. The headset has a feedback function (like a monitor) that allows you to hear yourself talking so that you don't yell at the headset. I have found that this feature does not scale to the sound that is coming from the game like it says it does. Not a dealbreaker or anything, and I am very pleased with the headset overall, and the girlfriend likes the lack of loud explosions rocking the house too :)
Hope this helps.
Customer Review: Finally, a headset for my setup!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been looking at several different headsets that would work with my current set up. Most of them use the composite RCA's or component cables for install, however, with my xbox 360 i'm only using HDMI and didn't want to change that. Also, the audio that I currently use into my home theater is optical audio out from my tv into the theater. With that said, this is the perfect headset for my setup and I'm able to run the audio out from the tv into the Turtle Beach reciever, then run that into my home theater. I still keep the connection to my home theater for anything that comes out of the tv, along with the full use of the X4's. So movies, wathing TV, gaming, etc can all be enjoyed using the X4's and/or theater.
I did purchase the Turtle Beach X41's prior to these due to 7.1 and they work with the Xbox chatpad, but noticed that I was receiving popping and cracking due to the use of an RF signal. Although this is great in many ways, I have my wireless router along with a couple of other wireless components nearby so those didn't work unless I completely changed all my stuff, again I didn't want to change anything. I took the X41's back to the store and purchased the X4's from Amazon.com due to the fact they use IR. There is a bit of "white noise" in these headphones but once the action starts you can't hear it and no more issues with other wireless devices. Also, with the use of IR, keep in front of the reciever or you'll start to lose the connection. This is also the case if someone walks in front of the signal or if you travel more than 5-6 feet side to side. I also received some issues if you're too close. I sit about 10-12 feet from my TV so these are perfect.
Although there are some flaws with this spendy peice of headwear as mentioned above, I am very happy with these. I cannot use the chatpad on my xbox controller with these and they're not the 7.1 with the X41's, but the sound is great and it works great for my demands in movies, tv and gaming.