Review: Turtle Beach XP400 gaming headset brings surround on your Xbox or PlayStation 3

For Xbox and wireless ps3 controller thinking of getting a good sharp edge about the competition, it isn't really information about training your reflexes: Developing a keen ear happens to be an increasingly important asset when doing offers of all kinds. Subtle audio cues may give away enemy positions in Cod and Battlefield and enable you to time the ideal strums in Rockband, during-game chat enables you to coordinate your time and effort together with your partners. On this arena, Turtle Beach has become a 2010 major player for a while, and their newly-released XP400 headset proves that the company should still be your go-to for game audio, even with competitors like Tritton seeking to usurp the throne.

All told, Turtle Beach includes a total of 10 headset options for Xbox 360 console owners, starting from the chat-only XC1 communicator headset all the way up up to the highest-of-the-line XP500. The XP400 is an quit on the 500, but includes features the 500 doesn't, like a built-in rechargeable battery pack and variable multichannel audio angles. The XP500 provides the edge up programmability, nevertheless the XP400 is still a ridiculously feature-rich accessory.

Great sound, wire-free

The XP400 is totally wireless, and carries a small dongle that plugs into the wii remote controller for you voice chat. The headset syncs which has a bluetooth transmitter that plugs into the system itself. Pairing each can be quite a trouble-free endeavor, nevertheless it can on occasion take two or three tries to obtain the headphones and the transmitter actually talking to one another.

The sound quality is fantastic, and in-game chat comes through crisp and clear. It is possible to tweak the experience and chat volume independently, and cycle through various equalizer presets to match your tastes. To hold the action noise and random chat outbursts from berating your eardrums, the XP400 includes sound limiting technology that levels off sharp volume spikes.

In testing, I experienced no voice or game audio dropouts, and everything worked in the same way intended. The surround sound is certainly noticeable, and once you have fun with accurate directional audio, it's difficult to experience another way. The headset's speakers are mighty strong, and you could truly rock your ear holes if you crank up.

A special dual-band wifi feature unique with a Turtle Beach headsets also works wonderfully to fight any interference from other wifi devices at home. Rather than relying solely around the oft-used 2.4GHz wavelength, the headset switches over to the 5GHz band when it detects any nearby device causing an audio hiccup. The automatic switching is essentially unnoticeable, however the clear audio is evidence it is working its magic.

Before checking out the XP400, I primarily used the Turtle Beach X32 headphones. The XP400 is noticeably bigger than the X32, although the X32 could barely stretch its phones to my ears, the XP400 fits comfortably with sufficient of room to spare.

The XP400 is usually compatible with the dualshock 3 ps3 controller, and despite boldly noting that this method designed especially for the Xbox 360, game audio and chat works perfectly thereon system as well. Pairing the headset via bluetooth with the method is a slightly different affair, but it is get rid of or less complicated than Xbox 360 system users will experience.