Date: October 13th, 2005
Article by: Jeff Caldwell (Hardware Reviewer)
Edited by: Nathan Glentworth (Owner / Head Editor)
Product was submitted by: Turtle Beach
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PRODUCT COMPOSITION & WALKTHROUGH (cont'd)
This crystal clear detachable microphone is very handy for those gaming sessions and also standard use seeing it can easily be removed when watching DVDs or listening to music. Just simply plug the microphone in when you need it in the bottom of the headset and when you don't need it, swing it out of your way or detach it completely.
The headband is retractable to automatically conform to your head for a snug fit instead of having to fumble with annoying adjustors, which can be very uncomfortable.
The sides of these headphones incorporate excellent ventilation and you can also see small ports for the speakers in each headphone as well.
PRODUCT TESTING
Turtle Beach 's Earforce HPA Headset is no exception to their long standing track record as I found throughout the product testing cycle.
In testing, I used my normal rigorous testing of playing Unreal Tournament 2004, Doom 3, watching a couple DVDs and listening to iTunes (I can't believe I get free stuff to do this!). The surround sound quality was very distinguishable, with a definite amplification level only the power adapter could provide. The front and rear sound channels were obvious and sounded correctly positioned.
The audio did not distort unless I turned the volume to levels that earphones should not support anyway, so there are absolutely no complaints in that department. The clarity of the microphone was amazing, if positioned correctly as well. It did not break down like cheaper microphones do on lower tones.
Their was a design issue with the flexible wire the microphone was built on though, that being that it is rather loose and easy to move. This caused bad quality in the microphone as it was very hard to keep it positioned correctly. After a period of time the flexible wire would droop or any fast movements would move it completely out of place.
After prolonged use I had very little discomfort that comes with most large headsets, as I felt my ears could breathe the entire time.
