Cheap Ear Force HPA2 5.1 Surround PC Gaming Headset

Customer Ratings:

I can't believe how "right" Turtle Beach got these. It is rare that a manufacture actually makes a product that does everything exactly right.

True 5.1 sound in headphones without cheesy DSP or simulation.

Does NOT use it's own crappy USB based sound card. So it works on ANY system. (no drivers needed)

They place the 'mic' sound right in the middle of your head using the center channel speakers...so it doesn't kill the stereo and surround sound when talking.

They are VERY cozy. Wore for over 4 hours with no complaints.

They don't block outside noise so much that you can't hear your phone ring.

The mic is very clean sounding.

The mini amp is USB powered! With separate channel controls in case your computer 5.1 audio sucks and doesn't let you set levels.

When watching Blurays I get about 85% of the sound with these that I get with my full blown $8,000 home theater system. I am not kidding. Put these on, watch any Michael Bay movie. You'll poo your pants.

BUY THESE IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR 5.1 HEADPHONE MOVIE WATCHING OR GAMING.

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Let me start by telling you what headsets I actually tried out before I ended up with this one, also, I have a Creative Sound Blaster X-fi Fatality Platinum Champion edition, so my sound card is not an issue at all...anyway, here's my story:

First, I bought the Tritton AX 51 Pro, which, if you read my review, was not that great. With the AX 51 Pro, I had a lot of issues with the surround sound, directional sound was out of place, I played COD4 and Crysis, both games sounded terrible, enemies trying to flank me from the left sounded like they were coming from my back, also, in-game com. was useless, there was so much distortion, I could barely hear anything, the sound quality was simply horrible. Music sounded awful as well, the bass, no matter how much I tweaked it, did not sound good at all. The trebs both in games and in music where not crisp at all, it was very scratchy in a way? not sure how to explain it. Anyway, I returned the headset to amazon the next day after I got it.

I decided to give Tritton another chance, thinking that I probably got a low quality headset or a low end headset from their line of products, so I go the Tritton AX PRO from Why Costco? One reason only, I could take the headset back to my local warehouse right away if I didn't like it and get a full refund right away. Also, amazon did not have them in stock. Anyway, I tried them with an optical cable, not the one provided with the set though, I bought my own, a 8 foot toslink from amazon; so I tried them and I got the same result as the AX 51 Pro., same awful sound, same distortion, same issues.

Now, I forgot to mention that a few headsets were on my list together with the Trittons, I had the Logitech's G15 and the Astros, both with emulated surround sound, they both use Dolby's technology, but I thought, well, if I have a good sound card that supports Dolby, why not try true surround sound first, instead of emulated (fake)?. I'm glad I did, at the end I decided to give Turtle Beach a go and I can NOT be more satisfied with my purchase, and here's why:

I found out that this Turtle Beach headset has four 40mm drivers!!(speakers) in each ear cup. Let me explain, before I tried the Trittons, I was using my good old Sony MDR-V6 headset that have two 40mm drivers, one on each cup, and which I must say, sounded quite decent in games and VERY good with music, but of course, they were using Dolby Live from my sound card for surround sound, not truly 5.1 sound, but good enough. Anyway, two factors influenced my decision to try Turtle Beach; one, I had a pair of Turtle Beach X1s long long ago, when they were first out and quite pricey, I loved them, but they broke after endless abuse from my gaming nights...two, I simply wanted to give it a try, having had an old pair before, I thought, why not? plus the 40mm driver thing really caught my attention...

Now, the Turtle Beach HPA2PC headset, WOW, simply wow! Bass sounds nice and deep, trebs are crisp, crisp, so clean I can't believe it. Surround sound in games is awesome, I tried them with COD4 and Crysis, and the sound was amazing. Directional sound is on spot, one may want to lower the bass, but I don't, I like deep, solid explosions. The headset comes with standard connections (3mm jack) for your sound card, an inline control pod that tweaks the bass, center, front and surround levels and a master volume knob that turns the headset off. I tried some music, 50 cent's pimp and Cypress Hill's Illusions, the sound was great. Bass again, was deep and solid. I'm so happy for two reasons, one, I saved a ton of cash, the Tritton run for 160 plus bucks and the Astros a whopping 250 plus tax and shipping!!! I can't put into words how great the this Turtle Beach headset sounds, it is both an eye opening and a true money saver,simply great.

A couple of issues I have with this headset is, the inline volume/control pod, does not have any sort of sticky feet to put it on your desk, etc. What I did was, I removed the cable clip and replaced it closer to the pod, so the pod does not fall accidentally to the ground and instead is closer to me when I'm playing. The other issue is, the pods controls are not lit, they are completely dark, so before I start gaming, I have to make sure I have the right levels on my bass, etc. Or I also turn a my desk lamp on, in case I have to tweak them. All in all, these issues, do not really justify not getting this headset in my opinion. The headset delivers, it sounds great. I'm not a music expert, but I know what I like and expect from a headset, good, deep, solid bass and crisp trebs. And in games, I expect great directional surround sound, all of which, this headset delivers with no problems at all.

I saved so much money. I still can not believe it.

BTW. This review is based on a PC setup, I did not try this headset on my 360, Wii or PS3.

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I purchased my current pair of these a little while back. I'd read some reviews in a few places but read a good one in PC Gamer and decided I'd get them. For the price, these are a great deal (and with the current price at the time of this writing, 5/16/2009, it's even better). I purchased my current pair from a bricks-and-mortar store but I'm buying a replacement right now from Amazon.

The Good

While there are plenty of headsets out there, few do 5.1 surround sound properly and this is one of them. I play FPSes and have played a lot of COD4 of late and a serious competitive advantage when playing is knowing where people are with surround sound. With most modern shooters supporting surround sound, these headphones really work well for me. I don't know how many times people accused me of cheating because I knew where they were...they never considered how much noise they make running around like they do. :) It's rock solid for gaming!

Sound quality with music is also really good, though I'm using iTunes with mp3s so I haven't tried it with a 5.1 stereo system. I've got a Creative X-Fi card with the 5.1 ports on the back which I plugged direct into and used the splitter cables included to pass my regular speakers through. This way, I can switch to headphones at night so I don't wake the wife.

Also, these suckers are big so you're not gonna win any beauty contests with them (I feel like I should be piloting a helo or something) but because of that even big ears like mine are almost completely surrounded by the speakers/padding. You do feel them after a long while but this is something like four hours of near non-stop use. And, my big head fits well within these as well. One size does seem to fit all.

The Mediocre

I really do like these headphones but I have slight issues with some aspects. Let's talk about the mic...no pun intended. The mic plugs into the left speaker so you can remove it if you're not going to use it for extended periods. Sound quality is good for what it's for (gaming). You can be heard (assuming you've got your settings right...Windows doesn't always make it easy to find the booster setting which you will likely need for this mic) and it's clear but you're not going for American Idol here (not that you want to). It's directional so you'll likely end up having it close to your face but even so, a lot of background noise doesn't get picked up (a good thing!). I can't say it's bad but unless you're loud and clear (i.e. not trying to keep your voice down at night or something), your voice will sound pretty small. It's not a deal breaker but it can be annoying at times.

The Bad

Now, these are good headphones but there are a couple drawbacks. First, the cable requires a bit of management. The cable runs from the left speaker down but isn't a continuous cable. It connects to a segment with the volume controller. The connector and the volume controller can be a nuisance at times depending on how you run the cable. Turtle Beach obviously expected you to run it across a desk so the controller ended up on the desk before the cable dropped down toward the computer. Not everyone does this (me!) so I end up banging it up against my desk or chair as I move around. Also, it has a light with the sole purpose of telling you the headphones are powered...but for whatever reason, it's a piercing bright light. In a dimmed room (like when you're playing games at night), it's a distraction and even annoying.

These are relatively minor quibbles but there are better ways of handling those issues.

Still, overall, I highly recommend these headphones. You can always pay more for higher end headsets (like Sennheiser) but for less than $80, why would you?

Edit: I almost forgot. The reason I'm getting a new pair is because I broke the previous pair. I tend to be rough with my headsets and it seems I managed to breach one of the connectors to the right speaker. Not sure how since it looks pretty clean. It's almost like the screw just got loose and fell out...I mention it because the way these are engineered, I can still wear them pretty comfortably. I just want a new pair in case the stress on the other connector finally breaks the right speaker completely off. Sort of speaks both to the fact that a) the speakers aren't invulnerable but b) the engineering makes them still pretty solid despite the damage of abusive use. :)

Honest reviews on Ear Force HPA2 5.1 Surround PC Gaming Headset

I have used this headset for almost two years. The one I am using is finally breaking (the plastic used to connect the leather headband to the earphones is breaking after heavy use). I tried a number of other headsets and a lot of them are USB, or SIMULATED surround sound. I even put down $160 to try a wireless headset. (Btw, if you need wireless, the best one out there is the Creative Soundblaster World of Warcraft headset insanely expensive but very good.)

This is the best surround sound I have experienced in a headset as it actually has 8 speakers and the mini-plugs for each channel. You DO need a 5.1 capable sound card (most Mobos have them standard now anyway) but it's well worth it.

This version does not use USB and so ignore those people complaining about static. It is as clear as your soundcard is capable of. It's the same as plugging in a surround sound speaker set. It is durable, comfortable for hours of game play, actually helps a LOT in games to hear people around you (I can track footsteps anywhere around through walls in MW2) and is amazingly dirt cheap at only $70 right now. Buy this, you won't be disappointed. I'm returning my way too expensive wireless set for this one...It's better sound at $100 cheaper.

-It includes a splitter so you can plug your speakers in as well with no fiddling with plugs. It has adjustable volume for each speaker and sub in the line. There is no software to install and works immediately..just plug it in. They are powered and so need a plug for the in line Amp, FYI.

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I got these headphones yesterday. Honestly, I only purchased these headphones because my older, cheaper headphones had died out (right earphone quit playing sound); these older headphones had a bass amp in them and worked great for music and games as well as movies.

Anyway, I bought these headphones because I wanted to retain the bassy feel I got so used to when I would play games. However, when I saw that these headphones were 5.1 surround sound including the subwoofer, I figured I had to try it.

Delivery could have been better considering I paid one-day shipping and got it 4 days later. When I finally got them, first thing I noticed was the weight of the packaging. When you have it all in one place, these headphones and the amplifier can be a heavy thing to lug around.

I tried them on to see if it was true what people were saying about the headphones clamping onto your head and the earcups pressing against your ear. Yes, the headphones clamp on just a bit, but a little adjustment fixed that issue. As for the earcups pressing against your ear, I didn't feel a thing. I guess that depends on the person wearing them.

The sound took quite a bit to configure, as to getting the right volume for each channel. It definitely needs to be changed around if you want to get the perfect sound for a song, for example. But usually, once you get how the sound works, its very quick to set up for gaming.

Quality. Man. These headphones can give out a clear sound in any direction. The game I tested this with was Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Good lord, that was the freakiest playthrough I have done in a while. These headphones work great for directional cues; anyone whose played this game will know that Amnesia has a lot of ambience, and that the protagonist seems to hallucinate a lot of the noise around him. With these headphones, this only brings you into the game that much more, making you feel like you are the one trying to survive instead of controlling the person that does. I would hear a whisper down a hall on my left, and I immediately knew where it came from because of the directional cue.

I would recommend this for the gamer that wants more out of their gameplay. Especially the gamers that do "lets play" series videos on YouTube.