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I started out the X4's, then the X41's. So two years of better gaming. Both were great for many reasons. I even thought they were perfect. Now owning the PX5's for a week, it makes the other ones I have owned seem flawed. They really did justice to the PX5. Cable fits more snug to the Xbox controller, the volume control has a better range, and interference is little to none with the PX5. And even though the sound on the X41 is outstanding, the sound on the PX5 is even better.
If you have the money or can scrape up the money and you play a lot of MP type games, you really need a good headset to step up your game. Being able to know someone is coming, how close the might be, and what direction they are coming from really helps. Even if you just play on campaigns, these headsets really help to immerse yourself into the game's environment.
The biggest plus with any headset for speakers is being able to play games loudly without keeping everyone else awake. More importantly, if you play games that has harsh language and you have kids, then you keep them from accidentally hearing it.
UPDATE 4/13/2011
Well, a few weeks of use now. I use them with the 360 and so far, I am averaging 10 to 12 hours of use before replacing the batteries. I use rechargeable NiMH batteries. The best feature they added to this headset, that the other models did not have, is they finally give you a warning your batteries are about to die.
The sound is still great. I have tried the various presets and they really help depending on what type of game you play. Still highly recommended.
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This is my day 1 review, but after about 4 hours playing yesterday this is an AWESOME headset and no regrets dropping the money for this one. All the other reviewers covered the performance aspects of this headset which totally sold me on it and I have nothing to add.The one thing I wanted to share were two points about the setup process and how to integrate this into your existing home theatre for those of you who use your PS3 as the DVD/Blu-ray player in your Home Theatre.
BACKGROUND:
For both of these points it's important to first understand the wire connections between the PX5 to your PS3. You'll use:
(1) the included toslink cable to connect your PS3 optical audio out to the PX5 optical audio port;
(2) the included USB cable to connect an open PS3 USB jack to the PX5 power jack (this one kind of stinks because USB is on the front of your PS3 which makes hiding the wires a bit harder).
SETUP CLARIFICATION:
The instructions for the PX5 are not completely clear on the fact that there are 2 steps to getting the Audio and Voice Chat to work. Which, if you're like me, will mean you'll start up COD and end up with a very nice headset for chat but hear no game sounds.
1) For voice chat, the instructions are out of order you first Bluetooth pair the PX5 headset to your PS3 (using the provided instructions and the PS3 menu Settings > Accessory Settings > Manage Bluetooth Devices); and THEN set your PS3 to use the PX5 headset for voice chat (using the provided instructions and the PS3 menu Settings > Accessory Settings > Audio Device Settings). Don't be confused that the Audio Device Settings having the Output Device means you'll get the game sounds through the headphones this only sends chat output to the headphones.
2) For game/movie audio output, if your PS3 is currently hooked up to your TV or Home Theater using only HDMI cable or AV Multi connector you likely have no audio coming to the headset or at best you will have downgraded 2-channel audio coming to the headset. You have to modify the Sound Settings to send surround sound to the Optical audio output jack (using PS3 menu Settings > Sound Settings > Audio Output Settings and setting the Digital Out (Optical) to have 5.1 sound coming out). This will also turn off your HDMI / AV Multi sound output meaning your TV/Home Theater go deaf unless you also turn on Audio Multi-Output (using PS3 menu Settings > Sound Settings > Audio Multi-Output). When you enable multi-output, the multi-output can only output surround sound out of a single output at a time and all other outputs get just 2-channel audio.
Which brings me to my second point.
HOME THEATER SETUP:
The PS3 has a limitation to only send digital surround sound output through 1 output at a time: either HDMI or Digital Out (Optical). So if you're currently using your PS3 in your Home Theater and you rely on HDMI cable to send the Audio and Video to your TV / Receiver you're either going to have to keep switching the Audio Output Settings back and forth when you want PS3 to output to Digital Out (so you can use your PX5's) or HDMI (so you can use your Home Theater). OR you can pick up an extra toslink cable (like AmazonBasics Digital Optical Audio Toslink Cable, 6 Feet) and then read this setup suggestion. The PX5 has an Optical Input and Output jack so you can connect PS3 > toslink > PX5 > toslink > TV/Receiver. Then you can leave your PS3 permanently outputting surround sound to Digital Out (Optical) and your PX5 will forward the signal to your TV/Receiver so it has available surround when you want to listen via your Home Theater.
Hope this helps you avoid a second order if you order the PX5 and extra toslink cable at same time.
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The sound is crystal clear, and the mic works perfectly. Wanna know the best thing about these headphones? No more complaining from my girlfriend about all of the loud gunfire and explosions during gameplay. And even if she did complain, I couldn't hear her.Honest reviews on Ear Force PX5 Programmable Wireless 7.1 Dolby Digital Surround
I've had the Triton AxPro, X41, X31, Astro, and now the PX5.(All from Amazon, which was awesome this time as always) These are the best sounding by a landslide. Why the 4 star rating? Well, until I can customize my mic settings and edit my audio presets, and change "the voice" (yes, the headphones talk)... I can only rate it four stars. 5 is perfect. These are not. I facebooked TurtleBeach and asked whats up with the software that the manual and box say is on their website. "It isn't up there yet, it will be in a couple of days". Furthermore, that same manual makes mention of a Bluetooth adapter for the 360 controller for complete wireless chat... Also absent from their website. So those are the shortcomings for now. I hope the website is updated within 27 days, if not I will have to return these as they are only half what the box says they are. No editing mic levels, no voice morph, no custom presets, and no Bluetooth dongle.All that said, they are awesome. Switching from Pandora on iPhone 4 to Black Ops is effortless. In fact they can be done at the same time! And I've named "her" Barbra. She tells me where we are in the presets: 1 ... 2 ... 3 and so on, or "Bluetooth on" or "Headset pairing". They are really quite amazing. The distance is larger from base to head as well. I can clearly hear BLOPS in the bathroom for those 1 minute breakswhereas with the x41 I was constantly met with signal loss. When these do lose signal, the transition is MUCH less jarring. The game sounds simply cut in and out until they are gone all together. They fade back in the same way. Lastly, not one pop, absolutely no hiss, not one crackle in range. The only audio flaw is that when "she" says "Bluetooth powering off" the "...off" fades out a bit. Those other things missing are icing on the cake. But the cake cost 250$ and I don't like cake without icing. Hopefully an update will follow, that is positive.
FOLLOW UP:
I had to return the headset to Amazon. Booooo. Yes, there is some software on TB website. As kitschy as a "voice morph" is... It simply doesn't warrant a 250$ price tag. The actual "real" software is still absent from their website (Whatever "Coming Soon" means). I want to adjust, at the very least, some generic "bass" setting or tinker with a "treble" slider. In addition to that flagrant faux pas, there is no Bluetooth dongle to be had for us 360 exclusive gamers. BOTH of these items are listed IN THE MANUAL and in the description of their product on their own site! This is not to diminish the quality of either the build or the sound. Both are superior to their the X41 model. But not for almost double the cost. Until the price comes down, and/or these other two items are available... I will not recommend this product. Continue to enjoy the X41. In fact, buy two and let the wife enjoy some quality sounds while gaming or watching a flick or two. I do miss these cans, but I not as much as I missed the $$$. I hope to update again soon. I also hope I can do more than be blinded by their beauty and gush over their sound. Maybe I could even review this elusive software, and even more mysterious Bluetooth dongle. By then, I bet they are at least 50$ cheaper too. Which in turn will likely pay for a portion of the sure-to-be over priced dongle.
Also, I don't care to be involved in the flame debate below... Nothing personal, I'd just rather be playing video games... Or eating broken glass.
Second Follow Up:
As of late July 2011 the software is up on TB website. I will review them again once the Bluetooth adapter is available... Maybe. Or I'll just get the Xbox version of the PX5, to be released "soon".
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Ear Force PX5 Programmable Wireless 7.1 Dolby Digital Surround
The Turtle Beach's PX5s are here to replace its predecessor the X41s.My best friend had those headphones but returned them because of this hissing, cracking sound that was god awful. However, TB has rid of this problem as it is no longer happening in the PX5s. THIS IS HUGE. If you do your research you will see a plethora of complaints about the X41s having this issue.
Further, if you are really into FPS games such as killzone, COD, BFBC2 etc, then you will appreciate some of the presets such as silent footsteps; some presets really immerse you in the game. Some ppl speculated that the presets may just be a gimmick or ploy from TB but INDEED THEY ARE NOT AND THEY WORK.
NOTE: Make sure to use ninjo pro on BO to really get the advantage or else you will end up hearing the sound of YOUR OWN footsteps, which is not desirable.
Lastly, you should know that MLG recommends the ASTRO A40s, which are also awesome but come with an even heftier price tag of 350+[(when you include the wireless option. Of course, these are wireless and have more features (voice changer, downloading more presets, comes with DUAL bluetooth capabilities which is something that you CANNOT get on the astros)]. The latter feature helps a lot since my gf likes to bother me while I'm gaming and my Android can be answered by a click of a button through the PX5s; pretty cool, eh?!
Also it is helpful for you to know that the Astros are known for really good Ambient sound and Narration. Also, the astros made an improvement with their 2011 edition giving better bass containment then they offered before. The px5 don't have a bass booster toggle like the x41s, however, this is no longer a single-option-feature since the presets coupled with the ability to self adjust/customize the sound at an even greater depth is ALL at the user's fingertips.
The Px5 are probably the most advance and best WIRELESS GAMING headsets you can get on the market right now and with amazon's superb CSRs and pricing, you can't go wrong.
PS please don't bother comparing these to the Tritton Pros and/or the 720s it really undermines the Px5s, they are not in the same league.
Update 4/1/2011
After muh more use and playing around with the headsets, I decided to give an update. Honestly, I have a issue with the lack of proper bass; that is there is not a fair balance of adequate/tight/clean bass ESPECIALLY is you are on preset 2 or 4. If someone throws a grenade and it lands by me or if there of many sounds going on out once, there is CONSIDERABLE distortion. This is not acceptable for such an expensive headset. So yeah, it has a multitude of features, but what is the point if you are not getting quality sound. Aside from that, the mids and highs are pretty good.
Here is what I wrote in response to a comment: "Now honestly, these are not going to sound as good as the 598s, or 555, the guy who has some distortion in the bass does not have a defective product, it's just like someone said here, these aren't going to be comparable to HD cans from a company like Senn,denon, etc. I swear they sound pretty good and I enjoy them but of course they are not up to par with some of the foregoing headsets mentioned above. Do they blow the Tritton 720/pros (crap madCatz) and px21s out of the water? Yes! But don't plan on getting the best GAMING headphones (on balance) and expect sound quality which you would receive from a similar priced audiophile company...it aint gonna' happen (at least not right now)"
Hope this was helpful...
OH and ONE LAST THING, to the guy who said he got 20hrs plus, YEAH RIGHT. That is NOT true unless you have the mic and bluetooth off. Sorry. Just had to clarify for everyone. It is entirely feasible and average for 6 hrs use if the bluetooth function is on all the time bc boy does that sure drain the batt.
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