Customer Reviews

Ear Force X3 Headset: Chat + Wireless Game Audio, for Xbox 360

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I play combat games for the most part: Call of Duty 4, Halo 3 ... but others, too -- like Rock Band, which as you might guess can also get LOUD.

My wife hates the noise. That means I need headphones for game play. And I've tried/tested pretty much all of them, including the earlier versions of Turtle Beach (wired and wireless, like the X2) as well as many other brands, like the Tritton True 5.1 Digital Audio Headset with AX360 Audio Xtreme 360.

Until the Turtle Beach Ear Force X3 Wireless Headphones (which I got for Christmas), my two favorite were:

* the Turtle Beach EarForce X2 (wireless)
* The Trittons (wired)

Both of the above had pros and cons.

The pros of the X2s was that they were wireless and had decent Xbox Live Chat capabilities. The pros of the Trittons was the fantastic sound quality. There are 4 dials for sound alone! If you don't play games that require Xbox Live, these are fabulous headphone. They use an optical sound cable. Fab sound quality.

Cons of both the X2 and the Trittons: depending on the game, is that it can be hard to clearly hear your teammates during the heat of battle -- even in the lobby if there is default game music playing (in Call of Duty 4, there is no user option to turn this music off).

You also can't hear yourself talk -- both of your ears are covered, naturally, so when you talk, you tend to get LOUD because you can't hear yourself. Your own voice is muffled.

Turtle Beach Ear Force X3 Wireless Headphones for Xbox 360 solved this problem. Now you can "hear" yourself talk. Much like when you are on the phone, you can hear a little bit of your voice through the earpiece part of the phone.

The wireless base station is also MUCH smaller than the X2's base station. Which was huge mainly because it was designed to needlessly hold the headphones when not in use.

Pros of the X3s:
* Set up takes about 3 minutes. Plug and play.
* The earphones are comfy -- even on my big, adult head
* Wireless
* Can "hear" yourself talk through the headphones
* "Bass boost" option mode (a switch near the volume)
* TWO volume dials: one for overall gameplay, another for Xbox Live chat. For example, I love Call of Duty 4, but you are unable to turn off the lobby's default music in between games. With the other headphones, I had trouble hearing folks. The X3s enable you to dial down the music altogether -- so you just hear the chat in the lobby.
* Mute button
* Surround sound is good ... you can tell where the bad guys are coming from

CONS:
Sound quality is good -- but not amazing. But remember that these are wireless. The wired headphones have a bit of an advantage in overall sound quality.

Tip: With the Turtle Beach X3s, unlike ALL of the other headphones, under the "voice" personal options 360 menu, select the default "Play Voice through Headset" and not "both headset and speakers."

You are going to love these headphones.

My son plays a lot of LOUD war type shooting games on his xbox 360! I was a little uneasy about purchasing this because of some of the negative reviews that are posted here. I'm glad I went ahead and got them! I don't think he's had them off for more than ten minutes since they arrived!

A very good gift idea. If you're tired of hearing LOUD games or your child/husband "yelling to himself" just to hear what he's saying during a game, than these are definitely the answer...lol There are two volume control knobs that help with that. There is one for your voice and one for the game that you are playing...genious!

As for not playing near a plasma TV. I have to disagree, we have one and they work perfectly. I also did a little research and found out that the X4's are due out this April, which is only about two months away. However, they are more expensive. I have to say that for the price, these headphones really can not be beat.

He hasn't had any background static or white noise. Just crystal clear sound. Plus, I don't have to hear Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3 (Not to mention my son screaming over the background to talk with his friends on line). These are great for Xbox Live AND they are WIRELESS so no need for even more cords behind your TV and the signal to them is perfect!

This has to be one of the best investments I've made so far this year. I'd definitely recommend these to anyone looking for a great set of headphones.

While reading the manual to setup the X3, I find out that the manufacturer says that these don't work well with plasma TVs due to IR distortion. Would of been nice to know that BEFORE I ordered it. While the manual gives "suggestions" on how to reduce the feedback, none of them work. Also, if you connect your XBOX 360 via HDMI, DO NOT BUY THESE. You have to have a "premium" XBOX 360 with a special HDMI cable with a dongel in order to use this. Otherwise, you have to do audio out of your TV or get rid of your HDMI connection. Again, would of been nice to have known about this BEFORE I bought it.

First thing first, Amazon has the best price for this than anywhere else. The headphones are good. They produce good sound and the mic is good. The headset has the function to control your volume as well as in game volume. Here is where it kind of goes down hill. I was recently playing HALO3 with it. I noticed that EVERY time there was a grenade toss, vehicle explsion, and even the 50 cal on the back of the warthog was fired the sound would just cut off. It seems as though the headset just cancels it out completely which of course takes you out of the game. I tried turning off the bass boost, and yet the samething happened again. It's like a dropped call, you can get it back but its so annoying. I tried it with other games and the best thing to do is lower the game volume which kinda sucks cause that was the point of the headset to HEAR the game without diturbing others.
The red & white plugs right to the back of your 360. I have home theater with digital sound so it left the R&W slots open just for this device. The sensors are on the headset but the signal box must plug into the wall. If your like me you already have a jungle of cords behind the tv and not enough room for another plug for power. Why it couldn't use the usb for power, I don't know.
The device loses cool points for being so blocky. My fiance constantly laughs when she sees me with it and can't understand why she is marrying a geek.
Also, you can listen to movies without disturbing neighbors. You don't even have to turn on the controller. It uses 2 AAA which doesn't suck power from the controller.
Good price, good quality, Hear ambience you may not have noticed before.
Lose cool points, Too many explosions the headset just cancels out the noise.

I have never used headphones so I am still getting used to them. After having them on for about an hour it hurts my right ear a little from the way they fit but it is probably just an adjustment thing. As far as sound they are fantastic. They are not surround sound but they work very well. I can stay up and play XBOX with them on the TV in the bedroom and my wife can sleep no problem. It really immerses you in the game. They also kill outside noise in the room. If my wife talks to me (she is 3 foot away) I dont hear her and when she touches my arm to get my attention it usually scares me because I am so into the game. They are also great for my insomnia because I can watch a movie and she can sleep at the same time. Ok, it doesn't HELP with the insomnia but makes dealing with it better.
Oh, they also almost weigh nothing. This makes them feel a little cheap but they are very well made. You just have to get over the "heavy is quality" mentality. They are designed that way and you don't even notice them on your head about 20 seconds after you put them on. They work exactly like they should.

Since I cannot change the star grade a provided originally, I am writing this new review and providing a full 5/5. I had a snaffu with batteries, thinking this puppy was consuming batteries at an abnormal rate. After realizing that the batteries I originally used were not Alkaine and the rechargeable batteries were not fully charged, well how the heck was I expecting over 10 hours of use?

It's a great headset that has helped me listen to sounds I did not know existen in my games (since I always played with the volume down).

As a wishlist for the next headset, if an X4 is in design and development - lithium batteries and 5.1 audio.

Turtle Beach has fantastic customer service. They are quick to answer and on the money when providing guidance.

Peace

Let me give you the bottom line before getting to the details. If you hate messing with a lot of wires, have a need to play games without disturbing others in your house, and are not an audiophile, then this is a good product for you. If you are an audiophile, you will likely not be happy.

Here are the details:

Setup is really easy and it really works quite well. It is no longer stressful for me to get setup to play games when I need to do so while being quiet. My wireless controller with this headset work really does the trick.

The reason you wouldn't want this product if you are an audiophile is that there is a constant white noise sound in the background. It is actually somewhat similar to the white noise you get with noise canceling headphones, just a lot stronger. Once you get used to it, you don't really notice it too much, though.

The headphones are quite lightweight and work well with my energizer rechargeable batteries. The battery life seems pretty good, even with rechargeables.

I really like being able to independently control the mic volume and game volume. The headset does a good job with keeping a constant level between them even when the game gets loud. It took me a few games to get used to hearing my own voice, but now I actually like it. I do however wish there was a way to turn off the microphone when you don't want it to be on. I think that the lack of microphone kill switch contributes to the white noise (yes you can mute broadcasting to the xbox from the mic so other players don't hear you - however it still continues to pick up room noises and play them in your ears).

There is still the wire that connects the headset to the controller. I don't find this to be an issue though.

Overall, I would buy this product again, because it really met my needs. I had the X1 earforce, but the wires on it were just annoying. I chose to give up a little sound quality in favor of not having to mess with the wires. If this profile fits you and you are okay with pretty good sound, then you will probably be happy too. Otherwise, you probably will be unhappy.

TIPS:

* Set this up with your receiver so that the broadcaster attaches to your receiver via the headphone jack on your receiver. I simply use the adapter for the headphone output so that the mini-plug on this unit works with it. I then have just the jack sitting next to the receiver with the rest of the wire winding around the back out of site and simply connect the headphone jack to the receiver when I want to use the wireless headset. This makes for almost hassle free switching between wireless broadcasting and normal speaker usage.

* If you have a receiver, check to see if it supports simulated surround sound over the headphone jack on it. My Yamaha does (called silent cinema), which means that using the setup I described above allows me to still get simulated surround sound over the stereo speakers on this headset.

I purchased the T.B. Ear Force X3 four days ago and haven't been able to get it to function properly. Right out of the box it had power issues. When I put the batteries in the 'on' indicator would flash red but when I tried to put the headset on the unit would short out and cut off. I tried the power button but it didn't work either. The only way I can get it to work is to put the headset on, blindly install the batteries and pray that this will be the one in 30 times it will turn on and stay on. If I am lucky and it actually turns on and begins working then I can only expect about 2-20 minutes of use before it shorts out again.

I did not buy it from Amazon but rather a local retailer and I intend to return it for a refund as soon as I can. Also, the unit has an issue working with plasma tvs but I'm using an LCD so that couldn't be the problem. Personally, I think I just got a lemon and I'll try a replacement before giving up and finding another manufacturer.

Review for the Ear Force X3s. Sound quality is fantastic. Get pretty deep surround sound, you can hear the sound in all directions. You will hardly notice you're not listening to the audio from external speakers.
Very comfortable. Some headphones are too tight, some too loose, with the adjustability on these and the distance of the ear from the earphone, they got it right. The microphone is also adjustable so if you don't want it you can move it without any change in the feel.
Great value for wireless headphones. Similar ones run way more expensive. These are about half the cost of their successors, the X4s, and from the quality these things deliver, it's hard to imagine it would be worth spending more for headphones.
Very good range. I have only tested from about 12 ft. away but there is no difference from that distance to very close. I have not tried over 12ft. however. I'm also not sure if you have to have the receiver immediately in the view of the headphones but I doubt it.
Great battery life. For some reason doesn't drain batteries as fast as I thought it would. Takes AA. Of course, forgetting to shut them off (common mistake with powered earphones) you will lose battery life.
Look decent. Probably not winning any awards for aesthetics but definitely not catching any flack for it either.
These headphones also have an adjustable microphone which is surprisingly sturdy and maneuverable. You also have to plug the headphones into your controller if you do want to use the microphone but I've done it and it's comfortable.
In addition, the packaging on these is too much. I had to use a pair of loppers to get them out of their packaging. Regular scissors would take a lot of energy just to get these things out of their plastic packaging. Also, I don't like the way they designed the on/off button, I would rather it be on the side as opposed to the bottom of an ear-piece. It's super small also so normally you can't immediately just turn it on or off but have to take the headphones off first, but maybe you could practice.
On the flip-side, these are a great solution if you are looking for noise control with your gaming or DVD watching like I was. They are worth the money if you compare the other models of wireless headphones, as well as the cost of wires you would need to buy in order to adapt regular headphones for use on the 360... but that wouldn't give you wireless headphones nor would it probably give you a mic.
On a final note, read the review by Daniel Rayburn who complains you cannot use these with a certain XBOX 360 setup. If you fall under that category then you should not get these. I use a regular XBOX 360 connected by component to my television and I have not encountered the problems he encountered. All in all I would buy these again because they reduce noise and are priced better than their alternatives.

The X3 from turtle beach will change your gaming experience. I purchased it because my dog chewed up my original headset that came with the xbox. I play a lot of Halo 3 and Call of Duty. Headset is awesome for both games and it really does drown out any other sounds surrounding you in the room. It could use more BASS though, but thats just something I personally like. One problem that I find very annoying with this product is WHITE NOISE. When the game sound is in idle (when there is no game noise) all you hear is a very annoying electro-static sound (WHITE NOISE). It takes so getting use to but eventually you will learn to ignore it. The headset is comfortable with plush leather padding. The mic sounds good and clear (because you can hear yourself when you talk, you actually realize how dorky you sound. haha). The range is decent with the transmitter. Overall this product is good, and would recommend it.