Customer Reviews

Ear Force X11 Amplified Stereo Headset with Chat

5 star:		(249)
4 star:		(102)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I purchased the X11 for use with Xbox Live because of the problem of being able to use a mic if you also play with headphones for game sound. It seems there is a distinct lack of headphone-mic solutions that have the proper size plug to fit the mic jack on the controller, and that also have independent chat and game volume controls (kind of important if you want to be able to hear chat over game sounds). Thanks to Turtle Beach and their line of headphones this problem is solved. I went with these because I don't mind a wired solution since I play at my computer desk using my monitor and distance isn't a problem.

These headphones work exactly as advertised. If you follow the directions and set your chat settings on Xbox to work through the headphones and turn the volume up to 10 you will not have any problems hearing voice chat without having to crank your chat volume to max, as a previous reviewer wrote. After a week and a half of using these for various games (mostly Bad Company 2) I would say the sound is decent and the controls work quite well. The game and chat volume controls as well as the mute switch are all on the little inline control box for ease of use. The cord is very long so even if you are sitting across the room it should not pose a problem. There is even a velcro strap for tying up excess cord. The earpieces are nice and big so they cover the whole ear instead of crushing your ears plus they are nice and soft, overall very comfortable. The mic boom is much better than typical ones found on other headsets. It's a little longer than most and flexes easily to get it exactly where you want, yet is sturdy enough to stay in place. The pickup on the mic seems excellent also, plus with mic monitoring playing a portion of your talk back into the headphones there is no need to shout into it.

I do have three gripes with these headphones though. One is that the cloth lining on the inside of the right earpiece ripped on the second day of use for no apparent reason. All I did was wear them a few times and just placed them on my desk when not in use. I have no kids or pets who could have damaged them. I fixed this by taking a covering off another headset I had, cutting it down a little and placed it inside the earpiece. I did this because the plastic that was exposed was bothering my ear and this solution worked great without degrading the sound at all.

My second gripe is that there is a constant hiss in the headphones when they are plugged into the USB port for power, even without the volume turned up much at all. I tested it on various ports on the Xbox and on my PC also and it remained. It is not overpowering and does not detract from game play once game sounds are going because you don't notice it over the game sounds. It's just a bit annoying during quiet times when you can hear it. I feel a wired version of headphones should not have this problem if proper noise reduction is put in to counter the powering of the amplifier.

My third gripe is that when I wear these for awhile and then place them down on my desk a blackish type stain is left behind after awhile. I think it might be sweat interacting with the dye on the headphones then dripping out. It is still doing this even after a week and a half of use.

Overall I am satisfied with the headphones because they do the job and fulfill a need for Xbox Live that most other headphones and mics do not, combining both into one. The gripes are minor except the hissing so I took a star off for that one. Otherwise they have decent sound, a pretty good mic, and are simple to use.

PROS:

+ Decent sound, certainly loud enough to hear both game and chat.
+ Very long cord.
+ Independent volume controls for game and chat, and mute switch, all in the same place for ease of use.
+ Excellent mic with great pickup so you don't have to shout.
+ Comfortable to wear long term with big earpieces to cover your whole ear.

CONS:

- The right cloth lining inside the right earpiece ripped, exposing the plastic (maybe just bad luck on my part).
- Seems to leak black dye from the earpiece, possibly interacting with sweat.
- A constant low level hiss when powered, not bad enough to overpower game sounds but still shouldn't be a problem on more expensive headphones.

EDIT (5-10-2011)

I have been using these headphones for over a year now and they still work just as described in my above review. I would have to say that speaks nicely as to their durability.

I bought my X11s to improve my gameplay in Modern Warfare 2 and to play at night while my family is asleep. I am so glad that I did. They have accomplished both objectives with flying colors. The sound quality is excellent. I can hear absolutely everything, even the faintest sound cues I could never hear before. Just the ability to hear footsteps, the direction that they are coming and what they are walking on makes all the difference in multiplayer. Before ordering them, I read many reviews that mention a hiss when the headset is plugged in and was a bit worried that this might be an issue. There is a hiss, but it is so negligible that it isn't even worth listing as a con. Almost all the other reviews that I've read that mention this hiss also mention that you can't even hear it during gameplay. Doesn't that pretty much disqualify it as a con? Honestly, these things could play Home On The Range until I put my MW2 disc in the drive for all I care. There has to be absolute silence in the game in order to hear the hiss. As soon as any music or in game action starts, it is gone, in no way hindering your gaming experience. I also didn't have any problem hearing this hiss while using the X11s with my iPhone for music or YouTube. The ability to control both the game and chat volumes works very well. I've played several very long MW2 multiplayer sessions with friends and I haven't had any issues with my friends hearing me or vice versa. I love that when you raise the game volume, it automatically adjusts the chat volume so that the game audio doesn't drown it out. Which is a good thing, because these bad boys are loud as hell when you crank them up. I have literally jumped in my seat during unexpected explosions. The volume and quality of the sounds make for a very immersive gaming experience. They are also extremely comfortable. Most of the time, I can barely tell they are there, even when I've had them on hours at a time. My old headset sat right on my ears, which would make my ears very sore, very quickly. Overall, I have to give these a five out of five. For the price, they just can't be beat.

Before I had this headset, I was using speakers from an acer h223 monitor, and the sound was horrible. This will review will be based on me playing Modern Warfare 2 since this is why I bought the headset, that and my fiance always complaining about the sound at night.

The Good:
Now, I am able to hear EVERYTHING. At first it was overwhelming, I hear things in the game I didn't know existed. I use the Ninja Pro Perk so my steps are silent, so that I can hear everyone else's steps. Now I can hear when someone is walking in a house, on metal stairs, or in a grassy field. I can hear "boosters" place their insertions and hunt them down. I hear silencers going off in the distance. I know when someone is to my left or the right.

The mic is great. I was previously using original Xbox headset and I had to speak a little louder than normal, which kept waking up my significant other. With the X11 mic, I can speak softly and people still hear. But the mic isn't sensitive, it doesn't pick up breathing even though it is an inch or two from my mouth. The mic is extremely adjustable, you may bend it which ever way you please.

The Bad:
I think the only complaint I have is the light hissing, which is why it gets four stars. You won't it hear during gameplay but when it is quiet, you can hear it. And I think I have gotten used to it. And if you're wondering, If had connected it correctly or something else I haven't thought of, I emailed Turtle Beach Support and they confirmed that the light hissing is due to the amplifier and the hardwired mic monitor. But if anyone else figured out how to get rid of the hiss let me know!

Overall:
I've never used any other headsets before, but I am loving this headset. It's easy to use. You can adjust the volume of the game and the chat on the remote to your comfort level. It has a mute switch. I die way less. My ratio quickly climbed from 1.25 to 1.36 in the last week. It's comfortable. It's affordable, when compared to all the other headsets out there. What more can you ask for?

PS: if you're using a HDMI cable, and your monitor/tv does not have an "audio out" output then you may need to buy a R/L RCA adaptor for your XBOX, which is cheap on this site. Don't spend (...) to buy the HDMI/RCA adaptor combo at retail stores.

I play mostly FPS games. The sound quality is amazing. Make sure you don't turn the volume up completely. The headset comes with an in-line amplifier powered by a USB port that will make your eardrums explode. Both game and chat quality are extremely crisp. This is the best headset I have ever owned.

I ordered a pair of X1s at Gamestop, kindly enough, they shipped this instead.

In the 1st hour I've used this:

Great for music, games, the bass is maybe a little on the weak side, but not that bad. Definitely worth the money. Comfortable, great mic, and it's USB powered. I use it mainly for PC gaming and music.

Good buy, to anyone concerned.

I was so excited when i saw that the x11 was coming out i preorderd it and from the time they shipped it to when it got here took 2 1/2 days GREAT shipping. The headset itself takes some getting used to but when you wear it for about an hour you don't even notice the head set is very loud and the speakers are the same in the x31 and i have personally used the x31 and the only diff. is the cord.i would highly recomend this headset it is awesome.

Simply put these headphones take gaming to the next level. You will be able to hear every sound in full detail something you may not experience via, your TV, monitor or sound system. If you are a fan of survival horror games ie.. Resident Evil or Dead Space give them a try with these headphones for so much of horror relies on sound.

In a FPS games enemies especially the human ones will have a harder time sneaking on you and in most cases you will get the jump on them. As far as the chat features go grade A your teammates will clearly be able to hear them and more importantly you will be able to hear them.

Any gamer looking for an advantage or wants to experience gaming on higher level must give the Ear Force X11 a try.

Well I just bought these today from Best Buy after seeing all of the great reviews on here and a few other sites about them and decided to go ahead and pick myself up a pair since my old 360 headset died on me. All I have to say is that so far I absolutely love them. Before I got these I had absolutely no idea how much I was missing from the entire game simply because I was using just plain old tv speakers. So when I started to play Battlefield: Bad Company 2 I was expecting a slight improvement over the already rich sounds that I could hear in the game. What I got instead was instead a pretty much a brand new game now that I could hear so many new small crisp and fresh sounds. So what I'm pretty much getting at here is that I'm pretty happy in my upgrade in headsets and the fact that it costs me the same amount as a new Microsoft Xbox 360 wireless headset.

Now that I've covered what I liked here are some of the negatives that I found with it.
*The static sound that can be heard when there are no sounds to be heard. For this I found that it didn't really matter how loud I set the volume to on the speakers the static still was at the same volume. However it does become negligibly noticeable as long as something is being played.
*Not really a big one but I do wish that the cords for the USB power supply and the microphone and stereo jacks where slightly longer so that I wouldn't have to have my computer/Xbox 360 so close to whatever I wanted to plug the stereo jack into. However this can simply be fixed by using either an USB extension cable or a stereo line cable to extend the length of either one.

Overall I would have to say that for the price of this product it defiantly delivers.

I ordered the X1 backorder, but they sent this. Sound quality is fantastic, but make sure to watch the volume or you'll head will explode. 4 out of 5, bass could have been stronger.

Okay, I'll start by saying that for around £40, this headset isn't terrible, far from. It's acceptable.

If you have any real appriciation of good quality sound, however, then you can't help but be dissapointed by this headsets biggest flaw. Namely, the VERY noticeable hissing sound that is produced at ALL volumes and at ALL times. This is a real shame, because, in comparison with its predecessor, the X1, the sound quality is crisper with slightly less base, producing a more balanced output. However, while the X1 did produce a similar hissing noise, it was not noticeable at low to medium volumes. Even with the volume control at its minimum setting the hiss is alive and well on the X11s. It is completely UNACCEPTABLE for a later model to exhibit a flaw to a greater extent than that of the previous. The microphone is okay for XBOX LIVE, as XBOX LIVE chat is uniformly poor regardless of the microphone. Avoid this headset for skype because the hiss and average microphone make for an irritating experience.

Confort is also a mixed bag. If you found the X1s uncomfortable, then you'll probably find the X11s to be an improvement. Although those of us that found the X1s to be a perfect fit are in for a bit of a letdown. Because of the earcups now covering the entire ear, they're likely to be less comfortable with less of a snug fit. Sound also escapes more easily due to the seperation from the side of your head, meaning these headsets are far from "quiet", as advertised, for others in the room - even nearby. With music especially, medium volume is clearly audible with the headphones off on the table and you stood several feet away. The X1s had this problem, the X11s have it too, more so in fact. Therefore avoid these for music too, they're strictly for gaming only.

On the plus side, the fantastic mic adjustability is still present, and the size adjusters along the sides have an improved mechanism. The speakers are larger and more powerful, and the game and chat volume controls for the XBOX 360 are all on one panel. The wire connecting the headsets to the XBOX 360 controller is now much smaller, with no annoying puck on the end which used to prevent connection to the XBOX 360 steering whell or chat pad. It slots in now much like a 3mm headphone jack.

They look more stylish too, and suit both the XBOX 360 arcade and elite models.

So, if you own a pair of X1s, I would strongly recommend you stick with them, unless you particularly want the X11s. If you've never tried Turtle Beach before, proceed with caution, as they are, in my opinion, massively overhyped. They might cater for the masses, but for anyone with a decent pair of ears, they can be barely tolerable at times. That said, they are fairly cheap. Ultimately it's for you to decide.

Apologies if this review seems a bit all over the place, it was written quickly and I had alot to say.