Customer Reviews

LTB MG-AC97 True 5.1 Surround Sound Headset for PC Sound Card

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having owned the Zalman 5.1's for a long time, I can give you a bit of perspective on the 5.1 headphone effect.

First -- let's get the specs out of the way. They have three jacks for the center/front/rear, and one for the microphone, which is delivered in the form of a small hole on the side of the headphones. It uses USB to deliver some power to the phones, and provides a 120vac-->dc usb adapter if you don't want to use up one of your precious USB ports for that purpose. They are light on my head (lighter than the Zalman's), and the cups fold to be perpendicular to the headrest (like Bose Noise-Cancelling phones) for portability. The cord is wicked long, so you shouldn't have any problems getting it to the computer and snaking it around whatever obstacles you put in your way.

The positional effects of these headphones, which look more like "normal" headphones, I would rate as 'moderate' to Zalman's 'fairly good'. You can tell what's in the back, and what's in the front, but with some difficulty. For whatever reason, it's also somewhat difficult to tell rear left from rear right, even knowing which side it's meant to be coming from -- and I don't have a good explanation for that, other than it comes through both, and is a little softer and louder depending on where it should be. The sound quality is much better than the Zalman's, to the point where you might actually use these for listening to music. But again, a $50 pair of real headphones would blow these out of the water for listening to music.

The microphone works moderately well, but a boom mic probably would have been more effective, given that anyone buying 5.1 headphones doesn't care about the geek factor.

I play a lot of games, all types of games. I have owned 5.1 speaker surround sound systems, these do not sound like a 5.1 surround sound system. Of course, they sound like headphones. As for headphones they sound like a good pair of headphones, not an excellent pair of headphones, or a great pair, just a good pair of headphones. My issues with headphones are as follows: one, when you want to mute, lower/ raise the volume of the headphones you must press one of three buttons on the left cup. When you press the button they make a loud popping sound that is quite annoying when you are in the middle of a gaming session. The sound is almost a metallic quality to it and overpowers anything you are listening to. Also, the headphones have built in bass suppressor which makes them really lame for any movie, music, or game you want to play. I know its supposed to protect my hearing but I would still appreciate it if it were my option to turn the function on or off. Gunshots and deep bass notes sound like crinkling paper, which to me is unacceptable.
Other than those complaints they are good sounding when the bass isn't too heavy. They have a nice paint job which feels like rubber and they are comfortable to wear for long periods of time.
Overall, I the LTB MG-AC97's a Three out of Five stars.

Easily one of the "best bang for the buck" headsets out there! Microphone is touchy and picks up background noises easily, but sounds good also, your voice will be clear! Mic also takes to tuning and adjustment well, nice to not have a boom in front of your mouth/chin! It's just built in-to the LH headphone, and it's quality from there makes it amazing! Some of the plugs are not corresponding colors to newer standards, but is easy to figure out with provided documentation. Nice to be able to use USB for power and have AC97 style cables for better clarity! 5.1 surround is great in these! Bass response is decent, it does have some BASS circuitry protection, but it still reproduces bass very low, loud and accurately, can even rumble headset! They are comfortable, easy to size, and not very heavy, not as heavy as I would've expected after using many good quality stereo headphones. Sound output matches those of headsets almost twice the price! Volume/Mute buttons on LH heaset is also a great bonus, way better than an in-line volume/mute module (my logitechs always had issues with the volume sliders). Easy to set up, and tweak, no extra software/junk from using a USB only headset (they make this in that version, it's not as good). I highly recommend them to anyone new to 5.1 headsets that wants to try a nice pair without spending rediculous ammounts of money! These are great for gaming also, 5.1 is very nice in BF2142, and I use Vent which is loud, clear and also mic records very well in it!

I owned an older model of this product and it sounded great. I broke the mic, I decided to get the newer one. The first one had a bad ear piece. Amazon sent a replacement right away. The replacement works great when it's positioned properly. If not, the speakers click on and off. Other than that, it sounds great. And I can't break the mic since it's in the headphone itself.

I have mixed feelings about this thing. On one hand, it does deliver 5.1 sound, more or less, and it's hard to get an analog unit that will do this. Of course that means lots of plugs, and well, your guess is as good as mine as to what goes where. Poor documentation on the plug colors/roles and poor front/rear sound separation have me constantly guessing whether I have it hooked up right. Also the left channel speaker has always been weak on my unit. The red light that never goes away is also a small annoyance. I haven't used the microphone much, but from a little testing it seems pretty chintzy, if that's important to you, go with a different solution. It is unpredictable what volume level the headphones will initialize at. I recommend starting whatever application you are using them with *before* putting them on your head, to avoid possible hearing damage.

Note that this headset needs additional power, either via USB plug or included USB/AC converter. If you want to use it USB, the wire is very short, and you could be limited on where you can plug it.

I bought the LTB MG-AC97 to replace my Microsoft LX3000 unit, which became inoperative. Both units were fairly comfortable, but not for long hours of gaming. Fortunately, I was able to transfer the David Clark liquid-filled cushions, which I had bought for the MS headset, directly over to the LTB. This adds that 5th star, but LTB didn't add it, I did.
Being able to tell where the threat is coming from, in a game like Far Cry 2, for example, is very valuable, and LTB's 5.1 surround sound set-up does just that. I was concerned that the lack of a boom, for the mic. might be a problem, but my fellow gamer, (wife), hears me 5 by 5, when we play WOW, or HGL.
One minor glitch, probably unique to my particular set-up, is that a line-spike, from the switch on my desk-lamp will knock out my headset audio, but usually, I can click the volume buttons a bit, and it will come back. (I'm planning to get a lighted keyboard, so that problem will be reduced). Overall, I am pleased with this product.

These headphones sound great, are comfortable to wear, and look great too. I replaced my Razer Barracuda headphones with these since both pair of the Razer brand proved defective during the short time that I owned them and I was not willing to go for a third pair in four months. Cudos to my local retailer for giving me full credit back on my Razer headphones.

Also, LTB customer service is wonderful and they responded quickly to questions that I asked of them. I am glad that I happened upon these headphones during a google search for headphones that did not just plug into a USB port; I like the individual channel connectivity that these headphones allow.

This headphones are great, the sound is exactly as if you had 5.1 speakers, and you don't hear any sound outside the headphones, so if you don't like to have lots of cables around like you do with speakers, go for this headphones.

Great sound !!! But be aware These Headphones are HUGE !!!