Customer Reviews

Xbox 360 Ear Force XP500 Programmable Wireless Headset

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Just finished playing Battlefield 3 using the XP500 Bluetooth wireless headphones and they are simply amazing. Setup was a breeze and the overall sound quality is great. I was originally hesitant to purchase the product due to the price, but after receiving them am happy that I placed the order. The dual Bluetooth sync with my phone or computer is also a great feature to have.

From dorm rooms to bedrooms headphones are the one of the best accessories you can have for gaming in private. Since I have never owned a pair of simulated surround sound headphones I can only compare the sound to stereo headphones and real 5.1ch surround sound and the XP500 fall between the two. The XP500 does a great job with low frequency, front mains, and center channel sounds; unfortunately it falls short at accurately reproducing the rear channels. However you may never notice this if you do not have access to a real surround sound setup.

The Bluetooth connectivity is very nice but will kill rechargeable batteries in both the headphones and the controller faster than normal. It's important to note that BT frequency is 2.4ghz as is the "Digital RF" channels used by the base station. With all things using this spectrum, a hiss can be heard within 30f of an operating microwave, wireless phone and any WiFi device. Yes, even a WiFi connect XBOX 360 will cause hissing. However the hissing isn't loud and cannot be heard while gaming.

The base station is powered by usb and comes with a lengthy optical cable. Missing from the package is a 2.5mm to 2.5mm RCA cable that will be needed for direct connection to the controller when Bluetooth communication is not preferable. The base station's base is not removable, while it did fit in my checked luggage it would not fit in my carry on.

Over all the XP500 made my gaming experience much more fun while away from home and it pairs very well with the G155-Gaming and Entertainment Mobile System (Xbox 360/ PS3 Not included)
In the future I will probably pickup the ASTRO Gaming A40 Audio System (Black) the newest version uses 5ghz RF and the base station is portable, but there is no BT connectivity.

This Headset Overall is totally amazing! Sounds Amazing in game and chat works well too. It is moderately comfortable but after 2 hours it hurt my head so i rested it on my shoulders for about a half hour and played again for two hours. If you do not have an Xbox slim and no HDMI ports on you T.V. you wont be able to use it....... If you have an old Xbox buy the adapter thing for it I have forgot what it is called. For this method you will buy the adapter and use HDMI to have Video. If you have a slim you don't need anything. It all deals with digital optical for sound so that has to be present or no XP500. I at first had this problem, but then I bought a HD Samsung Flat screen and now I can really use it. The chat voice morphing is too much fun... really I can be a chipmunk, 5 year old, college student or a Tiger's Growl. Bluetooth chat is great too, I hear the slightest crackle sometimes when I pair it with my iPod and chat at the same time though. only one can be used at a time but I dont hear the crackle if I just have one paired at a time. I don't see why they even let you pair two things unless you just want to hear phone calls. Setup is easy and within 5mins I was done with that. Then I went on Turtle Beaches website and downloaded their sound editor, I made voice presets and game presets. I can make it so the footsteps are louder or reloads or anything really by moving the editor software buttons a little. for Call of Duty, MW3, Black Ops, MW2, Everything works great, In Search and Destroy I was last alive quite a bit and would win because I heard them. I could pinpoint their exact location and still hear my private chat great. Music sounds pretty good in it but not the best. Worth the Money, It has so many workable features that it adds up to the 250$ you paid for it.

Just got these as an early Xmas gift. I am coming from Turtlebeach's X41 and there is a noticeable improvement. Not sure if I would have spent $100 more but I can definitely hear these are better. Better spatial sound, crisper, more depth. No more background hiss when there is no sound as with the X41. My friend's X41 also had this trait so not just my copy. Less popping from interference (mine is right next to my wireless router). Haven't tried blue tooth for chat yet but being totally wireless is great. Overall very happy.

Update:
After a month of use I can report only 1-2 incidents of connection hiccup. This is sitting right next to my Plasma TV, AV equipment AND dual band wireless router (Cisco E4200) with multiple devices connected. Also a cheap 1.9Ghz DECT 6.0 cordless phone is 4-5 feet away. VERY good improvement over X41 RF performance IMHO. Observation, if I have Bluetooth connected it appears that my controller (original beige one) always seems to think the batteries are lower than they really are. This is proven by turning of Bluetooth and seeing the battery level go back up. Anyone else notice this? Using Eneloops. Overall still very happy with it.

I've had my XP500 for a little over a week now. So far I'm liking it. This is my first set of real gaming headset ever. I decided on getting this one because it can be used with both the 360 and PS3; technically anything that has an optical digital cable out can be plugged into the back of the unit base. The XP500 is pretty much like the PX5 and MW3 branded Delta, major difference is the color and the a bluetooth adapter is packed with the XP500 for use with 360(no chat cable packed); the PX5 just has the chat cable (BT adapter sold separately), the Delta has both the chat cable and bluetooth adapter. Since the XP500 only has the BT chat adapter I've been bluetoothing it. My friends say they hear me just fine, so no issues there.

The sound is great! Been playing it with MW3(360)and GoW3 (360) while on the PS3 I tried it out with inFamous 2. I didn't realize how much of the sounds I've been missing before I got this. The presets work very well. I must say it doesn't instantly make you an awesome gamer, I still suck at shooting in MW3 but at least I can hear them coming for me and which direction they're coming from.

I still got my HD DVD drive for the 360 and watched Hustle and Flow. The base really hits! I also watched Avatar on Bluray on the PS3 and it sounds great too. I even use this with my 5-disc DVD changer.

I was hesitant at first with picking up a wireless headphones due to it running on the 2.4 bandwidth but it actually wasn't a problem for me. I live in a small studio apartment so space is limited. I thought it would interfere with my wireless router and my home phone, etc. Haven't really had an issue though. I have the base of the unit sitting about 8ft away from the router and I haven't had any major cut out of sound, actually it didn't cut out on me once. I do however hear a small crackle every so often, only for a second. I'm assuming it is because one of my other wireless devices is talking to the router. The crackle is not that much of a problem and doesn't take me out from gaming, but I'd thought I should mention it.

The price was high, but I think it's worth it after trying these out. Believe me I would have returned them in a heartbeat if they cut out on me or if the crackling was really bad or if the BT sucked; 250 is a lot of money. But I'm liking it and keeping it. No buyer's remorse here.

I'll also add that at first it was pinching my head a lot. I wear a 7 5/8 hat size, so yes I have a big head. After a while now it doesn't feel like its pinching me anymore. I guess I got used to them or a period of breaking them in needs to happen. I can sit through an entire movie with them on no problem. The longest I've played with it on is about 4 to 5 hours.

I'll give this a 4.5/5 due to it still using AA batteries. But hey, I'll round it up to 5/5.

*I do recommend getting a optical cable selector switch to use with your devices. It makes switching between consoles/devices easier and you don't have to unplug stuff all the time. The one I have has 4 ins (360/PS3/DVDplayer/Open plugged in) and 2 outs. 1 out goes to my soundbar, the 2nd out goes to my XP500 base unit. I got it on Amazon and it works great and I don't notice any sound degradation.

Very expensive headset, but it a very nice one! Personally I did not want to spend $250 on a headset, but after a trading in a ton of old games I had a $200 gift card burning a hole in my wallet. You can guess what that gift card ended up buying! On to the headset...the setup was a cinch, the color scheme is awesome, the headset is very comfortable and NO WIRES! yay. The sound quality i would give a 8.5 out of 10. Very crisp sound, you can hear a lot of detail in BF3.

Here are the only cons which i think are very minor:

1. You cannot use the chat-pad with the Bluetooth dongle connected. I got over that quickly because there is no time to message people when you are in the heat of battle.

2. Batteries only last about 12-16 hours. I purchased a 4 pack of rechargeable AA's and solved that problem (its very easy to swap them out)

3. At first i had the random "crackle" that some people have talked about. They say it is from wireless interference and I run everything in my house off of WiFi. The other night i was messing around and synced the XP500's to my iPhone and listened to music while i did the dishes...when i synced back to the Xbox i did not hear a single crackle the whole night while playing BF3. So that is how you fix that issue....sync to an iPhone and listen to the Creed of Iron album by Graveland...I KID!! I KID!!

Overall i highly recommend these if you have the cheese to spend.

Not only are these headphones amazing for gaming, but they work just for watching TV, Blu-Ray etc. I highly recommend these!

I had the x41's prior to these. I didn't really see the point of upgrading unless I had extra money to burn. Instead of burning it, I went ahead and bought these, I always wanted to just hear the foot steps of my opponents. I wanted to get more bass without pushing back treble. I thought the sound quality will be a slight step up. Oh man was i wrong. It is a night and day difference. My 41's did not do games justice at all. Before I got the headset i was thinking about sending them back if it didn't have that much better sound quality. The only thing i regret is not getting these sooner. I made my own bass boost since the presets are better than the old ones but not what i wanted. I can tell you....it is amazing. if you keep having a problem where voices are not heard well then just turn up the mid 1-2-3 areas.

As for the build quality.....bested yet again. The headset is nice and firm. It hugs your head so when you look down at the floor it can't fall off. The pads are amazingly soft and breath really well. My 41's would make me sweat (very little), but these i have never had a problem wearing them for hours. The stand does a way better job of using a frequency that doesn't imediately act with a wireless router. My stand sits about 3-4 feet from my router and i don't get a single pop. I haven't heard one since i owned the set. Which is better than my 41's (popping once an hour or so). If you are an adult then the headset should fit really nice on your head. These are adult headphones, not for kids so don't expect it to fit on your kids head that is under the age of 13.

I'm couldn't be happier with the head set. I'm a big audiophile and it is going to take me forever to get everything dialed into the last perfect setting, but it has been amazing so far. Also the mic is pretty stiff. you put it in the area you want and it doesn't move. It stays right where you want it to be. the 41's kind of did that but it moves a half inch or so back the direction it was pushed. Not so for these. once it is moved it stays until you move it to another spot.

Pros: build,sound,comfortable,programmable,dual bluetooth pairing,7.1,battery life,stiff mic,more i'm forgetting

con:???....um....footstep mastery preset doesn't really bring out the sound of footsteps???...seriously I have nothing to hate.

This headset is really awesome, its fun to use and a bit pricey but if your in the market for a wireless/programable headset dont hesitate to buy!
Pros
-very conformable to wear
-batterys last long
-Has voice prompts (ex:when powering on or off, connecting via bluetooth or changing presets)
-has the ability to change presets using downloadable program
-full instructions
-wireless transmitter (easy set-up)
-Dolby surround sound 7.1
cons
-The instruction manuel is hard as hell to understand when starts explaining how to use the program from turtle beach
-Bluetooth takes a while to use and set up
-if you dont have a digital output on your xbox or tv you have to buy the digital output cable for your xbox
-price $270 is a lot of money considering you could buy a pair of astro's a30 headset for $230
-The downloadable program is NOT capable with Mac's at all.

All in all, I think this is great headset. I had previously used the turtle beach x11 before i wanted a wireless headset. I had saw a preview of the xp500's at E3 earlier this year and I knew I wanted them. If you have the money and want a great headset that can pair via bluetooth so you can take phone calls and even pair with your computer, this is the headset for you

Pros: They sound great, though it takes some tweaking with the presets (I prefer 4). Don't forget to set your system (Xbox, PS3) or PC games to surround sound mode!

Wireless range is nice, 30 feet seems correct.

Dual-mode BT pairing works (wish it were triple mode for PS3+PC+360)

Finally, wireless 360 chat.

Cons:

Wireless BT chat is a little "crackily" so far on both the PC and 360 that I've tried it on. Lots of background noise reported.
The headset has been occasionally cutting in an out on me during games for a brief second, something the X41's they replaced didn't do. I'm going to investigate/troubleshoot this further.