With great power comes great responsibility, or in my case with gaming comes loud flipping noises!!! Currently I’m running a 7.1 Surround Sound System and according to the Wife it can be heard throughout the house. It was especially loud when I went through my Modern Warfare phase. Sense then I’ve always kept an eye out for the perfect Headset. I was fortunate enough to receive a review copy of the Tritton AX 720 headset. I’ve been familiar with Tritton sense E3 and have always kept an eye out on their new Gaming Headsets. I came across the AX 720 at my local Best Buy. How does this headset hold up compared to a 7.1 Surround Sound System??
The Headset:
So my first question for the Great Headset Hunt was “What’s the Headset Compatible with?” If your not familiar there is a variety of Headsets already out on the market. The problem is that they are usually geared to one system. The Tritton AX 720 isn’t compatible with everything but it takes a larger chunk then some of the headset I’ve seen. There are two parts to Headset Compatibility one being Voice Chat and the other being 5.1 Surround Sound. The Tritton AX 720 is compatible with: Mac, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and any device with a Digital Optical Output. If your connected with just the Digital Optical output you won’t be able to use the Voice Chat just the 5.1 system. I myself tested the Headset on PS3, Xbox 360 and Mac. The Headset comes with the bear essentials to use the device. For Wires the Headset comes package with: Digital Optical Cable, USB Cable, Xbox Live Communication Cable along with a Power Adapter. The Headset is wired but luckily it reaches over 10 feet so no need to fear not being able to sit comfortable on your couch. Though depending on your setup you might find the pre packaged Wires to be a bit short. I find this mostly to be the fault of the PS3 USB Slots being in the front rather then the back. The only other dilemma was connecting the Digital Optical to my Mac. I currently use a Mac Book Pro and found out that the Digital Optical Input is actually a dual input. What the Dual Input means is that it’s not only a Headphone Slot but tucked behind it is a Digital Optical Input. Unfortunately you need a Adapter to utilize this, I order mine on amazon for $2 so it wasn’t to bad.
To use the Headset you essentially plug your Device into the Tritton AMP and Headset into the AMP and viola you got sound. This was the setup for most consoles grant it for Voice Chat there were 2 options, one being USB from AMP to Console and the second being the Xbox Live Communication Cable to your Xbox Controller. Both worked pretty well and it was nice to have a very flexible microphone on the Headset. The Microphone can be molded to however you would like and it’s also detachable. The Headset has a built in Volume controller that makes it really easy to adjust the sound. My favorite feature was having an independent Voice channel, it was nice being able to turn down just the voices without worry of losing the sound. The only problem I had with the Tritton AMP was having only 1 Digital Optical Input. It became a bit of a pain having to switch the Digital Optical Cable between each system.
The Headests also really makes the gaming experience personal. When I was playing Uncharted 2: Beta I found it a lot easier to concentrate while playing, really focusing on the sounds around me and finding players easier. I also wanted to see just how good the headset worked with other people in the room. I decided to game while my wife studied in the same room. (Actually 2 couch cushions over) At the louder volume setting she could hear stuff but I found a nice medium which was plenty loud for me while leaving the rest of the room super quiet. She gave a resounding thumbs up approval so Studying and Gaming can now happen together.
The Sound:
In my opinion the Tritton AX 720 held up well for a sound test. I was really impressed how it handled the Volume. I tried a variety of sound levels and found that the headset really handled it well. At each of the Volumes the sounds still held together to provide that 5.1 fun. The Surround Sound aspect of the Headset was also pretty impressive. I tested it compared to my current setup and found that it sounded just as good. The only downside is it does feel a bit confined at times but that is easily forgotten with just how comfortable the headsets are. The independent Voice Channel was another favorite feature of mine, and the ability to see clearly that my mic was muted. At times when various online folk would be come a little to vocal for my taste a simple roll of the volume control and they were quickly muted.
Overall I have to say I’m pretty impressed. The Sound quality was excellent and was very comfortable to wear. There are some issues with having to switch cords when switching game systems but that all depends on your setup. I found the Tritton AX 720 to be pretty much all I would ever need in terms of a Headset. It compatible with most systems and it really delivers a nice gaming experience.
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It is not …. just wanted to point it out…
Voila not viola, don t know why it didn t show the first time…lol
huh?
Maybe he meant to talk about a musical instrument >.>
In terms of the only having one input and having to swtich the cords when you want to switch systems. Would you not be able to buy an adapter so that you can plug it into the one input, and would transfer into say, 2 or 3 inputs. although i think you would lose you sound quality and power. But would it be possible?
To the reviewer and Dylan; If you want to avoid the hassle of unplugging cables between systems buy this $7 optical switch from monoprice http://tinyurl.com/ohwdh
They also sell extra toslink cables for about $2 each. You will still need to manually turn the knob on the switch, but it’s better than unplugging cables every time.
Since it’s an optical connection you will not lose power or sound quality with this setup.
Depending on your setup you can also use the Digital Optical Out on the your TV. I currently have the Consoles plugged into a 7.1 Receiver via HDMI then outputting to the TV via HDMI. One of the options on the Receiver is to Output Sound to the TV. Then using the Digital Optical Output from the TV I plugged that directly into the Tritton Unit. Allowing me to switch between the different consoles without having to switch the plugs. I’m not sure if I’m losing any Audio Quality but it sounded good to me.
Yes, your setup using a receiver then the optical out of your TV is even better. You shouldn’t be losing any sound quality, provided that your receiver or TV isn’t doing any converting of the signal. Be aware that this setup will not work for everyone though, since on many TV’s the optical output is only active when using the TV’s OTA tuner.
Any idea if you can purchase a stand-alone second headset to use for two player games, without re-purchasing the whole package that includes the amp, etc???
Not that you will come back to visit this review, but you can buy the headset alone. Tritton had responded to an e-mail I sent them and has told me you can get the headsets alone directly from them for $65.
I had to stop reading your review because of the terrible grammar. It’s really beyond comprehension.