As the battle, race, or story line continues in your video game, you become immersed as well as more involved in what’s going on. Your gaming setup is dependent on your peripherals like video quality, console capability, and most importantly the sound quality.
After years of usage, my stock Xbox 360 wireless microphone just isn’t holding up to the age of time. Having just a single small speaker and microphone that is far away from your mouth, I decided it was time for an upgrade.
Following online forums, doing research, and looking around online, I stumbled upon the Turtle Beach X42s. While reading about them, I noticed that they meet my requirements and then some. With dual capability between the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, this is great for when the day comes my Xbox 360 is no longer playable. I also took into account that the headset offers a wireless design, and no need for long cables.
Being a well-known brand in the gaming community, as well as having a reputation for quality headsets, the X42s were a product that I had to try out.
Today, I will be reviewing the Turtle Beach X42 gaming headset. Throughout my review I will be covering the following topics: the unboxing, design, audio performance, and my overall thoughts. I would like to thank Turtle Beach for providing me with the X42s for this review.
The Unboxing
Once you receive your X42s in the mail, you find a well-constructed packaging that offers frustration-free unboxing. To ensure a safe transport, users will notice how the key components are surrounded by a plastic shell while the rest of the items are found in the rear pocket.
After taking some time to read the outside of the box, users will find that Turtle Beach provides you with all the essentials that are necessary. Found inside are the X42s, the wireless module, detachable boom microphone, Xbox 360 Talkback Cable, two AA batteries, a digital optical cable, a helpful user guide, and a Turtle Beach branded sticker.
As I mentioned above, the X42s have a dual compatible design that allows them to function with the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. However, Xbox One users will find themselves having to pay an extra $25 for the Microphone Xbox One headset adapter. More a fault on Microsoft forcing users to pay for this extra piece, but I would have like to seen Turtle Beach include the adapter with the X42s.
When the unboxing has commenced, users will find that setup with the X42s is just as easy as the unboxing. First power up your wireless module by using the connected wall charger, then connect the digital optical cable to your Xbox 360. Then follow the pair setup and you’re all done! It’s that easy!
The Design
Moving on to the design of the X42s, I found the looks and feel of the X42s to be acceptable. With design aspects leading to a universal fit for anybody, gamers will find that the lightweight plastic construction and soft touch ear cups provide you with a comfortable gaming session.
The headband could use more padding, but offers enough to not cause discomfort. While the ear cups are well padded and are covered by a felt material. One dislike I had about the ear cups was the shape. People do not have circular ears, so why are the ear cups a circular design? Oval shaped ear cups are much more preferred and I would rather see this reflect in a newer version.
Still focusing on the ear cups, on the left ear cup, users will find all of the headsets controls: power, Xbox controller hookup, equalizer effects, and a game volume wheel. Also found on the left ear cup is a green blinking communication LED, and the detachable boom microphone. On the right ear cup is the AA battery compartment.
Lastly, we have the microphone of the X42s. To utilize the microphone users will need to attach a cable leading from your Xbox 360 controller to your X42s. As this is a slight take away from the wireless design, I didn’t find the cable annoying, nor did it get in my way at any point. The wireless to the Xbox, however, always remains the same and users who do not wish to talk do not need to use the microphone cable. When you look at the detachable microphone up close, users will notice that it is very flexible. Users can move the microphone to any position they wish or remove it completely.
Next, we take a look at the wireless module. With its compact size, the dual band wireless module connects to the X42s via a proprietary 2.4GHz or 5GHz wireless band. Here is how users will receive all Xbox sounds to their X42s. Found on the rear of the unit is a digital optical in, digital optical out, and analog in. Do you have friends in the room or an outstanding gaming audio setup? Choose to play Xbox sounds through both your headset and sound system at the same time. What’s great, is that if you are a night player, you can still keep game volume high on your headset, but turn off your external sound.
Audio Performance
It all comes down to how the X42s sound. If the sound quality was poor, what would be the point? Well I am happy to announce that the audio quality is above average and is one of the better sounding headsets out there.
The X42s run off of two AA batteries for power and after hours of usage I have yet to replace the batteries. The unit has premeasures to save battery power, like automatic shutdown after five minutes of zero usage. It’s safe to say that you won’t be going through batteries after batteries.
Like a radio host, users will find that they will hear their own voice while talking on the headset. Some users may enjoy this as other’s may dislike the feature. I found it to be alright, but it would be nice to see an option to turn off this feature.
The headset also offers 5.1 surround sound powered by Dolby Digital. With those two AA batteries, the X42s produce an excellent sound quality by utilizing their 50mm speakers. The headset offers a stunning 3D gaming environment and while gaming I found that I could clearly hear and understand sounds around me. Even footsteps were loud and clear.
Remember that equalizer button I mentioned before? Well with the click of that button users can quickly change the surround sound angles letting you customize your own personal setup. By following the helpful user manual, users can adjust where the virtual speakers are being outputted.
When it comes to microphone performance, you will find that people on the other end of the conversation hear you clearly and loudly. Thanks to the dual band wireless connection you will never miss a beat.
The massive 50mm speakers do offer an “audio fidelity and bone-rattling bass” experience. If you’re in a room while playing a game, expect to not hear the world around you but, rather the world you’re seeing on the TV.
Finally, one of my favorite audio features, is the fact that while using the analog input on the wireless module, users will be able to plug in their smartphone and enjoy music while they game.
My Final Thoughts
In the end I found the X42s to be a perfect replacement for the stock Xbox 360 microphone. The wireless capability is always a plus, and they provided me with an outstanding service. For a $99.99 price point, I feel like the build quality could receive an upgrade, but for what you get it’s worth the cost. If you’re still wondering if the X42s are the right headset for you, Turtle Beach recommends that you try a demo at stores like Walmart.
Buy it Now:
© 2014 techsupportforum.com
