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| It took them look enough. |
Sony has finally released a headset worthy for the Playstation 3. Now we all know that we had are fill of Wireless headsets throughout the years ( Sony its been freaking 6 years) from Madcatz, Turrle Beach, and Tritton and sure Sony made their small bluetooth ear piece way back when which mind you sucks hard. If any one knows what i'm talking about please comment because once you put the earpiece on your ears it started to swell up and became so uncomfortable you would have to switch sides or not use it at all, but Sony's official Headset which took them long enough has a few tricks up its sleeve for a potential ultimate headset. Besides looking a bit bulky once you wear it; and look in the mirror you look like Princess Leia from Star Wars, it's capable of virtual 7.1 surround sound and displays onscreen status reports exclusively when used with a PS3 and it hits the spot.
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| After the initial unboxing |
After the usual unboxing we are left with the Wireless Stereo Headset itself and USB transmitter(featured above). Along small packet of instructions very simple right? for its $100.00 price point ( no doubt your paying for SONY name as well) it doesn't come with USB cable for charging, which you'll be doing often given its seven-hour battery life which is not bad for the causal gamer but for the hard core you will be charge as you play. Thankfully, though, the build quality hasn't suffered much as a result. The majority of the product matches it PS3 slim counterpart with a finished in a textured matte plastic, with hints of gloss on the inner edges and a thin slab of brushed metal on the headband. which to me is pretty sexy i like the matchy matchy stuff so it's cool so far.
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| Sleek and Yet So Stylish. |
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| You can easily see it will be a comfortable wear. |
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| USB Wireless Dongle. |
The second piece to this set is the USB dongle, it's similar in size to standard USB stick or a pack of Wrigley's gum and shares the same texture as the headset and a thin blue LED light in the middle of the stick which simply blinks as it searches for the headset and glows solid while it's connected.
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| Master Balance slider it is used to either increase voice volume or game sound volume. |
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| Master volume control. |
Now lets get to the Controls and layout. Many headsets we have seen go for cluttered in-line controllers and annoyingly laid-out on-earcup buttons. While this Sony brought this late in the game, it still keeps functionality an highest priority at the same time keeping it in style of the headset. On the left side ear panel there are four discreet controls. The front side has a vertical slider for balancing game and chat levels, while the rear side handles the main volume -- also, tucked in on the back end is a mini USB port for charging it's internal Lithium-ion battery. The topmost part of the panel functions as a power / microphone mute button, and positioned horizontally above it's a button for enabling virtual 7.1 surround sound. just click that button once to quickly make audio related adjustments, while a light inward push (maybe hold for a second) for muting the battery info, and power related info pops up on the screens right hand top corner to show you its statistics. visually and audibly relayed whenever a setting is changed. While the button layout on the head set is awesome, the same can't be said of its retractable microphone under the left ear side. Mind you it is adjustable to three lengths, it isn't flexible and it's set to a fixed angle, which annoyingly because you will see the led placed on its inner tip will glare on your left eye. For me it didn't bother me as much but for some it might especially when playing multiplayer.
Lets set for sound now for paying the $100.00 price tag for these you are going for one thing.... is increasing your killing streaks with better sound cues. For this price point, we'd say the Wireless Stereo Headset's well positioned against headsets like Turtle Beach's PX21, The audio isn't amazing and there's a slight, ever-present hiss, but it performed decently as an improvement over our HDTV's built-in speakers. With music, not enough bass in my opinion. Although the headset wasn't really made for music listening, it's not to say Sony's headset can't perform its duties as a gaming headset. it overall does the job for the casual gamer now for the hardcore they will fuss about a lot of things so im going explain too much of it in detail too me it works out. If you're eying that virtual 7.1 simulation, please keep in mind its a SIMULATION not the real thing people. While the soundstage became all encompassing when it was enabled, it didn't relay clear positioning to us. sure you will hear details but not as accurate from Turtle Beach or Tritton Astro headsets, for the hardcore you might have trouble picking up on gunshots and footsteps around you. The 7.1 surround notably, can be engaged for other media aside from games, but surround sound isn't officially supported with Blu-ray movies, etc.
Reflecting back the PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset, it's clear that Sony put a great deal of thought into this. The design and control layout is geared for long gaming sessions and the notification system is a good addition. To me it stands as one of the least frustrating headset setups compared to Turtle beach, and Tritton's pieces (wired and wireless) which to me is a plus. That said, there are some odd quirks like its sweat-inducing ear pads and the microphone's annoying LED. The audio quality works well enough for gaming, but overall it's average, and the surround sound simulation is decent. for the price (again your buying their name as well) we've experienced better surround sound from other companies. if you can get it for cheaper, or if your a causal gamer i would go for it
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