Introduction

In the past couple of years we have really seen an abundance of headphones come on to the market claiming that they were the best headphones on the market. Many have claimed that they fully gave you that true "surround sound experience". Well today we had the privilege to check out one of these headphones, which promises amazing surround sound as well as a great product to use for Xbox Live. So can the Turtle Beach Earforce AXT: Ultimate Gaming Headset make it on my "must have" list? Well read our full review to find out!

Features

• Eight speakers create wide sound field in your head
• Multi-channel amplifier boosts audio signals.
• Stereo-to-surround sound converter creates 5.1 channel surround sound from stereo games or music
• Built-in microphone for interactive gaming with Xbox Live.
• Enjoy Xbox Live online gaming without being limited to hearing the game through your TV or external speakers
• Enjoy Xbox Live without disturbing others in your home.
• Oversized ear cups provide comfortable gaming for hours on end.
• Multiple speakers in each ear cup provide an expanded sound experience.
• Handy inline volume control.

Design

One of the most influential things to look at when purchasing a pair of headphones is the comfort level, which in turn means the design of the headphones. With the Turtle Beach Earforce AXT: Ultimate Gaming Headset, you can first expect that because they wanted to give you that full surround sound effect that these headphones are rather large. The headphones really cover your ears entirely, as this enables them to cancel out all other noise. I must say that putting on these headphones for the first time was a bit intimidating. It felt sort of like what you would expect putting on those headsets that pilots wore, as they are extremely bulky, a bit heavy, and just really immersive in the fact that your ears are completely covered.

I would have liked to have seen some more use of color on the headset as well, from the box it makes it seem like it's going to be a flashy pair of headphones, but in reality the headset is kind of bland in terms of it's design, which for me was a bit disappointing.

Testing

Alright, now we have made it to the part of the review which is the most important of all, and that is the actual using of the headset, which yields some mixed results. So let's start out with setting up this headset, which was actually a whole lot easier then it sounds. Basically you plug your left and right channel into your TV and then plug a power cord into your wall and then it's basically time to set out and begin using your Earforce AXT. A lot of you are probably wondering why there are only two audio inputs when they promise surround sound support. Well, what the Earforce AXT is promising is trying to take those two inputs and simulate a surround sound effect. So does this actually work?

Well after the initial setup, which was delightfully easy, it is ready for use. Having tested the game with a variety of games, I found that the sound quality is quite good. While it wasn't what I would call a true 5.1 channel sound, it does give you a rather good simulation of it, which is pretty impressive considering its two-channel audio source.

The headset is setup to split the audio to the front, middle, and rear parts of the headset to try and make it feel like true surround sound, and it does have good audio quality and definitely comes close to giving you a solid surround sound experience. I noticed that there were times the headset didn't give the best quality but for the most part it was very impressive.

The headset also has Xbox Live capabilities, which works flawlessly and is very easy to setup as well. I noticed that the headset really didn't have any problems transferring the voices on Xbox Live to the headset and it was really quite impressive in this extent.

Overall: 8/10

The Turtle Beach Earforce AXT is a competitively priced headset that offers solid sound quality for an unbeatable price point. With that being said, there is still some more left to be desired, as the headset is a little to bulky and gets sort of tiring to wear after sometime. I kind of feel like had the headset been more comfortable and it been truly a 5.1 surround sound headset it might have helped the cause a little more. However if you are in the market for a solid headset and you don't mind not having a true 5.1 Surround Sound, then this headset is a great deal for you.