Price £59.99My first competitive gaming experiences were back in the day of the first Call of Duty, which I played on PC. I had a lovely USB headset, which allowed me to pinpoint enemy footsteps, gunfire and voices. It was an asset to my gaming that was sorely missed when I made the move across to console. So when I picked up my PX21 headset by Turtle Beach I was as giddy as a schoolgirl to try it out.
The PX21 headset allows gamers across most platforms to transfer all audio to their headset. Most Bluetooth headsets advertised for consoles are for use with chat only, whereas the Turtle Beach series offer both in game sound as well as communications with your friends/team mates.
You may ask yourself “Why use a headset when you can just turn up the TV?”
Well, there are a few reasons…
- Locating enemies is a lot easier when you can hear what direction they are coming from. Footsteps, gunfire, voices and reloads are all easier to pinpoint.
- Fuller & richer sound
- You don’t annoy the rest of the house when a soldier screams “We’re losing bravo” for the 50th time
So, how does it work?
The PX21 is compatible with PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Unfortunately for PS3 users there aren’t that many others to choose from, however I use a PS3 and find it meets my needs perfectly.
A slight downfall of this product is that it is strictly a wired connection. The wire however is really long and stretches comfortably across most medium sized living rooms. It is also strictly stereo with no support for surround sound without additional hardware - although this has not turned out to be too much of an issue in my gaming. It uses the audio from the standard AV cables that came with your console and plugs directly into the back of your TV. Your console will allow you to output audio from HDMI, AV or both if required.
The sound quality is relatively good however I have found I do need to be careful with how far I turn up the bass. The headphones have a tendency to fuzz slightly when the bass is turned up too far. I use the PX21 primarily for Call of Duty and I have found them to improve my game – so much so that I do not like playing without them anymore.
The microphone is very clear and is positioned on the headset with an adjustable arm. The arm allows you to push the mic up out of the way or pull it down when speaking with friends. In addition the headset allows you to adjust the volume of ALL players. Rather than muting every single person that annoys you, simply turn down the chat volume to 0 when gaming alone.
Summary
To summarize, this is a solid headset with a more than adequate sound quality. Although there are some features missing, at £50.00 to £60.00 the price is great. This headset will let you hear every little sound and certainly up your game – worth every penny.
Rating: 4/5