Turtle Beach Ear Force X41 Headphones – XBOX LIVE Chat – CNET Reviews

Wireless headphones have been around for a while, but it’s only been in the past few years that quality has gotten high enough for discerning listeners to consider using them. Many manufacturers, for instance, have turned to infrared (IR) technology for wireless signal transmission, which powered the Turtle Beach X4 we looked at last year. Overall we felt the IR radius was a bit narrow and we really disliked the fact that they didn’t work well while using a plasma TV.

The Turtle Beach X41 headphones are essentially the same product, but instead of using an IR signal, this headset takes advantage of an RF (radio frequency) to provide wireless audio. Besides a few hiccups and a hefty price tag, the X41s are one of the best wireless gaming headsets around.

While the Ear Force X41s are designed with the Xbox 360 in mind–they include a removable microphone and connections for chatting on Xbox Live–the headphones will actually deliver convincing surround sound from nearly any home theater source, thanks to their built-in 7.1-channel Dolby Digital processing.

The Ear Force X41 headphones include two main components: the wireless headphones themselves and a base station that houses most of the necessary jacks. The base gives you the option of either using a digital audio connection or an analog signal via a set of stereo RCA cables (red/white). That means that they will work with pretty much any audio source–anything with an optical digital output (such as a DVD player or the Apple TV) or standard analog line outs (pretty much everything). You could easily use the X41 headphones with a PlayStation 3 or Wii, but just don’t expect to take advantage of voice chat–that’ll only work with the Xbox 360.

The system boasts both Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic IIx processing; the former handles the bit-stream surround soundtracks on DVD and Blu-ray movies and most video games, while the latter does a decent job of creating a faux-surround effect from any stereo source. The X41s’ transmitter base also have a line-in volume control allowing you to just adjust the level of the incoming source. Up front there’s also a headphone jack with a volume adjuster that will play the same audio being broadcasted. Finally, the base also features a “bypass” button that will allow you to hear unprocessed audio.

Setting up the Ear Force X41 headphones is fairly simple. For Dolby Digital processing, you’ll use the included 7-foot optical cable to connect your Xbox 360 (or another digital source) to the “digital in” port on the transmitter base. If you’re also using an AV receiver and surround speakers, don’t worry; there’s a digital out port for passing the signal on, so you don’t have to constantly unplug and plug in wires whenever you want to play using the headphones.

Turtle Beach includes all the cables you need to start gaming and chatting.

For power, the X41s ship with a USB cord that plugs directly into the base unit. You can plus the USB end of the wire anywhere (including the 360 itself). We had an empty USB port on our cable set-top box, which worked fine. We should note that USB power is your only option here. The unit does not ship with a USB-to-AC adapter.

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Cutting the Cord, Keeping the Music in Stereo

Great article by Bob Tedeschi on 3 wireless headphones featured in the New York Times. Most were already featured in separate articles on our site.

MP3-enabled mobile phones are a hallmark of the wireless age. So why use wired headsets to listen to your music?

The question has probably struck more than a few iPhone owners as they propped their gadget on the treadmill and set off on a jog, hoping not to accidentally hook their wires and send the expensive new device flying.

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Headphones Don’t Need to Have Wires

In Audiovox’s latest earnings call, chief executive Patrick M. Lavelle told investors that his consumer electronics company will be rolling out some new products in the coming year, including new wireless headphones. But in a market so dominated by giants like Bose and Sony, how many of you know about Audioviox’s current lineup?

Audiovox’s Acoustic Research division manufactures a whole line of premium headphones, many of which are wireless.

It’s entry-level set, the AW722, retails for $99 and allows user to be up to 150 feet away from the signal coming from an iPod, a stereo or even a television.

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Motorola Motorokr S305

These superaffordable stereo headphones have a lot to like, including solid music and call quality, a comfortable fit, and easy-to-use controls–once you get the hang of things.

When it comes to the comfort of stereo Bluetooth headsets, I’d choose an earpad design (that is, an earmuff style) over earbuds any day, thank you. And if you have the same preference, look long and hard at the Motorola MotoRokr S305. This set of headphones handles calls and music with aplomb. The product delivers great-sounding conversations and tunes, a comfy fit against the ears, and a light feel on the noggin.

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Wireless Audio: What Could Be More Kleer® Than Sennheiser®?

Here’s a plug for the iPod: it’s incredibly durable!  I know that because my earphone wires are always catching on something and, as I unknowingly pull away from that something, my iPod is pulled out of my pocket and smacking the tile floor or the concrete pavement. And, in the last four weeks, a wired mike and an audio/mike headset attached to my computer were totalled when my dog got caught in the wires and, confused, ran away, pulling the wires right out of the devices!

I need a wireless headset!

I was super impressed when I checked out two Sennheiser wireless headphones the other day in one of the audeo equipment stores. Wow! I’ve always been faithful to Sony headphones, but I have to say that I was an audeo novice until I hit the Sennheisers.

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Sony W-series Walkman: Wearable and wireless

There’s more than one way to do a wireless MP3 player, and building it directly into a set of headphones may seem like the easy way out, but it gets the job done.

Plus, there are none of those audio-fidelity issues you might run into with technologies such as RF and Bluetooth, which is probably why Sony elected to take this route with its new W-series Walkman. This 2GB MP3 player is built into a set of impressively small ear bud-style headphones and sports a palatable price tag of just US$69.

As you might expect, the W-series Walkman has no screen and is pretty light on extras. Music plays in shuffle mode by default, though Sony offers an innovative feature called Zappin that lets you browse through tracks by ear by playing a snippet of the chorus of each song. You can choose between long and short settings for this mode, and if you come across a song you want to hear, a press of the jog button will start it from the beginning.

The W-series Walkman, more formally termed the NWZ-W202, has a rather paltry rated battery life by Sony’s standards – a mere 12 hours – but given the ultracompact form factor, we can overlook this detail. Besides, 12 hours is more than enough for any workout we can think of. Plus, there’s quick charge, which gives you 90 minutes of battery life from a three-minute charge, and the entire 12 hours in just 30 minutes. The W-series is expected to be available by the end of March.

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Santok STK BTHS600 Bluetooth Stereo Headset

The new Santok STK BTHS600 stereo wireless headphones are very impressive right out of the box.  Read about it on trusted reviews.

Tenqa Bluetooth® Wireless Headphones

After posting the Tenqa Bluetooth Wireless Speakers article, we decided to see what else the had.  Tenqa  also sells stereo wireless headphones.

This stereo wireless bluetooth headphone can be used for your iPod, mp3 players, personal compute and Bluetooth enable mobile phones.  Your package will come with the headphones and the Tenqa Bluetooth Wireless Transmitter. It is ergonomically designed controls for changing music tracks or adjusting volume .   Read more on Tenqa’s Stereo Wireless Headphones.

Read the wireless stereo headphones article.

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Samsung SBH-700 Stereo Bluetooth Headset Review

Written by Jeremy Kriegel for Crunch Gear

Short Version: I love wirelessness. I was using Bluetooth to connect handhelds, phones, and headsets since ~2004. While smart phones have mostly killed the PDA, their media capabilities scream for a good set of wireless headphones. Sadly the Samsung SBH-700’s are not those headphones. While the specs sound impressive, talk time up to 9 hours, play time up to 7 hours, standby time up to 140 hours and weight of only 38.3 grams, the reality was disappointing.

To be fair, my disappointment was only partially Samsung’s fault. First of all, the iPhone does not support A2DP, the Bluetooth protocol necessary to transmit stereo music. WTF, Steve? You create the uber-music phone and then don’t support transmitting that music wirelessly? The only explanation I can think of is that Apple likes to control the entire experience, most bluetooth headsets suck, and they don’t want that experience to be associated with the Jesus-phone. To test out the audio, I tried pairing it with my MacBook Pro. That didn’t work either. So while I never did get to test it with music, its performance as a phone headset was sufficient for me to pass on this product.

As a headset, it paired just as easily with my iPhone as any other headset. Hearing your conversation in both ears is great. Going back to my Samsung Uproar (the first mp3 player phone), I’ve loved having stereo headsets for my phones. It makes the person much easier to hear, especially in loud environments. However, despite Samsung’s claims of ambient noise reduction, when walking outside on a mildly windy day, people I was talking to asked me if I was using a headset and to please stop. The sound transmission and wind noise was pretty bad. The problem is that the mic is located above your ear near the play/pause button and I don’t thing this unit uses the kind of advanced noise reduction that the Jawbone does. In a quiet room, it functioned acceptably.

The unit is well designed. It is an over-the-ear, behind-the-neck form factor that is reasonably comfortable, althought will take a bit of adjusting to get it to fit snugly in your ears. The part that rests on your neck is light enough not to bother you and heavy enough that it won’t bounce if you jog. I don’t know if I would wear it for extended sessions. It’s not that comfortable. The main contol buttons are located near each ear. The phone answer/end button is on one side, play/pause on the other. On the back of your neck are two additional pairs of buttons, volume up/down and track forward/back. Since you can’t see any of the controls , it will take a few screw-ups to learn which buttons are on which side. There is an attempt at consistency by placing the track control on the same side as the play button.

The SBH700 lists for $100 but can be had for as low as $60. If it will work with your phone, you do get both a music headset and phone headset in one small package, but I would suggest that the compromise is not worth the savings with this model.

Overall, it’s a good attempt, but not quite ready for consumption.

Bottom Line: Getting better, but pass on this one.

Product via Amazon

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Wireless Stereo Headphones – XM-I X-mini Blu

By Mike Lee, a freelance IT writer for The Straits Times.

Price: $138

WIRELESS simplicity, audio ecstasy – that’s the tag-line of the X-mini Blu bluetooth stereo headphones created by home-grown company XM-I. Indeed, I found the X-mini Blu easy to use and the sound quality excellent.

To tell the truth, at first I was fooled by the X-mini Blu’s somewhat plain looks.

However, once I had it paired with the test music mobile phone, a Sony Ericsson W595 Walkman phone and piped in some rock music, I was sold.

The bass was solid and thumping and the vocals and guitars sounded rich and full-bodied.

I also enjoyed the sounds from other tracks in my collection – from pop to trance to classical. Five buttons on the right earphone allow you to skip tracks, adjust volume control and stop or pause the player.

The X-mini Blu further surprised me during voice-call testing with Skype and the W595. Reception was clear for both caller and receiver.

Even when I was sitting at my notebook and playing rock tracks, the other party could still make out my voice from the music.

X-mini Blu can be simultaneously paired to two Bluetooth devices as a hands-free headset. Answering a call from the mobile phone in the middle of Skyping was fuss-free and when the call ended, I was able to seamlessly resume the Skype conversation.

The headphones – just 72g – are so light, I was able to wear them comfortably for one to two hours at a stretch. The X-mini Blu is rated for 12 hours of playtime on a fully-charged battery and I did not need to recharge the batteries till the fourth or fifth day of testing.

When not in use, just bundle them in the protective case and pop it in your pocket. That’s not all – the package also includes a limited edition of the X-mini capsule speakers, which won the world-renown Red Dot Award for product design.

Final say

Easy-to-use Bluetooth headphones that pump out great stereo sounds.

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