Buy.com for $78.99 w/ google checkout
http://www.buy.com/prod/xb3-ear-forc...205560885.html
Dell for $82.99
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A1263673&cs=19&c=us&l=en
Amazon for $85.99
http://www.amazon.com/Earforce-X3-Wireless-Chat-game/dp/B000VHY3GO
Due to the free shipping and possibly no tax, the amazon price winds up being cheaper. Figured I'd list the Dell price in case anyone knew any coupon codes for the site.
Also did a quick search to see if these prices were posted, and didn't find anything so hopefully not old!
Edited in my impressions
[quote name='Ryukahn']Well, tested this a decent amount tonight, so here are my thoughts.
It is a very comfortable fit. I didn't really feel it at all, and I played 5 hours or so of Halo 3 online. The headset seemed to be more comfortable than my old X2 headset, as the ears seemed to be fully cupped with the X3.
Separate sliders for Chat and Audio work Fantastically. You'll need to do a bit of testing with friends to find the right settings for you, but after you have em set up you'll be good to go. *Keep reading for a potential snag in this*
According to friends, the supposed Elimination of Game Audio Mic Bleed was not working, as they said they could hear the game from my mic. I moved my mic as far as possible from my mouth, and was told that the game music had gone away. I'm not entirely positive that it was my mic doing this though as one of my friends had times where you could here the game through their mic, so consider this insufficient testing for the time being. I'll try to do more testing with this tomorrow, as this could be a slight issue, though it went fine for me after moving the mic.
Speaking of the mic, there seems to be no way of turning off the microphone transmitting your own voice through the headset. However, I only noticed my own voice when I'd have the mic close to my mouth, so this appears to be a non issue, though I still need to test it more.
The receiver is RIDICULOUSLY Sensitive. ANY kind of blockage between the receiver and headphones means your sound will come in low or not at all. Even moving to the sides too far one way will cause the sound to drop, as will it if you are too high or low in regards to the headset from the receiver. Don't plan on doing a lot of walking around once you put these on, or else you are gonna drop sound a lot. This issue was non-existent for me since I sit in a chair while I game, and I'm not entirely sure this should be a huge issue at all, but the level of sensitivity is questionable considering the high price tag this commands.
If you have the headset on but dont have anything with sound going, you will hear a low buzzing sound unless the game audio is turned down very low. Once sound is actually playing it isn't noticeable at all, but if you are just chilling with no other sounds coming in, you will definitely hear it.
Stuff not tested that this mic supposedly does - Bass Boost, Stereo Expander, Dynamic Talkback Level Control (I assume this may have kicked in at some point during normal gameplay without me realizing it, but since I already put separate settings for game and chat I'd think this wouldn't be of much use). I can try to test these tomorrow if there is interest in the features, though personally I didn't have much interest in them.
I think that covers everything the headphones can do. Overall I'm satisfied with them and I feel they are a nice upgrade over the X2, though if the headphones are bleeding into the mic, my opinion may change (though it wasnt an issue after I moved the mic). If there is something I forgot or any questions you have feel free to ask.[/quote]
[quote name='Ryukahn']The hissing sound that was barely noticeable during Halo 3 sessions is now more noticeable when playing games without much action (such as XBLA). If I can't fix the hissing I'm most likely going to return it, as it is rather annoying.
Also, a few times when I turned it on today, the sound was only coming through one side of the headset, and it only corrected itself after I turned the game volume way up and then back down again.[/quote]
Final Thoughts...
The hissing makes these unuseable for me, which I am positive comes from the Mic Moniter feature that they advertise as being a plus. Personally I don't see any use for this and feel it was incredibly stupid of them to not have an option to turn it off. It's a shame, since besides the hissing the other issues I have with the headset are minor.
http://www.buy.com/prod/xb3-ear-forc...205560885.html
Dell for $82.99
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A1263673&cs=19&c=us&l=en
Amazon for $85.99
http://www.amazon.com/Earforce-X3-Wireless-Chat-game/dp/B000VHY3GO
Due to the free shipping and possibly no tax, the amazon price winds up being cheaper. Figured I'd list the Dell price in case anyone knew any coupon codes for the site.
Also did a quick search to see if these prices were posted, and didn't find anything so hopefully not old!
Edited in my impressions
[quote name='Ryukahn']Well, tested this a decent amount tonight, so here are my thoughts.
It is a very comfortable fit. I didn't really feel it at all, and I played 5 hours or so of Halo 3 online. The headset seemed to be more comfortable than my old X2 headset, as the ears seemed to be fully cupped with the X3.
Separate sliders for Chat and Audio work Fantastically. You'll need to do a bit of testing with friends to find the right settings for you, but after you have em set up you'll be good to go. *Keep reading for a potential snag in this*
According to friends, the supposed Elimination of Game Audio Mic Bleed was not working, as they said they could hear the game from my mic. I moved my mic as far as possible from my mouth, and was told that the game music had gone away. I'm not entirely positive that it was my mic doing this though as one of my friends had times where you could here the game through their mic, so consider this insufficient testing for the time being. I'll try to do more testing with this tomorrow, as this could be a slight issue, though it went fine for me after moving the mic.
Speaking of the mic, there seems to be no way of turning off the microphone transmitting your own voice through the headset. However, I only noticed my own voice when I'd have the mic close to my mouth, so this appears to be a non issue, though I still need to test it more.
The receiver is RIDICULOUSLY Sensitive. ANY kind of blockage between the receiver and headphones means your sound will come in low or not at all. Even moving to the sides too far one way will cause the sound to drop, as will it if you are too high or low in regards to the headset from the receiver. Don't plan on doing a lot of walking around once you put these on, or else you are gonna drop sound a lot. This issue was non-existent for me since I sit in a chair while I game, and I'm not entirely sure this should be a huge issue at all, but the level of sensitivity is questionable considering the high price tag this commands.
If you have the headset on but dont have anything with sound going, you will hear a low buzzing sound unless the game audio is turned down very low. Once sound is actually playing it isn't noticeable at all, but if you are just chilling with no other sounds coming in, you will definitely hear it.
Stuff not tested that this mic supposedly does - Bass Boost, Stereo Expander, Dynamic Talkback Level Control (I assume this may have kicked in at some point during normal gameplay without me realizing it, but since I already put separate settings for game and chat I'd think this wouldn't be of much use). I can try to test these tomorrow if there is interest in the features, though personally I didn't have much interest in them.
I think that covers everything the headphones can do. Overall I'm satisfied with them and I feel they are a nice upgrade over the X2, though if the headphones are bleeding into the mic, my opinion may change (though it wasnt an issue after I moved the mic). If there is something I forgot or any questions you have feel free to ask.[/quote]
[quote name='Ryukahn']The hissing sound that was barely noticeable during Halo 3 sessions is now more noticeable when playing games without much action (such as XBLA). If I can't fix the hissing I'm most likely going to return it, as it is rather annoying.
Also, a few times when I turned it on today, the sound was only coming through one side of the headset, and it only corrected itself after I turned the game volume way up and then back down again.[/quote]
Final Thoughts...
The hissing makes these unuseable for me, which I am positive comes from the Mic Moniter feature that they advertise as being a plus. Personally I don't see any use for this and feel it was incredibly stupid of them to not have an option to turn it off. It's a shame, since besides the hissing the other issues I have with the headset are minor.
