Turtle Beach Ear Force X4

aquaboy1976

aquaboy1976

CAGiversary!
I know Cheapy was talking about this a couple of podcasts ago and I was wondering something about it. In addition to using it for XBOX Live, could it be used for watching TV or watching Blu-Ray movies on PS3 as well? Would the sound quality be good?
 
Yes and yes and it depends.

The transmitter box has both optical and stereo RCA inputs, so just about any device can be plugged into it with the right cables, so it definitely is versatile. But while I haven't used this headset myself, I've found that IR sound transmitters are quite finicky in terms of quality. If you use it in a room with a lot of other electronics, you will likely hear a bit of interference during quiet moments.

However, because you have a PS3 you'd probably be better served with the Tritton AX pro, which is also capable of voice chat on the PS3 and PC, via USB (the X4 can only chat on the 360). It's also about thirty to fourty bucks cheaper. It's only downsides are that it's wired (but a hefty 12.5 feet of it), uses two medium size AC adaptors (making it a bit of a bear to setup at first, but doesn't require batteries), and can ONLY accept optical audio, or PC 5.1 (which limits what can be used with it, but not by a whole lot).

Another model to look up is the Astro A40, which I don't know a whole lot about. But it's $250, so I quickly passed on it.

It's worth looking up all of these to see which one would suit you best.

I can't speak for the all important audio quality of any of these, but I recently ordered the AX pro, and I actually plan on doing a video review of it when CheapyD posts his review of the X4.
 
I appreciate your input n11n12!

I work midnights, so I would like to have some sort of headphones for night time gaming/movie watching on my nights off. I appreciate you giving me other suggestions in addition to the Ear Force X4!

I happen to have Best Buy gift cards, so that is what I'm working with right now.
 
My pleasure...

I need a pair because setting up a surround sound system in the room with the games would be impossible, unless I drill a few holes in a window and relocate the door.

BTW, Best Buy only sells the X4.
 
Well I decided on the Ear Force X4. I must say, I really enjoy it so far!
I also use HDMI. The XBOX 360 elite comes with this additional cable that plugs in where the component cables would plug it. You can then use that to connect to the headset receiver using a digital optical cable. I need one more cable to connect from the receiver to the TV if I want to use the headphones to watch TV.
If I want to use the PS3, I have to move the digital optical cable from the xbox 360 to the PS3 (Which has the port for the digital optical already built in!) I had to change the sound settings in the PS3 to use the digital optical cable.

All in all, I must say I really enjoy what I have used of it so far! My wife was pretty happy with the purchase as well. :)
 
[quote name='aquaboy1976']Well I decided on the Ear Force X4. I must say, I really enjoy it so far!
I also use HDMI. The XBOX 360 elite comes with this additional cable that plugs in where the component cables would plug it. You can then use that to connect to the headset receiver using a digital optical cable. I need one more cable to connect from the receiver to the TV if I want to use the headphones to watch TV.
If I want to use the PS3, I have to move the digital optical cable from the xbox 360 to the PS3 (Which has the port for the digital optical already built in!) I had to change the sound settings in the PS3 to use the digital optical cable.

All in all, I must say I really enjoy what I have used of it so far! My wife was pretty happy with the purchase as well. :)[/QUOTE]

This was all kinds of confusing? I want to get the X4s. I have a $50 gift card that I am looking to use on either these or some other sort of headphones for late nite gaming.
 
Since you got the X4, mind if I ask you some questions? (There's the first one.)

How bad/slight is the hiss during quiet moments? Is it so slight it's not worth mentioning or does it ruin gameplay? (Believe it or not, I have read reviews that go to either extreme)

And how is the battery life?
 
As far as the battery life, I haven't even had this for a day. I couldn't really comment on that.
As far as the hiss, I notice it if I am not playing any games or anything. If I am playing games, I haven't even noticed it. I'll have to use it some more to give you a concrete answer though. I've only had a chance to use the headphones for an hour or so today.

ivan, sorry for the confusion. It made sense in my mind. lol
 
[quote name='aquaboy1976']As far as the battery life, I haven't even had this for a day. I couldn't really comment on that.
As far as the hiss, I notice it if I am not playing any games or anything. If I am playing games, I haven't even noticed it. I'll have to use it some more to give you a concrete answer though. I've only had a chance to use the headphones for an hour or so today.

ivan, sorry for the confusion. It made sense in my mind. lol[/QUOTE]

My cousin told me that you hear interference if you have a plasma TV nearby.
 
[quote name='n11n12']Since you got the X4, mind if I ask you some questions? (There's the first one.)

How bad/slight is the hiss during quiet moments? Is it so slight it's not worth mentioning or does it ruin gameplay? (Believe it or not, I have read reviews that go to either extreme)

And how is the battery life?[/quote]

I just got a pair the other day and overall like them a lot.

The hissing sound is pretty loud. It is very noticeable and is not easy to ignore, especially when you have the microphone plugged in. With the microphone in, the sound literally gets about 5 times louder. I don't have a plasma tv, so that is not affecting the sound at all.

Though, despite the fact that the hissing sound is so loud, you don't really notice it while you are playing. With me, I totally forget about the sound as I start playing a multi-player game, but I notice it again as soon as the game ends and am taken back to the lobby.

As for battery life, I've read that it is 20 hours. I have yet to have them run out of batteries.
 
If you dont mind a wired option and want a lower price for a sweet set of 5.1 headphones I use the Tritton AX360's. I got them for my PC and I got to say they are outstanding. I scored them from Amazon for 75$ just before the holidays. They are widely reviewed well. Check them out.
 
[quote name='BREVITY']If you dont mind a wired option and want a lower price for a sweet set of 5.1 headphones I use the Tritton AX360's. I got them for my PC and I got to say they are outstanding. I scored them from Amazon for 75$ just before the holidays. They are widely reviewed well. Check them out.[/quote]

The AX360s are what I used before I got the X4s. They are excellent, but the biggest problem with them is that voice volume cannot be adjusted separately from game volume. Because of this, it was pretty much impossible from me to hear of people when playing multiplayer.

After hearing that the X4s fixed that problem, I went out and bought them.

I would say that if you don't care for voice chat, get the AX360, and if you do, get the X4. Though, the X4s cost a lot more, so how much you are willing to spend also factors in.
 
[quote name='Cheadyp']I just got a pair the other day and overall like them a lot.

The hissing sound is pretty loud. It is very noticeable and is not easy to ignore, especially when you have the microphone plugged in. With the microphone in, the sound literally gets about 5 times louder. I don't have a plasma tv, so that is not affecting the sound at all.

Though, despite the fact that the hissing sound is so loud, you don't really notice it while you are playing. With me, I totally forget about the sound as I start playing a multi-player game, but I notice it again as soon as the game ends and am taken back to the lobby.

As for battery life, I've read that it is 20 hours. I have yet to have them run out of batteries.[/quote]


I've been using the X4's for about 2 weeks now. Having the mic plugged in the headset causes a very noticeable hiss for me also. The good news is I don't really notice as much as I had expected when playing online. I must just tune it out and concentrate on the game. Voices come through clearly, as well as the game sound effects and music. However, I did have to turn the music and sound down from the games options in Left 4 Dead (I haven't tried online in any other game yet). It was very loud and lowering the headsets volume control made it impossible to hear voice chat. Using the game options sound control allowed me to get a good balance between voice and game sounds.

Unfortunately the hiss doesn't completely go away when I unplug the mic for offline gaming or watching Netflix on my Xbox 360. To solve this, I just lower the headset volume a little and increase the volume on my TV. That mostly takes care of the hiss. Oddly enough, when I switch to my PS3 to watch a blu ray, the hiss completely goes away. This leads me to believe the feedback noise may come from two different sources; the xbox 360 and plugging in the mic.

My setup is the Xbox360 plugged in to my LCD TV using VGA input and RCA to mini-plug adapter for sound. The PS3 connects using HDMI. I then use a mini-plug to RCA wire from the TV out to the X4's infrared transmitter.

As for battery life. I used the batteries that came with the headset for about 2 weeks and just swapped them for rechargeable ones two days ago.
 
My brother has the X4 and he taped the two black sensor things on top and he said it helped alot with the hissing. I've never used them nor do I vouche for my brothers intelligence so take that advice with a grain of salt :)
 
[quote name='aquaboy1976']Well I decided on the Ear Force X4. I must say, I really enjoy it so far!
I also use HDMI. The XBOX 360 elite comes with this additional cable that plugs in where the component cables would plug it. You can then use that to connect to the headset receiver using a digital optical cable.[/quote]

I was wondering what that cable was for...
 
I recently bought the Turtle beach ear force X1. Currently I have a lame tv so use the composite audio cables to hook into my VCR but does anyone know if I'll be able to use this once I upgrade to hdtv and use HDMI cables??
 
I have the x3, which are fairly similar to the x4(besides the 5.1 surround and the "infrared receiver" thing-a-ma-jig, and the hissing noise is basically non-existent in-game.

I have a ton of electronic devices in my room i.e. computer, routers, wireless sound system, etc. and it causes little to no interference. The hissing noise is only noticeable when there is no sound. When you are playing a game it is unnoticeable.

I may be looking to upgrade soon to the x4s though since I do hear the x4s hurt your ears less when you play for extended periods of time...

I don't use the headphones for every game the two games I generally use the x3s for are Left4Dead and Call of Duty as it's much easier to know which direction an enemy is coming from with the headphones.

Edit: and yes, I have an HDMI connection and can use the earphones just the same. You don't even need to hook up the cables to an HDMI connection either... just plug the same as you normally would and it works.
 
I used to be really into Call of Duty 4 for the 360, so I bought a pair of the X3's at Best Buy a while back. They worked really well, and I could opponent's footsteps very well. It helped a lot in clan matches. I don't think I need a pair of the X4's though. Too pricey for me!
 
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