Submitted by Los
Ok, getting to it, the PX21 headset is awesome… for the money you pay. Now, I’m not saying that in a negative way. It’s just the truth. Retailed at $79.99 it’s a hell of a deal for a headset with the name Turtle Beach on it, with the capabilities of sound AND chat on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 (and PC and Mac as well, but come on, who cares? There are a few ups and downs though, so here it is.
The pros: The headset has features that make chatting and playing a game more engaging. You can control not only the sound and chat volumes independently, but also the bass. That explosion didn’t blow out your ear drum like you had hoped? Turn it up, and enjoy the hearing aid you’ll be using from now on. And that is not over reacting. The volume of this set is intense. If you turn it up ¾ of the way and set the headphones next to you on the couch, you can clearly hear everything as if the TV’s volume was on. It also features Chat Boost which automatically turns the volume up on chatting friends if you’re in a loud gun fight for example. Speaking of chat, unlike the stock headset for 360, when you speak into the mic you can hear yourself loud and clear. So you can not only hear the level at which you’re speaking, that greatly minimizes random screaming in the middle of the night waking up your wife or infant, but it also lets you hear yourself moan and cry when you keep getting shot in the head by campers. More pluses include USB power which means no batteries to recharge or replace, a mute button, and a stereo expander, that when turned on, makes the sound seem wider, surrounding you more instead of just straight up stereo sound.
Speaking of stereo sound, on to the cons: A few things are going to hit you right off the bat. You will feel like the set is cheap. It’s fairly flimsy especially after a couple of months of use when it gets worn in. It still feels like it will hold together nicely, but it just gives you the feeling you’re going to break it when you’re moving it around. Which is good or bad depending on the way you look at it. I’m the type of guy who needs to feel the weight of something. I appreciate that the set is light for the sake of comfort, but sometimes I just don’t know my own strength. The clip for the amplifier box is notorious for breaking off due to poor manufacturing. Also a little gripe I had was at the end of the cord, the cable splits off to the USB connection and the audio jack connection. Well you have roughly 6 or 7 inches of leeway because it cannot be separated anymore than what it already is. Which means whatever you’re connecting it to needs to be pretty close together or else you’re going to need some extra cables to expand the length. Something else that I’m not sure is just me or not, but I had a problem with my cable that connects my amplifier box to the 360 controller. It was not picking up the mic and it was also causing another problem with the volume of the game vs the chat volume. Turtle Beach sent me a total of 3 cables with the final one being totally different with it’s own little control box for volume on it. That worked like a charm and fixed all the problems that weren’t from manufacturing. But honestly, before that cable came I was deeply regretting this set. So that little fix made all the difference in the world.
Bottom line, the Turtle Beach PX21 is an awesome pair of headphones. Especially if this is your first pair, because what you get at this price you can’t go wrong. Just don’t go expecting 5.1 surround sound from these, remember, they are only stereo. I hinted earlier that stereo sound was a con, and it only is if you are used to playing in a 5.1 environment. This headset does pick up a lot of the sounds you wouldn’t usually hear and it goes above and beyond if what you’re looking for is something to let you play at night without waking anybody up. Aside from these few things I really can’t find anything else wrong with it. They’re comfortable even for someone with a big head like me, the mic sounds amazingly clear, you have complete control over all the sounds of the game, and it’s affordable considering the price headsets that are fully functional on both consoles go for. I would go as far as saying this set is something every gamer needs. So unless you’re really anal about sound and you just need something to help you play at night, these headphones are perfect for you. There’s not much out there in this price range that does the things this set can do.
Verdict: 4/5
