Not to long ago I had the opportunity to review the “Tritton Primer Wireless Stereo Headset” for the Xbox 360 and to this day I still feel they are a pretty good bang for the buck. The headset sounds great, has a nice looking design, is reasonably comfortable to wear, and they are wireless. The only drawbacks remain the inability to plug into the chat pad and the ability to control the bass input, options that I thought would have been nice. I still wear that particular headset frequently; yet I am always keeping my eyes open for an equally affordable surround sound, comfortable and great sounding headset for my home entertainment set up. So along comes Tritton’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier 7.1 Surround Headset compatible for the Xbox 360 and PS3. How do they stack up against the competition?
Technical Specs
- Speaker Diameter: 40mm
- Magnet Type: Neodymium
- Frequency Response: 25Hz–22kHz
- THD: -97dB
- SNR: 106 dB/V
- Cable Length: 14ft
- Xbox Live Port
- USB Powered
- Audio Input Type: Optical
Partnering up with Ubisoft’s upcoming tactical shooter Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Mad Catz plans to release the headset around the same time the game arrives in May 2012. The headset has an MSRP of $179.99 and will surely be a draw for those that plan to spend a considerable amount of time with Ubisoft’s long awaited tactical shooter. Over the past few days I had a chance to put the headset through its paces, but before I get into my experiences with the headset I have to admit I was a little taken back with the price. After taxes (Canadian Taxes), this headset will cost you around 200 bucks, which is plenty of money for those who will likely purchase the latest game in the Ghost Recon franchise as well. Granted, 200 bucks is not bad for a pair of great sounding surround sound headphones, but let’s not forget these are wired headphones. Needless to say, before I even cracked the box I was not happy with the price of this wired headset. This being said, I kept an open mind as I started to unbox everything.
Unboxing and setting up the Ghost Recon headset was very easy. You will find a nice set-up guide to help you set up your headphones that is separate of the regular manual. The packaging includes the headset, which includes the Ghost Recon logo on the outside ear cups, an extra pair of ear cushions, a slick looking adapter, and a slew of cables including a digital optical cable. The audio cables that link the sleek looking decoder directly to your Xbox 360 or PS3 are also included. The decoder does not need an adapter either and manages to power itself from your console. Bottom line, everything you need to hook up your headphones is included in the box so there is no need to go running out to your local Best Buy, Future Shop, or any other electronics store to pick up a USB cables, HDMI cables, or any adapters. Those with a high-end (or any level for that matter of fact) home theatre receiver will have no problem hooking up the decoder.
I encountered a couple of issues when hooking up the headset. The first one I noticed was that the headset did not connect to my Xbox 360 controller chat pad. This was a let-down considering the amount of time I use the chat pad to send messages and redeem codes. So needless to say I was disappointed and curious how the developers could have overlooked something like this, but this is not uncommon as I experienced the same issue with the Tritton Primer. Perhaps there will be an accessory introduced somewhere down the road to allow one to connect to the chat pad, but for now there is nothing like this as far as I know. My only other issue was with the length of the braided cord that runs from the decoder to your headset. My home theatre couch sits a little ways back from my TV set and unfortunately I could have used a couple more feet in length. The cord is still a good length as it is approximately 14-feet long, but a few more feet would have been nice. This is a common problem when it comes to anything wired that I use, but regardless it was an issue for me and a slightly longer cord, or perhaps even a detachable extension cord, would have been ideal in this case.
On a more positive note, the Ghost Recon headphones themselves are ecstatically pleasing. While they are a tad bulky, they are visually appealing with bright LED lights that light up the Ghost Recon logos on the side of the ear cups. It is unfortunate you cannot turn off the LED lights as my girlfriend likes to point out they can appear somewhat ‘nerdy’; however, I liked the design and the look of the logos lit up. The cushioned ear cups fit nicely on my ears and overall the unit felt very comfortable on my head. Compared to my Primer wireless headset, the Ghost Recon headset is far more comfortable and is perfect for those long gaming sessions. The headset felt securely in place and even when I jerked my head back the headset did not fly off.
The volume controls for game and chat are located on the in-line controller which is located on the braided wire about a foot or two below the headset. The in-line controller does not light up making it difficult to see in the dark; however, the master volume and mute button are easily located. There was no fumbling around or getting confused with the controls and I found that this was particularly important when I was gaming in the dark. The headphones themselves appear very durable and don’t look cheap at all. Even the decoder has a piano black finish, which is somewhat fancy looking, and will not be an eyesore in any home theatre set up. The microphone that attaches to the headset is also of good quality but it does not fold away like it does on the Primer. Instead, if you want the microphone out of the way you just have to pull it out of its socket all together. This was a bit of a letdown but certainly not a deal breaker. I just see myself taking the microphone off and misplacing it someday.
When I first fired up Gears of War 3 to give the headset a really good workout I was somewhat concerned with the sound quality; however, once I jumped into the Xbox dashboard, selected the appropriate audio settings in the Digital Output screen I was good to go. As far as sound quality is concerned, the headset delivers. Equipped with 40mm speakers, the Ghost Recon headset produced crisp and clean sound when playing the game. The bass was fantastic and the booming sound of explosions was stunning. I was amazed how I could hear every little thing. The headset did a fantastic job at emulating 7.1 surround sound and needless to say I was impressed with the quality. After I hunkered down with Gears of War 3, I fired up Madden 12 and likewise everything sounded great and as the on-field action, as well as the crowd in the virtual stadium, sounded aweome. The headset even made Plants vs. Zombies sound fantastic.
As far as quality, look, and performance of the Ghost Recon Future Soldier 7.1 Surround Tritton Headset, the results are fantastic. The lit LED Ghost Recon logos on the side of the ear cups look great and the sound quality is top notch. While this wired headset is somewhat pricy compared to Tritton’s other wireless headsets, the Ghost Recon headset remains a fantastic set of headphones and is perfect for those who game in smaller gaming room set-ups.
