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[360] Surround sound headphones for Xbox 360/and optical hub? Qu

Re: [360] Surround sound headphones for Xbox 360/and optical hub

reply to ztmike
At some Best Buy stores they have a kiosk where you can try a couple models out of Turtle Beach stuff. I ended up debating that very thing for a while and settled on the Astro A30 audio system since it works with 360/PS3 and PC and they seem to have pretty good support/build quality.

I've got a couple of friends who have the Turtle Beach headphones and after trying them, they are nice but not worth the cost (in my opinion, at least). You can find similar options for a lot less than the $200 (or more) asking price of some these units. I guess it depends on your situation and usage, but to me there are good alternatives at far less expensive price points.

But what do I know. I still have the original headset from the original Xbox (you know, the black ones with the green trim) that I keep as a back up.

reply to ztmike
I'm a little confused on something..

From what I've read the 360 only does 5.1 surround sound, so how does the X41 do 7.1?

And from the reviews I've seen the X41's have a VERY LOW level of hiss when there's no game sound, but in the same review the guy also said the PX5's don't have any hiss.

And for the optical hub station thing I found this:
»www.monoprice.com/products/produ···format=2

Another guy told me about it on a different forum and I got in the other day along with 2 more optical cables and so far it seems to work great. Cheap looking and the selector doesn't light up any but what you expect for a couple bucks I guess.

But man..Monoprice sure does take their time for shipping. But they do ship from California.

I think the 7.1 stuff (when talking about Xbox) is just marketing hype. I think most people see the two products at Best Buy and want to know why one costs so much more. Having 7.1 capability over 5.1 is a good way to justify that increase...even if you would never use it with an xbox.

"You think"

Is no better than Turtle Beach saying their crap does 7.1 when other sources say the console only does 5.1.

No offense.

None taken. I should have expanded my post a bit to include that a 360 cannot support 7.1 surround sound too. Don't take my word for it, take what the hardware can and cannot do.

Well for starters...it's not 7.1 surround. It's Dolby Headphone 7.1 Surround...which is basically up scaling of 5.1.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are listening to headphones then isn't it 2.0? With DSP you can simulate a 5.1 or 7.1 soundfield, but it's still a binaural system.

I can see why some people would be attracted by these types of headphones and the privacy you get with them can be very helpful in some situations. But for the asking price of some of these things you can buy a small home theater system and get the real deal. I saw a decent little Samsung 5.1 system the other day that would be perfect for a bedroom or small living room and also gives you Bluray/DVD/CD playback for $200 bucks.

reply to vzw emp
You are correct, it still is just 2 speakers with Dolby Headphone encoding, but I will say it does a pretty good job of simulating the surround. I have a 5.1 theater in a box type system for normal viewing, but when everyone is trying to sleep and I still want good sound...these are a great alternative.

There is a brand that tries to actually put multiple speakers in the ear cups as well (Tritton) but I was worried about support with those, and how accurate the sound was going to be with them.