CreativeSound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset

First off I used to play with a logitech headset for raids and had major ear pain after the first 6 hours or so. I wanted full over-the-ear headsets and saw these so I went for it. The major selling point to me was not the color changing earpieces, it was the comfort and light weight. The voice changing ability is really good and pretty fun.Comfort (+)/(-)This is both a pos and a neg to me. The headset is super comfortable and does not press on my ears too hard, so it makes wearing them for long periods effortless. Where the neg comes in is the cord itself. Due to me losing communications during some epic 12 hour raid, I felt the need to purchase the corded version of the headset. I did not want it to fail when we were fighting some boss so I opted for a failsafe version. Bad idea, the cord is thick and covered with a mesh, cool looking but remains kind of stiff all the time. 2nd one is by far the worst. The cord connects to the headset's LEFT side. All of the controls are on the left side, and the mic is on the left side. I am right handed as I assume almost 90% of the population is. Which makes this really difficult to have all of my USB being on the right side of my computer and the cord being on the left. My only suggestion is to replace the cord with a light weight miniUSB cord and it would be much easier to turn your head.Sound (+)The sound is fantastic. Both WOW, DA:O and other games sound wonderful. The bass is deep and the highs are nice and crisp. The ear pieces do a great job of muting all outside noise and this means you can enjoy it without cranking up the sound too much. Music is also really good in these.Setup (+)Its very easy to set up on both PC and Mac. I tried both and each one is cake to do. You can change the color of the ear pieces, adjust the EQ, set up keybindings and more in the included software.Fun (+)When raiding it is fun to do voice changing antics. Especially after a wipe or when someone has to bio for 10 mins. Its great to have something to goof off with during those downtimes. The voice changer really does change your voice, not only in pitch but also moderation and speed. The result is several voices can sound like someone else and not sound comical. A few are downright silly, but there are ones that enable you to sound like a completely different person. Use at your own risk :).Integration with voice servers (-)Quite often I would break up on voice while using this with Vent. This happend on a few servers so I cannot blame one type vs another for the breakup and when I switched back to my old headset it went away. I think it might be the software layer between the headset and vent. I was unable to replicate it but it was intermittent at best.Price (+)/(-)I think the corded version is the price the wireless version should be and the corded one should be less. It is a great headset without all the fun features, but not a stellar set that requires the premium tag IMHO.Overall synopsis:If you did not have a headset and needed one to pick up this would be a fine set to get. If you like gadgets and other fun features get this set but get the wireless version. It is very good quality and I have no complaints after 2 months of owning it.Thank you for reading my review.

* * * Review Update (03/11/10) * * *I may end up replacing the video review with something newer later on down the line, but for the time being, I'm leaving it as it is as a reminder to everyone that when you purchase a product of such relative newness, you run an increased risk of receiving an item from a bad batch with potential defects. That being said, if you accept the risks and do receive such an item, you should (obviously) have it exchanged immediately. This particular instance found me fortunate to have been helped by one of Creative's guys here in the US: Mr. Ryan Schlieper. You can find his contact information in the comments of this review.So yes, I missed the UPS guy the other day and was forced to wait until today to actually try out the headset. And to be honest, it was a rather painful 24 hours to wait (made even more so by the fact that the replacement set was OVERNIGHTED to me), but obviously I survived. Opening the package, I found that it had been already opened (for testing, as per Mr. Schlieper), but the wrapping and whatnot on the headset itself was still intact. Removing it from the box, I fished through the cardboard cradle in the box to find the USB transmitter.I plugged it into my desktop and was relieved to see that Windows didn't report any type of malfunction with it as it had the last one. I powered on the headset and noticed an immediate change from the first headset: instead of flashing rapidly from red to blue, this new headset pulsated slowly from red to white to blue.This was already promising!Crunch time at hand, I pressed Connect on the headset for three seconds... Check: Rapid blue blinking.I literally held my breath as I pressed Connect on the transmitter for three seconds... SUCCESS! The two connected with each other almost immediately.The battery in the replacement headset was apparently pretty low, so I plugged it into the desktop with the included USB cable, and got to work messing with the Audio Control Panel. Ever since I'd heard about it, the one aspect I wanted to play with was the VoiceFX technology due to being a stickler for gimmicks.You're given a few different selections to choose from in terms of who you want to sound like, ranging from a Gnome male to a Felguard all the way on up to Malganis. Though they were all pretty neat to tinker with, it was the Gnome male that got me (which is miraculous, as I despise Gnomes).Have you ever heard a laugh that sounded so ridiculous, you couldn't help but laugh yourself?This was that laugh. Immediately upon hearing my Gnome-ified voice, I laughed. And that laughing caused me to laugh even more, and more, and more. Literally, I laughed for a solid five minutes before I couldn't take it. Then I checked out the Village Elder setting, and there's a distinct... warbling noise on this filter that got me once again. So if you DO end up getting this headset, you need to check those out IMMEDIATELY.As I've said before, it's truly the little things in life.While I'm discussing mic-related issues with the headset, I'd like to make it clear that I haven't had a chance to actually test out the headset's mic in the field, as it were. Nobody was online at the time, so I just have the VoiceFX test to go by, but if it's any indication of the quality to expect, I believe I'm in good hands. It's not perfectly crystal clear, but it's close enough for me. Certainly not distorted by any stretch of the imagination. What's more, the mic appears to be quite sensitive: it was able to pick up the voices of the TV program I had going in the background, even though the TV was nearly muted.Most impressive.That aside, the Audio Control Panel is very easy to use. It lets you choose from a multitude of different colors for the lights on the headset, as well as the (already discussed) VoiceFX technology, and the THX configuration. The ACP offers an equalizer to let you control a few different aspects of the headset, including bass and surround sound. In this area of the ACP, a segment from the WotLK intro cinematic is placed to give you a baseline to adjust the settings to accordingly. For some reason unbeknownst to me, the audio from this cinematic was being piped through my speakers, even though everything else (error dings, Winamp, etc.) was coming through the headset.No matter.I loaded up WoW and headed on up to the Argent Tournament. Another reviewer had used the Cultist area in his review, saying that he'd heard things he hadn't heard before, so I wanted to check that area out for myself. Honestly, I couldn't hear anything I didn't already hear through my speakers. This isn't at all a bad thing, however, as my speakers are ALSO THX-certified. So to have a headset share the same quality of sound as an actual speaker system was simply amazing. Hell, even the surround sound was surprising. To review that particular aspect, I went and harassed one of the flying Frostbroods near the Tournament grounds, and rotated my character. Sure enough, the sounds did seem like they were coming from the front/sides/rear of the character, respectively.Comfort-wise, no complaints here. I could see myself wearing these babies comfortably for HOURS on end. The padding along the underside of the top of the headset keeps the earpieces right where they need to be without any sort of waggling. Clearly, the design of the headset was very well thought out; very sturdy. The padding around the ear pieces doesn't make contact with any part of my ears, so there's no irritation on that front, either.As can be seen from the images here on Amazon, the headset's appearance is absolutely gorgeous. In fact, I dare say that its modeled in an almost Horde-like way, which most likely feeds into the excellent durability of the set. The usefulness of the headset (for WoW alone) is infinite. As I live in an apartment, the volume over the speakers has to take a considerable hit during curfew hours to placate the neighbors, but with these, that'll no longer be an issue (which is good, because you need that volume to be able to hear the shooooom of a stealthed Rogue trying to grief you during your dailies).Ease of installation and ease of use are pretty well matched. Some folks have reported that you can use it right out of the box, but I know that with mine on XP, the USB transmitter REQUIRED the drivers to be downloaded and installed (a paltry five-minute ordeal).Ultimately, now that I've been issued a working set, I can't imagine anything I'd want them to do differently with the headset. It's comfortable, sound quality is excellent, mic quality is great, and the whole experience--from packaging to actual use--is very well done.The only two (and a half) things I would recommend for Creative are the following:The cardboard cradle that holds the USB transmitter, cable, and interchangeable Horde glyphs for the headset has no labeling of any sort. There are four distinct compartments where the items could be hiding, and only two of them, I think, are actually used. Perhaps a sticker or some sort of printing on the cardboard to show what's in each compartment?On the note of the glyphs, why not go ahead and make the Horde glyphs the defaults on the headset? I mean after all, Horde > Alliance. (Kidding. OR AM I?)Initial support was grim, at best. It took a little over a full 24 hours before I was replied to, and even then, it wasn't helpful at all, maybe even a little condescending, given that I selected "advanced user" from the list of choices in terms of computer experience. Still, Mr. Schlieper was incredibly helpful here on Amazon, and for that, I applaud Creative. Never before have my complaints been heard and addressed quite so efficiently.So yes, if you want an excellent headset, this one is definitely worth checking out. Though as I said in the opening, if you buy a product early on... well, you know.Apologize for long-windedness, but it needed to be said.TLDR:AWESOME HEADSET WITH POTENTIAL PROBLEMS FOR EARLY PURCHASERS. VOICEFX IS LOL, SOUND QUALITY AND COMFORT ARE WIN, MIC QUALITY IS KK, AND CREATIVE SUPPORT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT IN CERTAIN AREAS. PEW PEW.* * * Original Review (03/04/10) * * *I apologize for the poor quality in the video review. Not going for a Pulitzer or anything, though.So I just got mine in the mail yesterday and I was impressed from the outset, what with the beautifully designed packaging containing an equally beautiful device.However, upon unboxing the item, the problems began.I'll be sure to update my review, of course, but to this point, I am still unable to pair the headphones with the USB transmitter. I've followed the included directions to the letter, and still no joy.I sent an e-mail to Creative customer support nearly a day ago, and have yet to receive a response.And I've done all I can to eliminate possible interference from other devices. To that end, I've actually POWERED DOWN my router and wireless mouse. Still no joy. Drivers were successfully installed, but still: after attempting to let the device pair, it times out after a minute or so.Obviously, aesthetic beauty can't make up for a device that WILL NOT FUNCTION.Update 03/05/10:Just received a reply from Creative customer support. Nothing remarkably helpful, but at least it's something. Will continue to keep the review updated until either return of the product, or resolution of the problem.Update 03/06/10:One reply in nearly 72 hours. I'm returning this to Amazon. Bravo to Amazon for their amazing support: Creative could take a page outta their book. Such a pity, it looked like an excellent product on the outside.Update 03/09/10:Apparently I was a bit hasty in my blasphemy against Creative support. Thanks to Mr. Schlieper, a new unit is on its way. I hope to have a review in a more positive light updated by tomorrow night.Update 03/10/10:Missed the UPS delivery, will have the review uploaded tomorrow for sure.

Tres bon produit

Nach über 5 Jahren auf der Suche und im Inventar Favoriten endlich bei Amazon gefunden. Hätte nicht gedacht das dieser Artikel jemals wieder angeboten wird da es nicht mehr produziert wird. Mein Produkt ist und war in original Zustand verpackt und ist auch eine Neu Ware. Sehr nice.

No issues with the headset great sound quality

I owned these over 10 years ago when they were new and cost over $300 a pair. They had SUPERB quality components back then. Bought one of these and boy was I surprised. The range is maybe 30% as good. They cut in and out sometimes when I’m 2 ft away from the PS. The speakers dont have the volume they used to. I’m sure other internals have changed as well. BUYER BEWARE these aren’t as tough as you might hope. Hopefully the durability holds up…