Review: Ear Force X2 Wireless Headphones

After questioning the usefulness of the X2 wireless headphones when you still need to tether them to the controller for Xbox Live play, Turtle Beach kindly offered me a pair to review, assured I would change my tune. They were right ... and a little bit of wrong. The headphone quality is exceptional, but I still have reservations about the headset functionality. Read on for my full review of Turtle Beach's Ear Force X2 wireless headphones.

My initial apprehension was simple: who wants game audio in their headset? Don't we all have Dolby Digital 5.1 setups?

I had just purchased a shiny new 24" Dell monitor so it was only logical that I move the 360 up to the office to take advantage of my newfound HD capabilities. As if by serendipity, the only way to listen to system sounds would have been to run them through the line-in on my computer, a cumbersome solution to be sure. Cue the Ear Force X2 headphones!

Here they are in their stand/transmitter. The large clear plastic running up the center houses the unit's infrared transmitter, which it uses for the game audio. At first the stand seems like a bulky solution, but it's really one of the best parts about the package: it solves the eternal problem of "where the hell do I put these now?"

Here it is sans headphones, just transmitting. Why infrared and not a RF solution? Turtle Beach says, "Nearly all of the other formats we tried suffered from some sort of interference—from microwave ovens, cell phones, even the Xbox itself—which causes problems in audio transmission. We figured that you’re always going to be in ‘line-of-sight’ of your TV when playing games, so infrared provided the best solution."

The sound was consistently clear, with no interference despite the plethora of radio interference in downtown Philly.

The rear of the unit houses audio and power inputs. The 12V DC power line includes a wall wart on the other end and the audio connection has red/white stereo RCA connection with splitters, so you can connect it to a pre-existing sound system. The "Low" setting was sufficient for my connection, although some configurations might need the amplitude boost provided by "High." The "Mute" setting exists so you can use the X2s as an Xbox Live headset while using a traditional speaker system for game audio.

The headphones controls can be a little confusing. The power switch is on the rear of the right earpiece; the volume is on the front of the earpiece; and the microphone's mute switch is inline on the cord. It of course makes sense when you separate the dual roles of the X2, the mute functionality is isolated to Xbox Live play use so they stripped it from the headset itself. In my experience, the volume switch was very sensitive. An infinitesimal push one way or the other would drastically change the volume. I managed to find a setting I was comfortable with and left it.

The microphone itself is also housed on the right earpiece and is wonderfully flexible. Think snake light kind of flexible. You want it somewhere, you put it there, it stays there. No springy, uncooperative plastic here, this thing is malleable!

The left earpiece houses the X2s power source -- 3 AAA batteries --- and the line out for the microphone cable. Pretty straightforward really. You need headset capabilities, you plug it in. Just gaming, leave it out. Battery life is respectable as well, the bundled batteries have lasted through a good dozen hours of play.

So about that cord ... what's it look like?

A pretty straight forward thing really. Complaints are trivial: the switch feels flimsy and the cord is longer than my arms can even reach (and I'm 6'4"), resulting in a mess of cable in your lap. On the plus side, the cord exhibits none of the springiness that Microsoft's bundles headset does; the cable obeys gravity and lays flat.

The real question is why sully the blissful experience of the wireless headphone with the clumsy cable? Their website says (rather candidly), "We could have incorporated a Bluetooth sender and receiver pair in an adapter for the controller, and put a Bluetooth receiver in the headset. But right now, Bluetooth headphones alone (without the sender) cost more than the X2. In addition, we wanted to make sure that we didn’t introduce delay or interference issues. For us, the best game experience is with the integration of game audio with XBL chat, and the freedom of movement that the 360’s wireless controller gives you in the first place."

Alright, fair enough Turtle Beach. I understand it, but I don't have to like it. As long as the audio needs to go into the player's respective controller, there is no simple solution. I wouldn't mind seeing someone hack a Bluetooth transmitter into one of these things and strap a Bluetooth adapter to the back of their controller...

The build quality ranges from questionable (mute switch, volume dial, battery door cover) to exceptional (padded leather earpieces, leather headset strap, flexible microphone) creating a final experience that impresses far more than it disappoints. The Ear Force X2 headphones retail for $100, although they can be found online for much less if you know where to look.

Conclusion: A highly recommended product if you're in the market for good wireless headphones that work with XBL, in a color scheme that matches the 360 no less. Not recommended if you're just looking for something for Xbox Live play; the full ear coverage is not only overkill for the compressed audio coming over XBL, but blocks out the game audio coming from your regular sound system.