Turtle Beach X32 Wireless Xbox 360 Headset Review (XBOX)

Affordable wireless headset that delivers in bucket loads

I am just going to come right out and say it. I love this headset. It has a few flaws, but it has just replaced my Steelseries 7XB as my default Xbox headset. Right, now that is out of the way, let’s talk about the headset a little. Out of the box, the X32 looks ready for the job. Mostly black, with some green detailing, it looks good. Unlike the previous Turtle Beach headset I reviewed (XL1), it feels sturdy as well. The padded headband is fixed securely to the ear cups. It feels like it could go a few rounds shoved into a kit bag.

 think it is the total wireless package

Once it is on your head, the build quality of the headset is really telling. The padded ear cups and headband make this one of the most comfortable headsets I have tested. There is no pressure on the ears or the top of the head, and as the headset is quite light, you can wear it for hours with no fatiguing. The ear cups are full ear covering, cutting out the majority of external noise instantly. On the left ear cup, there are some very important controls as well as the microphone. This is on a flexible boom, allowing for near infinite control an positioning. The right one houses the batteries. (2x AAA). The controls you have are comparable to other headsets of this type. You have four EQ presets. Standard, Bass Boost, Treble Boost and Bass and Treble boost. You also have an expander, which allows you to set the virtual distance of the left and right audio. This can help you to hear more distant sounds in game. There are three settings, normal, narrow and wide. Personally, I find that narrow gives a nice blend of distant and direct sounds. Finally on there is a volume control, in the form of a simple dial. Another feature that the headset has is called Chat Boost. Similar to Steelseries’ Live Mix, this dynamically changes the volume of in game chat so that it can be heard over the background audio. The chat volume can be fine tuned using a control on the least that connects the headset to the Xbox controller.

This control also houses the microphone mute switch. The final feature I will mention, is one of my favourite. I mentioned it in the XL1 review and I think it deserves mention here. The Microphone monitor. This is so simple, but like most genius ideas it simplicity is king. All it is, is the ability to hear your own voice in your headset. When you consider that the headphones block out almost all of the background noise, this simple feature means that you don’t end up shouting in your living room. Trust me, this is worth its weight in gold!Setting up the wireless system was fairly straight forward, however I will admit I had to go online to find out how to pair the headset with the transmitter. The transmitter is touted as running on 2.4ghz or 5ghz switching as needed to find the least crowded frequency. This should give you a much clearer quality of sound. I suppose it is time to talk about the quality of audio. Well, I can almost find no fault. Lows are clear and undistorted. Highs sing and middles cut through. What does that all mean, it sounds great. The 50mm drivers deliver clear audio even at high volumes. The microphone is also top quality.

Testing with other players online, people could hear the difference when I switched headsets, all commenting that the Turtle Beach mic was the clearest. Another thing worth mentioning, this is designed to work with the Turtle Beach DSS, their virtual surround sound processor. I have one of these, and can confidently say it works amazingly well with this headset. There is one little issue though, this is the reason it doesn’t get 10/10. The left ear has an audible hum. This seems to be intermittent and does not affect you during most playing situations, but it is there and it has been reported in other reviews (I don’t just have tinnitus). That aside, this is still one of the best headsets I have used. I love how it comfortable it is. I love 99% of its audio capabilities. I love its cost (about �80 at time of writing). I think it is the total wireless package for all but the most pedantic of audiophiles. Some Specs Headset

• 50mm diameter speakers with neodymium magnets
• Digital Wireless RF carrier reception (2.4 – 2.495/5.0 – 5.8GHz dual-band WiFi)
• Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz, >120dB SPL @ 1kHz
• Condenser Microphone Frequency Response: 50Hz – 15kHz
• Headphone Amplifier: Stereo 27mW/ch, THD <1%
• Bass Boost, Treble boost, Bass & Treble Boost
• Sound field expander: Off, narrow, wide
• Chat Boost™ talkback expander: +10dB gain boost at maximum game volume
• Audio mutes automatically when carrier signal is lost
• Operates on dual AAA batteries
• Automatic shut down after approx 5 minutes of carrier loss or silence to conserve battery power

Transmitter

• Digital Wireless RF wireless carrier transmission (2.4 – 2.495/5.0 – 5.8GHz dual-band WiFi)
• Digital RF wireless transmission range up to 30 feet
• Frequency response: 20Hz – 20kHz
• Auxiliary stereo 3.5mm line input jack
• Game stereo 3.5mm line input jack
• Power requirements: 5VDC @ 180mA max

The Scores