Build Quality: Overall it was very good. The faux leather on the headstrap was very comfortable. The only thing I disliked was the cheap plastic ear cans. One big plus was the ribbon cables, no tangles, easy to fold on top of each other. I would have liked to see a little bit more reinforcement where the cable connects to the ear cans. The headphones weren't completely noise isolating.
Sound Quality: Excellent. Once of the best I have ever listened to for a headset under 100 dollars. The first time I installed the software I had an issue where the program hanged when I started it up. I uninstalled and reinstalled and it worked fine. They start you off with a bunch of sliders: crystallization (I guess treble) , surround (increasing this made me feel like I was in a smaller room), bass, dialog (vocal), voice normalization. They were all disabled. I fiddled around it and I couldn't figure how to make it sound good. Just when I was about to turn frustrated I found there were presets on the first page. I chose one and wow the sound quality just sky rocketed for a moment I thought I was wearing my Grado SR 80's. Out of the 10 or so presets I found love with the one from the [Fifa] and the Keepers of whatever game. The 40mm driver was powerful in some preset settings you could feel the vibrations outside your ear. The voice morphs were okay just a few pre-made ones woman-to-man, man-to-woman, deep voice, munchkin, orc, demon, etc. No options to customize the preset but can probably be done through the equalizer. Microphone was good no complains about it.
3D surround was good to an extent from the regular left, right, front, rear sound came to me at the right angles I could hear tiny gnomes skipping along through the water, mechano hogs passing by. Up and down was there but to an extent the 3d surround emulation could emulate a diagonal/above your head sound well however I didn't have time to experience up and down I was hoping maybe I could find a game like call of duty where a helicopter would fly over your head.
Comfort: The ear cushions feel soft and very nice on your ears initially after a couple of minutes I noticed my ears starting to feel squeezed because of the ear cans being too tight creating discomfort making it difficult to go though an entire sitting without taking them off at least once. They also weren't very ventilated that sometimes I would just open the ear cans to let a little cool air in.
Overall Impressions:
++ Sound quality is amazing for the price. 3D surround is just like 7.1 sound. Up and down are there but I didn't try to the full extent
++ Construction is sturdy but the ear cans are made of cheap plastic but you easily forget about it
++ Software has a lot of customizations
-- You could get lost in software customizations if you don't know what you were doing at first
-- Comfortable but ear cans are too tight so your ears might end up being tired
If you have been buying 30-50 dollar headsets (regular 2.0 stereo) for a long time this is definitely something you should invest in for 20 dollars more only if you like tight clamping ear phones. The sound quality of this headset is of that of headsets that cost 100-150 with build quality being the compromise.
Updated 11/13/2010
I returned this headset after 3 days. During the time I tested out the Steel Series Siberia V2 and the Corsair HS1.
The Corsair HS1 are the most comfortable. The sounds are really good for the acoustic/vocals/high frequencies but I found that the low frequencies such as footsteps left alot to be desired. Corsair is probably the closest headset you can get to being like Grados but you need the bass. I really underestimated the software as well. The creative tactic 3d's software is by far one of the best.
I really want to return back to using the tactic 3d's I felt their sound was the most immersive out of the bunch performing great on the high frequency but even better on the low but I couldn't pull trigger yet. Not yet.
My wishlist for the Tactic 3D
1. COMFORT. I would trade sound isolation for comfort. If it can be as comfortable as the Sound Blaster Arena I am sold.
2. Improve the volume rocker. It looks very cheap.
3. Wireless version.
I'd pay 100 bucks for those 3. It would match the Corsair HS1's and be better all around if that can be improved. If comfort can be improved I'll be back for 59.99. Promise.
Score changed from 3/5 stars to 4/5 stars. -1 for comfort
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Connectivity Technology: Wireless
Wireless Type: Bluetooth
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Noise Control: Active Noise Cancellation
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Included Components: Cable
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Immersive gaming headset with great sound and comfort; Only drawback is the lack of bass control
This Creative Labs gaming headset is very comfortable, lightweight, and has clear, crisp, immersive sound quality.PROS* Wow! When gaming, all of the sounds and intricacies in games just come to life. I've tried this on Left 4 Dead 2 and the gaming experience is amazing. I also own the Plantronics GameCom 367 Closed-Ear Gaming Headset. Surprisingly, this Creative headset picks up the heavy, low sounds, and explosive sounds better than the 367 Plantronics headset. Overall, the sound on this headset is very dynamic.* Music, movies, and watching videos are all a joy to listen to. Listening to all types of music - classic, pop, rock, r&B, trance - brings generally crisp and clear sound, with strong bass. The bass on this headset is BOOMING.* Lightweight design. Sitting comfortable on the ear and head, this headset also feels durable. While the headphones and band feels sturdy, the microphone isn't as strong as I would like. However, with some care, the detachable microphone shouldn't be a problem. For the most part, I've left the microphone attached.* The volume and mic control on the chord is very convenient. It's easy to use and placed appropriately and isn't intrusive.* I like the USB THX adapter that comes with this headset. It gives it more power. You can either use the USB or just the classic microphone and headphone jacks.* The THX studio software (downloadable from creative's website) is very easy to use and fun to play with. You can play with different EQ setting and different voices (you can actually use the altered voices in games).CONS* As another reviewer mentioned, while you can increase or decrease the amount of bass, you cannot turn off bass. Even when it's at zero, you can still feel the bass in the background. I'm a huge fan of the bass, heavy lows, pulse-pounding explosions and "oomph," but the bass can certainly drown out other sounds sometimes.At the $33.99 price I purchased this headset for, I got tremendous value, performance, comfort, and dynamic sound for gaming and other multimedia like movies and music. I highly recommend this headset for anyone looking to get a gaming headset to improve their gaming experience. Buy with confidence!P.S. After some experimenting with EQ settings, I found a good setting that gives good sound, but minimizes the bass (just slightly), so that the sound is more balanced. Here it is (out of a 24db range): +4, +8, +1, +10, +7, +4, +2, +5, +8, +10, 0. Hope this helps!
Top reviews from other countries
Alberto Pavan
confortevoli, buon suono, cavo lungo
Reviewed in Italy on June 29, 2019