W
e reviewed Tritton’s Audio Xtreme 360 headset in our July issue. As you
can tell by its model name, that device is aimed as much at console
gamers as it is movie watchers and PC gamers. The AXPC is a little simpler,
better suited to PC users, and nearly $50 cheaper. But it sounds just as
mediocre.
The AXPC shares its stablemate’s 5.1-channel surround-sound
speaker design—four 30mm drivers in each earpiece—but it doesn’t have
a Dolby Digital decoder module. It also doesn’t have the Xtreme 360’s ability
to host a second set of phones, but neither of these factors are shortcom-
ings for PC cans. The fact that this headset relies on your PC’s USB port, on
the other hand, is a negative for anyone with a dedicated soundcard. The
AXPC offers only EAX 2.0 support—not very impressive when you consider
that Creative has taken EAX to version 5.0.
Tritton, however, did improve the detachable microphone in every
respect: The flexible stalk attaches via a threaded mount (as opposed to the
thin wire and plug on the 360), it delivers superior voice quality, and it’s far
better at rejecting extraneous background noise (an important advantage if
your PC has noisy fans).
While testing with the included helicopter demo (as a crudely ren-
dered helicopter circles your head, the sound of its engine is supposed to
follow), the AXPC was very effective at fooling our brains into believing that
the helicopter was actually behind our heads. The effect was marred, how-
ever, by severely abrupt transitions from the front to the side and from the
side to the back—the sound just cuts out from one speaker and resumes inthe other.
The AXPC’s “rumble” effect drove us nuts, and there’s no way to
defeat it other than to switch the phones to 2.1-channel mode. The
rumble isn’t force feedback, in which specific events in the game cause
a physical effect; the earcups simply vibrate in response to low
frequencies. Bleh!
—Michael BrownTritton AXPC Headset
Two steps forward, one step back
MAXIMUMPC september 2007
reviewsTes Ted. Reviewed. veRdic Tized
The aXPc headset has convenient in-line volume control, but we
could do without the goofy “rumble” effect.7
TriTTon AXPC heAdseT
$75, http://www.trittonusa.comW
hen we decided to test external digital-to-analog converters
(DACs) for the upgrade story in our June issue (“19 Bright
Ideas: Upgrades You Didn’t Know You Needed”), we were surprised
to learn that SilverStone offered one with pretty decent specs.
We recommended Stereo-Link’s upscale A1300 in that story, but
SilverStone’s less-expensive EB01 is a solid value.
As we pointed out in the June issue, there’s a widespread
misconception that digital audio is an all-or-nothing affair, and so
the quality of the equipment you use to extract it doesn’t matter. It’s
common knowledge, for instance, that getting audio physically off the
electrically noisy motherboard results in cleaner sound, so it’s under-
standable that keeping audio in the digital domain until it’s entirely
out of the PC would also help maintain its sonic integrity.
Stepping down in price from the $225 Stereo-Link E1300 to
the $90 SilverStone EB01 does require making some compromises.
While the E1300 uses a 20-bit DAC, the EB01 delivers only 16 bits of resolution
(although the Burr-Brown PCM2072E is certainly a good component choice). More
importantly, the AC-powered E1300 includes a built-in 25mW headphone with a
thumbwheel volume control in addition to its line-level RCA outputs; the EB01 can’t
draw enough power from the PC’s USB bus to support that feature. In fact, its reli-
ance on USB power is the likely reason SilverStone spec’d a lesser DAC. From an
industrial-design standpoint, on the other hand, the EB01’s curvaceous brushed-
aluminum case leaves the E1300 looking like a wallflower.
When using the EB01, “Venus as a Boy,” from Bjork’s Debut, sounded like adelicious layer cake, with ultra-crisp highs, sweet mids, and thick-as-chocolate
lows. If you already own an X-Fi card, the EB01 won’t deliver any additional
benefits. And a soundcard would be a better upgrade choice over both Stereo-
Link’s and SilverStone’s offerings if games are your principal audio application.
But if your PC is your primary music player, you always rip your CDs to a lossless
format such as FLAC, and you’re still relying on motherboard audio,
your ears will appreciate what
the EB01 has to offer.
—Michael BrownSilverStone Ensemble EB01 External DAC
Sexy and cheap, but not without some compromises
SilverStone’s eB01 looks sexy enough, but its reliance on USB power leads to
some sacrifices in resolution and features.8
ensemble eb01 dAC
$90, http://www.silverstonetek.com