AX360/AXPC Headphones

Next up, Highway 17 and Sandtraps, and a chance to see how the roar of an engine would work when rattling away an inch from my eardrum. OK, so the result is hardly subtle - in a word: loud - but it's also quite effective since you really feel like you're sat in the middle of the ramshackle buggy, with the engine revving beneath you while the suspension groans and grinds in front and behind. This also seemed like a good time to put the rumble feature through its paces. Rumble is supplied through the subwoofer, which makes a certain amount of sense, though the result isn't going to be for everyone. For one thing, to get the equivalent rumble you'd get from a joypad you need to whack the woofer up to a level that really isn't pleasant. After tinkering with the settings to see if I could find an enjoyable balance between the rumble effect and a decent surround mix, and eventually settled on a lower setting that offered little more than a light buzz but actually allowed me to enjoy the 5.1 sound without feeling like my skull was in a tumble drier. There's a vast difference between vibrating your hands and vibrating your head and, personally, I found the effect more off-putting than immersive.

The final test was Nova Prospekt, to see how things would work with some hellacious gunfire from all sides. Bullets zing past your ears effectively enough - always the standard test for a surround system - although during moments of really intense shooting, it's naturally less effective than the quieter, creepier moments. I found a couple of instances of sounds from behind that seemed to be coming from my immediate left or right, though this is usually a problem with the actual audio output from the game rather than the speakers at the other end. Gaming in surround isn't like watching a movie since the point of focus for the audio (the player) is constantly moving rather than offering a fixed audience vantage point for the sound designers to bombard. One thing's for certain: just as the terror of Ravenholm was enhanced by the distraction-free surround sound, so the action set-pieces of Nova Prospekt were considerably more intense. The turret stand-offs, in particular, benefited greatly since they rely so heavily on defending a central position from attacks from different directions.

So, surround sound through headphones. It doesn't sound like it should work, but it does - and almost always in a manner than enhances the gaming experience. Action bits are more exciting, driving bits feel more realistic and the scary bits make you shat yourself into extinction. I mean, really. Ravenholm. What was I thinking?

On a technical level both headsets come highly recommended, though the AX360 does have a few additional factors that warrant a mention. One is the higher price. It's clear to see where the extra money is going, with the external audio controller and multiple input options, but chances are you're only ever going to use one of the cables so paying extra for connections you'll probably never use is a little annoying. The other gripe is the abundance of wires that the system requires. Not only do you have to find a spare mains socket for the external control box, but if you want to use the headset with microphone for Xbox Live, you'll have a wire going to the box, a wire going from the box to the headset and then a wire from the headset to your joypad. With so many peripherals companies now making a point of de-cluttering your console area, you can feel a little like a marionette with this thing plugged in. Basically, at the risk of sounding like a greedy git, if you're going to spend this much on a pair of headphones it'd be nice to have the option of being wireless.

Other than that bugbear, both headphones offer a (fairly) affordable audio solution for gamers looking for a quick and easy way to get 5.1 sound without mucking about with speaker placement, or for those who want to be able to play in privacy with the added bonus of an enhanced gaming experience.