Headset and Gaming News

Ok So we have teamed up with the guys @ www.magicr.co.uk (Movies and Games independent Critique Reviews) to bring you regular in depth and independant reviews on the latest products that we have available.

Please find Gareth Peggs in depth reviews of some of our current and future products below.

Avenger Controller 18/7/11

Whilst playing any game on your Xbox360 have you ever wished that you had a couple of extra fingers so that you can change gear a little more easily or throw a grenade as well as shooting someone, whilst running through the map and drinking your favourite beverage? Ok, the beverage part was a bit silly, but The AvengerController for Xbox360 from N-Control is said to give you those extra fingers, may this be the “Ultimate Gaming Advantage” that you’ve been waiting for? Initially delayed somewhat due to supply issues, the Avenger is now being shipped and we at MAGiCR have been fortunate enough to try one and this is what we think of it.

The packaging is simple yet effective as are the instructions. Inside the box there is nothing to snip or spend hours untwisting, just straight forward plastic mouldings that once removed let you to get straight on with fitting The Avenger to your Xbox 360 controller. In the box you get The Avenger itself along with an optional stand, tension straps and trigger skis. For the left and right shoulder buttons there are adhesive caps that extend their reach and there are foam pads to fit under the B button rocker to maximise comfort.

Having seen several YouTube videos of this being fitted to an Xbox360 controller I was not expecting the fitting to be as simple as it turned out. Many of the clips I’ve watched showed the demonstrator making a meal of its fitting and talked of The Avenger being close to breaking point. Personally I didn’t have any such difficulty and within 2-3 minutes The Avenger was fitted and ready to go. Ok, there are some minor adjustments to carry out once fitted to find your own personal comfort zones but these are very easy to perform, let me explain.

A simple clip opens The Avenger, you insert your controller and close it once more until it clicks shut, that’s it, good to go, ok not quite but there’s not a lot more to do. If you are going to utilise the RT and LT firing straps that sit under the unit, insert them through the RT and LT skis and thread them to the built in stand, tighten the strap until the trigger activates and then back the strap off one notch – done. The X and Y buttons have arms like spider’s legs that reach in front of the shoulder buttons, they are flexible so you can place them exactly where you want them yet strong enough to remain in place once set. The B button has a rocker that sits above your right index finger with foam pads to attach to achieve ultimate comfort and maximise control. On each of these buttons X, Y and B there are fine tune adjusters that you wind in until the button activates, then back them off a half turn meaning that just the slightest movement is needed to use the buttons during gameplay. A built in stand promotes stability and comfort whilst playing games whether you rest on a desk or just on your lap.

Once all was adjusted I took The Avenger into the single player campaign of F.E.A.R. 3. At first I was all at sea finding that some adjustments needed re-tweeking, mainly the X button (reload) and RT (gun trigger), not to mention the totally alien controls I was confronted with. Perservereance here is key and once I had everything activating the way I wanted, I started to get used to the very different control methods that The Avenger offered. The most noticeable advantage is not having to take your thumbs off the analog sticks, I usually fall victim to panic zoom when suddenly things become a bit full on, though with The Avenger I am yet to experience this. I believe this is soley down to the fact that I rarely need to take my thumbs off the analog sticks eliminating the need to suddenly get back on the pads and accidently activating the zoom if a little heavy handed (or should I say, heavy thumbed). If you find yourself under pressure, maybe with your back pinned against the wall, it’s really easy to hit the slow motion button whilst throwing a grenade and reloading your weapon all in the same instant. Remarkably, after just an hour or so I felt quite at ease with The Avenger and growing in confidence I found myself taking my experience online. In no time at all, my gaming was beginning to appreciate the extra help it seemed to be getting. So early on, this came as quite a surprise and I have to say, it was all rather satisfying.

Next I tried Dirt 3 to see how, if at all, The Avenger helped with a driving game. I usually use a force feedback steering wheel for any driving games but for the purpose of this review I wanted to see just how different the game could be played using a standard controller both with and without The Avenger. To begin with the controls seemed a millions miles from sensible but once you get the feel for where everything is you begin to realise just how much more convenient every control seems to be. Manual gear changes became smooth and activating the hand brake was so simple whilst being in full control of the car via the analog sticks, superb.

Gamers that choose the Playstation 3 as their preferred platform will be keen to learn that they too can expect to see The Avenger developed for its controller. Here is how it is expected to look when fitted to a controller.

Is The Avenger ideal for all game types? This is going to be subjective and will be down to each individual and although it is easy to remove, I think that any game could be played with it fitted to your controller once your are used to it, saving the need to remove it for certain titles. The games that require faster reflexes, where your response to events that are critical to your survival are the ones that will really see you benefit from its unusual, yet intuitive design.

Below is a brief video showing the unpacking and ease of fitting The Avenger to your Xbox360 controller, plus a brief overview of available adjustments:

Overall, with a price tag of just less than £40, this has to be considered as worthy of your hard earned, especially for those of you that play the major shooters such as Call of Duty, Gears of War and Ghost Recon to name but a few. The Avenger is certainly not limited to just this genre of game but it is definately where the unit will prove to be of most benefit to you. The build is good and I see no reason for a short life span of the product so long as you don’t throw the controller across the room in frustration that is. Be warned though, it does take getting used to, but perservere and the rewards are very satisfying.

Verdict 8.5 / 10

Please note that for the serious gamer, this is a must have item to add to your basket. For the casual gamer, I would say if you can get your hands on one to try it, do so, though for you it may be a more considered purchase.

Either way, I’m glad I was lucky enough to review this product and it won’t be coming off my controller any time soon.

Roxio Game Cap Video Capture device and Software 26/05/2011

Capturing those unique gaming experiences to share with your friends and indeed the world has turned into somewhat of a craze over recent years. Showing off your skills, making montages and perhaps providing guides for those looking for help via social networking and Youtube has proved an expensive hobby, until now.

The Roxio Game Capture Device is looking to bridge the financial gap and make capturing gaming footage for console owners affordable with the retail price coming in at well under £100.

Usually, when items are in the budget range, it raises more questions than answers; Is it any good? Will it last? Is the software any good? Thankfully for you, we have used it extensively and we shall give our verdict.

I want to start by informing you of the system requirements for the PC you’ll be using to capture the device. Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 1.8 GHz or AMD Athlon x2 64 2.0 GHz, 2GB RAM and DirectX® 9.0c compatible graphics card or higher, sound card. Pretty low requirements on the surface of it. So to be sure, we doubled up on the requirements running an Acer Aspire dual core 2.2Ghz and 4GB RAM. To our amazement, during capture we were left with an inexplicably sped up video playback. This device is processor hungry, Goliath style. So after much fuss, we cranked the ante up a notch and installed it on an AMD Athlon IIx2 3.1Ghz and 4GB DDR3 RAM, only then were we able to see some acceptable results during playback. Not a good start.

Once all was connected and the software supplied with the game capture device had been installed I was ready to go, this device is very much plug and play. Once you run the software you are presented with three options: Capture, Edit & Share and Tutorials, the latter basically shows you how you connect to your Xbox360 or PS3 and how to use the VideoWave editing suite. The software itself is very easy to use so don’t worry if you’ve never used anything like this before. You basically choose the video source, the file type and where you would like to save the video once captured. You have the option also of setting the length of a single capture, for example 10 minutes or 30 minutes. If you prefer though, you can record until your PC blows up under the pressure.

Ok, so how does it fair capturing raw video? Actually, pretty well. The picture can be enhanced by way of adjusting brightness, hue, sharpness, contrast and saturatuion. There is a button that when pressed takes a snapshot of the current screen and there is a button to mute the sound. All controls are right there on one screen, nice! During the capture there is a handy information pane that keeps you up to date on how long your current capture is, how much disk drive space it has used so far and how much space you have left for capturing. To give you an idea, you get around 60-65 minutes of recording per 100GB of disk space when recording at 720p / 1080i. Believe me, by the time you edit, chop and crop your captures, you will have created a load of free space again. Once you end capturing, your footage is placed at the bottom of the screen appearing as a thumbnail with the save name prefix you chose earlier. Now you can capture a second clip or simply take this one to editing.

“VideoWave”, the software supplied with the game cap I found a little uninspiring because of its basic layout. You drag video into a box then a transition into another, take your next segment, place it in a box and follow that with another transition. I found it to be very picky as to the file types it was happy to use and given this software came with the device I was rather disappointed with the pairing. This said, it is useable and to many, the basic software may sit very well. I elected to use Power Director 9.0 from Cyberpoint, prefering its console and the ability to create a fine timeline of events such as video, audio, text, transitional wipes / fades and so on. To add your captured footage to editing software is achieved in just a few clicks of your mouse button and being able to drag files around once in the timeline makes editing a breeze. I would highly recommend this software for editing if your budget allows. Both software packages allow easy uplodaing of finished videos to YouTube.

Overall

The Game Capture Device from Roxio is a very compact and affordable piece of equipment. It is easy to setup and use and you will be capturing video footage right out of the box in no time. It is ideal for game bloggers, clan teams and general enthusiasts of the art of the video montage though to all you videophiles out there I say, “keep on walking, nothing to see here, sorry”. The editing software supplied is good though better packages in my view are available. That said, Roxio have provided everything that you need in one simple package and the results speak for themselves. Ok, It would have been nice to see HDMI connectivity to allow greater resolution for recording, though for the price tag, you’ll not be disappointed with the results and besides, you would probably need a behemoth of a PC to handle full HD capturing. Check out some early footage taken straight from an Xbox360 on day one of use and see for yourself.

Verdict 8/10

Astro A40 2011 Edition Headset 20/5/2011

When writing the review for the Astro A30 headset, I found it so tempting to try to compare them with theTurtle Beach X41’s that I had been using for around 18 months. I refrained from doing this because the Astro A30′s are a cross platform product in comparison to the Turtle Beach X41′s dedicated use to Xbox360, that has, as such earned them their own place in the market.

The Astro A40 Audio System Headset on the other hand is a stunning piece of equipment that I am glad to have had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with. The headset reviewed here is The Astro A40 2011 Edition Audio System, the Official Headset of MLG. Ok, enough of the love at first sound bite, why are they so good?

When the parcel arrived I had anticipated the quality of everything I was about to behold, from box to bins. As with the A30’s the packaging is second to none, you get the stylish high-quality ballistic nylon travel case to protect your headset and supplied as standard is a 6.0mm uni-directional noise cancelling microphone, a mute switch and two Quick Disconnect cables, a cable for console gaming, a 2 meter PC cable with volume control and a standard twin-jack connector for your PC.

There are “Speaker Tag Competition Foam Inserts”. Installing these is optional depending on the results you require. The inserts I found to be very effective and when fitted they reduce the amount of unwanted background noise by approximately 6dB (this reference is taken from operation manual). In reality this means that whilst wearing the headset you are more likely to hear someone talking to you with the inserts left out.

Included with this Official MLG headset were Speaker Tags bearing the MLG logo. Like the Astro A30′s these are held in place by powerful magnets and are interchangeable by the user with many different options available including custom designs. A great deal of thought has been put into the tags too, in each set for the A40’s you receive three tags. Why? One of the tags has a small hole in it to allow connection of the boom microphone. If you don’t intend using the headset with the microphone for in game chat etc, then you can replace it with one that has no hole, a small but nevertheless pleasing feature that maintains the overall appearance of the headset. Unlike the A30 headset, you can chose which side you would prefer to place the microphone. Also, much improved from the A30 and indeed the earlier A40, the boom microphone when shaped to your liking stays where you put it ensuring quality voice communications throughout gaming sessions. Whilst playing online, fellow gamers have been quick to comment very favourably on the quality of voice chat compared with any other sets or earpieces that I have used previously.

As with my review of the Astro A30 headset, I have utilised the Astro Gaming Wireless Mix Amp 5.8. This not only showed the diversity of the mix amp but once again took the performance of the headset to another level. Combining it with the Astro A40 Audio System Headset you are in no time totally engulfed in full 7.1 digital surround sound. With the over the ear design of the A40 Headset coupled with background noise reducing foam inserts, the overall quality of sound and the bass response is deep, sweet and plentiful with the treble end being perfectly balanced to provide a truly wonderful overall sound. A suitable balance between in game audio and voice chat is easily achieved with the very accessible Mix Amp Controls on the fly. This is in comparison to the Turtle Beach X41 headset where the audio controls are smaller and therefore difficult to manipulate whilst in the thick of things.

Developers go to great lengths to bring you immersive in game sound and with the Astro A40 Audio System Headset you hear it just the way they intended. From spent rounds pinging on the floor around you to incoming air strikes, enemies will find it difficult to surprise you once you’ve tuned in to the wealth of audio being thrown at you from all directions. In driving games, not only can you hear the opponents cars approaching from behind, but you can tell which side of the track they are which is helpful when they are attempting to overtake you. If platform or adventure games are your thing, then you can still rely on the A40’s to deliver unrivalled sound quality that has for me anyway brought games back to life. It’s true that there are many headsets on the market that are capable of providing good quality surround sound, though for me the Astro A40 audio system stands above them bringing to the table its own audio dynamic offering pinpoint accurate, directional sound with supreme clarity that packs a punch.

In contrast to the A30′s, the A40 headset incorporates an over the ear design much like the Turtle Beach X41‘s and whilst this creates an overall more bulky headset, it doesn’t make them any less comfortable to wear. The adjustments for the cans are plentiful and the overhead strap is excellent with a comfy foam insert for good measure. Overall I regard the Astro A40 Audio System Headset to be the most comfortable that I’ve worn to date.

Some minor negative points that I feel should be mentioned:

Compared with for example the Turtle Beach voice chat cable, the Astro version for the A40 headset appears quite flimsy. It is a straight jack connector that isn’t very robust and I think it’s only a matter of time before a replacement will be required. Also rather annoyingly, when using a play and charge kit for the Xbox360 there is an audible humming / buzzing sound that is unbearable. In order to avoid this you will need to ensure batteries are charged before embarking upon any lengthy gaming sessions.

Final Thoughts

Seriously, if you want to get an edge over your opponents, you need a quality audio setup. If MLG’s backing isn’t enough for the you then take it from me, having championed the Turtle Beach X41 thus far, I am a convert. The Astro A40 Audio System Headset combined with the Astro Gaming Wireless Mix Amp 5.8 ticks all the right boxes for those that are serious about their gaming experience and those that want the best cross platform audio set-up available.

Verdict 9.5/10

Just a couple of years ago I was introduced to the idea of gaming using a headset instead of an external speaker system. Unsure at first, I was soon to be converted and have not looked back since as the games of today take advantage of digital surround sound that immerses you fully into the gaming environment. If you do not have the right equipment to take advantage of this you could find yourself missing out on the directional audio you should be hearing, not only will this take away from your full enjoyment of the in-game world, but it can really affect your performance, especially in the shooters such as Call of Duty and for sure in the newly released Crysis 2.

Overview

The Astro A30 Cross-Gaming Headset is a professional grade cross-gaming platform audio solution for gamers on-the-go. It delivers tournament-level audio quality and enables crystal-clear voice communication across a range of digital entertainment based devices including: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, laptops, desktop PC’s, Sony PSP, Go, Nintendo DS, Android and Apple iPhone. All in a lightweight street smart design, available in Black or White.

Suitable for just about any audio device the Astro A30 Cross-Gaming Headset comes with all the necessary cables for mobile, console or PC setups. The mobile cable even features a control button to answer or end phone calls and also works with iTunes to control your music tracks including a quick mute. If you intend using the A30 for gaming, I would strongly recommend you also purchase the Astro Gaming Wireless MixAmp 5.8 (details on this later) which turns the headset into an amazing digital surround sound experience.

Setup

All in all, setting up the system was not too bad an ordeal and having some prior knowledge on setting up a home theatre system certainly helped but don’t worry yourself over this as the instructions are sufficient to have you up and running in no time.

Comfort

Having a great headset is one thing, but if you can’t keep them on for more than 30 minutes before they become intolerable then quite frankly, don’t waste your hard earnt…., Unlike other headsets I’ve used in the past, the design on the Astro A30 Cross-Gaming Headset features cans that sit on the ear as opposed to the complete over the ear style thus making them a little smaller and more lightweight. Gaming sessions for me are sometimes, no scratch that, almost always a rather lengthy experience, so comfort is key. No such worries here as the cans on the A30′s are very soft as is the over the head padding leading in all to a very pleasant experience. One minor point worth mentioning however is that the adjustment is a little minimal in my view with only 2.7cm of movement on each side. This may not be sufficient for those of you with a larger top deck than I.

Gaming

Having been a gamer now for many years, I can remember the day when, for the first time I used a quality pair of headphones instead of the television speakers that I had thought were just great. It matters not how good your screen of choice is, but in order to be fully aware of your surroundings within a game it is vital that you experience the whole, and nothing but the whole digital sound extravaganza that is apparent in most games today, from arcade diddies through Guitar or DJ hero to the FPS genre. Looking back it is palpable that I had underestimated the advantages of utilising a gaming headset such as the A30 offering from Astro Gaming.

If you play competitively in a clan then the Astro A30 Cross-Gaming Headset is one not to be missed as with digital surround sound it is possible to hear people approaching you from all directions giving you the upper hand in combat. In testing I entered a map on Black Ops alone for an evaluation. The subtle changes in ambience were impressive as was the impeccable sense of directional sound that is achieved. This most certainly places you firmly in the environment with the bass response being every bit equal to all other aspects of overall tonality. Sound quality I know is subjective as everyone is different, though I can confirm that bass response is deep, sweet and plentiful with the treble end being perfectly balanced to provide a truly wonderful overall sound.

Street Credibility

The Astro A30 Cross-Gaming Headset will allow users to fully customize the speaker tags with their own artwork or with pre-loaded imagery available from the Astro Gaming web site. Clans can create tags for team members with group logos while other artistically inclined users can upload their own designs to make a unique personalised addition to their headset. Hitting the streets and taking your music with you? Again the bass always delivers without overpowering and the instant mute facility built into the cabling is a nice touch. There is also a wired inline mic for taking calls on-the-go and make use of the boom microphone for your skype calls on PC.

With every Astro A30 Cross-Gaming Headset there is a stylish high-quality ballistic nylon travel case to protect your key to success in the gaming world.

The Astro A30 Cross-Gaming Headset is available to purchase now at www.limexb360.co.uk

Astro Gaming Wireless MixAmp 5.8

The unsung hero of the Astro A30 Cross-Gaming Headset review and thus far little mentioned is the Astro Gaming Wireless MixAmp 5.8. I touched on Digital Surround Sound in the review but left the explaining till now, credit where it’s due maybe. The Astro Gaming Wireless MixAmp 5.8 like its predessesor boasts surround sound. The wired ones came with 5.1 surround sound, but the wireless MixAmp 5.8 comes to you with impressive 7.1 digital surround sound. It features the same abilities as the original MixAmp like the ability to toggle between game music and the voices of your team mates on the fly. A great feature that has ease of use at its forefront, important when you’re in the thick of it. There is also a bass expander which injects a sub-woofer like effect for your delictation. Add to this the fact that all of this happens wirelessly meaning no longer do you have to worry about running cables across your gaming area.

In the box you get:

5.8 MixAmp TX Base
5.8 MixAmp RX Receiver
AC Cable Plug-in Adapter
Optical Cable
Mini USB to USB
Y-Adapter for 3rd party headset
3 AAA Batteries for Receiver
Xbox Live Chat Cable
RX Receiver Belt Clip

Conclusion

You may find the price tag makes this a considered purchase, especially if bundled with the MixAmp 5.8. That said I believe if you were to take the plunge, you would have a friend, if not for life, certainly for some years to come.

The Astro Gaming Wireless MixAmp 5.8 is available to purchase now at www.limexb360.co.uk

Verdict 8.5/10