Turtle Beach Ear Force XP SEVEN Review

1. Introduction2. Bundle & Packaging3. Comfort & Performance4. Software & Operation5. Conclusion6. View All Pages

Today we will be taking a look at the Turtle Beach Ear Force XP Seven, aimed at professional gamers and enthusiasts alike. Packed with features such as customizable presets, an Audio Control Unit, adjustable surround sound angles, Dolby surround and even auxiliary input, Turtle Beach claims these headphones offer “the ultimate in game tournament and lifestyle performance”. These headphones come in at a hefty $279.95 or around £185 pounds inc vat.

So, should you be queuing up for the Ear Force XP Seven?

When Zardon asked me if I wanted to review Turtle Beach's latest high-end headphones my main concern was thinking of new ways to make playing games, listening to music and watching movies sound like hard work.

As you will see on the next pages, Turtle Beach provided enough material to keep me occupied, so let's dive in.

Specifications:

• Works with Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Mac, smartphones, tablets and portable gaming devices
• Dolby Digital Surround Sound
• True USB Surround Sound on PC/Mac
• Dynamic Chat Boost
• Adjustable Surround Sound Angles
• Ear Guard with Blast Limiter
• Voice Morphing
• Independent chat & volume control
• 50mm speakers
• TOSLINK digital optical connection
• Removable mic with flexible boom
• Included in the box: Console Interface USB Cable, Turtle Beach Sticker, Audio Control Unit, Digital Optical Cable, Mini USB Cable, Xbox 360 Chat Cable, Headset Breakaway Cable, Mobile Adapter Cable, 3.5mm Cable, Seven Headset, Presets Reference Booklet, Audio Control Unit Extender Cable.

The Turtle Beach Ear Force XP SEVEN ships in a black box with one of the cups visible and some of its key features listed.

The back of the box shows a better image of the headset and the Audio Control Unit. There is also some more detailed information available in several languages.

 

Inside the box are the headset, a box containing the Audio Control Unit, the console interface unit, a box of cables, a quick start guide and the Turtle Beach stickers.

Taking a closer look at the cables we can see Turtle Beach has made sure to include every cable you need to connect the headset to any of the big three consoles and a PC. The cables connecting the headset to the Audio Control Unit are all braided, following the same colour scheme, whilst the remainder has received a rubber coating.

We can also see the breakaway connectors used for the wires leading to the headset. The breakaway cable on the right hand side also features an in-line microphone. This microphone can be used as a replacement for the boom mic and when using the headset on the go. In terms of quality, it cannot live up to a proper microphone, but it is a nice little touch.
 

The console interface unit is a small black box with a limited number of inputs and outputs. The front features a USB slot and Multi-pin input to connect the headset.

The back of the unit houses the AUX, USB and Digital Input and Output to connect your console of choice. The unit is not required to connect the headset to your PC as this is done with a single USB cable.

Moving on to the Audio Control Unit, Turtle Beach includes a lengthy rubberised cable with the sizable unit. The surface has received a glossy finish, whilst the sides are made of smooth plastic.

Taking a closer look at the front of the unit we can see the 8 preset buttons, as well as the three inputs for mobile devices, connecting the headset when using your PC and one for consoles. There are also two functions available to switch between separate Chat and Main presets.

When adjusting the speaker angles or adjusting the volume for individual speakers, the 6 squares in the middle will light up depending on which speakers are selected.

All buttons are touch capacitive light up white when enabled and red when disabled.

 

On the left hand side of the unit we can see the Volume knob. Below the Volume knob are buttons to adjust the speaker angles, turn the surround sound on or off, and to cycle through the speaker selection.

There is a speaker input, situated directly next to the cable. This allows users to connect their speakers without losing any of the benefits provided by the Audio Control Unit.

The left hand side is also where we find the Power button. Situated next to the Power Button are two wheels for the Mic Monitor and Aux Volume functions.

The right hand side shows us the Mic Mute, Dolby Digital and Game Volume buttons. By default, the Mic Mute button will light up white to indicate the microphone is on. The Dolby Digital button lights up red by default on PC as 5.1 digital PCM audio is channeled through the USB connection.

On the side we can see the Mode Switch Button. Pressing the button once switches the unit from Headset mode to Speaker Mode. Holding the button for 5 seconds locks the capacitive touch buttons, ensuring your settings do not accidentally change.

Finally, the last button is used to control the Chat Volume.

Both sides are clearly marked L and R on the inside and the Boom Mic port is clearly visible on the lower half of the left cup.

The cups can swivel 90 degrees and the headband can be adjusted without a problem. In the image above, showing the outside of the cups, the left cup is on the right side and vice versa.

The cups are lined with a cloth surface featuring the Turtle Beach logo on the inside. Improved noise isolation is achieved with all leather cushions. Under warm conditions these will cause your ears to get particularly sweaty, though this is a sacrifice that has been made for the sake of a closer fit over the breathing properties of cloth lining.

Making use of another breakaway cable, the headset can be stored easily without having to worry about the abundance of cables.

The cups have ear plates that can be taken off. Turtle Beach informed us they are planning to release a line of customizable plates, though no release date is known yet.

The headband has a white stitched pattern and its surface is made entirely out of leather. All in all, the design is not overly flashy and should fit well with most gaming set-ups.

We are still undecided about the leather surface for the cups. On the one hand it does offer improved noise isolation and is easy to keep clean, but the lack of breathability may prove to be too big a sacrifice for users in warmer climates. The past week and a half here in the UK made the headset somewhat uncomfortable to wear for prolonged periods of time. Though, under normal conditions it works well.

I tend to believe I do not have a comically oversized head and was surprised by how tight the headset clamped onto my head during the first week of usage. After a while the headset has loosened a little, though it is still too tight for me to comfortably wear around my neck. It almost feels as if the rigidity was designed to fit the skinny stereotype of a gamer.

Connecting the headset is a simple process. Console users can make use of the clear instructions provided by Turtle Beach, while PC gamers can simply plug the headset into an empty USB port and wait for the drivers to finish installing. After the installation has been completed, it is a matter of getting to grips with the Audio Control Unit.

The Advanced Sound Editor, which is also used to update the firmware, can be downloaded here. We will be taking a closer look at the Advanced Sound Editor on the next page. For now, we will look at the headset's performance with default settings.

At this price point it is important to note that many audiophiles will argue that gaming orientated headphones will never deliver the same level of aural fidelity as high-quality studio headphones or a full-fledged surround sound setup. For the purposes of this review we are judging these headphones based on average usage e.g. a healthy mix of music, videos and games at comfortable levels.

In order to test music playback performance I used uncompressed recordings of The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s album Electric Ladyland as well as a 192kbps recording of the eponymous album Alexisonfire by Alexisonfire.

Depending on which preset is used, the difference can be quite staggering. Using presets which focus on bringing out the lower registers will drown out the higher frequencies slightly. However, using a ‘flat' preset without any virtualization or other enhancements provided crisp audio. Even at its maximum volume there was no distortion, courtesy of the capable 50mm drivers.

Even though the XP Seven was not made with a focus on listening to music it is nonetheless very capable of producing high quality sound.

In order to test gaming performance I used Counter-Strike: Source, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Battlefield 3. These games were chosen because Counter-Strike relies heavily on sound spatialization while Battlefield 3 on the PC brings together 64 players with an array of weaponry and a wide range of ambient sounds. More information about sound spatialization in Counter-Strike and some background on the sound design of Battlefield 3 can be found here and here.

Using a flat preset I was able to discern footsteps, and the direction they were coming from, clearly amidst explosions and gunfire. It was more difficult to accurately determine the direction of gunfire and footsteps in Battlefield 3, though this is more to do with the game itself, rather than the headset.

Deep, rumbling sounds such as tanks rolling past or jets flying overhead did not drown out any of the higher freqencies, making for an immersive experience altogether. Combined with the noise isolating properties of the leather cups the XP Seven really does let you get carried away.

The boom mic provides excellent clarity and eliminates background noise efficiently. I used my phone to play some music approximately 1 meter away from me while I used the microphone but did not notice any significant background noise while listening to the microphone

The in-line mic proved to be sufficient. Other players noted that it sounded as if I was communicating from the bathroom due to the fact that it picks up more background noise and slightly reverberates sounds. However, they were able to clearly understand me at all times.

To test the surround sound capabilities of the headphones I used the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan and The Dark Knight. Saving Private Ryan’s opening scene is a perfect way to test any surround sound setup, or virtualization solution, with its mix of explosive impacts and rifles being fired in an open field. The Dark Knight on the other hand has booming, impactful bass scenes and is a great way to test a headset’s capability to accurately produce high and low tones.

Using the default settings the bass was slightly overwhelming during The Dark Knight, resulting in voices being drowned out while producing nearly deafening explosions. The hospital scene stands out as a scene where I took the headset off as it was starting to give me a headache.

However, the headset performed admirably during the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan, with every little sound and every big explosion clearly defined and separated.

Of course, using only the default settings negates the hard work and most prominent feature of the XP Seven, its presets and the option to customize those. We are going to delve deeper into these on the next page.

The XP Seven comes pre-loaded with 8 Game Presets, 8 Chat Presets and 8 Speaker Presets, each tailored to meet specific scenarios.

Through the use of Turtle Beach's Advanced Sound Editor, every preset can be modified to suit your specific needs. If you need to bring out the high tones slightly more for a specific game but do not want to compromise on the lows, it is as simple as increasing a slider, clicking Save and jumping back into the game.

Game:

1. Flat – Hear stereo game sound without effects processing or Dolby Surround Sound.
2. Bass Boost – Hear and feel the rumble of deeper bass sound effects.
3. Treble Boost – Boost high frequencies for crisper sounds and greater clarity.
4. Bass Boost + Treble Boost – Rumbling lows and pristine highs come through clearly.
5. Stereo Expander – Stereo processing with a 3D effect that allows you to focus on subtle audio cues.
6. Action Enhancer – Amplify intense sounds from weapons and explosions.
7. Footstep Focus – Focus on the sound of enemy footsteps approaching.
8. Superhuman Hearing – Boosts low volume sounds.

Chat:

1. Flat – Straight chat with no processing.
2. Chat Focus – Boosts mid-range frequencies for greater concentration on chat.
3. Chat Expander – Widens the virtual sound field of chat.
4. Voice Amp – Amplifies Chat Volume.
5. Hi-Pitch Morph – Morph your voice into a high-pitch tone.
6. Lo-Pitch Morph – Bring your voice to demonic depths.
7. Robot – Transform your voice into a metallic sound.
8. Max Chat – Combines presets in an enhanced chat package.

Speaker:

1. Flat – Hear stereo game sound without effects processing or Dolby Surround Sound.
2. Bass Boost – Hear and feel the rumble of deeper bass sound effects.
3. Treble Boost – Boost high frequencies for crisper sounds and greater clarity.
4. Bass Boost + Treble Boost – Rumbling lows and pristine highs come through clearly.
5. Speech Amplifier – Focuses on frequency range of human voices to hear dialogue clearly.
6. Balanced – Balances across low, mid and high frequencies.
7. Action Enhancer – Amplify intense sounds from weapons and explosions.
8. Superhuman Hearing – Boosts low volume sounds.

Because a picture can say more than a thousand words, the following screenshots show the Advanced Sound Editor and several of the presets. Complete newcomers might want to read up on the terminology before moving every slider around, though the software is relatively easy to use.

At first sight the Turtle Beach Ear Force XP SEVEN can be an intimidating collection of hardware. It's Audio Control Unit alone has more features than any of its competitors in the gaming sector and adding the Advanced Sound Editor will make you consider going for a degree in Sound Engineering!

The build quality is excellent and the headset offers excellent noise isolation. Although the headset is quite rigid out of the box, it is solid and does not feel like it will easily break. The leather finish is attractive, but can be uncomfortable in warmer climates and during prolonged gaming sessions.

The addition of the Audio Control Unit definitely makes the XP Seven stand out in a highly competitive market. Switching presets on the fly and being able to customize them with near limitless potential makes it a perfect fit for any old, current and upcoming titles.

Although the XP Seven headset is pretty, I cannot say I am a big fan of glossy surfaces as they tend to exhibit dust and fingerprints after even modest handling. Either that or keep a cleaning cloth at hand for regular maintenance.

The only real downside I could find with the XP Seven is the lack of a protective bag and a stand. As the headset is marketed towards tournament gamers a protective pouch for the Audio Control Unit and headset would have been appreciated and certainly added to the premium feel of the package. In comparison, the Ear Force M Seven comes with a protective pouch, though it does not include the excellent Audio Control Unit.

The XP Seven is available for $279.95  and some retailers are currently selling the XP Seven for £226.44 inc vat.

Pros:

• Near limitless customization of presets.
• Multi-platform compatibility, including mobile devices and the option to connect speakers.
• Audio Control Unit as the hub for all audio equipment.
• Excellent sound quality.
• Excellent build quality.
• Customizable ear plates.
• Leather offers excellent noise isolation.

Cons:

• No stand or protective bag.
• Leather does not have the same breathability as a cloth surface.

KitGuru says: if you are serious about getting into professional gaming or simply want to enhance your gaming experiences, the Turtle Beach Ear Force XP Seven deserve a spot at the top of your list.

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