Headset Review: Tritton AXPRO

I know a lot of people around here do not use headsets, but I'm a very competitive gamer and go to as many LAN events, gaming competitions, and online tournaments/ladders as possible. For high-end gamers, a headset is an absolute must. I won't go in to every detail to explain this, but think of it this way: With a headset, you can hear your opponents before they even see you. It's a simple competitive advantage.

Well, my Tritton AXPRO's came in a couple weeks ago, so I have been able to really put it through some good testing with hours on end of Gears 2, Halo 3, and a little COD4. While reading this, keep in mind that between my brother and myself, we also have the Turtle Beach X1, X3, X4, Astro A40, and Tritton AX360--so I have done quite a bit of head-to-head testing as well. To make a long story short, I'm sorely disappointed with the AXPRO in just about every aspect. It's a horrible product. Here's a quick review to explain...

SOUND

First off, the sound on the AXPRO is pathetic. I thought the AX360's sound was an epic fail--but the AXPRO is even worse simply because it's only marginally better, but costs almost twice as much. Yes, surround sound is great--but there is very poor bass response in the AXPRO just like with the AX360. The mids lack clarity and the highs have no equilization whatsoever. Overall, it sounds way too "tinny." The TB X4, on the other hand, has deep boomy bass, rich mids, and crisp highs. You can hear the difference immediately! Especially with Gears 2 (which I feel has the most "in your face" sound engine), I got a headache after only 20 minutes because the overall sound was so harsh. Plus, the bass being so muddy really takes away from the 3D surround sound positioning. In fact, whenever a nade explodes, all you hear is this "BLAH" sound that seems to mask all other sounds for that second. I expect that this unbalanced equalization is due to the fact that the decoder box is a pre-amp, but the audio controller is amplified--so there's literally two master volumes counter-acting each other here. As for the audio controller, that thing is pretty useless because it's simply not accurate at all. The LED's change color depending on the how high or low you put the sound, but there's like 3 levels for each color. This means that if you want to increase the bass a bit, it's impossible to reset it back to it's original level unless you put the master volume all the way to the max or totally off. Retarded.

COMFORT

The AXPRO is extremely uncomfortable in several different ways. The headset is RIGID--NOT adjustable--and the earcups are NOT oversized. I don't have a large head at all (fitted hat size 7 1/4), but felt like I was stretching the AXPRO just to put it on. One of my buddies is a pretty big guy (about 250 lbs), so he's got a large head--and I honestly thought he was going to snap the headband in two when he tried to put it on. When he was wearing it, he said it felt like his head was in a vice--there was a lot of pressure due to the helmet-like design. As for the earcups, they're the same exact diameter as the TB X1 or X3--so they sit on your ears, not around them. Before I got the AXPRO, I was led to believe that the earcups were oversized so that the padding rests on your head. Since they're not, this means that they can get uncomfortable if you wear them for more than an hour. What makes it even worse is the constant pressure from the headband squeezing the sides of your head. Speaking of which, I found out REAL quickly that you CAN NOT wear glasses with the AXPRO on your head due to the way that the headband is designed. I was wearing contacts when I first tried them, but my brother had his glasses on--which made me put mine on as well just to see what he was complaining about. Again, the design of the headset comes into play yet again because it also negatively effects those who wear glasses.

SETUP & FUNCTIONALITY

Whoever designed this setup is a complete moron. Did anyone ever wonder why Tritton doesn't list anything in the "Package Contents" portion of the AXPRO's product page? Well the reason is because they'd have to constantly answer why there's TWO AC ADAPTERS! Yes, you have to not only plug in the decoder box, but the actual headset as well. Why in the world they couldn't make the whole thing with a single USB is beyond my understanding. Even if power is required to power the audio controller (i.e. amplifier), they could have achieved that with a "through" USB to the decoder box. This way, only a single USB cable would have been needed. Since you can't plug anything in at 99% of the LAN events or centers out there, this is a huge problem if you try to use these outside a home setting. They're as restricted as a wireless headset. Also, they only include about 10-feet of cable. My plasma TV is about 12 feet from my couch, so the cord not only didn't reach, but it was suspended in the air like a tight-rope while I was using the headset. This meant that the headset was constantly pulling my head forward. When I tried to compensate for the lack of cord length by resting the audio controller on my coffee table, I had to lean forward--which caused my back to start hurting after a while. After getting fed up with that, I took the headset into my bedroom to hook it up to my other Xbox where I have a smaller 22" Viewsonic monitor. Well, the problem that I had here was that while sitting in a chair, the audio controller just dangles down--and that makes the headset pull down awkwardly as well.

SUMMARY

So as you can probably tell by now, I am WAYYYYY disappointed in Tritton's AXPRO. For $160, the AXPRO should sound at least as good as the Astro A40 with MixAmp. I've been using the TB X4 for the past several months pretty regularly--and when I'm not, it's the HPX with MixAmp or AX360 decoder. As soon as I put on the AXPRO, I noticed a huge difference right off the bat, but really wanted to give it the chance to prove itself over an extended period of time. For a solid 2 weeks now (including real gaming-heavy weekends), the AXPRO continued to baffle me with it's inadequacies. The ONLY positives I can possibly take out of it is the somewhat solid construction (solid to a fault though), much higher quality materials used as opposed to the AX360, and great visuals on the box. I'd say that the manual is great too, but they screwed that up as well. There's a little note that comes inside the box outlines some corrections to the manual.

EVALUATION

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, I'd give the AXPRO a solid 4. FAIL

Thanks for the review. I was actually asking for earphones for xmas this year. I was going to ask for either the turtle beach x4, or the tritton ax360. I know that the pro and 360 were almost the same, so I went for the cheaper ones. Although, the trittons are actually dolby certified while the other brands are not.

In your opinion, the best sounding, user friendly(I dont really want a soundboard just for headphones), and most comfortable headphones?

nice review, most people on the GB forums talk this headset up.

I use the TB x4s and I love'em. Went to MLG Vegas and almost bought myself the A40s but then I realized the X4s do the job just fine.

but again, nice review and glad I stumbled upon this.

I guess your the person to ask them, i play late night at home with my wife and kids asleep, do they make a wireless headset ? i would like one that i can use so there is no sound coming out the TV but i still can game and party talk. i am looking to go low cost i don't need completely perfect sound (it would be nice) so less then 100$ but it would need to be completely wireless becuase my Xbox360 is to far away for a wiredlge777

I have both Turtle Beach X3s and X4s. Both Wireless. X3 is stereo and runs for like $100 and X4s are surround sound for like $150 or something. You can control both the in game sound and the volume of the party talk. Sometimes I turn down just the in game audio and play recreationally wit my friend when we're not competing. Definitely worth a try or looking into.

There is also Turtle Beach X1s that are basically the same as X3s but not wireless. It runs like $60 and can be found at a Bestbuy.

[QUOTE="lge777"]I guess your the person to ask them, i play late night at home with my wife and kids asleep, do they make a wireless headset ? i would like one that i can use so there is no sound coming out the TV but i still can game and party talk. i am looking to go low cost i don't need completely perfect sound (it would be nice) so less then 100$ but it would need to be completely wireless becuase my Xbox360 is to far away for a wiredSuperIntendent

I have both Turtle Beach X3s and X4s. Both Wireless. X3 is stereo and runs for like $100 and X4s are surround sound for like $150 or something. You can control both the in game sound and the volume of the party talk. Sometimes I turn down just the in game audio and play recreationally wit my friend when we're not competing. Definitely worth a try or looking into.

There is also Turtle Beach X1s that are basically the same as X3s but not wireless. It runs like $60 and can be found at a Bestbuy.

Cool thanks for the info

Thanks for the review. I was actually asking for earphones for xmas this year. I was going to ask for either the turtle beach x4, or the tritton ax360. I know that the pro and 360 were almost the same, so I went for the cheaper ones. Although, the trittons are actually dolby certified while the other brands are not.

In your opinion, the best sounding, user friendly(I dont really want a soundboard just for headphones), and most comfortable headphones?

kels_answer

The Turtle Beach X4 absolutely BLOWS AWAY Tritton's AX360--and it's way better than the AXPRO as well. (In terms of overall sound, build quality, set-up, features, etc). There are three headset brands that are Dolby certified--Turtle Beach, Astro, and Tritton.

wow, you do not know headsets then man, yeah you've had the x1's, 3's and x4's and so on. But dude i've only had the ax360's and the new AXpro's and rather then my mic not working at the moment (soon to be replaced) the sound is much better. They changed the position of the speakers on the AXpro's and aloud for front, rear, centre, and base to be controlled separately. Along with the chat feature to be turned up or down and you can mute your mic. Also, the price from the AXpro's and X4's in Canada has a margin of less then $10, x4's being more expensive.

From what i heard from friends and reading stuff, if you have the X1's though 3's there is no point of the getting the x4's. So in the end, with me, my two brothers and a few friends having AX360's, and now me having the AxPRO's i would strongly say that the Ax360's or AxPRO's are a great buy for any one. The cord on the AxPRO is 12.5' feet long . Also from my knowledge they have yet to perfect 5.1 surround sound wireless, and this is my quick review and reply.Plo_Koon_basic

Your first two sentences don't make any sense. Just the fact that I own all of these should tell you that I do "know headsets" quite well--especially because I can compare sound, features, and comfort whenever I need to. You, on the other hand, have only experienced Tritton's headsets, so you have absolutely no idea how they compare to another brand. As such, there's no way you can accurately "review" them simply because there's nothing to put them against.

And to clarify...yes, the AXPRO sounds better than the AX360, but the fact of the matter is that neither sounds anywhere as good as an X4--much less being as comfortable or having features like it. Being that you have graciously pointed out that the price difference between the X4 and AXPRO is only $10 in Canada, that should be even more of a reason for people to lean heavily towards the Turtle Beach model. (I.e. better sound, more comfy, superior design, tons of features - for only $10 more).

Italia- What are the cheapest headphones worth getting? I'd like some headphones for the competitive advantage and because of the fact that playing Xbox gets on my girlfriend's nerves when shes sleeping or studying, but I don't go to competitions or anything nor do I feel like shelling out $100 bucks for headphones. Are the Turtle Beach X1s worth getting?dirtydishko2

The X1 is the ONLY headset in that price range--which are no more than $60. Tritton's AX360 is a little higher than your budget, but is nowhere near the reliability of an X1. The Tritton mic cable is EXTREMELY fragile, so the chances that it'll crap out is pretty high. The only advantage of an AX360 is that it has surround sound (compared to the amplified stereo that an X1 carries). Honestly, I wouldn't take the chance, so the X1 really is the way to go. Your g/f will thank you for it, btw. ;)

So without surround sound, do the X1s still provide a decent competitive advantage? Mainly I'm concerned with being better able to pinpoint where footsteps and gunshots are coming from in COD.dirtydishko2

I have the X1 and they give me a HUGE advantage when playing COD4. I know a lot of people who use them for COD, Halo, Gears, etc. You can hear footsteps around corners, grenades exploding across the map, even when people reload! The biggest difference between surround sound and expanded stereo is that surround sound will provide more depth.