A couple months ago, I met up with Tritton Technologies at PAX 2009. PAX is about both big and independent game creators showing off their latest and greatest creations. Most importantly, you get to play them, allowing consumers to experience your work in hopes that they will soon rush out to buy the title. In order to make the best impression, it’s extremely important that the player gets the whole experience and that’s where we often see audio over looked. Seriously, can you imagine trying to play something like Borderlands or Darkest of Days on a $10 headset? I don’t think so!
Here at Futurelooks, we appreciate the best possible audio experience and apparently so does Tritton Technologies. Allow us to present to you, their AX51 Pro Headset.
Features and Specifications
There are three major features built in to the AX51 Pro Headset. First, the 51 denotes the 5.1 experience offered by the AX51 Pro. This is made possible by the specially designed In-Line Controller and independent Drivers that separate audio giving it that 5.1 experience.
There’s a 1x40mm Front, 1x30mm Rear, 1x30mm Center, and 1x30mm Subwoofer built in to each ear piece. The Front, Rear, and Center produce 20-20KHz frequencies while the Subwoofer produces 20-120Hz which any audio-phile knows is the common range of any Sub. At 20Hz, the headset should produce some crazy low thumping.
The audio can be manipulated by the In-Line Audio Controller. It allows you to control the Master Volume as well as each individual Sound Field, or channel, control. It’s as easy as selecting the desired channel with the Controller while using the toggle switch to find the desired volume.
Based on this design, there can be no doubt that the AX51 Pro is specifically tuned for PC Gaming. If it’s console play that you need, rest assured they offer an equally impressive AX180 Headset, which we’ll get our hands on soon.
What’s in the Cool Box?
In the non-blister packaging, you’ll find the head set connected to an amply long, high quality cord. There’s a separate boxed power adapter which makes it possible for the head set to offer the best amplified audio.
In another smaller box, you’ll find the In-Line analog jack adapter that plugs directly in to your motherboard or audio card’s audio ports. They’re color coded so that you don’t have to do anything but plug and play. And, of course, can’t forget the Mic boom which comes as a separate detachable piece. Also included are two extra replacement earpiece covers for when they need replacement after years of LAN Party abuse. I find this to be a very nice touch in an already nicely designed head set.
First Impressions
My initial impresson was…”Now that’s a headset!” and with good reason.
The AX51 Pro sports a polished, gun metal gray finish that really stands out. Right away, these things made me want to jump straight to testing. But, we must continue with our initial impressions. Though you might expect the set to be heavy quite heavy, the fact is that they are surprisingly light. Despite the use of lighter weight materials, nothing feels thin or frail at all. I found them to be a very sturdy with some initial bending and twisting.
Throwing them on my head, they seem quite comfortable. The wide, black well padded head band displaces the weight evenly and helps assist holding them in place. The band doesn’t apply too much pressure on the ears at all. The cups and band work together well fitting the ears quite nicely further complimenting the overall comfort. The real test will be whether they feel the same after extended periods of gaming.
Taking a Closer Look
One cool feature built in to the ear cups are the logos that that light up when the head set is active. Don’t worry, you can turn them off by using the inline-controller above. Otherwise, the logo doesn’t get bright at all. It’s actually quite tastefully lit overall. We think you’ll like it.
Equally impressive is the quality of the In-Line wiring and Controller. The Controller matches the cosmetics of the AX51 Pros perfectly and the buttons are easy to read. They are also back lit so you can see what you’re doing in the dark.
The cabling is also thick and highly rubberized, preventing kinking and makes bunching up less likely. We all hate having to worry about that when in the heat of battle.
Colour Me Bad
How sick are these? To match the great cosmetics of the headset, Tritton has created some special after market vinyl stickers that will set your headset apart from others. These can be put on and taken back off cleanly and are available directly from Tritton or wherever they sell the headsets in your neck of the wood.
While camouflage pink is down right cool, it just doesn’t quite say “Futurelooks Elite!” For this reason, Tritton offers a black skull set and a red skull set of stickers. I’ll even clue you in to the fact that more personalized options have been discussed and could be a future possibility. It would be pretty slick getting some customized stickers made for your clan, or maybe even ones using your own graphics.
Most importantly, when Tritton is ready to roll, they promised that the custom goodness will NOT cost you $300.00 like what those guys at Astro Gaming charge!
Set Up and Configuration
While 9 out of 10 users won’t need to even read the directions, we’re going to help you out with a few notes worth mentioning. This is based on my experiences working with the four head sets used on the gaming machines at Antec’s PAX booth along with notes I’ve taken while living with them for the past few weeks.
These are all the audio solutions on hand I’ve been able to try the head set with:
- Realtek ALC888, ALC889, ALC889A Audio Codecs
- VIA Vinyl VT1818 and VT1828
- Creative X-Fi Extreme, ExtremeGamer, and Titanium
- Oxygen C-Media 8788
First, it’s best to connect the AX51 Pro while the system isn’t running. While the audio is basically pass through, newer systems will likely have less of an issue. However, older motherboards with older integrated audio Codecs may experience a feed-back, conflict issue. That’s because the integrated audio chip can’t keep up with the head set. If this happens to you, it’s probably time to pick up a better audio card anyway.
Even though you don’t have to connect the Mic, we must do so in order to make sure all things work properly. Simply insert the base of the Mic in to the bottom of the headset and follow up by giving it a slight twist to lock in the place. The removable mic also means that the headset can be used strictly for stealth audio duties as it looks like a regular set of headphones without it.
Real Gamer Testing
Since PAX was the best possible hands on scenario to conduct some user reviews, 12 random gamers were asked to rate the AX51 on a scale of 1 to 10, guess the retail price, and then offer any comments. Only two people guessed close to the $90 retail price. The rest increased their initial rating once they learned that their $120 to $140 price tag was incorrect. As a matter of fact, it boosted the rating to 8.95. (Someone didn’t like whole numbers.)
Words like explosive, deep, and insane were used more than a few times during the comments. I also heard my testers enjoying the fact that they were able to change the volume easily with the Inline Audio Controller. On a couple occasions, I had to show them that we weren’t trying to sneak in a nice sound card to juice up the tests.
My Personal Audio Impressions
As for my own impressions, I felt the mid and high frequencies are very well tuned for a clear performance. The bass response is super clean as well, thumping with seemingly earth shattering energy. Using the inline audio controller allows you to easily adjust the audio as you see fit to create the experience you want. It actually worked great for finding the right blend of settings to work with music. You’ve got to love being able to do that as traditionally, gaming headsets are gaming headsets and not so much music listening headsets.
The AX51 Pro does make you think you have a far better audio solution than you own, allowing a rather uneventful, flat integrated audio Codec can basically emulate characteristics of a more impressive audio device. Of course, this is mainly due to the AX51 Pro’s ability to amplify the audio where the cheaper Codec comes up short, and not reveal the bad points of the source.
Since comfort is king, I am happy to report that my initial impressions hold true for long term gaming. They will be comfortable for the long haul.
Final Thoughts
It’s not uncommon for audio processors to produce frequencies and sounds you can’t always hear, especially when they’re budget level processors. A really good, capable headset can help bring out the sound you’ve been missing. Technically speaking, the AX51 Pro Gaming Headset can help provide every possible frequency for whatever audio environment you need.
To add a little more perspective, the AX51 Pro is definitely superior to any of my treasured Altec Lansing or Razer Barracuda headsets pushing the $120 price tag. I’m sure this might seem impossible to a few ‘fan boys’, but this is just based on the best possible scenarios and action packed gaming environments. Besides, twelve other gamers would’ve done anything to get a pair during my random sampling of testers.
If you want better than this, you’ll have to step up in to the Extreme Audio Gamer bracket and dig deeper in to the wallet for Tritton’s own AX Pro. With so many things making it the right choice, the best thus far experienced from a sub $100 head set. I’m slapping my Editor’s Choice badge all over it. Otherwise, the AX51 Pro is the ultimate gaming audio experience. Well, at least till I put these super cool Skull Stickers on it.
Pros
- Creates great game perception
- Great audio quality and clarity
- Surprisingly comfortable
- Respectable pricing at $80 to $90
- In-Line Audio Controller
- Impressive design
Cons
- Older audio solutions may hamper performance
Overall Rating: 9.5/10.0
Love This Review? Hate This Review? Tell Us In The Forums!
Tritton Technologies AX51 Pro Precision PC Gaming Headset Photo Gallery
