Mini-Review: Turtle Beach X41 Headset

I took the plunge about a month ago and decided to pick up a Turtle Beach X41 wireless headset to use with my XBox 360. I’d always read good things about Turtle Beach products and thought I would give them a try. My previous headset was a Sharkoon XTatic 5.1, which had served me well for a number of years, although I never did get on with routing the voice chat and game sound through this set. I had my fingers crossed that the X41 would do exactly what I felt the XTatic didn’t. I wasn’t disappointed.

The first thing that you notice once you’ve unboxed the X41s is how light the headset feels, yet how sturdy it is. The ear cushions are very soft and the headset fits very snugly and the headband is fully adjustable, as is the microphone. The base unit is a well designed piece of kit too. Not only does it act as the wireless transmitter for the headset, but it also has a second audio jack, so a spectator of your gaming session can plug in a second set of headphones and listen to the game audio as well, and has their own volume control for their headset on the base unit.

So on to the audio itself. I have to say it was quite a shock just how much difference there is between the sound quality of the Sharkoons, and the X41s. The sound is far more immersive on the Turtle Beach set and makes a real difference to the gaming experience. The headset has a bass boost button on, and again the difference when engaging this mode is very impressive. The audio itself has a great quality, and the 7.1 surround sound gives an extra feeling of realism to games, and provides additional spatial awareness when playing. I found myself noticing sounds that I hadn’t heard in a game before (L.A. Noire’s ambient sound is very noticeable on the X41s and adds extra quality to a superb game).

The headset itself has it’s own volume control which is very responsive and helps to balance the volume without having fumble around for the controls. The microphone is on a very flexible stem, and it can easily be moved out of the way when not in use. If you do want to use voice chat while playing then the microphone swings down very easily and the stem can be manoeuvred to put the microphone in pretty much any position that you require. The only change to be made to use voice chat is the plugging in of a wire from the headset into the XBox 360 controller. This wire does not get in the way, and there is an inline volume control which independently controls the volume of the voice chat that you hear.

So are there any downsides to Turtle Beach’s offering? Well the set does seem to eat through batteries. You should get around 25 hours per set according to the manufacturer. I’ve been using Duracell Extreme AAA batteries and have gotten around 25 hours per set, but these are expensive batteries to keep buying. I don’t know how long rechargeable batteries last as I haven’t tried them, but they must be a reasonable option, even if the life per charge is not quite 25 hours. Also, some people will find one of the voice chat features frustrating. When using voice chat, your own voice is fed back into the headset, so it can take a bit of getting used to when you constantly hear your own voice in your headset, but that is a small distraction.

All in all I have nothing but praise for the X41s. Turtle Beach have done a great job, and have managed to balance the functionality of the set with the design. The headset is comfortable, functional, and provides superb audio quality. I haven’t seen any interference on the wireless side of the set, and the audio is uninterrupted. Voice chat is excellent, and the option of independently altering the voice volume is a definite plus. Obviously all of this quality and function doesn’t come cheaply, and the RRP of these is £149.99. However the likes of Amazon often have these at a very competitive price, and at the time of writing they are selling them brand new for under £90, which in my opinion is a great price for such a fantastic piece of hardware.

Pros: sound quality, immersiveness of surround sound, no wireless interference, build quality, design.

Cons: Batteries don’t last long, hearing your own voice in game chat.