1More won’t be the primary identify you consider relating to gaming headsets, however having launched their first pair of gaming headphones late final 12 months within the type of the Spearhead VR, they’re now following it up with a good higher-end sibling, the Spearhead VRX – as a result of every little thing sounds higher with an X on the tip.
In this case, although, the X might be warranted. While it shares a lot of the identical DNA because the common Spearhead VR, together with its 50mm graphene drivers, delicate RGB lighting and suspended headband design, the VRX throws skilled audio wizards Waves’ fancy 3D audio Nx tech into the combo, supposedly giving it a extra genuine {surround} sound expertise than the standard digital 7.1 programs you see on different headsets. Is it price £190 / $200 although, and is it sufficient to earn it a spot on our best gaming headset listing? Let’s discover out.
You’ll have to make use of its USB connector and obtain 1More’s VRX driver software program to reap the benefits of the headset’s 3D audio (utilizing the bundled 3.5mm connector with a mixed headphone and microphone jack will solely allow you to hearken to common music and use the mic – the remainder of its options are disabled), however you’ll want to do that anyway if you wish to alter the RGB lighting on the mic, ear cups and headband base or fiddle round with its plentiful provide of EQ settings.
I really had a small problem getting the software program to work initially (unplugging the headset’s micro USB cable and reconnecting it once more managed to unravel it, fortunately), however 1More assured me that is being checked out and will hopefully be mounted very quickly.
Once I finally obtained it working, although, it was all fairly intuitive. There are three giant dials for quantity, microphone quantity and the quite unusual sounding ‘vibration’ mode (extra on that in a bit), in addition to a button for turning on the mic’s environmental noise cancellation and additional menu choices for the sunshine controls, EQ settings and enabling the Waves’ 3D audio head-tracking magic.
With every little thing arrange after a few clicks, I went straight in with a little bit of Doom. Now I do know the head-tracking most likely received’t be a lot use outdoors of VR – in any case, most of us play games trying straight at a display screen, not swishing our head backward and forward – however within the identify of science (and absence of a correct VR headset), I assumed I’d do a little bit of head-bopping to see if it labored correctly. And work it did, as demon loss of life rattles shifted seamlessly from ear to ear as I turned my head backward and forward, whereas incoming plasma bullets felt like they had been racing previous my head as I strafed throughout the outer wilds of Doom’s UAC base.
The neatest thing concerning the VRX’s 3D audio, although, is the way it manages to open up the soundscape to create a balanced sense of area. In Doom, every little thing from its pounding bass to its raspy demon cries had loads of room to flex their respective aural muscular tissues, and never as soon as did one handle to overpower the opposite. It was far simpler than different digital 7.1 {surround} sound programs I’ve tried on different headsets lately, and I felt utterly immersed proper from the get-go.
The solely time the Spearhead VRX appeared to wrestle was once I tried cranking up that so-called vibration mode. Don’t fear – the headset itself doesn’t really vibrate like an audio equal of the N64’s Rumble Pak. Instead, it’s primarily an on-the-fly bass management, which you can too regulate on the headset itself utilizing the secondary operate on the clickable quantity slider.
You can toggle between quantity and bass by urgent within the slider.
I’m really fairly enamoured with the concept of getting a separate bass management like this, because it not solely offers the Spearhead VRX much more flexibility than different high-end headsets, nevertheless it additionally means you don’t need to put up with the way it’s been tuned by the producer. If you want a lot of bass, you’ll be able to have it. If you don’t, no worries. I wouldn’t advocate pushing it too excessive, nevertheless, as this simply mashed all sense of element into oblivion in Doom and turned its already bass-laden soundtrack right into a little bit of a headache-inducing cludge.
Regardless of how you find yourself customising the bass, although, the Spearhead VRX’s 3D audio expertise isn’t essentially the be-all and end-all of digital {surround} sound programs. When I converted to hearken to Hellblade‘s opening boat sequence, for example, the main narrator sounded a bit off, almost as if she were speaking to me from inside the recording booth itself. In fact, several of the voices inside Senua’s head had the identical tinge of artificiality about them, as if all the heat and soul had been stripped out of them. Instead, they had been very scientific and ethereal, and adjusting the bass did little to assist rectify issues.
It’s hardly game-breaking, nevertheless it was disappointing nonetheless, as I’ve examined loads of different common 7.1 surround-touting headsets which have fallen into the identical lure. It’s a disgrace, actually, as the remainder of the game sounded excellent with 3D audio. There was a palpable sense of menace as Senua paddled via the mist, and the dashing wind and teeming forest sounded actually alive as I ran via the game’s opening space.
Unfortunately, the identical factor occurred once I booted up Final Fantasy XV as effectively. While there’s much less speaking on this specific game, Noctis and the remainder of his boyband’s battle directions had a equally synthetic echoey-ness to them, nearly like they weren’t grounded in the identical actuality as the remainder of the game’s soundtrack.
Admittedly, each games sounded lots higher once I switched 3D audio off, however that quite defeats the complete level of spending a lot on this specific headset. Yes, voices instantly sounded lots hotter and practical with 3D audio turned off, however neither game felt fairly as spacious and atmospheric as they did with it on.
Away from games, the Spearhead VRX has loads to advocate it as a basic listening headset – so long as, as soon as once more, you retain the 3D audio switched off. On, Final Fantasy XV’s Hunt or be Hunted monitor turned a tinny mess of underpowered strings and overwhelming bass, however disabling it returned every little thing again to its regular measured self.
The Spearhead VRX managed to maintain its cool in busier tracks as effectively, whether or not it was guitar-laden rock music or delicate piano ensembles. You can all the time fiddle with the EQ settings should you want a barely totally different sound, too, because it not solely has a really smart and noticeably totally different set of preset modes, however you can too create your individual if none of them fit your specific tastes.
The solely drawback is that there are many different headsets on the market that sound simply nearly as good because the Spearhead VRX sans 3D audio for lots much less cash.
There are additionally loads of different, cheaper headsets with higher microphones. Bizarrely, the guide makes no point out of the place the mic really is on the Spearhead VRX – solely that it has a ‘retractable LED lighting tube’ whose translucent physique undoubtedly doesn’t appear to be it has any electronics in it.
Wherever it’s, it picked up my voice with startling readability no matter whether or not the tube was in or out once I recorded myself speaking in Audacity, however the ensuing chat had nonetheless a quite hole, barely echoey timbre to it, as if I used to be wittering away on the bathroom as an alternative of at my desk. Turning on the environmental noise cancelling improved issues barely, nevertheless it nonetheless sounded a bit echoey and unnatural. There are definitely worse microphones on the market, however at this value I’d anticipate higher. At least stated tube has a full-length LED that activates when the mic’s muted, although, so when to securely take a swig of tea with out slurping in everybody’s ear.
I actually need to just like the Spearhead VRX, as Doom simply sounded so sensible with every little thing turned on. But when the phantasm of its immersive 3D audio falls aside as quickly as somebody opens their mouth, that’s an enormous turn-off, particularly when it prices as a lot because it does. I additionally discovered that, regardless of its cozy suspended headband design, its fake leather-based ear cups not solely tended to pinch my jawbone after about an hour or so of use, however the high of my ears began to get a bit sore as effectively, which solely makes me yearn for one thing just like the Steelseries Arctis 7 much more. I’ll attempt to replace this evaluate if I can lay my arms on a VR headset to see the way it copes in correct head-tracking 3D audio conditions, however for basic game taking part in, the Arctis 7 continues to be my headset of selection.
