Creative Labs Fatal1ty USB Gaming Headset

Audio technology has had its share of incredible breakthroughs with Surround sound including 5.1 to 7.1 systems to wireless speaker systems. The computer gamers of today are enjoying games with audio technology which further enhance their gaming experience such as EAX and Dolby audio technology. The longest time I have always had a speaker system connected to my PC which would shake the windows of the house, but this system was always a pain when it came to packing up to go to a friend’s place for a LAN party. The speaker system was always cumbersome and above all else when I did get to my friends place, I couldn’t turn it up because of a wife, a neighbor would complain. Later, I was traveling a lot for work and decided to pick up a nice set of headphones to listen to music while on the plane and ended up using them for LAN parties. This headset was nice for hearing the gaming, but since this headset didn’t have a microphone I couldn’t communicate with my team over team speak, so I had to pick up a microphone… Our friends at Creative have solved my dilemma with a new product from their Fatal1ty series. While attending CES 2009 the TWL team was all introduced to Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel who handed over his signature series USB Gaming Headset. Since we were handed this gift to review there hasn’t been a day that has gone by where this headset hasn’t been listened to. So let us take a closer look.

There are countless gaming headsets on the market today some ranging from $50 to upwards of $200+. Some of these headset we have reviewed include Genius HS-03U, Genius HS-04V, AOpen HP-590 and the Razer Barracuda: HP-1, all which have their positive and negatives, in price, features ans comfort, but the Fatal1ty headset has by far the best comfort and incredible sound of those. Like most things price doesn’t dictate quality of the product or what it can do as far as features and in the case the quality of sound. So with that being stated, let us take a look at Creative’s take:

This headset was designed with Fatal1ty’s sitting down with the engineers of Creative to hammer out a pair of headphones which are not only superior in sound quality and technology but also a pair of headphones that can be worn for hours in comfort. Let’s take a closer look at this headset’s specifications.

Photo Gallery:

Front of Box	Inside Flap of Front of box
Back of Box

As mentioned prior, this headset was handed over to us at CES 2009 just after our interview with Fatal1ty (Video of the interview here). Since we flew out to Las Vegas to attend CES the team had very little space left in our luggage to take items home. So we made a make shift photo gallery out of the hotel room’s towels to snap off some shots of the box the headset can in and the contents their in. The headphones were package very well in a molded plastic jacket to hold the contents in place during shipping and display. After these pictures were taken we dropped the headphones in the provided leather bag with its stamped “Creative” logo along with the detachable microphone and CD ROM.

Contents	Removable Microphone port
Microphone jack	Signature Series

The contents included a CD-ROM, headphones, manual, detachable microphone and a leather bag for hold the headset while your traveling to your next LAN party. The headset comes with a very long USB cable with an in-line volume and Microphone on/off switch which clips to your cloathing. The microphone comes with a simple mono plug which is very easy to install or remove in a matter of seconds. Also the ear cushions are made of plush velvet which assists with comfort while using the headset over many hours of game play. Also since this headset is designed and built by Creative the technology that is built into their Sound Blaster cards is relayed to the headset and dispensed into the gamers ears in its entirety, so you can be sure you are not missing out on anything. Now, for the longest time I have used my speaker system on my home system while gaming at the expense of my roommate not being able to hear his game. Since I have been using the Fatal1ty USB headset, I have been able to play games and listen to music for hours without my ears getting hot or getting a headache because of the headset squeezing my head too tightly. This headset’s spacial audio is incredible to say the least. The first couple of nights while wearing the headset, I had my theater speaks shut off at the power button and even the window Vista default beep had me pause for a few seconds while I confirmed that my theater speakers were still powered off. I also got goose bumps and the hair to stand up on my arms and the back of the neck while playing F.E.A.R. with the games audio drenching me in such sounds that make you question your surroundings (For a gaming experience like none other, play F.E.A.R in a dark room while wearing this headset). Playing any massive multi-player games like World or War Craft and teamed games like Team Fortress 2 the noise canceling microphone worked flawlessly. The microphone on past headsets had picked up my breathing out of my nose no matter where the microphone was placed, but the Fatal1ty USB headset microphone didn’t pick up the breathing or most to all other noises in the room, including my rommate running the vacuum cleaner while I was playing with friends online.

Conclusion

The Fatal1ty USB Gaming headset HS-1000 is an absolute must have for those gamers out there who are looking for an excellent pair of head phones which are designed with the sole purpose of PC gaming for hours with superior sound quality and ear comfort like nothing else on the market today. There are some competitor headset out on the shelves for quite some time now like the Razer – Barracuda gaming headset which has close to equal in sound quality, but requires several plugs to be plugged in to take advantage of all of its features and I found them uncomfortable while wearing them for a long period of time. We have used the Fatal1ty USB headset for two months at the time of this posting and we haven’t found any mojor negatives. The plush velvet was one concern with its ability to get dirty quicker than other headset cushions made of fake leather, but the ear cushions are able to be removed and thrown into the laundry with everything else. The Creative – Fatal1ty USB Gaming headset is also priced a few dollars cheaper the majority of its competitors. So, if your looking for a great headset which you can wear for hours and provides you with incredible sound quality and a detachable microphone which has unmatchable noise canceling technology built into it, you have got to check out Creative‘s – Fatal1ty USB Gaming Headset. You will not be disappointed!

TechwareLabs Awesome Hardware Award