Buzzmuffs!
Any other headset review would stop there as all the bases have pretty much been covered, but the XFX Gear Gaming headset has one more trick up it sleeve. Halfway down the speaker cord is the inline control box with a volume wheel but then there’s this little switch giving you the options of off, normal and max… And it’s in this little switch that the headset comes alive, literally. Flick that switch and the headset starts to rumble in response to the bass sounds within the game.Being driverless, the XFX Gear Gaming Headset uses a bit of electronic trickery to filter the sound coming out of the headphones and activate to small counterbalanced motors mounted in each ear piece. As most games use deep, bassy sounds for explosions and the like, the headset then vibrates when any bassy sounds are played. Being driverless, this means that to use the headset is simply a case of plugging it in and either attaching the supplied battery power pack or connecting it up to a USB to draw power. Flick the switch to max for more of a vibration and fiddle with you’re base slider within your sound card to up the reaction if you like. It’s that simple.
It’s important to note that this isn’t a force feedback headset and as such there’s no set up screen and no response to hit damage within a game. The headset purely works on activating two little motors when there are bass noises around. This means that a long range sniper shot from afar in CS won’t produce any response from the headset… and similarly, walking along a corridor with thrumming machinery either side of you will set your ears quivering. I found that to get the best out of the headset, I had to knock the bass up a tad within windows, but it depends on which game you’re playing and what sort of effect you’re after. If you just want rumbles when you’re hit and you’re playing a game where hits are accompanied with a nice big thud, the XFX Gear Gaming Headset is fine. On the other hand, if you’re looking for some tactile feedback device, this isn’t it… unless you’re happy with occasional rumbles that are sound induced rather than force feedback controlled.