Sharkoon X-Tatic SX and SP Xbox 360 and PS3 Headsets Review

Both the X-Tatic SX and SP have an over-the-ear design, meaning the earpads press against your head and fully enclose your ears.  The earpads themselves are covered in a cloth material which should prevent your ears from getting too sweaty during long gaming sessions.  The headsets apply a reasonable amount of pressure to the sides of your head so the headsets remain secure even if you move your head quite a lot.

Overall comfort isn’t as good as the SteelSeries Spectrum 5XB as the weight of the headset seems to rest more on the ears than across the headband.  The inline control also tends to pull on the cable a little which can get annoying after a while.  There is a small clip on the cable to prevent this but it either ends up falling off or just pulling uncomfortably on your shirt.

Things get better with the headsets’ sound quality which was pretty good overall.  Sure it’s not on the same level as a SteelSeries Spectrum 4XB or 5XB but these do command a slight price premium.  Both headsets sound identical in terms of sound quality, at least with PC and Xbox 360 as you can’t use the SX with a PS3.

The sound balance is well suited to most types of gaming.  Unlike some gaming headsets, the X-Tatics aren’t at all bass heavy.  This makes them a little less immersive than most in games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honour where explosions and other noises don’t have the same presence.  There also isn’t any virtual or dedicated surround sound which restricts sound panning.  Other games like Forza Motorsport 3 are reproduced well thanks to the impressive middle registers.

When playing back movies and music, the headsets perform as we would expect both with PC and consoles.  The lack of presence in the lower registers was still present though and we noticed quite a lot of noise, probably due to the lengthy cable.

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