Turtle Beach Ear Force X12 Xbox 360 Headset Review

1. Introduction2. Packaging and Bundle3. The Headset4. Comfort and Performance5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

The X12 is an attractive design.  While the majority of the headset is constructed from matte black plastic, Turtle Beach have added some lime green mesh trim and detailing to infuse a little excitement into the appearance.  The colours also correspond well with those used by Microsoft to promote the Xbox 360.

As we would expect from a premium gaming peripheral manufacturer such as Turtle Beach, build quality is top notch.  The construction is sturdy and the plastics used are high quality.  We doubt that it is quite as resilient to abuse as the SteelSeries Spectrum 5XB but we expect that it will last a good few years if you treat it with some respect.

Turtle beach have chosen to use high quality 50mm driver units in the X12 which feature neodymium magnets.  These have a frequency response of 20 – 20 000 Hz.

Even though audio is supplied to the X12 using a 3.5mm connector, the headset requires a USB connection to power the in-line amplifier.  There is also a 3.5mm connector for microphone output should you want to use the headset with a PC.  When using the headset with an Xbox 360, the 2.5mm cable provides microphone output.

While the in-line amplifier is compact, it features a number of different controls.  On the left hand side are two wheels which let you set game and chat volumes independently.  Over on the other side of the amplifier there is an additional wheel which controls bass boost alongside a small microphone mute switch.  The 2.5mm microphone output for the Xbox 360 is located at the bottom of the unit.

The microphone folds down from the left hand earcup and features a flexible boom so you can position it for the best performance.  We do think it is a little on the large side, especially when we compare it to the discrete retractable microphone that features on the SteelSeries Spectrum 5XB.

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