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At about 380g, the Ear Force Z6A is extremely light for a dedicated surround sound headset which helps make it one of the most comfortable we've ever tested. Turtle Beach have chosen to use an open weave cloth to cover the earpads which is comfortable to use for long periods of time.
Turtle Beach have used leatherette to cover the headband which has a small amount of padding. When adjusted correctly, the headband helps distribute the weight of the headset evenly across your head which enhances the comfort level. We found that the headset fits very securely so you can move your head around quite a lot before any unnecessary slippage occurs.
The Ear Force Z6A is clearly a performance headset. The dedicated surround sound really enhances the gaming experience, as sound directionality is improved substantially when compared against a stereo headset. Improved sound directionality is very beneficial in FPS games as you can hear precise locations of footsteps and gunshots with much higher accuracy. As you can adjust the four audio channels independently, you can set up the headset perfectly for different types of game.
When listening to music, the experience isn't quite as impressive, because surround sound capabilities don't improve many music recordings. The overall experience is still impressive, though, and having the ability to adjust the audio channels independently lets you optimise the headset for different styles of music.
Movie playback is enhanced considerably by the surround sound functionality of the Ear Force Z6A, as long as you are playing a movie that supports it. We watched The Dark Knight on Blu Ray and noticed excellent sound panning in the opening sequence as well as very impressive bass notes. In fact, the experience was so good we ended up watching the entire movie!
The appearance is fantastic, thats for sure.
Its quite expensive, only thing putting me off a purchase. Even the steelseries alternative is cheaper, which isn’t often something you can say.
I bet the sound is quite a bit better however, as Turtle beach are renowned for their audio quality. well worth the money. I have one of their sounds cards and it is brilliant.
For PC – I have/use the previous Turtle Beach 5.1 headphones, as well as a set of Zalmans and a set of Tritton 5.1s. The Trittons were the most expensive, least comfortable, tinniest sounding of the three.
These new Turtle Beach Z6A headphones look *SUSPICIOUSLY* like the AWFUL Tritton AX360 set. Try wearing these for 4 hours of CS, and get back to me about their comfort level.
The only saving grace of these headphones is probably that they’re using the same speakers for both front and rear. The Trittons use a smaller driver in the rear, which makes directionality very pronounced – mostly due to the fact that sounds from the rear sound tinny and horrible.
I’m really curious to this new set out and see if they are any more comfortable (doubtful, it’s the same design), or sound better (likely, due to the consistent speaker size) than the Trittons.
Also, FWIW – the Turtle Beach Amps have the same pinout as the Trittons and I can plug my Trittons into the Turtle Beach Amp. This and the common design I’ve noted, suggests that both companies use the same manufacturing source. Tritton’s “digital” amp is noisy compared to the Turtle Beach Amp.
@FiveOneHeadphoneFanatic:
Interesting. Do you think that Tritton 5.1 with smallest rear speakers have a better directional sound?
this or steelseries siberia v2’s?
I’ve had this headset for a few months now, and I know I am a little late on this, but i’m looking for a new headset and wanted to find reviews of this product as a base for other products. These head phones are not comfortable at all on the top of my head after a few hours of gaming. They leave my head sore the bands pad flattens very fast and all the weight is on the top of your head. The audio is great, the mic is extremely sensitive, be careful with any back round noise and the boom is hard to adjust right where you want it. The reason i am getting a new pair is because the adjustable part between the head band and the ear cup, is apparently super brittle and it snapped tonight. I am not hard on headsets at all, it slipped off my desk after I bumped this wobbly desk they fell, and the band snapped from the weight of the headphones falling, they are connected through the bottom of the left ear. Never dropped before, always on my desk with nothing around them, I am sad they were uncomfortable but actually upset they broke. I figured I would share my experience with anyone who finds this review.
Just bought these headphones for my home setup last week, and was VERY impressed with them. The sound quality was great in my opinion, and since the channels can be configured independently, the surround was excellent after adjustment. Surround effect is definately noticible (left for dead was my test for that, and I always knew where the shrieks were coming from, especially when teammates were shooting from behind me) and the richness of the bass (sub) was on par with my amplifier itself. Of course since each channel has it’s own speaker set, the clarity is FAR better than a standard headphone setup where all channels get mixed into 2 speakers and start interfering with each other…a point I’m surprised wasn’t mentioned. When watching a DVD in 5.1 surround, the same richness and surround was also noticible (of course) and so recommended for movie experiences as well!
Controls were easy to use, though a slightly longer cord between the volume box and the headphones themselves would have been nice. Maybe they sell an extension to their properity connection? Don’t know…
Not sure why some people say it’s uncomfortable…I was using them all night on the weekent (literaly 10PM to 5AM) and had no issues at all. The only thing that hurt was my eardrums, but that was becasue I like the subwoofer high, so can’t blame ’em for that one.
Overall HIGHLY recommended for those who like surround sound and don’t want to wake the others in your area in the middle of the night.
Yup seems to be the Norm! CHEAP plastic, 2 hrs use right ear snapped from band, 2 weeks left ear, 1 month mic knackered, was refused refund! then tried to resin, now duct tape! seems to be the norm for this product, never got to really test the 5.1 surround sound! They substituted cheap plastic instead of a re-enforced metal band to obviously lower costs of making but in the process have lost thousands of customers to the overlooked shody design! first time customer and last time! shame!!!
Same problem, both ears broke off in less than a month, and the connection on the volume control box is a bit tricky… duct tape has done wonders, need to add a roll in the box when they sell them, lol