After reviewing the Plantronics RIG recently and how impressed I was about the quality, sound and how they virtually sat on your head, with almost no weight to them, can anything be better? I would say yes, how about a wireless pair, with some RGB lighting as well.
Roll up, Roll up welcome the Tactics 3D Rage Version 2, from Creative, boasting many strong features that any avid gamer would love to have,
- Superior wireless connection,
- 3D 7.1 Surround Sound,
- SBX Pro Studio,
- Scout Mode,
- 16 Hour battery life,
- And 16 million RGB colour variations,
If you are reading this review, then you either not had a creative headset or thinking of buying one, or just looking at headsets in general, right. So on the note, let’s take a look at the features.
The SBX Pro Studio is where everything comes to life, from the first tab, you can alter these features,
- Crystalizer, – This is a function that helps restore portions of sound which were lost during compression, in other words reverse the effects of dynamic range compression, which is an analog technique used in the 1990s with CDs to make sound louder.
- Surround, – This allows you to control how powerful or how well surround sound works on your headset
- Bass, – Think the name speaks for itself right? Control the amount of Bass
- Dialogue Plus, – This enhances the voices in movies/games for a more clearer dialogue, allowing you to hear the dialogue over the rest of the soundtrack.
- Smart Volume, – this consistently measure the volume and intelligently applies gain and attenuation to compensate, for changes in volume levels from track to track.
Next tab is called scout mode, scout mode allows you to hear the enemy from further away, giving you an advantage over others on the battlefield, this is great in FPS (First Person Shooter) Games.
Next tab along the line is the Equalizer, here you can choose to use the pre-defined settings or create your own preferred settings via the controls.
Next tab along is the Voice FX, something that is not seen with many headsets today, and I feel it should be added, just for the sheer fun of it. Make your voice sound like an Alien (if they sound like this) Dwarf, female, orc and many other voice, variations, or create your own, by altering the pitch, formulate, F1, F2, F3, Quiver, Modulation and Variability within the control panel.
Next panel and final panel is,Appearance, – this allows you to set the colour of the headset, the intensity of the light, pulsation and the illumination theme.
Moving past the technical section, and on to the marketing waffle, does the headset stand out, when it sat, on display, in a shop, will it catch the gamers eye? From from out set it screams wireless, and showcases all its selling features, you are also able to view the headset through a clear panel section on the front and side, giving you a good overview of what the actual product looks like, before you put your money down.
On the back, you find out that this headset uses 50mm drivers not 40mm drivers, which is great for sound quality. The microphone is detachable and noise cancelling, which is a must in todays busy lives, with TV and other sounds all around us.
One other thing you found out is this headset, does not float on your head, it has a solid metal core headband, with branding of coarse.
Marketing done and dusted, so, hands on, what are these headphones like to use, these are not lite in any way, but of coarse they not too heavy either. For gaming though, these are on par with my SteelSeries Wireless H, and I would say a little lighter, with the added benefit of RGB lighting.
You can easily control the headset volume, via the right hand head cup, turn the microphone on and off and turn the actual headset off.
There is a lot different from the SteelSeries H Wireless and these, for one, you can use the H Wireless with all console and PC and even mobile if you wish (Not Recommended) thanks to an external control system, that allows you to control all the headsets settings from Virtual Surround Sound and Equalization. This headset does not have this feature, as you can only use them on a PC and PS4 only, thanks to the headset using a USB dongle to transmit and connect the device to your system.
Charging the headset is simple as connecting the USB to Micro USB cable to the headset and either, your PC or USB plug adapter. Charging times, for a full charge, TBH not exactly sure, I out them on what I go to bed and when I wake up 6 hours later they fully charged.
These headphones are by far the loudest headphones I own, beating all my Steelseries, Razer and even the Plantronic RIG 500E headphones, this thing stamps on them. The sound quality is amazing, when in games, like Star Wars: Battlefront or Battlefield 4, the added advantages of scout mode and 7.1 Surround Sound adds depth and realism to the games, beyond any standard headset.
Listening to music and being able to control the sound via the equalizer, adds more bass, treble and other lows and highs, giving you full control over what, and how you like to listen to your music.
If you are a little put off by people hearing your real voice, or just wish to have a little fun, playing around with the Voice FX is the way to go, I used it many times already and found that this effect can be, an advantage and a disadvantage and some people do get a little annoyed by your voice but that’s their opinion.
The only real issue I have with this headset, is the padding around the ears, there just don’t seem to be enough if you ask me, they feel, tighter and less comfortable than the plantronic’s RIG 500E, this could be due to the age of these headphones, or just based on how they are made, metal band construction, which allows less flexible.
This headset is not perfect, they are not bad either, the sound quality is fantastic, the amount of features available thanks to the SBX Pro Studio adds a lot of depth and customerization, not available with many headsets.
The RGB lighting is a great added addition to this headset, makes your friends and family, open their eyes with awe, as you sit there playing with a smile on your face.
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