Long have I been using wired headphones for my Skype calls, gaming, movie watching and general PC usage. The wired option has always been the number one choice for me simply because it means that I don’t have to worry about charging the headphones and also the quality is much better…. or so I thought!
Creative got in touch and asked us to review their new Tactic 3D Rage Wireless Headphones to see if my thoughts on the wired method really were well-founded. The £70 price tag is quite high so you’d expect them to be pretty darn impressive. I’ve broken the review down into a few different sections so as to look at all the different elements that the device offers and I can take you through each in turn.
Ease of Use (Setup)
This was possibly the easiest to set up device I’ve ever plugged into my computer, taking the cable ties off the box took longer than it did to get the headphones working. I literally opened the box, took out the USB dongle, plugged it into a spare USB slot on my computer, turned on the pre-charged headphones and 30 seconds later, the device was connected and my music that I’d pre-started had begun playing through the headset. Lovely!
Sound Quality
This was an important one for me, could the wireless device live up to my previous wired devices? In a nutshell, the answer is yes, and them some! When I put on the headset, I was amazed at how good the quality really was. I’ve been using an old set of headphones which to me, were faultless but it’s only when using an up to date set like the 3D Rage that you really see how far the technology has really come.
The device uses what hey call ‘SBX Surround’ and ‘SBX Crystalizer’ which allows you to play with the 3d aspects of the sound you hear in the headphones. Playing with the 3d elements does make the movie or gaming experience an immersive one but I often find it hard to see how you can get real 3d sound from a pair of headphones. This is where the clever software comes in where you can play with EQ levels or turn on / off the 3d elements as well as playing with the headphone colours which I’ll talk about more shortly.
Comfort
This is where the headset may be let down slightly, for me at least. The device is rather large and isn’t the lightest either. The device comes with adjustable size to fit both the smallest (I have a peanut head!) and largest heads out there and I think that if you have a bigger head, you may find these a little more comfortable. The headphone section themselves are big and completely cover your ears but I found during my testing that the sound has a tendency to leak so you may want to be careful if share a room with someone in which you like listening to loud music of watching movies at volume 11.
Design and Build Quality
After using the headset for a week, I’m finding that I like it more and more and I think it’s partly due to the attention to detail in how well this has been designed. As I said in the pre-amble, I use this device for Skype as well as gaming and watching movies. The microphone is detachable and is easy to take in and out so as not to get in your way if you dont need it. The microphone also has a goose-neck so you can move it around easily along with a mute button on the front of the left earphone for muting yourself during calls or while gaming. I wouldn’t say it’s easy to find in a rush but I think the more you use it, the more you’d get used to where the buttons are. The microphone has a wind-shield which I’ve found has a tendency to fall off but you may not need it on the mic anyway.
The power switch is also on the left earphone along with a volume control which is a dial for turning up, turning down or even muting should you require it., again, not so easy to do quickly but the more you use it, the more you’d get used to it. With every turn of the dial, you get a beep signally the change in volume if you weren’t putting any audio through the headphones which is a nice touch.
I’ve not mentioned the funky lights which adorn the headset on both the earpieces so if you’re sitting in the dark, you’ll be lighting up like a Christmas tree so anyone who walks in can know that you’re well and truly plugged into whatever it is you’re doing! I do wonder if it’s worth having them light up as this must drain the battery a little quicker than it would without it but hey, they look cool! Also, if you wish to turn off the light up colours, you can do so in the software which you can download from the Creative website but that’s boring isn’t it?! Using that same software, you’re also able to change the colours on the headset to match your preference. You’ll probably never get bored as you have 16 million to choose from! In the software you can also change the pulsating speed, have it randomise the colours and change multiple other settings including EQ etc.
Finally we have battery life which according to the Creative is 16 hours but you can monitor this in the software. I’ve not used them long enough to get to the charging stage as yet but Creative supply you with a metre long USB charging cable which should be more than sufficient to charge which you can also do while using the headphones if you get caught short.
Overall Conclusion
Overall, I love these headphones a whole lot more than I thought I would. Being able to walk around a room while on a Skype call is a freeing feeling and also turning my head or moving my chair without a trailing cable is a wonderful experience! 16 hours of battery life is more than enough for even the most hardcore gamers and the fact you can charge it while you’re still using them means that you have a wired option should you get into dire straights! The £70 price tag is quite a high price to pay but the sound quality is brilliant and the build quality means this headset should last you a rather long time.
They’re a little heavy and maybe slight bulky but if you’re looking for a good quality, reliable pair of headphones, you’re not going to go wrong with these. I’ve been using the wireless set for about a week now and I’m mightily impressed, and I haven’t even played with the Voice FX which allows me to turn my voice into an Elf, an Alien Brute and multiple other characters! Lots of fun to be had here!
If you like what you hear, click here to make a purchase.
[Rating:4/5]
