Thermaltake eSports Shock One PC Headset Review

Bundled with the headset you will find some custom software, I wanted to leave this seperate from my regular tests as its more of an added extra than anything else, with it you can adjust everything from the equalizers, enviroment simulation, volume and DTS surround sensation.

The environment setting allows you to switch between settings like club, auditorium, bathroom, chruch etc, all apply different amounts of echo and reverb to the sound, while a lot of audio devices come with this feature, I’ve yet to find any practical application for the results, why would you need to add heavy echo to your sound and does any one use this kind of feature? answers in the comments section please.

Next up we have the EQ, a very handy feature, after my testing of the headset in games like Battlefield 3 I did think the bass sounded immense, but it does wear your ears out after a while, selecting the preset “FPS” which boosts the higher frequencies does solve the problem, but I find manually reducing the lower frequencies and leaving the treble flat provided better results.  The other presets do much the same for their respective genre but I really only found the need to reduce the base a tiny bit to obtain best results across all my tests.

Next up we have the DTS Surround Sensation option, I was sceptical about this feature as soon as I read it, I’ve had a couple of high end AV receivers that can give a moderately convincing surround effect on stereo headphones, but being a bit of a purest I’ve never found one that I would use day to day, this is much the same really, it does have a heck of a WOW factor to it though, listening to music with the music setting on does increase the stereo width, bass response and give an “enhanced” sound, but as far as it being better or not is a matter of personal taste, I didn’t much care for it, but extra (optional) features are always welcome.

The software also allows you to test your audio settings, giving you little sound samples played back through each ear so you can judge your settings, I found it easier to play some music or alt+tab from my game while making changes as all the settings are applied in real-time anyway, but its a very handy feature and fine tuning your headset to get that perfect sound.

There is also a functional stop watch, not entirely sure what or when you might need this, but should you need it, the software is ready for the job.

Did anyone else notice a typo on the software screenshot, I’m pretty sure it should say “PRESETS” where it says “PRESENTS”, unless someone knows a reason why this might be right?