Plantronics GameCom X30
I was an Xbox Live beta tester and have been gaming on Xbox Live since before it officially launched. Communicating with my friends and foes via headset is such an important part of the whole Xbox / 360 experience for me that I can’t image what my gaming life would be with out it. I have forged some great relationships over the years through Xbox Live, and no solitary or single-player experience could ever come close.
This is why the good ol’ Xbox headset is so important and why I grabbed at the chance to test drive Plantronics’ funky new GameCom X30 headset ($29.95), which is being marketed directly at the Xbox 360 and Xbox gamer. What strikes you right off the bat is its unusual under-ear design. Unlike Microsoft’s official Xbox 360 over-the-head communicator or even the Xbox behind-the-head design, the X30 has a football-shaped speaker-nub with soft rubber accents that fits directly into the top of your ear canal with a soft rubber arm that fits behind the ear lobe. The idea here is to think of it as fitting like some kind or clip or “glove” of sorts. It does take a minute or so to find the best fit or angle for the in-ear speaker as it swivels 180 degrees, which also facilitates it being worn on either ear. I found for me there was definitely a sweet spot where I felt almost no pressure from the X30 and could wear it for extended gaming periods with no more fatigue than any other headset.
The boom is rather stiff but with some work can be molded to better hug the side of your face. With it being on the short side, the closest I could place the mic was approximately 2 inches from the center of my mouth. The boom rotates 180 degrees just like the speaker for both righties and lefties. The X30 boasts noise-cancelling technology, which is a welcome feature. Anyone who has spent much time gaming on Xbox Live has had to put up with that annoying gamer who has their TV or Home Theater cranked up so high that is can be heard through his mic. The fact that I will now NOT be that guy is great, but I feel it comes at a price.
The problem I encountered with my testing of the X30 was that the overall volume of my voice was on the low side. With the help of some of my Live friends, we played the “can you hear me now” game. I compared the X30 to Microsoft’s headset, and no matter how I bent or swiveled the mic boom, its overall volume was lower.
On the plus side, I was told that I did sound cleaner and clearer but also a bit thinner. Plantronics has tuned both its mics and speakers for the narrow band of human voice frequencies rather than a full range approach. This is also apparent when comparing the speakers of both the X30 and Microsoft’s. The X30 has a thinner but cleaner sound than Microsoft’s, which is fuller but somewhat muddier. Just like with my voice coming across a bit low I had to turn up the speaker all the way to get a decent volume from my friends. It would be nice to have a little headroom there, like I get with Microsoft’s headset.
Another issue to factor in with any gaming headset is how much sound from your Home Theater it blocks. With the pack-in headset being the over-the-ear type, there is some blockage that is going to occur. With the X30’s in-the-ear design I though it would be worse in this regard, but it ended up being the same. While this test was purely subjective, I felt I was not missing any more sound from my Home Theater than with Microsoft’s headset.
The X30 cord is just over three feet in length and has, at the halfway mark, a small module that houses both a mute switch and volume knob. Both work as advertised, but I feel they are not placed in a very convenient place for a gaming headset. Obviously putting them here makes the headset a bit more universal as it can be easily used on the original Xbox (with communicator module) or even a cell phone, but I feel where the Xbox 360 headset wins hands down is its placement of the volume and mute switch, right at the bottom of the controller. You don’t want to have take your eyes off the screen and worse yet take your hand off the controller in the heat of battle to fumble around with these controls.
The X30 is quite stylish and is painted the same white and gray as the Xbox 360 controller. It sports a high quality feel and does not seem cheap in any way. In a perfect world it would have the mute and volume situated just like the official Xbox 360 headset and be a little louder on both ends. As it stands now, if you are a bit of a loud talker and never feel the need to mute when chatting with others in the room, you should have no qualms with the X30. For me, these details keep it from attaining top marks.
Click HERE for a picture of the GameCom X30.
| 4/30/2006 Eric 'Jetson' Pfoutz |
