The Sharkoon Xtatic Headset arrived and I played two games of Modern Warfare 2 with them. Sound quality is great, although mid to high range sounds are missing a bit of “oomph”. They need a bit more bass. The subwoofer does a great job with booming explosions however!
Unfortunately at this time of day it was really hard to find a game, so I had to play on rust where it’s so small that players are all around you making noise. The next game on Favela was better, and I clearly heard footsteps clomping up the stairs 
All in all, my first impressions are good, the sound is immersive. I noticed the wind blowing on rust and other atmospherics that I never heard before when playing with a stereo headset. There are a ton of settings I don’t know about so I’ll need to experiment with those to find the best ones.
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David Nicol (37 comments.) on March 2, 2010 at 1:46 pm.
Hooray! Now for the big question – are they worth the money? Or is it to early to tell?
Donncha (46 comments.) on March 2, 2010 at 1:55 pm.
They’re a huge step up from my stereo headphones, but it’s probably too early to tell. Just think back to the first time you set up a 5.1 surround sound system in your living room? Remember the difference? The immersion, sound all around? It’s really like that.
I think it’ll be harder to quantify if they’re worth the money because they’re definitely a luxury item. I’d never consider them a must-have-item when a pair of stereo headphones do a reasonable job.
I’m looking forward to trying them on the PS3 and playing a few movies. I have the Band of Brothers Bluray boxset that will probably sound great, and I think Saving Private Ryan is there somewhere, though that’s on DVD so it’ll play just as well on the Xbox!
Donncha (46 comments.) on March 3, 2010 at 12:33 am.
It might be because I’m playing so late (didn’t boot up the Xbox until after midnight) and I’m tired but the headphones only helped me die in glorious surround sound. I was clearly able to hear more but the lobbies I joined seemed to be filled with augmented players with bionic reflexes and superb aim. *sigh*
Donncha (46 comments.) on March 3, 2010 at 10:58 am.
I will say this for them. I can hear the footsteps of my team on the other side of the central building on derail, and anyone crunching through snow is *very* loud. When I don’t use Ninja pro my footsteps sound very loud.
The clink clink of the fencing around the generators on that level is a lot more noticeable as well.
If you have the money to spare, they’ll make your gaming a lot more enjoyable