Turtle Beach Ear Force W3 Review
Wireless headphones designed just for the Wii.
by Gerry Block
May 17, 2007 - There are times in a gamer´s life when the urge to get some gaming done doesn´t jibe well with environmental circumstances, particularly a necessity to stay quiet. Trying to play with a muted TV is a weak alternative, and in some games is pretty much impossible. What´s a volume-oppressed player to do? Seek liberation via wireless headphones, that´s what.
Turtle Beach identified this need a while ago and has been producing wireless headphones specifically designed for various gaming consoles. We reviewed the 360-inspired X2 Headset last year (review) and today we´ve got our hands on the newest release, the Ear Force W3s for the Nintendo Wii.
As opposed to the large, bulky, and microphone equipped X2s, the Ear Force W3s are a much lighter over-the-ear design befitting the active style of Wii play. The design makes for relatively comfortable wear thanks to the relatively lightweight of the speakers. Owners of normal sized heads will be unlikely to have any problems with the headphones falling off, and they didn´t end up hurting our ears after 30-minute play sessions.
Installation involves wiring in the base station in-line with the Wii´s stereo-RCA output. The W3´s audio jacks are able to pass signals though thanks to dual-entry jacks, essentially allowing a console to be plugged into the wireless base station and the TV without extra wiring or rearrangement in switching between normal sound and the headphones.
Unfortunately, Turtle Beach did not go so far as to make the jump to Bluetooth wireless for the link between headphones and base station. Instead, the connection is old-school infrared, which is subject to serious line-of-sight issues. While the connection can be solid when the user is facing the base station, when turning away or allowing an obstruction to obstruct the line between headphones and base station a great deal of static breaks the connection, and the immersive quality of being absorbed in a game. Given that the Wii is an active-play console, the annoyance of infrared interference is even greater than what we encountered with the X2s and the 360´s more sedentary play style.
One of our testers also discovered that the infrared transmissions of the base station can actually confuse Wii-remotes into believing the Wii´s Sensor Bar has moved. This is a major hassle since the base station should ideally sit very near the TV so as to allow for the best line-of-sight connection. When we were forced to move the base station away from the display to avoid confusing the Wiimote the angled connection between it and our headset was never completely free from interference and we were maddened by constant hissing, drop-out, and distracting pops.
Conclusion
In moments of good connections the sound quality of the Ear Force W3s was good, but such moments were few and far between. We must conclude that Turtle Beach´s decision to go with an infrared wireless connection was not wise, especially in the case of a product supposedly designed with the active-play Wii in mind. Bluetooth would have been a far superior wireless option, and though it would have no doubt increased costs, the Ear Force W3s are already relatively expensive at $59.95.
IGN´s Ratings for Turtle Beach Ear Force W3
Rating Description
out of 10
3.0 Performance
Decently comfortable, but infrared wireless connection causes all manner of interference and annoyance.
7.0 Build Quality
Pretty well made and not excessively heavy. Comfortable for decently long play.
5.0 Audio Quality
When the infrared connection is solid sound quality is good. Sadly, static hiss and pops tend to obscure this quality.
8.0 Ease of Use
The inclusion of pass-through RCA cables make installations clean and convenient.
5.0 Value
$59.95 is too much for infrared wireless headphones. A better arrangement would have been Bluetooth wireless and a $100 price.
7.0 Comfort
Comfortable enough to wear for 30 minutes and more without pain.
4.0 OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)
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60 dollars...
