Audio headsets are tricky things to evaluate even with specialized audio testing equipment. No matter what the machines say, it ultimately comes down to the ear of the beholder. We’re eclectic creatures when it comes to experiencing audio. Some folks like treble, some like good mid range, some like ear drum shattering bass, and gamers want accurate positional audio. Speaking to the latter, the Psyko Audio 5.1 Gaming Headset might your next choice. But is it more than just another gaming headset? Let’s find out!
Features and Specifications
The Psyko team consists of some of the most serious, talented audio engineers ever assembled on a single project and was a product that was two years in the making. Let’s walk through the features of the headset, unbox it, and if we’ve missed anything, we’ll cover it afterwards.
More pictures of this headset can be found in the photo gallery on the last page of the review.
Again, five individual drivers are built in to the head band that sits on your head instead of inside the ear cups. This is part of what makes the Psyko’s Waveguide Technology special and we’ll get into that in a bit. Already mentioned are the pivoting ear cups for comfort. And unlike other surround headsets, the inline 5.1 AMP boosts audio quality and contains no DSP, but provides controllable bass intensity as well as amplified audio control.
As for price, the Psyko Audio 5.1’s ring it at a premium $299 US, but we’ve found them for as low as $239.99 US on Amazon. While there are many cheaper headsets, some with surround as well, we’ll attempt to see if the price is justified.
More on the WaveGuide Technology
In a nutshell, this technology essentially combines the audio frequencies that are traveling down both the front and rear pair of individual channels. This helps separate and produce realistic front and back audio. That realism is intended to give you a better perceived direction of the source of the audio, whether it be music or a video game.
The realism is so accurate that Psyko Audio has done some contract work with racing development teams. Many training facilities have utilized their expertise to train drivers who depend on the sound their race cars make to monitor how they’re running and to spot particular issues before something eliminates them from the race. This in itself is pretty impressive and has us in higher anticipation of what to expect.
Comfortable Head Gear?
Due to the heavy duty flexible materials it does weight more than normal headsets in a similar price range. Much of the weight is split between the head band and the ear cups and the thick padding and wide head band do a decent job of spreading out the weight over the top of your head. Of course you wouldn’t want to rock out too much or they’ll quickly come flying off.
The ear cups are full sized and do completely cup your ears. When properly positioned, the cups don’t put any pressure on your lobes. They would be the one part that will slide off last if you lean forward and try to shake them off. Otherwise, there’s some movement and flexing in respect to the frame, but not enough to cause issue. A clip would have been handy to tame the extra cable hanging down from the left ear cup.
The color coded audio cables use higher quality materials which makes them quite heavy. These are anchored by the AMP module which weighs enough to anchor the cables down. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for them to include a wire clip just in case the box falls off the desk.
Test System
Audio quality can vary based on the audio source and its audio processor. For this reason, I’m comparing the headset to one other headset by thoroughly testing audio quality through three separate audio sources. Here is the test system:
- Processor: Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield LGA1156
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3
- Audio Source 1: Integrated Realtek ALC889
- Audio Source 2: Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium
- Audio Source 3: BGears Enspirer (Home Theater)
- Comparison Headset: Tritton AX 51 Pro
- Memory: Patriot Memory Sector5 4GB Dual Channel DDR3
- Graphics: ZOTAC Geforce GTX 285 1GB AMP
- Storage: Patriot Memory 128GB TorqX SSD
- Power Supply: Antec CP-850 Watt
- Cooling: Thermalright VenomousX CPU Cooler
The Creative X-Fi is one of the more prominent gamer audio cards while the BGears b-Enspirer caters more towards theater quality audio and represents a more mainstream solution. The integrated audio was used to prove or disprove any recommendations for using a discrete 5.1 audio card. Our operating system of choice for all tests was of course Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate.
Installation Notes and Test Software
As far as installation, the most complicated thing you’ll have to do is match the color coded cabling from the PC AMP to your computer’s analog audio ports. Consult your sound card user manual if it’s not be color coded, or the symbols aren’t easily understood.
The games of choice for testing were Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. The computer system was running the X-Fi Titanium using the 2.17.0008 driver while the B-Enspirer Dolby/DTS capable audio card used the latest 10.23.2009 driver.
5.1 Gaming Performance
When wearing the headset, it was interesting that we all needed was a little time to get use to the 5.1 audio whether using the X-Fi audio card or integrated audio. The reason is that most of our ears are accustomed to typical stereo head sets which may simulate surround audio so our ears need a bit of re-programming of sorts. The Psyko Audio 5.1 brought out so much ambient audio compared to the comparison headset (Tritton AX 51 Pro) that it was very tricky getting used to discerning the localized audio nearest you. But, once you get use to it, it’s pretty freaking epic!
Some audio does escape due to the plastic pivoting ear cup and the loss in mid-range results in a metallic echo (or empty helmet echo) not experienced in the AX 51 Pro. However, adjusting some of the equalizer frequencies and/or automated sound genre settings helped cancel out much of it. Furthermore, covering the pivoting cup wall with some sound dampening material trapped much of the mid-range and deepened the base a bit and others around me could no longer hear escaping audio.
On the other side of the coin, some of that echo actually helped the stronger ambient audio effects stand out in games. Left 4 Dead 2 and Fear all have really creepy audio effects that influence the game experience. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the audio right out of the box for these games. And, if not, just make a few adjustments to set to your preference.
The Psyko Audio 5.1 in Music and Movies
Keeping in mind that this is completely extra credit as this is a “gaming headset” and not a “Hi-Fi” headset, we took them for a musical spin. The BGears b-Enspirer audio card offers Dolby Digital, Dolby Prologic II, or DTS which does well with music and movies. The Psyko Audio 5.1 are surprisingly accurate and clear with music encompassing a wide array of genres. I found them to be very responsive especially when manipulating individual audio frequencies via the software equalizer and effect settings. Movie quality was nothing short of impressive.
The X-Fi card produced strong gaming performance, music was similar in stereo mode and slightly flatter with all speakers active. Unfortunately, the integrated Realtek audio was less capable and won’t satisfy audiophiles. But, the headset’s PC AMP at least helps boost the clean volume levels where the integrated audio sounds best. Users with a less discerning ear will most likely find this to be more than acceptable.
Final Thoughts
Great audio really can give you an edge in game. Like many top of the line headsets, the Psyko Audio 5.1 Gaming Headset work best with a decent discrete audio card. In our experience the better the source quality, the better the quality of the sound in the headset. Though it may take a little time to reprogram your nervous system to accept the exceptionally accurate audio it’s definitely worth it. Chances are you’ll hear things in game you never knew existed and you’ll be able to hear a great deal more accuracy in positional audio which is bad for your opponents.
What stands out most about the Psyko Audio 5.1 design are the ear cups which make use of the unique WaveGuide Technology which helps direct each channel’s individual audio directly to the ear. Unfortunately, a small amount of audio also escapes because of the ear cups. On the same note, the WaveGuide feature produced especially noticeable clarity when listening to some elite “muzak”. The headset really brings out the detail in just about any genre of music when coupled with a discrete high quality Dolby/DTS friendly audio card.
Ultimately, it’s going to come down to what you’re willing to pay for in an extremely accurate pro gaming headset. You can spend $75 to $100 on a utilitarian headset for gaming which probably fine for casual gaming. Or you can treat your ears to the tune of $299 US or less for this ultimate gaming headset. It’ll definitely give you an unfair advantage and comes highly recommended by us if you can put together the scratch.
Pros
- Innovative WaveGuide Technology
- Unique Psyko Audio design
- Extremely accurate positional 5.1 audio
- Extremely crisp music quality
- Great frequency response
- Comfortable ear cups
- You’ll hear things you’ve never heard before!
Cons
- Needs wider head band padding
- Has some metallic or helmet echo which can be annoying
- Some audio escapes from the ear cups
- Premium price at $299 US
Overall Rating: 8.5 / 10.0
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