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audiofx gaming headset
review: audiofx gaming headset
If I were to take a wild stab in the dark, I would have to say that 99% of the male patrons of this site have sat and stared at the ad for the AudioFX at least once. What's that, you say you're a Nationalist and have ads disabled? Boy, you have no idea what you're missing out on then!

All drooling aside, the AudioFX headset by eDimensional comes with the tag line of "vibration is good." I guess it's my job to provide to you, the fine readers of CS-Nation, my personal take on just how good vibration can be.

It's All in the Looks

Meet the AudioFX!
Oh the joys of receiving a new piece of computer hardware. The visual luster of untainted plastic, the feel of padding that has yet to be broken in from hours of gaming, the salty taste of... Well, maybe not the taste so much as everything else.

Meeting someone for the first time is not a great indicator as to how well they may perform at their job. Simply put, first impressions can lead to horrible situations down the road, often involving lawsuits and jail time, but that's a story for another time. With that in mind, I just couldn't help myself in detailing my first thoughts of the headset before I ever placed them on my head.

Since headsets are an essential part of every non-casual gamer's life, it should come as no surprise that functionality will surpass the general aesthetic look of a device more often than not. Thankfully that isn't the case with the AudioFX. It isn't bright and flashy, or featuring the color scheme for Counter-Strike, but it does have a nice monochromatic look that should appeal to almost everyone.

To hold it, you'll notice that the headset actually feels quite solid in your hands. It doesn't have so much weight that it feels like you're holding a brick, but it's not exactly as light as a feather either. This will probably come as good news to those of you worried about neck strain with this headset on.


If this won't fit your head, nothing will
People with all shapes and sizes of heads will be pleased to hear about the wide range of size adjustments available on the headset. The size adjustment has noticeable increments numbered 1 through 12 on both sides. Should someone else make use of your headset, it's always simple to remember what size number you were using and quickly adjust back to fit your head.

The headphone portion alone seems to feature a lot of comfortable padding. The attached microphone is located on the left speaker and will rotate from an upright position situated snuggly against the rest of the headset, down to the typical location in front of the user's mouth. Enough with the general aesthetics, on to actually pumping some life into the headset!

Set Up and Tweaking

You plug these into your computer... Simple, no?
Setting up the AudioFX is simple. Really, no lie! To install this headset I had to plug in the inputs marked "SPK" for the speakers and "MIC" for the microphone into the corresponding jacks in the back of my computer. The USB was plugged into a vacant USB port (previously occupied by my old USB microphone). Aside from ensuring Windows is set to "Stereo headphones" there is no more to be done in terms of setup.

Now, there are many of you who may be thinking to yourself, "Zips, why are there three connections for this headset? That's just too much!" Fret not dear reader, as each connection serves a unique purpose! As previously mentioned, the two primary connections are for the microphone and speaker functionalities. The USB connection actually serves two functions. First off, it's the very life force behind the vibration feature of the headset. Secondly, it provides the headset with a little bit of color by way of a sound intensity LED display.

Some users should ensure they are plugging the connections into the correct jacks. The colors on the AudioFX plugs did not correspond perfectly with my computer's audio solution. I make good use of my nForce 2 onboard sound, and because of this the microphone corresponded to a pink connection and the speakers corresponded to a blue connection in the back of my PC.

The method of setting this headset up may cause a problem for some people. To utilize every feature of the headset you must plug this headset into the back of your computer via the three connections. If you aren't too concerned about the vibration function, the LED equalizer, nor the use of the mic, then you can easily plug in the connection for the speakers into your desktop speakers' headphone jack.