This week we have a review from Turtle Beach. If you are a cave dweller who has somehow never heard of Turtle Beach I will now humor you. Turtle Beach is an audio hardware company based in New York and was established in 1975. With over 25 years of experience designing drivers, headsets accessories and all things audiophile.
Up for review today is the Ear Force X12 headset. This headset is designed for use on the Xbox 360 and supports PC use as well, more on this later. The Ear Force X12s, come in Turtle Beach’s signature green packaging.
Packaging
The X-12′s arrive in black and green packaging with a clear dicut for viewing of the headset, and controls. The X-12′s packaging is structurally strong enough for shipping, with many piece of cardboard taped together. Below are Specifications for the set, direct from Turtle Beach.
Packaging 02
Manufacturer’s Specifications:
Headset
- 50mm diameter Headsets with neodymium magnets
- Headset Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz, >120dB SPL @ 1kHz
- Condenser Microphone Frequency Response: 50Hz – 15kHz
- Cable length: 16 ft. (4.87m)
- Weight: 6.4 oz (233g)
In-line Amplifier
- Headphone Amplifier: Stereo DC-coupled, 35mW/ch, THD <1%, Frequency Response: DC – 30kHz
- Bass Boost: Variable up to +12dB@150Hz
- Mic mute switch
- Maximum analog input level with volume control on maximum setting: 2Vpp (700mV rms)
- 3.5mm plug for line input
- 3.5mm plug for mic output
- 2.5mm XBOX 360® controller input jack
- USB connector for power (5VDC @ <60mA max)
- Dimensions: Height .5in (1.27cm), Width 2in (5.08cm), Depth .75in (1.905cm)
System Requirements
- Xbox 360 console with AV cable to support analog audio output:
- HDMI Configuration- HDMI audio adapter cable (dongle)
- Standard Def- Advanced SCART AV cable
- Available USB port
Package Dimensions
- 8.75 x 6.75 x 3.75 (inches)
The packaging was relitivly easy to unpack, and held everything securely.
Packaging 03
The manual for the headset is easy to understand with intuitive illustrations.
Ear Force X12 Manual
Cables
Turtle Beach provided cables X-12 for connecting your headset to the XBOX360. The headset requires power via a USB connection, this works well for both the XBOX 360 and PC.
Ear Force X12 Cables 01
Ear Force X12 Cables 02
Controls
The Earforce X12 headset has a control hub on the cord that allows you to control your Chat Volume, Game Volume, and Bass as well as a toggle allowing you to mute the headset.
Ear Force X12 Cables. Connectors, and controls
The Ear Pieces
The Ear Pieces on the X12 headset are made from a soft mesh fabric that provides enough clearance between the driver and ear that long gaming (3+ hour) sessions were comfortable.
Turtle Beach tastefully placed its logo over the drivers.
Ear Force X12 In ear Decal
Headset Adjustments
The X-12′s is quite adjustable, the ‘neck’ of the set adjusts about an inch, as well as pivoting about 15 degrees in either direction. This makes the X-12s quite secure.
