Well stop reading this review now, fatso, wipe the Doritos off your keyboard and start begging some goon to go steal things for you. If, however, you want the next best thing, then eDimensional has you covered. Featuring a bass-boosting force feedback unit, a noise reducing microphone and crisp speakers, the AudioFX Force Feedback Gaming Headset is the latest in a series of products bringing new experiences to PC gaming. Despite a few less-than-nifty LEDs and the occasional quirky death-rattle, this is a piece of hardware that any serious gamer should consider.

Shook Me All Night Long
It's all about the rumble. If you own a subwoofer you'll know what I'm talking about. From those sonic joys you've got pumping out of Winamp to the comforting blast of your AWP, an audio system without a bottom end that shakes your room is no audio system at all. But, as any seasoned gamer will know, rarely will a surround sound system match up to a good pair of 3D headphones in terms of pin-pointing enemy's whereabouts. And so, as if it was the result of some cruel joke by the computer gaming gods, we are forced to choose between a cool rumbling bass and actually knowing where that bloody camper is shooting from.

But do not lose heart, for the answer is here.

The Way You Look
First impressions are always important, and the AudioFX headset comes out with guns a-blazing. Sleek and shiny, the conventional but still slick silver-black colours easily fit in with any colour scheme you're trying to keep. Unless we're talking fuchsia, lavender and salmon, in which case you don't deserve these headphones. On the side of each speaker there are also a set of coloured LEDs that let any jealous bystanders know just how extreme your audio experience is. Bass-sensitive LEDs might be your thing, but, personally, I'm just glad I can't see the things while I'm wearing the headphones.

Around 35cm (13in) down from the left earphone hangs a handy little control that adjusts the volume and rumble on the fly. The vibrate and LED on/off switch can be especially useful while you swap between music and games. While there is a dial accompanying the switch adjust the amount of rumble, I haven't had a need to bring it down from full — even after extended periods of time the vibration hasn't caused any discomfort. At the end of the sufficiently long cable lies a three-way connection that plugs into the headphones, microphone and USB ports. Three ports may be a bit of a hassle for some, but the split in the cable is made long enough for the ends to reach any headphone jacks/spare USB ports you need to plug in to.

Feelin' Groovy
While I had initial worries concerning the weight of all that super-cool gear hanging on my head, I was soon relieved to find the headphones no heavier than the average set. They are easily adjusted at the side to accommodate any conceivable size of head, and the speakers sit snugly around the outside of the ears. As is the case with most headphones, this snug fit can cause your ears to get a little cosy after a few hours of extreme gaming, but nothing too uncomfortable. All appropriate parts are covered in a good amount of padding — enough to allow for hours of pain-free gaming, but not too much as to stop all those phat beats from making it to your jaw.

All that padding also does a good job of blocking out pretty much all background noise. I even bashed on my drum kit to some music playing through these for an hour or so, and my ears were ringing more from the volume I had the music at than from the drums themselves. The headphones achieve the reverse fairly effectively as well — the noise coming out of these while someone else has these on is significantly dampened.

Sound Quality - Gaming
For me, sound effects in games serve two purposes: to let you know who's shooting what where, and to add to the overall atmosphere of the game, making it more fun. The AudioFX headphones handle both of these aspects amazingly well.

One of the first things I noticed after joining a Counter-Strike: Source game was my newfound ability to track people through walls and objects by legitimate means. The headset's directional clarity is superb — above or below, left or right, in front or behind, I could tell almost immediately how far away and in what direction my enemy was. In Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, the sources of explosions, voices and spells could be heard with precision. From the soft crunch of a distant boot on snow to the explosion of a SLAM next to my right ear, the AudioFX never missed a beat.

But, you say, I can get positional audio in any good set of headphones. But here is where the headset really comes into its own — immersing you in the game. You're not really in the game until you feel your head shake every time your neighbour squeezes the trigger on his AWP. While I didn't find the force feedback to be of much tactical advantage (I have never felt it rumble at anything I can't already hear), it certainly makes a game more entertaining.

The microphone attached is also great for in-game use. Fully adjustable, it is easily positioned in front of the mouth, just out of the way of the nose. Exciting stuff. The quality of sound produced by the mic is more than enough for any simple recording or voice recognition purposes, and, well, let's just say the Miles codec from CS:S will butcher any sounds you make better than a microphone ever could.

Sound Quality - Music
First of all, in terms of pure audio quality, the AudioFX is exceptional. As I expected from the sounds they were making in-game, when I fired up Winamp the headset did not fail to impress. While sometimes a touch bass-heavy with some more mellow tunes, the sounds produced were crystal clear from the lowest to the highest volumes - completely free from any distortion. Acknowledging these headphones are designed primarily for gaming, the quality of the audio produced in music is excellent — easily comparable to that of headphones in similar and even slightly dearer price ranges.

For the most part, the AudioFX's force feedback feature also enhanced my musical experience. You can feel it as the bass and drums hit out their rhythms, with no loss to sound quality. I did encounter one small problem however. On some of the quieter songs, with both the volume and vibrate on full, the headset would start vibrating quite strongly on seemingly random bass notes. Because of the quieter song I could actually hear the relatively soft buzz of the force feedback pack doing its thing. The eDimensional website notes that the Audio FX's bass amplifier interprets frequencies below 20Hz and transforms them into vibrations that we can feel through the headphone earpiece. Now, I'm no sound engineer, but I don't know how many sub-20Hz sounds are being produced by my The Beatles - Michelle. Either way, while I still leave the rumble on during my music playing, it's probably a good idea to take it off for quieter songs.

Talkin' About a Revolution

The advertisements are certainly right — vibration is good. I was tempted to pass the force feedback off as a gimmick, until, after using the headset for a few days, I found that playing without them was almost unnerving. The vibration adds such a real new element to gameplay, and using the computer without them is akin to cleaning my teeth without bristles on the toothbrush. Give the AudioFX Force Feedback Gaming Headset a try — you won't look back.

related links

• Official eDimensional Website (http://www.edimensional.com/)
  
• Buy the AudioFX Gaming Headset (http://www.edimensional.com/product_info.php?ref=290&products_id=30&affiliate_banner_id=78)