Everything USB Gaming Headsets
Gamers understand the value of headphones all too well: to avoid pesky restraining orders or plan a sneak attack during a LAN party, sometimes it's best to confine the sounds that populate the games we love to the space between the ears. However, anyone playing a game needs to add surround to their auditory experience, or risk missing critical (and enjoyable) audio details. One option is to go the hardware route: adding multiple drivers to each headphone cup, as Tritton did with their Audio Xtreme USB headset. But adding more hardware is expensive, so Creative is one of many companies opting for other option: simulated surround through software. Throw in a swivel-mounted microphone and a wireless receiver and you have the potential for an enclosed gamer's paradise, but potential and reality can be two very different states of being. How well do these HS-1200 X-Fi headphones work? Today, we'll find out.

Headset Design & Ergonomics

Every wireless device requires two things: a base station for transmitting and receiving signals from the wireless portion of the device and a power source. Creative solves the problem in a (pun intended) creative fashion by making the unit's base station serve double duty: the round disc that serves as the transmitter has two connected cables, each about three feet in length: a USB cable to plug into the host computer and a DC cable that plugs into the headset to charge the unit's battery (which takes about 2.5 hours). LEDs on the base station and one of the headset's ear cups glow solid blue when you have a connection, or blink blue when there are transmission issues. Although the inclusion of cables means that the HS-1200 isn't quite as wireless as it could be with, say, a USB dongle, the charging option makes the trade off more than worth the extra wiring.

The headset itself has a lightweight construction that's got some nice comfort features: a flexible headband with a padded covering, semi-detached ear cups mounted on horizontal hinges, quarter-inch plush ear protectors hugging the edge of each speaker. Besides its light mass, the HS-1200 headset adjusts on both horizontal and vertical planes to fit a good variety of head sizes.

On the side of the right ear cup are controls: contoured, individually defined buttons that power the unit on and off, answer a Skype or Windows Messenger call, and adjust the volume. The headset's status LED sits in the middle of the controls; in addition to its blue connection lights, it turns solid red when charging and blinks red when it has a low battery. In addition, the headset beeps into the ear cups when the batteries start to die, so you'll know when to plug in without disturbing anyone around you. Performance tests demonstrated that Creative's claim of an eight-hour battery life is an accurate assessment.

Attached to the left ear cup is the HS-1200's built in microphone. The microphone attaches to the headset by way of a gooseneck boom, letting you adjust the position of the microphone so it sits right in front of your mouth. On the headset end, the boom hooks into a swivel with a clever on/off switch: swing it about 50 degrees counterclockwise and the microphone activates; swing it back up clockwise and it shuts off.

I'm a fan of built-in chargers - who wants to change out a battery mid-session or have to worry about trucking down to the store to get more - but opting for the built-in battery does leave you in the lurch as the HS-1200 gets older. Eventually, that battery will fail and because the HS-1200 is an enclosed unit, you'll be out a headphone set or in for a hefty repair that'll probably cost you more than the headphones are worth. Creative uses a lithium-ion battery in the HS-1200; lithium-ion batteries can lose 20% of their capacity a year when stored at 77 degrees Fahrenheit. However, even a 20% loss per year means five years of battery life, well beyond the standard life of a piece of electronics, so the convenience is probably worth the permanent battery.

The Entertainment Mode Console

Creative provides the Entertainment Mode Console as control software, allowing you to fine tune settings on the HS-1200. Included on separate screens are bass boost controls, EAX effects selection, X-Fi CMSS-3D surround emulation selection, the X-Fi Crystalizer (an effect that boosts the highest frequencies in audio, which can sometimes improve sound), an EQ, and a simple mixer. A large volume wheel in the center of the console controls the master volume.

A list of EAX effect settings.

Enabling X-Fi Crystalizer.

The Entertainment Mode Console appears to be a piece of software used across multiple X-Fi products, which probably saves Creative in writing and supporting costs. Unfortunately, that decision makes the Entertainment Mode Console a little harder to use: because the HS-1200 only includes a very simple installation manual that does not explain any of the software options and the online manual discusses options that appear across the whole spectrum of X-Fi products (including things, like Dolby surround software, that the HS-1200 does not support), it's a little difficult to tell what the version of the Entertainment Mode Console that comes with the HS-1200 can and can't do.

Creative Entertainment Mode panel.

The volume knob is a little problematic, too. I suspect that Creative programs their software to boost audio levels the same amount across all products - both headsets and audio cards (which use speakers). If so, that would explain my findings: the HS-1200 is really loud. I kept the audio level somewhere between 2 and 4 percent because of concerns about hearing damage and I can't imagine what would happen if someone were to slip the level all the way to 100 percent.

Usability & Field Testing

Before we get into specifics of use (music versus gaming, XP versus Vista, etc.), some general notes.

• Comfort level
  Although the ear cups, which are about 2.5 inches in diameter, take some getting used when you first put them on, they're never uncomfortable, just snug. I wore the HS-1200 headset for six to eight hour stretches (with a few breaks) over several days while doing general office tasks and listening to music and I never felt any pain or compression of my ears.

• The controls
  Not only was adding an external audio control was a stroke of genius by itself, saving my ears from the vagaries of video game audio levels on several occasions, but I also love that Creative took the time to contour the buttons so they're easy to tell apart. Nothing's worse than a distraction when you're trying to frag; the HS-1200 ensures that the distraction of volume adjustment disappears as quickly as possible.

• Wireless connection
  LAN party denizens hate wireless devices: sure, they reduce clutter, but in a room full of radio signals, even a momentary connection loss can mean disaster. Besides, there's always the potential for lag. While I didn't have a room full of gamers to test these headphones, I did have the next best thing: a small room full of wireless devices. The results are good, too: the HS-1200 headset successfully maintained its 2.4 GHz connection while navigating around interference from a wireless G router, two WiFi cards, a running microwave, and a 2.4 GHz wireless phone. It might not be a torture test, but it does seem like the HS-1200 headset will stand up to most, if not all, conditions. As far as connection distance goes, Creative claims that you can stray as far as 72 feet from the base station and keep a connection; I found the real world distance was about 15 feet, or two rooms.

• The microphone
  There seems to be a problem with the microphone's recording level. Even with the recording volume at maximum in both the Entertainment Mode Console and in two of my test games (Battlefield 2142 and Call of Duty 4), I wasn't getting much of a level; barely a register in Battlefield and nothing at all in Call of Duty 4. While play testing the microphone another gamer told me he could hear me when I spoke, but this was in a fairly quiet (i.e., no gunfire) situation. Using Audacity, I recorded myself speaking in a normal voice and found that the microphone level peaks at -10 dB at about 86 Hz, which corresponds to the lower part of the speaking voice of the average male. In other words, there's a balance issue going on with the HS-1200's that may make it harder for your teammates to hear you in certain situations.

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