Creative WoW Wireless Headset Review: I’m Deaf – And Scary!
By Ditte (Jerelyn) Korsgård, OnRPG Journalist
I’m now deaf, and it’s the Creative Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headsets fault.
My dear boyfriend gave me this new headset for Christmas because the old one had died a horrible, horrible death. Something with the wheels of my office chair and the left side speaker not getting along quite as expected – it was ugly. Don’t ask.
Unboxing this little beauty was nice and easy. Cut the little piece of tape at the bottom and lo and behold after opening the front flap, it was right there in its full battlesuit of “easy-to-remove” plastic covering. No fiddling with a scissors to unwrap it nor cutting my fingers on the hard plastic while swearing and getting increasingly frustrated. What is up with that kind of wrapping anyway? I’m happy that Creative thought of this, so I can get right down to business and start using my new headset immediately. Almost.
So, I picked up my new, fairly light headset and seeing it is wireless there should be a little Bluetooth USB pen that the headset connects with. I couldn’t find it at first, but rattling the carton I figured it must be in one of the side pockets. In one side was a small screwdriver and in the other, the USB pen and the detachable microphone. What.. a screwdriver…? Ah right! The headset comes with two sets of World of Warcraft faction lenses to attach to the sides of the speakers. One for the Horde. And one for the Alliance. These can be changed around using the before mentioned screwdriver. There’s also an ordinary USB to Mini USB cable to charge the headset between uses or even while I use it.
Included is also a very nice, good quality carry bag, with the World of Warcraft logo on the front and the Creative Sound Blaster logo on the back. Well, I guess that kind of depends how you turn it. Inside the carry case are two, small pouches attached to the sides, to hold the mic and the screwdriver. Nah just kidding! They’re for the USB pen and the screwdriver ;-).
Seeing this is my very first Wireless Headset, I figured that RTFM might be a good idea. This is very informative! For instance under “Removing the headset lenses” is says: “To remove the headset lenses from the headset, use the supplied mini flat screwdriver to gentry pry the lens off the cup as shown in the diagram”. I haven’t managed to “gently pry” anything without actually ruining it but I gave it a go, and the lenses are fairly easy to remove and reattach – without casualties. The manual gives useful links and a quick start guide to setup the bluetooth connection. Setting up the wireless is fairly easy.
I downloaded the Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset Pack for my OS from the Sound Blaster website, which quickly gave me the World of Warcraft Audio Control Panel. Now THAT is epic! You can control and setup the THX TruStudio PC sound technology and speaker illumination as you please. Crank up the bass, it’s fantastic! However the best part is without a doubt the VoiceFX technology, with which I can change my voice into a variety of World of Warcraft voices like for instance Blood Elf Male and Mal’Ganis. But let’s be realistic, there’s no reason to use any other voice overlay than Mal’Ganis. It is genuinely scary! We played around with it a bit and it is hilarious!
And now to the part you’ve all been waiting for. The headset is very comfortable and super light weight, considering how massive it looks. It sits nicely on your head and it is very easy to forget that I’m wearing a headset. Not having an additional wire crawling around your neck and desktop further enhances this. Also the large ear cups conveniently blocks out soft ambient noices like for instance boyfriends and pets, so I can concentrate on gamesounds and music.
The mic picked up every sound in the room until I changed the settings. My cats meowing as Mal’Ganis was – to put it frank – very scary! Now it only records my own voice and broadcasts it crispy clear. However not being able to move the mic into any another position annoys me a bit, but I’ll just detach it when it’s not in use. There’s a tiny little bit of interference on the sound, but this is mainly due to my system setup and nothing that bothers me at all. The Surround Sound is silky smooth regardless of what I’m listening to. The headset definitely deliver a fantastic sound, even though it is wireless.
So far the only downside is the volume up and down buttons on the side of the headset speaker. The buttons are easy to click, but hard to find. They do not stand out in any way and unfortunately that makes me search for them a bit too long for it to be worth it. I currently just use the master volume of the computer to turn the volume up and down. The on/off and mic mute/connect buttons are easier to locate and use. The Bluetooth USB connector could’ve had light at the top or at the minimum on both sides as it’s not very easy to see if it is turned away from me.
All in all it’s a great headset and definitely worth the money for a World of Warcraft fangirl. Not only because of the awesome World of Warcraft branding but also because of the Wireless awesomeness. Now I just need the Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Tap ChatTM for the ultimate experience. Meanwhile I’ll abuse the Mal’Ganis voice overlay on my guildies. Do not underestimate the Mal’Ganis voice overlay!
“You hear the voice of the Dark Lord. He whispers to you through the blade you wield… What does he say, young human? What does the Dark Lord of the Dead tell you now?”
