Xbox 360 Wireless Headset Communicator

The “earloop” design is a little unsettling at first, but with a little readjusting it will fit quite comfortably (for many people, anyway). It does happen to be twice the size of most Bluetooth headsets currently available, but since this is the first wireless headset for the Xbox 360, I’ll give them a little bit of leeway. Also, the lightweight nature of its design somewhat negates this fact. The unit also has no problems connecting with a 360 controller either. The real fault actually comes from using the headset on Xbox Live. You won’t really notice any difference hearing other people than if you are using the regular wired headset, but the microphone is just the way too sensitive. While hosting a number of games, I noticed every once in a while there was a player whose microphone would seem to pick up a constant string of background noises, if not, the player breathing himself. That players mic always seemed to be constantly sending feedback (or white noise), as if they were constantly rubbing up against the mike. I now learned that it was actually a byproduct of the Wireless Headset itself, not the fact that someone just had and “over-sensitive” mic. Now that I knew the problem was in fact the wireless headset itself, I found that the only thing you could do was to turn it OFF and then back ON again, which would alleviate the problem. Depending upon which game you’re using at the time, this might happen to you at least once every two hours. Yet, on other games it might not happen at all.

It’s nice and having a wireless headset, but if you like to play a lot of Xbox Live (20+ hours a week), you might just want to stay with the standard wired headset. It might have an extra lyre going from the headset tier controller, but if you’re like most people you probably don’t really find it in the way that much. Unfortunately, since Microsoft has proprietary technology on any wireless product, will have to wait until they decide to fix the problem themselves. Honestly, just find yourself a normal headset for around $10-15 and you’ll never have any trouble, because even though the wireless headset has dropped in price recently, it’s really not worth the frustration at even $40. besides, we’ll probably see a “streamlined” wireless headset version for Microsoft not too long from now — then we don’t need to deal with that “earloop” thing.

3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but not quite
I purchased this to replace a wired headset that came with my Xbox 360. I thought that this would be perfect for me but it turned I was wrong.

I picked up MS’s new wireless headset a couple of days ago. I have to say I was very impressed with the unit. It is small, light, and all things considered, comfortable to wear. I hopped on Gears of War and it worked like a charm. I could hear everyone crystal clear.

*However*….during the game, a few people were complaining about racket. They said it sounded like someone’s tv was too loud…..or perhaps a fan was going in the background. I came to discover in the lobby, that my in-game voice-active indicator (the little cartoon bubble that appears over your character when you speak) was ALWAYS on. That was a clear indication to me that it was *I* who was responsible for the racket.

Everyone yelled at me and said it was very distracting. I turned my TV all the way down, and my fan was off. It was *completely silent* in my room, but it was still happening. I ended up having to switch to my old headset to keep from annoying everyone.

On a side note – a friend of mine also bought one (before me) and I remember telling him the same thing (“turn your TV down……….turn your fan off…”). Even he said it wasn’t loud, and the fan was off.

All in all, this headset is a big disappointment. The people with whom you play will be very irritated with you due to the constant “buzzing” sound coming from your mic. I have a feeling I’m going to be muting a lot more people now that this mic is available for retail purchase. I would stay away from this mic and wait for second generation…

1.0 out of 5 stars
Constantly can’t be heard
bought this item thinking I could get rid of my wired headset. NOT THE CASE.
The mic only starts to work about half way through your statement.

5.0 out of 5 stars
Much better than wires
If you are like me and like everything wireless for less clutter and problems with limited distance because of wires, then this is the headset for you.

1.0 out of 5 stars
For how long it works, it is not worth it!
At first I loved this headset. It was very simple, looked good, it was compact, wireless, and its volume was great.