Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsGood for VR and Entertainment, even better for Work!
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2015
[Updated with VIRTUAL REALITY notes at the bottom]
I'm a long-term owner of this headset and I've used it in various capacities. I was surprised that it's become my convenient go-to audio hardware for everything but driving and working out. Here are some of my notes when a friend recently asked me for a headset recommendation:
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The headset I own and use daily at my desk is the Turtle Beach Ear Force Z300 Wireless Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound PC Gaming Headset (TBS-6060-01) . It's currently $128.95 on Amazon Prime (normal full price is about $200, or $179.95 on the Turtle Beach website).
Here's why I like it:
***You don't have to switch headsets for different tasks because it allows input simultaneously from two wireless inputs (PC and bluetooth/phone). This one headset does it all, even at the same time if you want it to. For example, you can have music streaming from your PC during a bluetooth phone call and the other party can't hear it. Or, you can be on a PC call/chat and still be able to pick up a cell phone call via bluetooth.
***It's worked flawlessly for going on two years and still looks basically new.
***It's is comfortable for wearing all day and it blocks out some external noise with padded ear cups.
***I plug it in when I leave my desk for the day and I've never come close to running out of battery.
***As headphones, the sound quality is pretty good; the "surround" sound is surprisingly convincing for a headset.
***The PC wireless feature is good enough for wandering around a room, though it starts to break up if you go two or three walls over. Bluetooth seems to reach a little farther, like any bluetooth headset, though this range can depend more on your phone.
I've done some research and I literally have not found a single other headset that can do all tasks well enough that I would only need one headset. It has to be PC compatible (as opposed to XBox, PS4, etc.), wireless, have surround sound, have a boom mic, have bluetooth, and have robust software. I looked and didn't find an updated version from Turtle Beach, so I think this is still your best bet as of late 2015.
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NOTE: Turtle Beach releases software/firmware updates from time to time. To get them, you need to download the Turtle Beach "Ear Force Audio Hub" software to your PC and plug the headset in via a USB port to check for updates. Do this regularly to keep the headset updated.
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VIRTUAL REALITY UPDATE
I've been something of an early adopter of virtual reality (I bought the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 primarily so that I could use it with the Innovator edition of the Gear VR that came out about a year ago). I experimented with several headset, earbuds, etc. to see what could give me the most immersive sound experience. In VR, sound is tricky because when you turn your head then you visually see a new perspective, but most headphones will keep the sound "stationary", meaning your ears get the same sound input regardless of where you look. This disconnect means that you might get a different surround sound profile from what your eyes are seeing, so it takes something away from the immersive experience (though it doesn't ruin the fun of VR).
Some recent kickstarter projects have claimed to solve this problem, and I bought those headphones. However, their software required me to play media through their app, which works for movies but not for VR.
So far, this Turtle Beach Z300 is the only headset where, at least on some 360 videos and VR games, I could conclusively experience sound that remained connected to the visual experience. For example, in a 360 video of riding a boat down the Seine river in Paris, the tour guide's voice was appropriately from the front of the boat when I looked forward, and when I turned my head to the right then the voice was in my left ear, just as it would have been if I were actually sitting on the boat in reality.
When it comes to a VR experience, these little things add up to a more realistic immersion.
I will note that some VR headsets (including Samsung's Gear VR) have a strap or support that runs lengthwise down the top of your head. Meanwhile, most over-the-ear headsets, like this one, have a padded support hand running crosswise across the top of your head. I found that the one band on top of the other could become uncomfortable if I didn't adjust it from time to time.
If you're using a bluetooth controller, it also helps to have the physical audio cable with this headset to connect to the earphone port of your phone for Samsung's Gear VR rather than relying on the bluetooth connection.
Generally, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this headset for VR.
