Turtle Beach X12: Comfortable Xbox 360 Sound At A Great Price

The Xbox 360 comes with a headset, so why would you want to shell out some dough to replace it? Let us count the reasons: it's quite uncomfortable. The headband is too tight and small, with no real padding. The earcups are tiny and poorly cushioned. And the sound quality- let's just call it passable and move on.

Turtle Beach practically invented the headset category, and has plenty of cool stuff on the horizon that we saw at CES last week. But until their new toys are out, we've been enjoying the recently released Turtle Beach Ear Force X12. It isn't fancy- not many bells and whistles are on offer, like some of the other headsets that we've seen. But unless you're a pro gamer and comfortable shelling out big bucks on your headset, this is a great value. Also, like many Xbox headsets, this one can also be used with a PC.

The style is a straight-forward matte black and green, and the design won't earn many looks, but isn't distracting or overly-logoed either. And the build quality is decent- slightly bulkier than we like for longer gaming sessions, but this is offset by some pretty heavy-duty cushioning on the headband and the large, comfortable earcups. For those with smaller ears, these might be an over-ear solution; for others the oval shape may irritate you or feel nicely snug on-ear. Adjustable bass is nice, and there is plenty of bass on offer. And the microphone is surprisingly good, quite adjustable, and folks on the other end reported clear and crisp audio with no feedback or distortion.

Sound separation isn't great, so sniper shots can be a bit difficult to pick up and track quickly. And the microphone monitoring feature is a bit of a mixed bag- you can hear yourself speak through the headset, which can be distracting- some people liked it, some really didn't, and we wish that we could turn it off. The cables, though, are plenty long, which was a nice bonus.

Overall, the X12s are a good starter entry for occasional gamers and younger folks without a lot of cash. At $50 or so, they're easy to like and make a great gift!