Category: Headphones
Manufacturer: Turtle Beach
Product: Ear Force HPA2
Gallery: Click Here
Price: $74.99

Introduction

Voyetra Turtle Beach has been a staple of the computer audio industry for more than 30 years. As a pioneer of the PC audio industry, Turtle Beach has developed sound cards, synthesizers, and headphones among a wide variety of audio products. The headset being reviewed today is the next generation of gaming 5.1 surround sound headphones by Turtle Beach. We emphasize with peripheral reviews that personal preference plays a large role in determining the final score. That being said, the goal of this review is to supply you with as much information as possible about the personal experience that comes from using the headset in gaming, musical, and movie applications.

Specifications

• Amplifier with master and speaker volume controls
• Detachable microphone with flexible boom
• Comfortable, deep-cushioned ear cups
• True 5.1 surround sound from 8 speakers
• High-fidelity, large diaphragm drivers
• Amplifier boosts sound card signals
• Volume controls for front, surround, center & sub
• Dual sub-woofers for deep vibrating bass
• Professional-grade quality stands up to hard play
• Super comfortable for long gaming sessions
  

Hardware Configuration

• Case: Antec Solo
  
• Power Supply: Antec TruePower Trio 650
• Motherboard: DFI Lanparty 939 nForce4 Ultra
• Processor: AMD Opteron 146 2.0GHz (Overclocked 2800 MHz)
• Hard Drive: Western Digital 100GB IDE HDD
• Hard Drive: Seagate 300GB SATA HDD
• Hard Drive: Maxtor 250GB SATA HDD
• Video: eVGA GeForce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express
• Memory: OCZ Dual-Channel PC4000 Gold Edition VX 1024MB
• Optical: Lite-On 8x DVD+/-RW
• Audio: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
• Cooling: Zalman CNPS9500 CPU Cooler
• Cooling: Zalman VF900-Cu GPU Cooler
• Cooling: ThermalRight HR-05 Chipset Heatsink
• Media: Mitsumi 7-in-1 Media Drive
• Display: Samsung Syncmaster 710N 17" LCD
• Surface: Engineered Wood Desk

Software Configuration

• Motherboard BIOS: NF4LD406 BIOS Update Revision A (2006/04/06)
• Chipset: nForce4 Series AMD Windows Vista 32-Bit v15.00 WHQL Certified
• Operating System: Windows XP Professional With Service Pack 2 & Windows Vista Business Edition
• Video Driver: NVIDIA ForceWare Version 91.47 32-bit WHQL Certified (November 2 14 release) / NVIDIA ForceWare Release 100 v100.65 32-bit WHQL Certified
• Audio Driver: Creative SB Audigy 2 Series Driver 02.08.0004 / Creative SB Audigy 2 Series Vista Beta Driver 2.12.0001
• Test Game: Counter-Strike: Source
  
• Test Game: Battlefield 2142
• Test Game: Counter-Strike: Source
• Test Game: Prey
  
• Test Game: Need for Speed: Carbon
  
• Test Game: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
• Test Game: Call of Duty 2 v1.3
• Test Game: F.E.A.R.