Gadgetory

hi and welcome back to hardware I'm box I'm your host Matt and today we're taking a look at creative soundblaster x85 gaming headset there's something very refreshing about the way creative gone about the entire package for the h5 headset from the first look it's quite apparent that they've focus purely on functionality and performance of a flashy gimmicks and tricks the packaging it comes in is basic for lack of a better word well yes it's a round plastic bubble I honestly don't think it looks good at all in fact it looks cheap but do I care no as a smart consumer I'm interested in what's inside rather than the packaging I'll open at once and then promptly throw away inside this plastic bubble which my mother initially mistook for some sort of cooking appliance understandably is a very practical and professional gaming headset I first noticed despite its steel frame just how light as headset was this is a big plus for me as long game sessions do not prove a heavy headset comfort wise the h5 s of some of the best I've actually ever worn this is in spite of the fact that the cans don't rotate to all of the padding on both the arm and the ear cups are soft as clouds and I'd be surprised if anybody found this headset anything less than very comfortable as mentioned the h5 features a steel frame that's surprisingly bendable and will certainly be durable and the cups are held by solid brush steel adjustable arms looks-wise these headphones are kind of like the packaging no frills they're black there's no RGB lighting and the feature the Sound Blaster X logo on each side and that's about all there is to say oh yeah and the audio cables that run to the cups are braided now I think that covers everything something I find really cool about this headset is that it's kind of modular with the included microphone inline mic cable and the longer PC suited cable you can set the headset up to suit your situation a way in which I see this being really handy is if you want to use this headset community and gaming when you're heading out you can unplug the mic and the PC cable and leave them by a PC and travel with just the shorter inline mic cable which is obviously suited for your smartphone at least that's the way I'd do it all of this wouldn't add up too much of the sound quality wasn't there but luckily in the case of the h5 it really is I had the headset connected through our sound blast 85 DAC and dr. Dre's Compton in flack pumping and it sounded really great the base is punchy and the clothes design makes you feel like you're in your own world and anything about 50% volume despite the lack of noise cancellation although I wouldn't say it's as isolating as the Logitech G 633 out of a spectrum now let's talk about creatives Blaster X acoustic engine light software that's made to pair with the h5 firstly I thought it was pretty unfortunate that its requirement to register creative in order to download and install the software it's not an instant download either you have to register with the legit email address and then they'll send you the download link and activation key why I don't know all I do know is that a lot of people would not be happy about it in the case of the h5 the software is kind of limited to it seems a fully customizable blastx acoustic engine software is available only for the upcoming soundblaster x87 and soundblaster x g5 only so h5 years is the limited to being able to swap between five different gaming profiles which tweak and toggle surround sound crystallizer base smart volume and dialogue plus surprisingly there's no music preset the last option is to toggle all effects off the different profiles are kind of cool but I'm not sure why users unable to create their own profiles or tweak existing ones perhaps this is a feature they want to reserve for their flagship headsets I don't know I think it's probably a mistake to make this limitation but for me it's definitely not a deal-breaker as I rarely played with such settings after initial setup lastly I've recorded this section for you guys using the supplied detachable noise reducing microphone I think the recording quality is pretty good for the headset mic although it's always gonna stay on average in contrast to our studio marks to keep that in mind overall the Sound Blaster xh5 gaming head is a really solid product with great sound solid build quality and practical features such as the removable mark it's a really good mid-range option at 130 dollars if I was in the market whoever I'd be keeping an eye out for at age 7 which is supposed to be released late in 2015 and is expected to come in and around one hundred and fifty nine dollars thanks for watching another installment of hardware unboxed if you've got any questions at all and I'd love to hear from you on our forum at Hardware on box comm or in the comment section remember to hit like hit subscribe and I'll see you next time