The Audio FX Pro 5+1 Headset

The “mystery product” is no longer one. With the help of eDimensional I have designed a custom USB gaming headset called the Audio FX Pro 5+1, as shown below.


Audio FX Pro 5+1 Headset

This is the first Benheck branded product, plus it has an exclusive design by yours truly. Tired of headsets that all look the same (gray body+gray trim+gray interior=blah) I went for a retro feel, like something from the 40’s. These are really nice headsets, with full sized earcups that fit over your ears, not pressing against them. This is very comfortable, and also blocks external noises (ie, someone telling you to take out the trash). The Audio FX Pro 5+1 should start arrives in stores in early July. For a more information and a photo of the box, read on!

Included is a force feedback rumble – low frequencies activate internal motors which give the sound an extra “oomph”, like you’re sitting near speakers at a concert. For games it brings out the roar of engines and the bass of explosions – bringing you one step closer to being in the game. The cord is nice and long, allowing you to move around more while playing – grab a slice of pizza, slam a door shut, whatever.

It has a box designed by me and everything. Again I must thank eDimensional for allowing me to list features such as “hear the cries of dying noobs with perfect digital clarity”. Because we all know that’s what gamers want. For more information and preodering please visit the official site at www.eDimensional.com

Don't be stuck in the past! (Unless it's with my portables)

Web ad I threw together for the headset. I kind of regret not working vacuum tubes into it, but oh well.

 

Photo of the back of the box. Click here for full-resolution, somewhat-readable version. Fun fact: the bullet holes on the box are real. I bought some leather, blasted some .45 and .22 caliber holes in it, then scanned it into the computer. Only the most authentic art for MY customers!

 
Includes Benheck-designed 3″ installation disc.

 

 

166 thoughts on “The Audio FX Pro 5+1 Headset”

  1. Ben, those are sweet dude! Nice work as always! I especially like the retro feel. But, what gamer has $80 to spend on goodies like this?

  2. Woo….
    Can’t wait to pick up a pair of these!
    Congrats on your first commercial product.
    Not what I was expecting at first though….
    I expected something along the lines of, well, the Gameport!

  3. This looks oh-so-fabulous. I curse you, because I just recently bought myself an expensive stereo headset, and now I want this instead! Bastard! The design is top notch. Loving the look. If these are as good as you claim them to be 80 USDs really isn’t half bad. I’ll hold off until I see some reviews, and if it seems worth it, I’ll get these. (will they arrive in stores worldwide or just the US?)

  4. Look great and im in need of a high quality headset. Ill wait for the reviews to come in but there sounding great right now. Your ad on the page for them if funny.

  5. Dudex: Well, except for where it says “Exclusive Design by renowned modder Benjamin J. Heckendorn” dead centre with a link to this site right under it, you’re right. No name anywhere. Apart from maybe the back.

  6. I hope they’ll be sold in europe. Well I’m sure they’ll be sold online so I’m sure they’ll post to europe. These things looks so funky and retro. Perfect for counter-strike! Heheh. I got to get me some of these.

  7. You have amazed me once more ben. Your name on the box as well as the URL to benheck.com was good. It’s amazing how you were made part of a commercial product. Congratulations. I’ll need to get some of these.

  8. Kill all noobs! YES, that is hilarious! I like the old school look alot. If I was famous like The Ben I would have designed something like this, but maybe not with the mic. See, I play alot of old school games, and the mic just gets in the way and would serve no purpose.

  9. Tony Fink: The microphone rotates upwards and out of the way, so it shouldn’t be such an inconvenience.

    Loving the design, and tis true, all other microphones are just blah in terms of their colours and design. They’re all the same on the outside.
    I do hope these come to Europe too, but hopefully it won’t simply be a case of switching the dollar sign to a pound sign, or else I’ll be ordering from the US (pays to have American friends 😀 )
    Love the force feedback feature, kinda cool for racing games.

  10. I think the ads say “Pwn All Noobs”, it’s on the store banner I designed I know that for sure.

    I added a photo of the back of the box. It even has my picture on it, like stuff Rachael Ray hawks.

  11. Good stuff Ben !!

    But there’s only one thing I must say about your box : The french translation is kinda sloppy, the syntax is somewhat weird on some points.

    I could help you on this one if you want, I’m a native french speaker.

    Good job like always !

  12. These looks great, but I like to know what I’m missing on the outside world! However, if I didn’t, and had a game to play online every day, I’d buy it.

    Are these coming out in Canada, or just the USA?

  13. Just one question and this one comes from the perspective of a media representative. Who’s handling the PR on this one? eDimension as they are the retailer or yourself?

  14. Do these headsets require special software on the pc to work with the low frequency force feedback feature? Will these headsets work with game consoles (PS3, 360, etc)? If not, can you make a mod for your own mod to make it work with the 360? Is there a F.A.Q. I overlooked somewhere? I am out of questions…

  15. You should make an Xbox 360 version Ben. I’d buy that up in an instant. I love the design, just not a huge PC gamer.

  16. Ben.. i’d like to express my feelings on this development… i hate you now XD
    I hate you.. because i want those +_+ why couldn’t you have made a crappy product that i could just shrug off?! >:( aaaaanywhos! any idea if i would see any of that rumble tech being activated in RTS games? i don’t play those shitty FPS types~ only RTS and RPGs 🙂

  17. The rumble works without software, but if you install the disc it gives you positioning controls, virtual 5+1 settings, etc.

    I have tested and it works on the PS3. However only chat comes through the headset, no game audio like with the PC. In this respect the PS3 headsets work like the 360 (game audio comes from the TV)

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  19. I won’t lie…I don’t like the color. I completely understand that you went with the retro look, but, I just don’t like the color.

    Aside from that, congradulations on your first product! Definitely not what I expected it to be at all, but none the less…congradulations and best of luck on any future product you come out with.

  20. Nice work Ben! If I had the money I’d get them, but you know…

    They’re awesome nonetheless. and I wish there were more gaming products on the market of such high quality and with such great humor (Hear the cries of dying noobs with perfect digital clarity! Genius!)

  21. That. Looks. Awesome. Is it coming to the Philippines. 😛 If not, well that sucks. So did anyone win it?

  22. Im missing from the forums =(

    I like these, but i’ll have to shrug it off, $80 for me is a bit steep atm, and I have a perfect ghetto headset I made myself lol, nevertheless, it’s great, and good work!

  23. One of the pics show sun-glasses…other head sets I use cause my ears to hurt because of the pressure on the frames.

    Any idea if the muffs work well for long periods with glasses on?

    Thanks,
    Mike

  24. http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/06/ben-hecks-mystery-product-revealed-to-be-audio-fx-pro-5-1-heads/comments/5277386/

    Wow, nice. Besides the fact this was overwhelmingly disapointing (where’s our one-handed xbox controllers? PS3 and Xbox compatible controller similar to the 360 controller?), these are ugly, USB (I mean, come on. You CANNOT get good sound quality from USB), and $60.

    Really, I think everyone expected more, I mean, at least a product of your own design would have been nice.

  25. [quote]these are ugly, USB (I mean, come on. You CANNOT get good sound quality from USB), and $60.[/quote]

    What are you talking about? Of course you can get good sound quality over USB. USB is a protocol for transferring DIGITAL data. The audio shouldn’t even go through a DAC until it’s in the headphone unit.

    Even USB 1.1 can sustain data rates several times that used in redbook audio.

  26. Pre-ordered! Awesomely there’s a UK distribution centre from wherever I ordered them from, meaning I don’t have to worry about customs. It’ll be sweet owning a Ben Heck creation, and now just to replace my 360 mic with it and I will be in awesome country.

  27. I Pre-order this headset a week ago for the single reason one of the features was it would allow me to “pwn noobs”.
    Hilarious.
    It looks good and the specs seem ok. I don’t know much about that sound wavy stuff. Kinda sucks I didn’t realize at the time it wouldn’t ship until end of the month. :/ Oh well. I regret nothing.

  28. So Ben,
    How long before the cord gets a short in it? I go through about 3-4 heads sets every couple of years due to crap ass thin pos cords. You’d think someone would think of using thicker cords for headset cords that must endure kinking, coiling, pulling and the wheels of an office chair (yeah shit happens, don’t ya know it) Unless I see that cord CLOSE UP and feel confident it will last at least a year… forget it.

  29. Good work Mr Ben :D.

    Will these be available for purchase in New Zealand? *fingers crossed*

  30. About those drivers… As a linux user, um… do you at least have a driver on there for Linux? Would you consider opening the drivers up? What are their general status?

  31. Sweet design on the headset. I honestly can’t wait to be able to afford to buy a pair. As for wireless though? NAH… Wired is much better.. Too many things to go wrong with wireless… Interferrence, batteries dying, two devices to break.. New cords can be put on at ANY time.

    GREAT JOB and good luck on future projects. 🙂

    Stephen

  32. So…when do we get an update on availability? I pre-ordered mine and was hoping to see it soon. My old crappy headset is rubbing a hole in the top of my head. I need this replacement!! 🙂

  33. It’s beautiful. It looks like something that would be seen on the new “Battlestar Galactica” series, new-retro style technology. 🙂

  34. Bought these…Overall not impressed – I cant even feel the 5.1 working. Even 2 channel is muddy. Could it be drivers?

  35. i got mine. i love them. just that the vinyl/plastic/rubbery leatheresque material doesnt breathe well but small price to pay. i think the sound quality is nice and works pretty well with the games i play. overall great job.

  36. Please make some non USB versions, surely my X-FI sound card is miles better then any USB device. If it wasn’t for this I would have ordered some by now.

  37. I`m having a lot of trouble with these headphones.Its very hard to get the levels right for the volume for both phones and mic.You shouldn`t be able to hear yourself breathing surely !
    They seemed OK-ish to begin with,a bit tinny perhaps and now after 3 days there`s and persistent buzz at any sound !? I also have an X-Fi sound card.I`ve installed the C-Media files several times to no avail…and I can`t find them to uninstall them
    I bought them on a whim…big mistake !

  38. Huh. Well, I bought one, and am having it shipped up here to Canada. It should be up here this week, unless of course it gets held at the border and charged GST… Damn Canada Post. Hopefully, it will show up soon, though. Anyway, I’ll try it out and see what it’s like and see if mine buzzez like that too. One thing about that, though: You will notice that your desktop speakers emit a buzzing sound regardless of whether there is input or not. I would imagine that it is the same in this case, as there are 2 speakers and one subwoofer in each headphone, they are closer to your ears, and the headset cancels out the ambient noise in the room around you (IE: Computer fans, CD drive, etc.) so it would be easier to hear. I believe this is virtually unavoidable, at least while keeping the price of the headset to a minimum.

  39. Chris,this isn`t a consistent/persistent hum like you describe;this is a buzzing as if something was loose in a speaker and only happens if there is a signal such as music or whatever.It may be something to do with the software or a setting i have wrong I just can`t find the solution atm

  40. Hmm… Yes, it sounds like maybe there is something loose in your headset, try setting it to mono output, and listen for the buzz. Is it in one ear, or both? Can you feel the buzz?

  41. I pre-ordered a pair, so I’ve had them since they came out. I notified support of some issues that I have. Hear they are: In Ventrillo, sometimes I can hear the log in voice, but can not hear anyone and they can’t hear me. Also, sometimes when I’m gaming with others in Vent. they say all the sudden I sound like a Cyborg. I must reboot to correct either issue. When gaming Battlefield 2142, the players voices are good, but the automated game voice sounds all broken up, very choppy. And last, sometime after I boot up, my volume control settings change to maximum…very LOUD…OUCH! When they work right, they are awesome, but these issues happen quite often:(

  42. To Mike, you should put all your audio and mic settings to “C-Media CM108 Like Sound Device”. Do this also in Ventrilo.

    And when playing games, makes sure to go into Audio and if there is a choice for “Hardware Sound” or “Software Sound” choose “Software Sound” (like in BF2142).

    Also i have the problem with sound being too loud, i have it only 1 noch up, and if i go any higher, it really loud.

  43. For the loudness issue, try adjusting the Wave output to a very low setting, it will make it quieter, allow for better adjustments to volume, and have better audio quality. additionally, it will stop it from lowering the volume when playing music or something and stop it from rapidly raising the volume avter a loud part. Sorry for my awful description, but it works for me. Also, is there any way to patch input from another sound card to the output on the headset?

  44. anyone found a solution to the “BUZZING” mine are doing this also, i have downloaded the driver from the edimensional website and uninstalled/reinstalled and played with all the settings i can find and i can’t make it go away. I have tried disabling the onboard audio (BFG NForce 680i SLI mobo) i’ve tried it in multiple usb ports on the mobo as well as the usb ports on my logitech G15 keyboard and still have the “buzzing” sound. The “buzzing” sound is only present when sound is being played, by this i mean when i’m idle on the desktop it’s silent, as soon as i start a game/app or do something (mail notification/windows sounds etc.) that has sound the buzzing starts and it goes away when the sound ends.

  45. Hey Ben, soz to say but the headset aint very good, I have rattling bass noises and my mic barely works. It aint just mine, Bcause I bought 2 and they both do the same thing. Maybe there good, I might just be doing something wrong, but if you have any tips on making it louder, I’ve got mic boost and everything, and People still barely hear me. I would really appreciate any help that you might have that would make my experience less disappointing.

  46. Well, just to let all of you know, I just opened up my headset, and guess what I found? there is no – I repeat NO surround sound. it goes through a decoder, then all into one speaker on each side! This means that there is absolutely no directional awareness!

  47. Frank,

    I have all my settings to “C-Media CM108 Like Sound Device” and my game, BF 2142 is set to software, but still have a problem with in game Voip. I can hear others but they can not hear me in squad talk. Anyone have any ideas that I can try? Is anybody else using these headsets for BF 2142, and if so had issues? Help!

  48. There does`nt seem much point addressing anything to Ben,he obviously does`nt give a shit about his customers

  49. With the exception of the buzzing, i have had all the above stated problems. What i found is that the software is the main problem.

    I installed the drivers and software…sounded like crap, couldn’t get anything to sound right including lag in the sounds ( not keeping up with visuals in my flight sim, but lags behind ). I tried everything i could think of. As a programmer of 25 years, i know to try alot of different sequences.

    I uninstalled for the 25th time…then without reinstalling, i plug in the headset with no software installed…but the drivers were already on board. Again, after un-installing with “Add/Remove Programs”, i reboot and simply plug in the headset. Due to the drivers ONLY being on-board, the drivers kicked in and the headset works great !! ….as soon as i install the software, everything goes down hill.

    I don’t know what the problems are with the software, but i do know i’ve read forums where there are those that get the software working, albeit with major effort in adjustments, as they’re saying. The software shows 7.1, when the headset is 5.1….someone is missing a big boat on that one. I’m assuming, and that’s a big assumption, that the software will be improved at some point in time. Until then, i couldn’t be happier with this setup.

    Lastly, they are loud…very loud…i had to turn way down the volume in my flight sim, the volume output in teamspeak, etc….once i got all that turned way way down, then the loudness was under control. The forcefeed back is pretty cool….not too much, just enough to raise the hair on the back’o kneck lol

    🙂

  50. Oh, and one other thing. After getting them to work, by plugging in after an un-install…my teamspeak sounded like crap. The only way i could get it smoothed out was to set the codec to speedex 16.8 or higher…..with that setting, they are freeking awesome….and again, i had to turn the output volume way way down.

    Hope any of this helps ya’all 🙂

  51. Oh, and…after i un-installed, then simply plugged in the headset with no software installed at this point…the drivers kicked in and yes they are working great…..however teamspeak sounded like crap. I had to set the codec to speedex 16.8 or higher…then all the problems went away. Teamspeak sounds better than it ever has. Again, gotta turn that output volume way way down.

    Hope some of this helps ya’all 🙂

  52. Picked these up on newegg, having similar crackling sound problems. Edimensional has been ZERO help. They don’t know the first thing about the product they are selling. They give you like 2 scenarios on their site about the crackly noise problem, neither of them helped me at all. I didn’t realize these were USB when I purchased them, kind of shot myself in the foot on that one since I have a 7.1 capable sound card which is of a QUALITY brand. IMO Cmedia is cheap garbage and shouldn’t be in a headset thats being sold to gamers. I’ve replicated my issues on 3 different PCs and I’ve just about given up on them.
    http://www.skullcandy.com check out the Skullcandy Com TIs, they blow these pieces of crap out of the water. I don’t know Ben Heck or any of his 1337 modding skillios, but I would have made sure I had a quality product on my hands before putting my name on it

  53. Just got these and they don’t work. First you plug them in the USB. The microphone worked right off. Then you install the software, and thats when everything goes wrong. The mic stopped working all together. The Speakers could not be turned on with the software provided, or using the WinXP Speaker options. The sounds was too loud and when turning down using the inline control it didn’t get low enough before muting. (This may be due to my levels?). The Mute button on the inline control didn’t work, but that may be because the microphone simply didn’t work. I downloaded the new drivers/software and that didn’t help anything. But it did install under a new Start menu item, so now I have 2 menu items for this one headset. Then I saw the not in eDimensional’s FAQ that said to uninstall the software and the headset should work ok. It worked, kind of, but I still cannot get my speakers to work again. Currently I’m removing the USB plug and rebooting, hoping my speakers start working again. I have a Dell 8250 that has been running fine for years, but these headsets don’t seem to like it. And if I can’t easily switch between the headset/speakers, I’ll have to take these back!!

  54. Same findings as Monte – DO NOT install the included software. Plug in headset and go. Solved the crackling noise in games. However, when playing Crysis – the volume shoots way up on random sound bites – normal volume, then when a character speaks a line (completely random, maybe 5 times during the whole game), it comes out LOUD – you soil yourself – then everything goes back to normal . . .? Weird.

  55. I’ve never installed the software with mine and I haven’t had any problems. They sound a lot better than my old Sony stereo I have on the computer.

    I should try them with ROCK BAND!!!!

  56. Hello I’m interested in these headphones just wondering if they work on xbox 360’s using the xbox’s USB port. Thanks

  57. Hi
    I have IL2 1946 and just bought the audioFX PRO 5+1.
    Game sounds and Teamspeak all work brilliantly but when i hit the enable extensions to get the sound of other planes etc. – it works great – but Teamspeak echos a lot and is unusable. Both TS and the ingame sound is mapped to the headsets. I have tried the ingame sound output as surround and headphones.

    I have scoured the net for anyone who has posted about IL2 and the headset and not found anything. Drivers come to mind but I only installed these a few days ago and don’t want to mess it up.

    Cheers

    doc

  58. HI all

    I turned hardware accelaration down one knotch in DxDiag Sound Tab (select START->select RUN and type “dxdiag” (without quotes) there-> DirectX Diagnostic Tool opens. Go to Sound Tab). That solved my my various problems right away.

    Hope this helps others aswell.

    Cheers

  59. OK first problem solved – set TS sound to wave and not DirectX.
    Next problem – the forc e feedback need the IL2 game volume to max and the headset to max to get the first red light on the headset and the first feel of an force feedback. I would be stone-deaf in seconds – so surely force feedback should work at any volume? How do I get this to work sensibly?

    Cheers

    doc

  60. As a result of all the enthusiastic messages above, I got myself a set of these Audio FX Pro headphones.

    Sound reproductions is great,and the force feedback is really something to believe, however all is not perfect.

    The phones produce a constant crackling sound for about 30 seconds or so, then it disappears for about the same length of time, then re-appears again. This cycle continuously repeats and, not to put too fine a point on it, really annoys the H— out of me.

    Apparently this is a known problem, as when I searched the e-Dimensional web site, there is an up-dated driver together with notification which states that this “may” eliminate the problem. However it didn’t in my case.

    The phones are also a little tight for me, and hug my head with a bit too much force for long term comfort. However, I’ve seen no one else complain of this, so perhaps it’s just me.

    All in all, a great set of phones – but please, please, please develop software to eliminate the constant crackling.

  61. I have the same problem and crackling that gets excessively worse as you game. the piece of plastic on the back of the microphone popped off 2 days after opening the box(used once). When they work they work fine when they don’t they are horrible. I want Ben to do a hack on these to convert them to an analog headset. And on a side no/minimal support under linux. ubuntu 7.10 the microphone will not work.

  62. i bought a audiofx pro from newegg. i have a dell 530N desktop computer with ubuntu linux installed.

    since the software provided on the disk is exclusively for microsoft products, i can’t install it. Do you have any suggestions short of returning the headphones.

  63. yeah use windows you moron or at least read the details before buying something. You can’t expect everything to be supported for an open source OS

  64. I had made some comments above, several months ago. Call me an idiot, but I found ultimately that the software works great. Originally i was not able to use the software, but rather use only the drivers. And that has been working great.

    I found a setting in my game, il-2, that was the problem. I’m now using the headset with the software, and wouldn’t trade these for any other set of speakers or headsets. I recommend these, as a gamer on Windows, to anyone, anywhere, anytime !

    Simply freeking awesome….yes, ya gotta turn down the system, and game, volumes to their lowest settings because these are very loud. However, once i got the volumes turned down appropriately, it becomes an experience, a sensation 🙂

  65. Has anyone thrown one of these on to a Mac running OS X. I’m interested in getting one, I suspect it will work based on built in USB drivers. I currently use a Logitech USB headset that works fine but I’m looking to upgrade, I’m looking at either this or the Plantronics GameComPro1. I personally like the styling of these but I have verified that the GameCom works with Mac OS X. Thanks in advance.

  66. Great headset the sound quality and force feedback is amazing the only problem is people have started complaining about helicopter sounds from my mic any way i could stop these thx 😀

  67. My god are any stores gona get AudioFX Pro 5+1 by BenHeck
    I want to go buy some now but cant find any stores with them in
    I am uk Birmingham.

    Are these stores dumb or what gamers from every where should buy these

  68. My god are any stores gona get AudioFX Pro 5+1 by BenHeck
    I want to go buy some now but cant find any stores with them in
    I am uk Birmingham.

    Are these stores dumb or what gamers from every where should buy these

    Yours
    Lord Ronald
    PS yes i am a Lord not a mr

  69. So i got these and i love them i have not had any problems… worked with teamspeak, ventrilo and steam… everything great so far i also never tired the software because of all the issues i heared about… so yeah ANYWAY!!! !GREAT HEADSET!!@##!@

  70. Repeat question; does audio and mic work for the ps3 on this headset?
    ive been researching this headset and found 2 contrasting specifications:

    -http://www.overclockersonline.net/index.php?page=articles&num=1581&pnum=2
    “A bonus is that the AudioFX Pro 5+1 can even be used with the Sony PlayStation 3 ALBEIT without the microphone functionality.” review written this year.

    -http://www.cinemablend.com/games/BenHeck-s-eDimensional-AudioFX-Pro-Supports-PS3-4563.html
    “BenHeck’s eDimensional AudioFX Pro Supports PS3!
    Audio support for the Playstation 3” written 2007-06-05

    -http://benheck.com/06-05-2007/the-audio-fx-pro-51-headset (this site)
    “However only chat comes through the headset, no game audio like with the PC. In this respect the PS3 headsets work like the 360 (game audio comes from the TV)”

    so what does work, audio, mic, or both? x.x

  71. Headset is poorly made. They sound great and everything and super comfortable. The mic swivel was so damn tight that after about 2 weeks of play the mic swivel simply snapped. I didn’t try to foreceably move them or anything I just simply went to adjust the mic and it broke. The mic itself still works but it just dangles. I have to get some super glue I guess.

  72. Me again and I would like to reitterate the poor craftsmanship in this headset. Now the ear piece swivel has broken. I for the life of me can’t find a decent headset to save my life. I didn’t even drop the headset to break them. I simply put them on and went to adjust the headset itself and the damn ear piece snapped off. I sincerely wished I didn’t purchase this headset at all. The warranty has since passed and I now have an 80 dollar paper weight. DO NOT BUY THIS HEADSET.

  73. I’m back yet again. This time I bring good news. Even though newegg said my 30 day warranty was over and I couldn’t return it. I contact Edemsional and asked if by good faith they would let me exchange it for a new headset. They said yes. I’ve never experienced that in a company and I praise them for an oustanding response in less then a day.

    WoW

  74. Hello I hope you can help me but I like the feel of them but…they make a buzzing noise when I get on the cod4 game and it doesn’t stop till I reboot the game or quit it drives me nuts!! Is there a fix?

    Also the interface in the taskbar goes away and its nowhere to be found even after reloading the disk.

    I like em but they just are not working right. I also can use the make only sometimes, nobady can hear me most of the time. Yes I know what I’m doing I am a compter support manager.
    Rich please help!!

  75. The only way I was able to get the buzzing to go away was to not use the drivers that came with it (windows should already have the generic drivers needed). I even used the updated drivers they supply on there website and it still buzzed.

  76. so, umm, yeah, got a system running ubuntu here and they don’t seem to like it. the buttons on the line seem to work, as they cause the system volume to increase and decrease, but that’s all. before any retorts that I’m an idiot for not using windows, http://secure.simmarket.com/edimensional-audiofx-pro-51-by-benheck.phtml lists linux as one of the required operating systems. if anyone knows of a way to get this working for me, please send an email to ixonal@gmail.com

  77. Yeah, the drivers that come with this fucked them up badly.
    Although, (if it didn’t include crackling and popping noises ever minute and a half) the drivers would be amazing. They have a few nice features, like equalizer, speaker shifter, etc. But unfortunately the drivers add the crackling and popping noise no matter what you do. A possible solution might be install the drivers, remove the windows drivers with Device Manager. I don’t know, haven’t tried it yet. But the headphones and mic work fine without the drivers from the website or on the disc. Don’t let the website fool you, the drivers from there DO NOT fix the crackling. For a year and a half I just thought I had a defective headset, I just got a new one and they had the same problem… I read this, and notice EVERYONE has my problem. Do not use the drivers. The sound is still fine, etc… It’s just they add the popple sound. It’s really annoying when you’re listening to music and you hear “pop.. pop pop.. pop” every few minutes or so.

    Will note back later with possible solutions, but so far, none but uninstalling the drivers.

  78. Update: Seems the popping has something to do with the S/PDIF Output setting on the driver tool.
    Disabling it won’t remove the sounds completely, but it helps.

  79. So I’ve had this headset since July 07. Everything is still fine. Still “pwning nubs”. xD
    The only real gripe I have is the volume control has been mucked up since forever. For a while setting the Windows volume below 6 results in no sound, and from there it only increases at 16, 22, and increasingly greater intervals. Sometimes the volume level will set itself to max level for no apparent reason.
    I did recently overhaul a bunch of drivers and these issues seem somewhat resolved. but there is still no sound below 6 with the first increase in volume being at 16 and second at 22 with increases ever 2 after that.
    Annoyingly, everything after 32 is just loud. This device seems to have only 3 real volume settings: moderate, loud, and ear shattering. A quiet range would be nice since these speakers are an inch from my ears.
    Other than that I don’t get any buzzing or crackling, but it’s been a while since I first installed this. I seem to recall having various issues of the sort back in 07. I’m using Vista and the original C-Media drivers.

  80. GREAT! im sooooooooo tired those boring headsets made by those corprate kiss-asses.

  81. Alright, so I finally found a solution, that actually works (for me at least) I’m using XP.
    It’s an old driver I found from when I purchased my very first pair of these, when they first came out.
    I found the CD and I was like “Eh, what the hell” and I installed them, and BAM no more problems on my end.

    You can go ahead and scan it or whatever, it’s clean as can be.

    I’m not sure if they will allow me to post links here, but I will try.

    http://rapidshare.com/files/224886353/5_1_v2007.zip

    No password, make sure you read the readme inside the zip.

    I hope it works guys 🙂 enjoy.

  82. Redemption, your drivers worked perfectly!!!!

    I’m not experiencing anymore crackling noises. These headphones are working awesomely now. It’s a good thing I ran into your comment using google, I was about to break these headphones from the frustation after failing to remove the crackling noise with the drivers from the official site.

    Thanks alot man, I’ll pass the word to the people having trouble in newegg.

  83. I’ve tried everything so far with these headphones. Drivers they came with, website drivers, no drivers, everything. I also had to stretch the hell out of the band in order to get them to stop hurting my ears and head. I usually do not have this problem.

    These worked horribly for me in Windows XP, with very “discordant”/vague sound. They were also stuck at the “too loud” volume, and like someone said further up on this page, there seem to be only three volumes, and it gets too loud very quickly.

    Once I upgraded to Vista, they worked pretty well for a while. Clear sound, and okay in the lowest volume setting (6, anything lower mutes it. It’s stupid and makes no sense.)

    However, I’m now getting random crackling sounds, along with random jumps in the volume. I’m seriously worried about my ears now.

    We all deserve a refund. 🙁 These are so unreliable it’s ridiculous.

  84. This is ok when used alone I mean I don’t get crackly audio unless I try to play music while I game. And I want to blast some tunes while aoe grinding in WoW but I can’t because the crackling is so bad it makes me want to start a warning webpage of the bad quality of these headphones. They work great for games and for music but you can’t do both and I don’t really call that a gaming headset. Please fix this issue as soon as possible in a software fix or something!

  85. These headsets are horrible. The drivers for vista crash constantly with a loud blam in my ears, and they also crash whatever game i’m playing. The microphone has a constant hissss to it trying to talk in team speak. Total waste of money. When they do work, the force feedback is like someone clapping their hands over your ears. Pile of trash. My old piece of crap logitecs were 100 times better and when I plug those back in I can at least play my games.

  86. Gonna try Redemption’s drivers. But seriously, the drivers that come with these are crap.

  87. I’ve had these headsets for over a couple of years now. Other than having to change a sound setting in my game, il-2 1946, these headphones run the game, teamspeak, and pandorabox…all at the same time…never had a problem. These headphones are freeking awesome.

  88. I love the headphones. But the software don’t seem to work. I’ve tried the drivers noted by Redemption and still get the blue screen of death (BSOD).

    I have never had the cracking sound everyone talks about. My problem is getting the BSOD after about 10 min of gameplay.

    I also find it disturbing that the driver software only offers 2 settings. 2 speaker and 7.1. I would think that if the Headphones are 5.1, then there should be a 5.1 setting.

    I have uninstalled the software and selected in my control panel speaker settings, 5.1 and I guess that’s about as good as it’s going to get. Once in a while, it seems the front speaker is turned off.

    In Battleground Europe, I have to turn my head left or right to hear a veh noise coming inbound.

  89. I’m back again for my third comment since my first in June 2007 and my second back in March of this year.
    The right side of the headphones is almost completely dead. It just went silent yesterday.
    There is no sound, there is no bass, there is no lights, but there IS force feedback.

    I took the unit apart to try and solve the problem (the plastic sizing band was broken anyway from repetitive stress so I figured what the hell). There is a very faint sound coming from the rumbler. I generally keep the FF off, though.
    Suffice to say I can not discover the problem, but I am considering a new headset, from a different manufacturer.

  90. Just for an update since I bought these back in June, these are working well with Windows 7. I didn’t even have to install the drivers from the headphone’s CD or website. Windows 7 seems to already have the generic drivers to run this bad boy. Great headphones.

  91. Just got the windows 7 drivers. They’re working flawlessly. If you use the older XP drivers, things aren’t going to work as expected. The Windows 7 drivers is where you need to be if on Windows 7.

  92. This headset is awesome. I first got them 3 years ago on XP, and now upgraded to the Windows 7 drivers on my new machine. I use them primarily for il-2 1946 flight sim. I’m not sure what problems you’all are having, but i’m sold on these. I’ve bought 4 sets so far, for myself and my kids…they fly with me 🙂

    One note though…to get them working properly i had to “un-check” a sound extension in the game setup. Before that i thought i’d made a mistake…turned out to be the game setup, not the headset.

    Mic is awesome also. My squad uses teamspeak.

  93. Geezzz…never had any popping/crackling problems…not on any of the 4 headsets.

    Nice of you to help Redemption…he’s an old air space bud from way back 🙂

  94. This headset is the biggest piece of trash I have ever come across. When I play a game, sometimes it gives me a loud pop, then 1 of 3 things will happen.

    1. Volume is increased by what seems like 75% causing me to almost have to throw the headset off.

    2. Loud pop then complete silence until I unplug and re-plug the headset.

    3. Loud pop, silence and no sound until I reboot.

    I seriously doubt this has anything to do with my comp. tried on win XP and win 7 32 and 64 bit. With default drivers, with redemption’s drivers, with packaged drivers, all the same results. Also I have recently replaced ALL of my hardware on the current build.

    IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT BUYING THESE, DON’T. There are several complaints all over the net with this headset, they should be recalled at the very least.

  95. I got one of these back in August of ’07. I have no problem saying this was the lowest quality piece of garbage I’ve ever bought. Lightweight, cheap, broke in about 6 or 7 places before I just gave up on it, the sound was crackly, speakers vibrated, it’s only physically stereo, not surround in any way, the leds only light at max volume, which is way too loud, the screws were stripped right out of the box, and even though I paid edimensional for shipping, when it came I had to pay another $20.

    Oh, and the mic was so quiet and distorted no matter what I did that I couldn’t use it for anything. I liked the style and colors, but it looks a lot more comfortable than it is. It will more than likely crack the sliding adjustable arms the first time you put it on, and they’ll eventually just break in half. The wire from the PC isn’t actually secured in any way either, other than a shitty knot on the other side, so the wires will break very easily and can move freely. Please don’t buy this.

    Edimensional sucks, this thing cost me $120 when I got it (including the extra shipping that I paid which just went into their pockets), and it was total garbage. Useless.

  96. hey can anyone tell me where to get win 7 64b drivers for these i keep blue walling without them

  97. Hi its me again looks like no reply forgive me if you have and i’ve misssed it i need these windows 7 64b drivers you made a vista driver please make a win 7 driver 64b hey with reference to tron yes i get that loud pop it almost blows your ear drums also the end of the mic keeps coming off apart fom that these headsets are excellent but now ive upgraded to win 7 64b i cant use them so ive had to go buy new ones so it was £50 odd quid for only a few months so if you intend on staying on xp or vista dont upgrade to win 7

  98. Well after having 4 of these headset over the last 4 years, i still wouldn’t trade them for anything. I’m not having any of the problems, other than turning down system and game volumes do to their power, that are described here.

    graham, I can’t remember the link where i got the win 7 software and drivers. It is out there, however i’m running on win 7 32-bit.

  99. I have had these headphones for a while now an I love them.

    However, i just started doing some desktop recording and I have one major complaint. The sounds levels for the speakers are TERRIBLE for these headphones. I cannot have them at more that 1-6% because they get too loud. Unfortunately, when using FRAPS I have to have the headset as my default sound device and there aren’t other ways to dampen other peoples voices without having them sink so low in the recording that they fall below my ambient room noise in the recording.

    Quite terrible.

    Is there a way to fix this? Anyone with a solution please contact me at bluefin (at) tunagaming (dot) com

  100. FIGURED IT OUT

    Just don’t use the software. Your current system sound management will do just fine–you don’t need the software that comes with the headset–in fact–run away from it—there is no fix.

    Uninstall all that crappy software that came on that disc, and everything will work just fine.

    I hope that helps

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