Turtle Beach Ear Force DSS2 Dolby Surround Sound Processor - Xbox 360

Alright, I'm new to surround sound through headsets. I have surround sound speakers in a family room (a 5.1 setup with a really nice center speaker and good-sized satellite surround speakers) and it sounds fantastic. But sometimes, you don't want your family or neighbors to hear the noise from gaming. I couldn't justify buying $100+ surround sound headsets as I do have to watch my spending (buy way too many games and other stuff). So I started off with the Turtle Beach X12 headset (fantastic, by the way) which was an excellent deal at the time. However, the X12 headset is only stereo. Which is fine and has excellent sound but it's not surround sound. I could only tell left and right and in a crowded gaming situation, you lose track of where objects are in space.Another reason why I wanted to upgrade to surround sound is I like to record my gameplay with my Hauppauge HD-PVR. If I set the HD-PVR to record 5.1 optical, I couldn't hear audio through my stereo headset which is RCA stereo. So I was forced to play with the full surround sound speakers of my room which is not convenient when you need to be quiet. So I ended up recording my videos in stereo so I could play with the X12 headset. But with the DSS2, I can do my recordings in 5.1 as well as use my X12 in 5.1 with the DSS2.At the time, the DSS1 was still around but was a bit pricey. I missed out on some sales for it unfortunately. So I waited for it to come down in price again, but before I could get another sale, the DSS1 was quietly removed from the marketplace and replaced with the DSS2. I heard the DSS1 was superior to the DSS2, but it was a moot point as the DSS1 became harder to find and more expensive while the DSS2 dropped in price. So when the DSS2 was on sale for $49.99, I jumped on it.Now, I'm not going to comment on the DSS1. Whether it's really better or not is not for me to say as I never got to try them out. These comments are purely for the DSS2, and how I use them with my X12. And so far, I am loving the DSS2 with my TB X12 headset. Setup is pretty simple. The hardest part was setting the the cabling to be tidy so that my Xbox 360 could switch back and forth between the headset and the receiver with true surround speakers in the room without having to unplug cables as constant unplugging and replugging is not good for longevity of the cables.Now, the X12 has a little box that contains the volume, bass boost, and mic controls. It's advised to turn off the bass boost and use the bass boost on the DSS2 as both devices boosting simultaneously can distort the audio. The next thing was figuring out the right volume level for both the X12 volume knob and the DSS2 volume knob. Do you set the X12 knob to the middle and then dial mostly with the DSS2?On the DSS2, there is a button to turn the Dolby Digital Surround Sound off and on. When it is turned off, the audio is digital stereo. When it is on, it creates a virtual 5.1 setup. I read comments that state 4.1. I don't know about that. All I know is in multiple places in the manual (both in text and pictures), it shows 5.1. And really, all I care about is having a deep, full sound environment and being able to figure out the positions of the bad guys.There are buttons for surround sound angles and equalizer presets. Unfortunately, there are no dedicated LEDs to indicate which preset or surround sound angle is currently selected. However, the LEDs that are present will blink in sequence and this tells you what preset is selected (you have to look in the instruction manual). So you're going to have to be very attentive if you need to keep track of what presets for which game or presets between different users of the system.The game I first used to test out the surround sound was Halo Reach as I got recommendations on its excellent sound separation. At first, I couldn't tell much difference, but the more I played, the more I notice how good the sound separation was from before. We were driving in a warthog and as an animal ran behind the warthog, I could tell it was behind. When some NPC was doing a conversation, I rotated my character around and I could tell the NPC was in front or behind me. I even did a blind test and rotated around and checked if I was really telling if it was in front or behind and I was correct.In a crazy firefight, sounds are coming from all directions so I couldn't always pinpoint where but the sound was fuller than before I had the DSS2. When the combat was more intimate, I could definitely tell where the enemy was.The next game I played was Left 4 Dead 2 and the DSS/X12 combination was awesome! I could tell where the boomers, spitters, etc. were coming from! You can't hide from me anymore! Stereo helps out a little in identifying where baddies are but nowhere near as well as the surround sound setup!Some other games I recommend to test surround sound include the Dead Space series, the Bioshock series, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and Modern Warfare 2.Now, the DSS2 is not perfect. There were a few times I heard some audio crackles/noise. I solved this by moving the USB cord to a different port which led to really clean audio.Also note that the included optical cable must be the thinnest cable ever made. I swapped it for one of my regular optical cables as someone told me it makes a difference.For the $50 that I got the DSS2 for, it's amazing and will stay on my 360. It comes completely ready to use as it includes a USB cable and an optical cable. You just plug in your headset and go. This is one of the best budget methods to get a surround sound headset. Around Black Friday, I got the X12's for about $35 and with this $50, I got a darn good setup going. $85 over the course of 8 months versus $100+ upfront is a good deal for a person on a budget. There was some trepidation over the DSS2 due to the negative comments I read, but having tried it myself, I can allay those fears. Sure, the DSS1 may be better (I'll never know) but I'm really enjoying the DSS2 and its sound effects.And don't forget, the DSS2 is for any stereo headphones/headset so your experience and results may differ depending on the model you have since headphones have different designs. Also, your ears shape and structure differ as well so one person's comments won't necessarily apply to you. You just have to try it for yourself to determine whether it works for you. And luckily for me, it works great! The DSS2 is a fairly good 5 stars with the only complaint being that there are no dedicated LEDs to indicate the chosen preset. If it had dedicated LEDs for presets, it would be a strong 5 stars. This has been one of my best gaming purchases in a long time.There are some more features of the DSS2 which I haven't really had a chance to try out so I'll update the review appropriately after playing with them. One question I'll briefly cover (but will test out more) is how regular music sounds with the surround settings enabled and so far, the music sounds great.

Used this product with a Razer Chimaera 2.0 headset on both a ps3 and a pc. I tried out the games FFXIII and MVC3 to test the quality of the surround, and not much to say except it works. The quality of the surround sound enables you to pinpoint directions if you have a keen enough hearing, where you can pick up specific audio cues from the environment in FFXIII (birds chirping etc.), but surround is still lacking as compared to the CMSS3D virtual surround from my Titanium HD soundcard.Sound quality to me, is bad for this product where the sound-stage is congested and audio is lacking of clarity. Perhaps this might be due to the Chimaeras I'm using with the product, but I'm more inclined to believe that this is due to the DSS2 using a low quality DAC. I tested audio quality by bypassing my PC soundcard straight to the DSS2 and there is a pronounced difference compared to audio output straight from the card.But considering that i got this when it cost 49.99, it's a steal when compared to similar products like the Astro Mixamp or Recon 3D. If you're looking for a virtual surround experience on the cheap, the DSS2 is adequate, but if you mind the quality of your audio and you have an open wallet, spend more for a Mixamp or Recon 3D instead.*DSS2 tested with equalizer setting on 4 (treble boost) and surround position on 2.

This little piece of hardware works well with Xbox360 and PS3 simply because all games on these two consoles support 5.1 surround and both consoles have dolby digital live and a digital out port, But things are very different when it comes to PC, First of all you should make sure that your sound card has dolby digital live encoder and also a digital out port(if it supports DDL but doesn't have a digital out port then you should pay extra money for the turtle beach micro II which connects to your sound card and provides a digital out port) and secondly, Your games should be 5.1 !! if they aren't then there will be sound problems.In short, I want to say that this product does not work well with PC, and I think Turtle Beach should mention all system requirements before advertising a product like this. I ended up buying a DDL sound card a stereo headphone and the dss2 but I still get crappy/weak surround sound. If you want a nice surround sound headset go with Corsair 1500 or the Rosewill true 5.1 which is very cheap and yet a very strong surround sound headset. DOESN'T WORK WELL WITH PC.end.

I hooked up the Turtle Beach Ear Force DSS2 to a Turtle Beach Ear Force X32 and I was sourly disappointed. I didn't notice any "real" Surround Sound difference. After playing with many presets and "Surround Sound Angles" I just couldn't get a good sound I liked that was true Surround Sound, it felt far more 3D than anything.After looking extensively online, I noticed the Turtle Beach removed the 5.1/7.1 from the DSS2 packaging from the previous DSS which I found odd. The price was also lowered, which I found odd for an "improved model".After a week I decided to return the product as I felt it wasn't good enough to justify the additional cost.

手軽にドルビーデジタルを味わえないか、、、、これしかないでしょう！　　値段の割に小さいですが全く関係ありません！　　　　ＰＳ３やXBOX360で迫力の音を味わいたいと思ったら必ず購入したほうが良いです！本当に！　毎日使う事間違い無しです！　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　感動もんです！　　音は光デジタルで設定、音量調節も回しがあり快適です！　　　後悔は絶対させない一品です！

ブルーレイなどの鑑賞用にどの程度使えるか試してみた。結果、・ディスクによっては認識しないDTSがある。ジブリのBlu-rayは駄目。ガンダムUCのVol.6はOKだった。見分け方が不明。・全体的に音がこもりがちで、特に音声や高域が鈍い。言い換えればゲームの爆発音などに適した音作りである。という訳で、Victorが出していたサラウンドアダプタ、SU-DH1の代わりにはならないという結論に達した。

PS3やXbox360やPCなどで使える場面が多いので使い道は困らないでしょう。電源はUSBで取る用になっています。(PS3のコントローラー用ケーブルで大丈夫)ボリュームのつまみもありますので音の調節にもこまりません。手持ちのヘッドホンでサラウンド音声が楽しめます。ただ、高音質なサラウンドとかきれいな音が聞きたい方にはお勧めできません。いわゆる、サラウンドヘッドホンなどで発売されているソニーさんとこMDRとかオーディオテクニカさんの所のサラウンドヘッドホンと音質ではやはり劣ります。このDSSは「手持ちのヘッドホン」が使える比較的低コストでサラウンド環境が手に入るPS3とXbox360でも使える、といった部分が重要な方にはお勧めできます。サラウンドの性能はたとえば、オープンエアのヘッドホンを使うと、屋外での戦闘に近い音質を得ることができ逆に密閉型のヘッドホンを使った場合は、室内戦での音質がよりリアルになります。カナル型を使った場合は音の方向がはっきりする・・・気がします。いろんなヘッドホンでサラウンドを楽しめるのでヘッドホンの違いによる、サラウンドの特性の違いが楽しめますね。いろんなヘッドホンでサラウンドを楽しんでみるには、いい物だと思います。ただ、この手の商品は他にもありそっちのほうが高音質なんではないかとも思います。安くはないけどSound Blaster Recon3D SB-R3D-USBとかAL-DP100シリーズとかATH-DWL3300とか

ゲームに没頭したい方にはおすすめの商品です！臨場感を求めている、より良い環境でプレイしたい方は絶対に買ったほうがいいです！！ただ、自分の理解不足なのかわかりませんがマイクジャックがないような・・・？なのでマイク端子とヘッドフォン端子が分かれているヘッドセットを使っている方は注意かも？？