Page 3 - Subjective Audio Analysis
As with all the audio products we review here at APH Networks, it takes quite a bit of experience and training of the ears before we can begin making a fair judgment. Even for the best of audiophiles, it can be hard to produce an exact and accurate evaluation of a product without a thoroughly familiar product to use as simultaneous reference. While I will not claim to be the reviewer of all reviewers for headphones, I can say quite a few other computer review sites have editors lacking in training for reviewing anything audio related. Give them anything and all you will get is some vague description of “awesome bass, amazing midrange, nice treble, no muffles, 10/10”. Do not get me wrong though; there are knowledgeable audio reviewers out there on respected online media outlets, but they are far and few. There are no true objective measurements for headphone sound quality.
As the reviewer, however, I will put the Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 450 through a series of subjective tests to try to come up with the most objective rating as possible. The tests were conducted primarily with the Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 450's wireless USB dongle connected to the test computer. The wireless interface provides the audio transmission. All equalization and surround settings have been turned off for these tests. A break-in period of over 50 hours of break-in time (Well above the typical required period) occurred before testing the Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 450. All tracks are uncompressed CDs, FLAC, or LAME encoded MP3s at 192kbps or higher. For gaming, I played Crysis 2 Maximum Edition, Sid Meier’s Civilization V, and GRID 2. Crysis 2 is a first-person shooter, and I find it to provide an accurate representation of a day to day game environment. Civilization V is just one of my favorite games to play. GRID 2 is a well-known racing game, so I decided to throw it into the mix as well. Casual microphone testing was done through Audacity and a few Skype sessions.
As always, we started with the low end frequencies, and the Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 450 was not a slouch here. An adequate amount of bass was present, and the quality of the bass was pretty good too. The bass was rounded out, and filled the middle with some oomph. Hollowness was not found in the Stealth 450 whatsoever in this frequency range. Those longing for more bass however should get their headphones from the fruit company who makes audio products branded by a doctor without a doctorate. In gaming sessions, deep sounds like footsteps were clearly heard. Low engine rumbles from Grid 2 sounded natural and realistic.
The next section was the midrange, and this was where the Stealth 450 was a tad too stealthy. The middle frequencies were recessed in comparison to the bass and treble. During my tests, I checked to make sure I was in the "Normal EQ" settings, rather than any other boost, yet this behavior remained. Of what was present however, the midrange instruments like guitars and pianos were good. The wooden resonance expected in these instruments was reproduced well, with a relative amount of authenticity. At the higher end of the midrange there was some dryness present. It was not too raspy, but it was still noticeable.
At the top of the "big three" frequencies is the treble, and this was our next stop. Like the bass, the treble was prominent with an adequate amount of the higher frequencies. Unfortunately, the high-end instruments were reproduced with a similar dryness found in the higher midrange. I will say the treble was quite clear and overall sounded bright. Near the higher end of the treble, there was some accentuation noticeable, and this kind of drop-off is present in many gaming headsets. Otherwise, the treble quality was pretty good here.
Together, all three layers produced a relatively detailed sound. Cleanliness throughout the three ranges was present here too. However, the transitions between the three ranges could have been worked on. There were dips between each of the ranges, making for a less than ideal effect. While this was not problem while gaming, it was apparent during music listening. This negatively affected the cohesiveness, but the impact was not too great. As for the overall balance between the three ranges, the Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 450 was not the most musically balanced. A more prominent bass and treble diminished the midrange ever so slightly. The characteristics of the headset was like a flattened V-shape, and I would have preferred a flatter response from the Stealth 450, although this is normal for a gaming headset.
When it comes to soundstaging, the Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 450 was good. Without any of Turtle Beach's enhancements turned on, music sounded like there was a wide enough stage to hear both depth and direction. As usual, I would have wished for a bit more depth overall, but I think the Stealth 450 is still decent. Wide soundstaging is not only wanted in music for accuracy, but almost a necessity in gaming when it comes to games like first person shooters, or even driving games for the overall experience. The ability to hear other opponents and know their direction is crucial to your in-game performance. Imaging produced by the Stealth 450 was okay, but once again the lacking midrange negatively affected the accuracy of the sound.
In terms of the virtual 7.1 surround sound, there are a few pros and cons to it. When using it with music, it completely muddied the listening experience, and messed with the intended soundstaging capabilities. Rather, its real purpose was found in gaming, where it delivered quite well. I understand this is not real 7.1 surround sound, and it will not sound as nice as legitimately having seven speakers and one subwoofer, but I can say it is capable in virtualizing the surround sound qualities. Turtle Beach also advertises their "Superhuman Hearing", which allows users to hear and anticipate other players earlier than usual. Under all the marketing names, this reduces the bass so you hear less of your own noise, such as your character's breathing or footsteps, and boosts the other frequencies to enhance external sounds. Despite the simplistic solution, I can say it is effective in games like Crysis 2. I was definitely able to hear other footsteps and sense their location from a further away distance.
Microphone recording is relatively clear, and sounds about as standard as you would expect from any gaming headset. Input quality is not exactly studio quality, but it will definitely get you around during your gaming sessions. One feature emphasized by Turtle Beach is the ability to monitoring of your microphone input. Turtle Beach has stated this should stop users from yelling just to hear themselves. As for myself, it really was a useful feature, since it works exactly as intended, and the result is also true; I really did stop yelling into the mic. If you do not like this, you can easily turn it off, but I think it is something more gaming headphone manufacturers should include.
Day to day, the Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 450 is pretty good. Syncing to any computer is as easy as plugging the RF transceiver into a port and turning the headphones on. Navigation is also fairly straightforward, but I really like the way the Stealth 450 announces all of your actions. From the moment you turn on your headset, a female voice pipes up and says "Powering on". She speaks when you change the equalization, turn on or off your microphone, and even when you are charging the device. Even better, she also announces when charging is complete. I know this is a small detail, but I think it is well thought out, and deserves some props.
As the Stealth 450 is wireless, I should mention a few things about the capabilities. Unlike all the problems I have faced in the past with Bluetooth products in general, the Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 450 was practically problem free. Wireless range was as stated, and I was able to go around to different rooms in my house without hearing any skipping or stuttering in the transmission. In addition, the battery life was exactly as stated from Turtle Beach, if not a little bit better. I easily got fifteen hours on a single charge with the Stealth 450. Charging times were also as quoted, with the device fully charging in a little less than three hours.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
