Sony Wireless Stereo Headset (PS3)

By no means am I an audiophile, nor will I accept something if it isn't worth the money I paid for it.

I wanted a state of the art 7.1 surround sound system in my living room to compliment my PS3 and atmospheric titles such as Battlefield 3 & Skyrim. I think it's only fitting that if you're going to splash out on the visuals in a HDTV, then it's only right to give the audio the same treatment.

I spotted these on eBay and managed to pick a pair of UK PAL ones up for £75 delivered (seller is xbiteworld). Promises of virtual 7.1 surround sound, crystal clear voice chat, instant syncing & more importantly, the fact they're wireless, had me sold.

After a couple of weeks of use, I can safely say that these are an excellent bit of kit. Plus, it's an official Sony product if you're a brand freak.

As promised - they immediate synced to my PS3, which involves putting the dongle in the USB port & pressing one of the ear pieces (whichever one the on/off writing is on) until it beeps and comes on. Instant connection and the sound should start coming through your set.

As promised - 7.1 virtual surround sound, as I said, i'm not an audiophile but games like Battlefield 3 and Skyrim completely come to life, and it will work to your advantage in-game. Hearing foot steps to the left of you? Possibly an ememy on your nearside.

As promised - Crystal clear voice chat? Well, yeah, I guess. Trouble is I can't hear myself talk! It's that feeling when you're talking but you don't know how loud you're talking. Could be annoying to the neighbours, more so than you having a typical surround sound system - but who cares, you're in your own house, talk as loud as you wish.

As promised - Wireless, yup. Simply put, they are so practical.

Lastly, comfort, soundbleed & battery life. They are indeed comfy, your ears don't overheat or begin to ache/hurt if you're playing for long periods. Soundbleed - very minimal, my girlfriend doesn't complain anyway! Battery life is excellent, I can't say i've counted but if i'm putting in roughly 3 hour shifts per night, i'm recharging for a while on the 3rd night.

I appreciate this isn't the most useful review however it's an honest one. Surely that has some value to somebody out there.

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BRIEF
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When it comes to headsets I can be very picky in the sense of comfort, I wear glasses so any pressure that is put onto my ears will push them into the side of my glasses, short time this is fine however in the long run it can be extremely painful. Whilst my previous headset was comfy, I couldn't do long gaming sessions with them on for talking to friends, or even use them to avoid annoying my family with TV sounds, so I had to think about upgrading.

After a long search I came across this product, it had been getting very positive reviews and I decided to go for the pricey plunge.

I personally love the look of this headset, they have a really nice suave/neat look to them and they feel pretty solid in quality, that is until you whop out the microphone... it feels very flimsy, which I think they could of easily made more sturdy, microphone aside the headset as a whole is top quality.

This product doesn't come with a charging cable, but most of you should already have one, if you want to wear it whilst charging I would suggest getting an extra long one: 5M USB 2.0 A Male To Mini B 5 Pin Cable For Charging PS3 Playstation 3 Controller & Digital Cameras.

When charging the headset, a red light will glow on the microphone, when it's fully charged it will disappear.

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SET-UP & CONTROLS
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Connecting it to your PS3 couldn't be any simpler; you plug in the USB dongle(provided), push & hold down the power button for two seconds, this is located at the top of the panel on the left-hand side of the headset and your all ready to go.

When you first use the headset it will automatically adjust the settings for you; it pairs the microphone in the settings so you don't have to and any audio that is supposed to come out of the TV come out of the headset instead, this can be changed by going to: "Settings" - "Accessory Settings" - "Stereo Headset Audio Extension" and turn it "Off".

If the blue light glowing on the microphone, it means that the microphone is enabled, to disable it, just tap the power button and it should turn purple, this is to let you know it is muted.

You have two different sliders just under the left-hand side of the headset:
1) The one on the front features a "SOUND" - "VOICE" ratio slider, if you want all game, slide it all the way to "SOUND", or if you just want to hear friends who are using headsets slide it to "VOICE", or to get a customised mix of ratio, just slide it until you're happy, personally I either have a 50-50% ratio, or a 40-60% ratio.
2) On the back is the main "VOLUME" slider, which will keep the ratio you have but increase/decrease the overall volume.

Once again on the left-hand side, but this time on the top, you have the "VIRTUAL SURROUND SOUND" button, to toggle this on or off, you have to hold it for around 1-2 seconds, an indicator on the screen will indicate if it's on or off. (refer to the manual when you get the product to see the symbols and meanings).

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OVERALL EXPERIENCE AND THOUGHTS
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Honestly, this is the best headset I've had to date of writing this review, the comfort levels are superior to ANY headset/headphones I've EVER had, this is due to the fact that the earmuffs go directly over my ears, which means there is not one bit of pressure on them. That said, due to it going over your ears and restricting what you can hear on the outside world, you may find yourself talking a bit more loudly than normal.

It's easy to use, the controls are all on the left hand side making them easy to find and quickly adjust.

Although the micro feels flimsy, the quality it outputs is totally the opposite, my friends can hear me with crystal clear clarity (may vary on some game servers, but this is due to the servers, not the headset).

The audio is amazing, I've listened to music, watched films and obviously played games through this headset and can assure you the audio is top-notch.

As for the surround sound, I'm not too sure if you could call it a proper surround sound experience, but nevertheless I'm happy with the out come.

Full stars from me!

Bought these from another vendor for £73.00 due to these being out of stock and was dubious at what to expect. The headphones are superb and allow you to hear the in game effects and also the voices via the microphone. No cables as this is totally wi-fi and runs from a UBS dongle. You can adjust the sound volume and also mix the in game audi against the volume of the effects. So far i got 4.5 hrs out of them before needing to recharge. You recharge them via the USB slot on your PC same as the controllers.

7.1 isnt quite 7.1 but it does give you a good aspect of sound around you. For once my wife is actually happy as I can now have the sound as loud as i like without annoying the people next door.

For the money you cant go wrong.. Absolute essential kit for any ps3 owner .

Only down side i should mention is the mic is a bit plastic and light so be very careful when throwing them around.