Psyko Audio 5.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset Review

Psyko Audio 5.1 Surround Sound Headset… whatcha got?

I took the headset out of the box right when I got it; I had to hear what these things sounded like. So I get them all hooked up and ready to go and

I fire up a game of Left 4 Dead 2. I am not going to lie here; I hated the way the Psyko 5.1 Gaming Headset sounded. To give you an example of what they

sounded like to me can best be described as listening to my game through two aluminum cans from across a field. The game sounded detached and far away, I

felt more like a spectator in the game than I did a participant. The gun fire and explosions were distorted and had a very tinny sound to them. In short

I thought there was something seriously wrong with them. So I adjusted my EQ’s and sound levels, I tried just about everything to get them to sound

better and I couldn’t; no matter what I did they sounded bad.

After about three days of use I was ready to write this review and, to say the least, the Psyko headset was not going to get a favorable review. So at

this point I felt like I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t go and read what others had to say about the headset. To my surprise the majority of the

articles I read were calling the Psyko headset the best gaming headset they had ever used. I was shocked because that was not my experience. I couldn’t

figure out what these guys were hearing that I couldn’t hear.

Now, I am a music lover and I love to listen to and play music so, needless to say, I use fairly high end headphones when I listen to music. It is

common practice with higher end headphones to burn them in to get them to sound good as fast as possible, because a lot of the higher end headphones have

the same problem as the Psyko headset. They just don’t sound that good out of the box. So I decided to employ a burn in routine to see if that would help

improve the performance of the Psyko 5.1 Gaming Headset. To do so I first found four Beastie Boys songs that had a ton of bass in them and looped the

same songs in my media player for four straight days. After the fourth day I put the headset on and played a couple of hours of Left 4 Dead 2 and Bad

Company 2. To my surprise the headset had actually improved. The explosions and gun shots that were very distorted out of the box were now clear and

sounded decent. But there was still a long way to go for the headset to be “acceptable” as far as I was concerned. So next I used a pink noise generator

which is something that, again, is commonly used to burn in headphones. So I decided that I would put the Psyko headset on the pink noise for sixty hours

to see if there was any improvement. During the sixty hour period at least once a day I would play a minimum of one hour of various games such as Left 4

Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Bad Company 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum and, of course, F.E.A.R.

Each day I could hear minor improvements in the quality of the sound. After the sixty hour period I was surprised at the fact that I actually found

myself wanting to use the Psyko 5.1 Gaming Headset instead of my other headsets. Not only was the sound quality better, but my positional and

situational awareness was unbelievable. Not only could I hear my enemies and where their sounds were coming from, but I also had a keen sense of how

far away they were, as well. Now whether this was actual or just perceived didn’t matter. With the ability to hear and get a really good bead on where my

opponent was located gave me a distinct advantage while in game. So much so that it was commented on several times during multiplayer game play by my

opponents that there was no way I could know someone was around a corner without some kind of cheat, and if you know me well enough you know that I am

not the type of person that cheats or uses in-game hacks. After more than one hundred hours of burn in… the Psyko 5.1 Gaming Headset lived up to its

hype.

Now I don’t want to mislead you and tell you that this is the greatest gaming headset I have ever used, and to be honest the sound quality of the

headset is not all that great, but that’s not its purpose. This headset is not for listening to music, watching movies or anything other than just

gaming. Even in game the sound is not high quality, so don’t expect THX quality sound with this headset because that is not what it’s made for. The

Psyko 5.1 Gaming Headset is made to give you a heightened awareness of what and who is around you in multiplayer games. Because of this, Psyko chose to

sacrifice sound quality in order to enhance in game awareness on all levels. In other words this headset is made for avid gamers and professional gamers

who need to win at all costs. Now I am not saying these aren’t for the casual gamer, but I think the casual gamer will have a harder time plunking down

$299.99 for a gaming headset.

It has been about 7 days since the burn in finished on the headset and I am still using them every night and the sound continues to improve over

time. Not too shabby for a headset that I was ready to throw away after just 3 days of use. I think that the most important thing that needs to be

remembered when buying and using the Psyko 5.1 Gaming Headset is that it is not made to sound like a home theater system in a smaller package. I cannot

say that enough because if you go into buying these with the expectation that these are going to make your PC sound like you are at the movies or that

you are going to be completely encompassed by the atmosphere of the game you are playing, you are going to be very, very disappointed. If you go into

this headset expecting killer 5.1 surround that enhances situational and positional awareness, you are going to be pleasantly surprised.

Let’s talk about comfort. As I mentioned the Psyko 5.1 Gaming Headset is a lot larger than most other headsets and because it actually has all of the

speakers to support its true 5.1 surround sound it is also much heavier. To counteract the size and weight of the headset Psyko made the supporting

chassis quite balanced and, of course, they also added the heavy velour type padding on all five of the speakers in the headband that rests on the top of

your head and they added generous amounts of the same padding to the ear-cups. The longest gaming session I played continuously was for four hours and not at

any time did my neck feel fatigued or did the headset become uncomfortable to wear. I did know the headset was on my head, but because of the padding and

the balanced design I didn’t care that it was on my head for that long.