Entered CNET Catalog: 06/23/2005
SKU: 0731855021109
Manufacturer: Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc.
Manufacturer description
Why put up with the headache and expense of setting up 5.1 surround sound speakers in your PC room? The Ear Force HPA surround sound headphones provide a more immersive listening experience with amplified multi-speaker surround sound in each ear cup. Convenient volume controls for front, surround, center and sub, a master volume control and eight amplifiers for boosting the signal level to the individual speakers in each ear cup, let you tailor the sound as you like. A detachable microphone can be used for interactive on-line gaming, Internet phone or voice control of your PC.Product summary
The good: True 5.1-channel headphones with an onboard amplifier; excellent gaming and DVD sound; serious bass output; in-line controller module; removable microphone for video games, VoIP, and voice recognition.
The bad: Requires outlet power; excessive amount of wires and cables; unnatural music reproduction; doesn't include surround decoder or carrying pouch; pricey.
The bottom line: The Turtle Beach Ear Force HPA two-way headset delivers the most convincing surround-sound experience you can get from headphones.
Average user rating: 
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 11/23/2005
The Turtle Beach Ear Force HPA is a large headset featuring a very comfortable self-adjusting soft fabric-covered headband and leatherette ear pads that fully cup your ears without pinching them as some headphones do. The microphone is highly flexible to facilitate positioning and can be unplugged from the left earpiece when not in use.
A 4.5-foot-long cord segment that emerges from the Ear Force HPA's left earpiece terminates in a proprietary connector that, in turn, plugs into the controller module of an included 7-foot cord segment. The other end of the cord segment splits into a power adapter connector as well as 1/8-inch front, rear, center, and mic plugs to facilitate connection with 5.1-channel sound cards. Connecting the color-coded headphone plugs to our Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Pro sound card was straightforward, but because the Sound Blaster's only mic input is a 1/4-inch jack that's located on an external breakout box, we had to place the box on the ground next to our PC and use a plug adapter to enable a connection to the mic. If your sound card has a similar design, you'll want to purchase an extension cord rather than duplicate our jury-rigged setup.
Turtle Beach supplies an AC adapter to power the headphones' built-in 6-channel amplifier, which is housed in the controller module. Because you can't use the headphones without plugging the power adapter into an outlet, the Ear Force HPA isn't a good choice for road trips. The controller module conveniently includes an overall volume control plus individual level controls for the front, surround, center, and sub channels but doesn't have a microphone mute control comparable to what you'd get with some two-way headsets. Turtle Beach also includes a set of splitter cables to enable simultaneously connecting the headphones and 5.1-channel multimedia speakers.
In video games such as Half Life 2, the Turtle Beach Ear Force HPA created an enveloping sonic canvas and made it easier to track the positions of enemies than other headphones we've gamed with but fell short of delivering pinpoint-accurate sonic queues you'd get from a good 5.1-channel multimedia speaker set. During "The Riker Maneuver" scene of the Star Trek: Insurrection DVD, the headphones gave the soundstage a multidimensional quality, with the surround channels making us feel as though we were in the midst of the falling rocks. At first, we really didn't see what all the hype was about with the Ear Force HPA's built-in "subwoofers." Then we tweaked our Sound Blaster's bass redirection feature, adjusting its crossover frequency to the highest possible setting and firing up Bass Factory 808's Woofer Warm Up. The 'phones kicked some major bass, aggressively rattling the sides of our head without distorting. To see how the newfound bass prowess translated to video games, we jumped back into a deathmatch round of Half Life 2. Grenades and RPGs exploded with a percussiveness we've felt only with high-powered subwoofer/satellite multimedia speakers sets. The bass output was no less impressive with DVDs. However, unless you're a bass-crazed hip-hop fan, we wouldn't recommend the Ear Force HPA for music listening as it sounds a bit too harsh and in-your-face when playing tunes.
The Turtle Beach Ear Force HPA's microphone worked as advertised, but informal recording tests showed it to be noisier and more hiss-prone than that of the Sennheiser PC160 ($99) two-way headset. That said, the Ear Force HPA's mic did provide a fuller, more natural sound than the mic on Logitech's far less expensive Precision PC Gaming Headset ($29).
As long as you have a 5.1-channel sound card and can cope with the Ear Force HPA's excessive cabling requirements, it's a superb choice for gaming and PC-based DVD viewing applications. It considerably eclipses the performance of Turtle Beach's nonpowered step-down model, the X-51 ($79). Console gamers, meanwhile, will want to check out the Turtle Beach Ear Force AXT, a modified version of the HPA that works with the Xbox and the Xbox 360, including communications support for Xbox Live.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 3 user reviews
Great Headphones
Pros: Directional sound, Good sound quality, Crystal clear microphone,
Cons: Tons of cables add to the rats nest behind the desk, requires its own power source.
Review: I have had these headphones for approx 1 year. All in all I have been very happy with them. They deliver high quality sound and can blast the music so loud you can easily hear them across the room. I play BF2, CS:S, WOW, etc and the positional audio is an HUGE benefit allowing me to figure out where an enemy is quickly. Has greatly improved my gaming performance.
My pair has had a few mechanical problems (due to conditions BEYOND normal wear and tear). One of the speakers inside came loose and was bouncing around. It was an easy fix, just opened it up, put the speaker back in place and replaced the hot glue they used with some of my own. Also the adjustable strap broke but that was easily fixed. Keep in mind my headphones see very rough treatment with a baby and a cat who both think the headphones are a toy.
I highly recommend this product.
My pair has had a few mechanical problems (due to conditions BEYOND normal wear and tear). One of the speakers inside came loose and was bouncing around. It was an easy fix, just opened it up, put the speaker back in place and replaced the hot glue they used with some of my own. Also the adjustable strap broke but that was easily fixed. Keep in mind my headphones see very rough treatment with a baby and a cat who both think the headphones are a toy.
I highly recommend this product.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 3 user reviews
NOT GOOD for GAMING!!!
Pros: True 5.1 Surround Sound, Awesome Bass, Comfortable
Cons: Over Priced, MIC is Complete CRAP!!!!!!!
Review: I game playing Half Life series games a lot. I go though a pair of $50 headphones w/ mic about once every 6 mo. You would think that a pair of $50 gaming headphones would last longer but thats not the point. I bought these at Frys Electronics for $70. Thinking that the more I spent the longer they would last and since they had the 5.1 Surround it would really help with locations of enemys while gaming which it did.
CON ARTISTS
The mic is not noise canceling. There are speakers on the outside of the headphones and the mic has a reciever on both the side you speak into and the side facing away from you. Used in both Ventrilo, Team Speak, and in Game the feedback was AWEFUL. Any sound coming though the headphones while you chatted was 10x louder than your voice, in turn no one could hear anything I was saying. We tried everything to fix it: Not using the splitter for the seperate surround sound set up I have, just plugging in the mic and front jacks, we even went to the extent of taping the outside of the headphones and opposite side of the mic and it made no difference.
These work great if you are using them for dvds and music, if you plan on using the mic youll be very disapointed in your new $70 purchase.
Logitech all digital usb gaming headsets also suck. Thoes are the last pair I bought for $60 and they only lasted about 2 weeks before the light went out on them and then you didnt know when you were muted or not and with the position of the mute button you always were muted and wouldnt know for about 15mins till you realized everything you just said no one herd.
Seinhauser pc150s are the best headphones Ive used yet. The mic is very very clear and so is the sound with seperate controls and built in drivers. The only negative is they are hard to find in local stores and can be pricey and they arent 5.1 surround. They will run you about $50 on ebay and up to $150 in stores depending on the model you buy. Thoes last forever, well they did for me untill I sat on them. Thought I would try something new and just ended up wasting $100s.
I wouldnt be so upset if these headsets werent so talked up in the hype and then dont deliver what is promised!
SAVE UR MONEY GAMERS
CON ARTISTS
The mic is not noise canceling. There are speakers on the outside of the headphones and the mic has a reciever on both the side you speak into and the side facing away from you. Used in both Ventrilo, Team Speak, and in Game the feedback was AWEFUL. Any sound coming though the headphones while you chatted was 10x louder than your voice, in turn no one could hear anything I was saying. We tried everything to fix it: Not using the splitter for the seperate surround sound set up I have, just plugging in the mic and front jacks, we even went to the extent of taping the outside of the headphones and opposite side of the mic and it made no difference.
These work great if you are using them for dvds and music, if you plan on using the mic youll be very disapointed in your new $70 purchase.
Logitech all digital usb gaming headsets also suck. Thoes are the last pair I bought for $60 and they only lasted about 2 weeks before the light went out on them and then you didnt know when you were muted or not and with the position of the mute button you always were muted and wouldnt know for about 15mins till you realized everything you just said no one herd.
Seinhauser pc150s are the best headphones Ive used yet. The mic is very very clear and so is the sound with seperate controls and built in drivers. The only negative is they are hard to find in local stores and can be pricey and they arent 5.1 surround. They will run you about $50 on ebay and up to $150 in stores depending on the model you buy. Thoes last forever, well they did for me untill I sat on them. Thought I would try something new and just ended up wasting $100s.
I wouldnt be so upset if these headsets werent so talked up in the hype and then dont deliver what is promised!
SAVE UR MONEY GAMERS
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 3 user reviews
WOW! True 5.1 from Headphones
Pros: Individual volume controls for Each channel, plus a master control.
Cons: No Mic control on the inline amp. I am used to leaving the mic enabled and turning it off at the headphones. But you can disconnect it.
Review: Fairly Clean install/setup. Behind the comp You will have a cable for: Fronts, Rears, Center/Sub, Mic and a power input(external power required). You will need a sound card(SB Audigy 2 for me), no digital option. One cable from there to the inline amplifier. The headphones have a quick disconnect. Pigtails included incase you already have a 5.1 speaker system. Headphones become noticable after an hour or so use, but nothing major. GREAT sound for the price, but takes a little work to get every thing the way you want it.
