When Doom arrived on the 13th of may Thrustmaster sent me over - a few days later - a review sample of their Doom Edition headset, which is based on the Y-350X. In a nutshell it provides 7.1 virtual surround sound and a base boost option; which is perfect for the environment that Doom provides. You can read my review of Doom here.
Box Content & Design
The Thrustmaster Doom Edition headset is designed for both the Xbox One and Windows 10 platform, though of course you will need an Xbox One controller to utilise it if you want the surround sound option.
When the parcel arrived the Doom headset came in a pretty large box, but to me it still had the look and feel of the official Xbox packaging; what, with its Xbox logo displayed on a green background.
You also get to see a picture of Doom’s Revenant' next to the headset itself and the rest of the box is laden with the specification. Its design certainly makes you want to rip open the box to get access to the contents inside!
The headset itself is not small, in fact it looks/feels pretty large, but with its adjustable side-band and rotating ear cups (which incidentally are incredibly comfortable with a UAC logo etched inside) you will be able to fit this headset onto a fairly small to large head!
My head falls into the large category, but I must admit, alongside the soft padding used at the top, it feels great to wear. However I will talk more about this later.
You also get the UAC logo etched on the headband and to the sides you have a cool scratched metal look which is covering the harden plastic. Build quality is a mixture of keeping the headset light enough, but still providing some strength to proceedings. I don’t really have any major complaints about the build quality.
My only concern lies with the detachable microphone boom.
Don't get me wrong the boom itself is really well constructed and it has a lovely wire system to hold the boom in place when you rotate it; while it protects the latter wire with a rubberised cover.
However it plugs into a fixed position on the underside of the left ear cup, rather than the side of the headset and this limits its rotation. Plus to me it also highlights a possible weakness in that it could potentially get snagged and break off.
In-use the headset boom does feel sturdy enough, but I would say it’s easier to remove the detachable microphone, rather than put it back in with the headset on. Thus if you are wearing the headset you will need to remove it first to ease installation.
Even so the headset does provide an integrated 3.5mm cable which allows you to use it with standard phones or your PC. Sadly the cable is not really long enough for the PC use, so you will need to get sound via your Xbox One controller. You also don’t get any volume adjustment without the separate module or sound commander as they like to call it – basically this is a bit like the Stereo headset adapter that Microsoft sell.
Quality is also less impressive without the 7.1 system, so while you can use it with the above mentioned smartphones, I personally would stick with the gaming side only - more on this later.
Sound Commander Module
But I digress slightly as the separate sound commander module (which I shorten to command module) is what you use to attach the headset to the Xbox One controller.
It plugs into the propriety port and provides you with several options to control your audio.
The box’s quick start guide does not really showcase what the options on the command module do, but you can download a separate pdf manual which goes into more detail. What’s daft about the manual is that it’s only an extra page, so I can’t understand why it was not included in the box.
To be honest at first I thought the controls were touch sensitive, but they actually offer the same physical feedback as the aforementioned Stereo headset adapter.
As standard you get a Mic, Game/Chat balance button, the Base button, standard -/+ for volume control, a Mic button and a larger 7.1 logo etched with the Doom wording.
You also have a feedback button which is designed to channel your spoken voice to the ear pieces; so you know that the microphone boom is working.
What I did like is that Thrustmaster have at least attempted to make the command module more visually intuitive, especially when it comes to changing the Game/Chat volume; thanks to a colour coded LED system, but I will explain more about this in the In-Use section.
The headset’s 3.5 mm headphone port then plugs into the separate power pack, which again has the Doom logo etched on-top and this looks pretty cool! Plus it has the benefit of its own rechargeable battery.
This is a neat touch in some ways because it prevents the drain of your controller’s battery, while also powering the 7.1 sound in the process. The only downside it needs to be charged itself via the microUSB slot. You only get a small microUSB cable in the box, so plug-and-charge is not really a possibility.
When charging the LED light is also not that vibrant if I’m being picky, but charging time is about 4 hours and the green LED goes out when fully charged.
So far I have had the headset last for a week before needing another charge. Though in all fairness I don’t remember charging the adapter for that long when I first got the review sample. So you should get a good life span out of each charge.
Cable length
Coupled together you do get enough cable to sit there with your controller comfortably, while still not having tons of cable getting in the way. You also have a little clip on the cable so you can attach this to your clothing to make things even neater.
In-Use
For testing I of course was primarily using this with Doom, but I did have a blast with Dying Light as well to get some comparison.
For the most part I used the headset without the microphone so I could concentrate on the main audio quality.
For one, the headset to me – with my large head - is possibly one of the most comfortable I have ever worn! The super padding really helps cushion the ears, while the headband cushions my head perfectly.
For long periods of gaming it also felt comfortable and though the ear cups get warm (to a certain degree) I did not feel that it caused any major issues. In some ways the cushion effect of each ear cup offers a noise cancellation property. I know this (without looking at the box specs) because my Wife has had to tap me on the shoulder many a time in order to get my attention.
This noise cancelling effect certainly has the benefit of enhancing the immersion, but there is a slight downside to proceedings which gives you the effect of putting your hands next to your ears and as you talk you can your voice reverberate in your head. In fairness you do get used to this though thankfully.
I must admit the command module - used for controlling the audio - is visually intuitive to a certain degree because Thrustmaster have provided a colour coded LED system so you get a much better idea of what your volume level is like.
I do admit having to consult the manual though. For example while you can differentiate between the virtual and non-virtual surround options by sight, for example activating each mode works on the system that if you press the button and all the bars go green, it’s on, another press and if all the bars turn orange then it’s off. However after a few milliseconds the bars go back to the standard volume mode if you are not quick enough, so you need to press it and listen in order to know the modes are on/off, otherwise you have to keep glancing down at the module each and every time to check. Thus a simple on/off switch may have been easier to implement.
In Doom though the Virtual surround was used all the time as I found the standard mode did not offer enough depth.
But couple the 7.1 with the base boost and it's pretty epic, in that shotgun blasts and the machine gun style weapons have a boom boom boom noise (explosions also sound great). Of course you also have the game's Heavy Metal sound track, which has a meaty kick ass vibe; allowing you to really get into proceedings!
Mind you the base does need taming, as it can over power proceedings if you are not careful and to be honest the virtual surround option takes a little time to get used to. For example I actually found playing Dying light late at night brought the mode to life a touch more, as the night sequence i.e. being invaded by a monster, really sent shivers up my spine!
In Doom it just kicks base ass, so I did not have time to stop and listen if something was about, but the wails of the Demons did creep me out still! Thus you can sort of hear noises from the back/sides which shows to me it's working, but the game's frantic pace means you will mainly be focused on what’s in front of you, rather than behind.
I did not gain any major advantage in multiplayer either if truth be told, but who knows it may have helped! I did get to level 10 pretty quick! Other than this, the game sounded much more immersive with the virtual surround option on and less impressive with it turned off.
Voice Communication
It’s the voice side that offered the biggest learning curve. Granted I did not consult the manual in the early phase which did not help, but you need to get your head around the way the Game/Chat balance volume works. However once you do, it’s a lot better system that the one deployed on the original Xbox One Stereo headset adapter.
Unlike the latter when you press the Game/Chat button there is less guess work involved because of the way the LED light system works.
If the volume bars are predominately orange then this will indicate that the microphone volume is more dominate than the in-game volume and vice versa if the green LED bars are mostly lit it indicates the in-game chats dominance.
You just need to realise that the '–' button is used to increase the microphone volume, while the + is used for the in-game volume. This is where it took me time to work things out, but once you do it becomes second nature.
Incidentally volume buttons can work by holding them down to increase/decrease each volume setting, but individual presses can take a longer to initiate visually (i.e. the bars). Again this is another minor observation.
Chat quality though was pretty good with the recipient voice being clearly pumped through to the headset when he was speaking.
Vice versa he reported that my voice was also clear. However you need careful placement of the microphone boom, otherwise if it's too close you can get the static noise of your breath or inhaling as you speak.
The feedback option on the command module is not really that useful either unless you have the microphone really close to your mouth initially and if you leave it there you get the above.
If I'm being picky as well the mic LED is too weak to see properly unless you are in low-level light conditions. So in some ways you still need to use the feedback system quickly to test it's on and then pop the microphone boom further back before speaking.
However output volume is certainly loud/clear with proper placement and to be honest the breathing/inhaling problem is only really an issue if you use the headset to record gameplay.
For example via the Xbox One editing software the quality was actually loud /crystal clear with proper boom placement. On the flip-side on my Windows 10 platform it did struggle when paired via Bandciam, mainly because the output volume level was too low even at 100% (I had to crank up the levels in my editing software instead). This is due to the headset needing to work via the Xbox One for the microphone to kick in (no microphone boost was available). So something to watch there.
Summary
On the whole though the Doom Edition headset is still a pretty good bit of kit for the money (albeit it's not cheap at nearly £100 at the time of writing).
Once you work out the control system it offers more visual clues as to what your Game/Chat volume is set to compared to the official Stereo headset adapter – something which I think is a great touch!
Chat quality was also good, though the microphone boom’s placement is key and without the 7.1 surround the quality it’s not really up-to par for standard smartphone use (music on the whole lacks clarity and vibrancy).
However for me the headset was super comfortable for long gaming periods and the 7.1 surround/base boost did offer a more immersive experience when playing Doom. The gun noises and Heavy Metal soundtrack sounded epic and it’s a great headset for the gaming side of things.
So if you are looking for a new Xbox One headset then the Thrustmaster Doom Edition is well worth further investigation!