Tt eSports Shock One Gaming Headset Review

Manufacturer: Thermaltake Inc
Product Name: Shock One Gaming Headset
Model Number: HT-SHO001EC
UPC: 041163039342 EAN: 471315752971
Price As Tested:$93 (Newegg) and $99 (Amazon)

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Thermaltake.

It comes as no surprise that Thermaltake is now breaking into the audio market following the successes of its competitors. Their new Tt eSports Shock One Gaming Headset distinguishes itself with flashy design and integrated DTS Surround Sensation, contrasting to the more common Dolby Headphone technology. The performance of the Shock One is important to both Thermaltake and DTS as they challenge a market filled with competition. Benchmark Reviews will be pitting the new comer against other Dolby headsets like the Corsair HS1 and Logitech G930. One thing's for sure, while many other companies chose a relatively neutral design that suits a wider audience range, the Shock One has been built from the ground up for gamers.

The Tt eSports Shock One Gaming Headset implements DTS Surround Sensations, which gives the headset 5.1 virtual surround sound. The headset comes with a noise canceling mic, replaceable ear pads, and bass enhancement. For gamers, the Shock One is foldable and comes with a convenient pouch for travel. The included driver software also comes with 3 preset equalizer settings for different genres of games.

In general Dolby and DTS technologies are fairly equal in terms of quality. However we do find today's gaming headset market dominated by Dolby-powered products. DTS Surround is newer and not many products currently use it. Most Dolby headsets include Dolby Logic, which up-mixes stereo to 5.1 audio or higher. The DTS alternative is DTS:Neo, which is not included with the Shock One. Up-mixing typically provides mixed results but could be a desirable feature.

One feature most surround sound headsets omit is bass enhancement, as it tends to distort the original audio. By including bass enhancement, the Tt eSports' Shock One wants to close the gap between surround sound headsets and high quality studio headphones. For$94.54, the Shock One is full of promises, very closely priced to the Corsair HS1 Dolby Surround Headset. Benchmark Reviews is excited to be testing this new surround sound headset that really manages to distinguish itself from the rest.

Surround Sound Headset Features

• 5.1 Channel Virtual Surround Sound
• Dynamic 40mm Speaker Drivers
• Noise Cancelling mic
• In-line control box
• 10 levels of headband adjustment
• Replaceable ear-pads, comes with leather and clothe
• Gold-plated USB connectors

HT-SHO001EC Specifications

Closer Look:Tt eSports Shock One Headset

Thermaltake's new Tt eSports brand has been making a name for itself by being innovative and different. The most radical would probably be installing a fan on their keyboards to eliminate sweat and moist. Similarly for the Shock One Gaming Headset, Thermaltake has taken a completely different route than its competitors. The Shock One is one of the first DTS Surround Sensation headsets, which utilizes DTS's new software to deliver virtual surround sound. This partnership marks a new beginning of DTS vs. Dolby as Dolby currently dominates the headset market.

Inside the box Thermaltake packs the Tt eSports Shock One USB headset, instruction manuals/warranty information, driver CD, protein leather and clothe ear-pads, and a carrying pouch for all the contents. The Shock One can be folded to easily fit into its pouch and greatly increases portability, a problem that many other headsets have.

The outer shell of the Shock One is a mix of reflective and matte plastic. It's wider than a typical headset since it needs space to fit folded ear-pieces. By default the leather ear-pads are installed, matching the top head rest. Its red and black color scheme is Thermaltake's most popular design choice which appears in almost every product. The general appearance of the headset places it under gamers-only category, and is probably unsuitable for office environments.

The Shock One comes with built-in lighting, which illuminates the "Tt" logo. The bright red plastic together with metal mesh gives a nice gamer look without looking cheap from the reflective plastic. The mic can be lowered or tucked along the side. The Shock One happens to come with a pure rubber mics, which never sticks to the shape that it is bent to. The ear-pieces are designed to fit and cover over the ears. The headset is tight, making the Shock One the only gaming headset that doesn't fall when you shake your head or bend down. However this comes at the cost of comfort during longer sessionsfrom the tight grip.

Thermaltake strategically placed their logo at the top of the headband, the most unobtrusive location. By design the Shock One is much wider than a typical headset, over 20cm at its widest point. In comparison, the Corsair HS1 is 16cm. The headband feels sturdy and, unlike Logitech's G35/G930, the plastic doesn't constantly squeak when it's twisted.

In terms of general adjustability, the Shock One is very limited. The only adjustable part is the headband length. The ear-pieces are not capable of any rotation and the headset depends heavily on the ear-pads to deliver comfort. Because of the tight grip, it is very difficult to relieve your ears from pressure, especially since the headset is on the heavy side even for a surround sound headset.

The Tt eSports Shock One Gaming Headset packs a good amount of features inside its flashy shell. Comfort issues may come up due to the rigid build. Visually, unless you have a strong aversion to glossy plastic, the Shock One has a unique and serious gamer look and feel. In the next section Benchmark Reviews will take a closer look at the finer details of the Shock One.

Tt eSports Shock One Headset Detailed Features

From here Benchmark Reviews will take a look at the finer details of the Shock One.

The Tt eSports Shock One Gaming Headset has a tight headband and its ear-piece hinges do not bend outwards very much. The length of the headset can be extended by 3cm on each side. The adjustment band is made of steel for durability and allows for 10 levels of adjustments.

The Shock One's inline controller is synchronized with Windows' native speaker settings so you never have to worry about having two different audio controls. The braided cable is 3m long, enough for any system setup. Its gold-plated USB connector ensures optimal audio signal integrity. In order to keep the extra wires out of the way for smaller setups or laptops, Thermaltake includes a cable tie and the controller has a clip built on the back. The clip can be used to pin the controller to jackets or sweaters and keep it out of the way.

In addition to having a nice controller design, all the necessary functionality is there too, including speaker and mic mute, volume, and headset lighting. Thermaltake also included a lock for the controller that disables the buttons so accidental touches don't trigger unwanted changes.

Following the recent trend, Thermaltake provides both leather and clothe ear-pads. This eliminates surface material from any decision making, instantly increasing the product's appeal to a larger audience. The included travel pouch is designed to fit the folded headset only. The driver disk and manuals can be stuffed in but it's near impossible to fit the backup ear-pads. The folded Shock One is very compact and can be carried around easily using the bag.

The Tt eSports Shock One has one of the neatest ear-pad swapping mechanisms. Instead of fumbling to pull all edges of the ear-pads over a surface, the Shock One uses plastic clip-ons to lock it in place. It holds the ear-pads in place tightly and is completely hassle free. Removing the ear-pad simply requires a gentle tug.

Once folded, the Tt eSports Shock One will be only 8cm tall. By design, the hinges are capable of bending even further, so any pressure on the headset will be cushioned by the head rest and ear-pads, protecting the headset from any damage.

In the finer details, Thermaltake has done a great job making our lives easier. Swapping ear-pads literally takes seconds. The Shock One is also by far the most portable virtual surround sound gaming headset. The Shock One gaming headset has one of the most gamer-friendly designs out there. It's wrapped in a great package, but that's not enough. In the next section Benchmark Reviews will see how the Shock One performs and what type of audio experience you will get from Thermaltake's new headset.

Tt eSports Shock One Headset Testing & Results

Test System

• System Memory: 12 GB
• Processor: Intel i7-920
• Video: GTX 285
• Operating System: Windows 7
• Shock One Driver Version: 1.00

Results

In order to test the Tt eSports Shock One gaming headset, a variety of games, music and movies were used. Some of the games include StarCraft II, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Starting with DTS Surround Sensation turned off, the Tt eSports Shock One essentially becomes a normal stereo headset. With bass enhancement the Shock One is passable but definitely not worth its price. Under the default equalizer settings, audio quality is questionable. The bass enhancement sometimes works well, but other times it just creates a "muffled" overlay to everything and ruins the entire experience. It depends on the genre of music or game. Sometimes it sounds like there's way too much processing going on that a $30 pair of basic Sony headphones will achieve a better effect.

Comfort also seems to be an issue. This is one of the first headsets that managed to give me a headache during use. It may be the overly tight fit or muffled bass that's causing it.

The included software is simpler than most other drivers, with everything laid out on one single page. Equalizer, volume adjustments, and DTS options are all available. Thermaltake also included a stopwatch in the software. The available "gaming application for gamers" feature is essentially an equalizer preset for different genres of games: MMORPG, FPS, and RTS. Different frequencies are emphasized more depending on the genre of the game. For example FPS tends to strengthen higher frequencies like voices or gun shots.

With DTS Surround Sensations turned on, the audio quality becomes much better. Because DTS doesn't try to emulate or upscale directional audio like Dolby, the resulting experience is equally positive across the board. It also helps to remove some of the severe "muffledness". The two different modes Music and Movie make quite a large difference, though the result really depends on personal preference. In general for music mode, voices and other frequencies near vocal are much louder and clearer. The rest of DTS's included functionality is non-essential. Further bass enhancement through drivers is a serious overkill. Voice clarification doesn't work that great either. The Tt eSports Shock One also suffers from noticeable static when too much processing happens or excessive bass enhancement is applied.

Unfortunately the Shock One doesn't deliver "excellent directional audio" as with most other Dolby gaming headsets, which is really confusing since the goal for purchasing a surround sound headset for gaming is to be fully immersed in the game world. Instead, Thermaltake's Shock One seems to be more of a general purpose entertainment headset. The software isolates voices well and emulates sound coming from around you, which works great for music. But for movies and FPS games the headset fails to deliver an immersive audio environment. While an improvement over traditional stereo headsets, and great for music lovers that like bass enhancement, the Tt eSports Shock One just doesn't deliver the top end virtual surround sound experience.

Tt eSports Shock One Gaming Headset Final Thoughts

After testing several headsets, DTS in general delivers less obvious directional audio than Dolby, but the "surround sound" feeling is stronger due to excellent voice positioning and processing, especially obvious when listening to music. DTS and Dolby are equally matched in their technologies however they seem to have focused on different areas. DTS's Surround Sound Sensation instantly creates an illusion that sound is playing "around" you, but unlike Dolby, its directional audio capabilities are much weaker. This is even true for content that supports 5.1+ surround sound. Thermaltake's partnership with DTS may seem interesting, and the results are decent, but in terms of features for a surround sound headset, if directional audio is poor then that's only half a surround sound headset.

Tt eSports Shock One Headset Conclusion

The Tt eSports Shock One headset is a different breed than existing Dolby surround sound headsets. It has better voice isolation, equally matched in terms of surround sound, but has weaker directional audio. The headset's directional audio performance in FPS games such as CoD: Black Ops and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 are both very poor. The Shock One's performance is somewhere between a surround sound headset and stereo headset. However, depending on preference, bass enhancement can be a big plus to audio experience.

The Shock One sports a hardcore gamer look and feel. Thermaltake goes with its most popular red and black color scheme. The exterior shell is a mix of matte and glossy plastic, along with metal mesh for the ear-pieces. The color scheme reminds me of some high-end laptop systems like Dell's Alienware and Toshiba's Qosmio lineup. This isn't a viable purchase for office settings like the more generic Corsair HS1, but if you want a flashier head accessory the Shock One delivers just that.

The construction of the Shock One is solid. All joints are tight and no squeaky sounds come from the plastic headband. The design of the headset's components shows great thought. The Shock One has the easiest mechanism for swapping ear-pieces and is truely portable. There's limited adjustability for the headset, which is one reason it may be a too tight for some people. Otherwise the Shock One's construction and design is one of the most impressive and has the least number of flaws.

Thermaltake built a great headset as mentioned above, but its functionality really comes down to their software department and DTS. The Shock One's configuration panel is simple, but a little lacking. For one, they should make bass enhancement an on-off feature since it detracts from quality in so many cases. Otherwise they could include a general bass and treble equalizer for easier configuration in addition to the traditional equalizer. On the DTS part, options are fairly limited and some of the features are not very useful. Further bass enhancement through DTS Surround Sensations yields horrible audio quality and constant static. The Shock One is a great headset with many physical features, but otherwise on the software side, other than basic equalizer and DTS Surround Sensation mode, the software does not include any extra functionality.

The Shock One is currently priced for $93 (Newegg) and $99 (Amazon), roughly $5 below the Corsair HS1, its closest competitor. In terms of performance the Corsair HS1 takes the lead in comfort and audio quality. But the Shock One has bass enhancement, portability, and flashier design. Based on its features and performance, the Shock One is priced in the correct price range.

The Tt eSports Shock One Gaming Headset is one of the first available DTS Surround Sensation headsets. The Shock One has a lot going for it thanks to Thermaltake's design team. However in this case partnering with DTS may not have been the best move. The Shock One will only be a good buy for some, as long as heavy bass and portability is what you want. But for the best audio quality and fully immersive surround sound experience, there are better choices.

Pros:

+ Highly portable headset
+ Attention to finer details like ear-pad switching and inline controller design
+ Good microphone quality
+ Solid bass enhancement

Cons:

- Poor directional audio
- Takes a lot of adjustments so get better audio quality and eliminate "muffledness"
- Not the most comfortable headset for long durations, sometimes causes headaches
- Appearance not for everyone
- Microsoft Windows only

Ratings:

• Performance: 8.00
• Appearance: 8.50
• Construction: 9.50
• Functionality: 8.25
• Value: 8.25

Final Score: 8.50 out of 10.

Benchmark Reviews invites you to leave constructive feedback below, or ask questions in our Discussion Forum.

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