BIOS: Technology Means Business

Sound should be more than just heard. It should be felt, pulsing through your body like a grenade exploding at your six or the rumble of heavy turbulence. Your doctor will probably disagree, but what does he know about gaming!

Just when you thought that your gaming experience couldn’t get any more realistic (well, apart from 7.1 audio), the AudioFX Force Feedback Headphones ($49.95/£27.99) will sucker punch you in the ear. These innovative headphones not only provide an aural gaming experience, but a tactile one too. Sound quality won’t satisfy audiophiles, but gamers looking for an audible punch should be in their element.

While games have become more and more immersive, providing lifelike graphics and multi-dimensional sound, PC sound systems have become more and more sophisticated with full surround sound, satellite speakers, and powerful subwoofers. The downside to this is that audio systems can be expensive and require a lot of space. For gamers on a budget, or those with neighbours that don’t appreciate your good taste in games, the AudioFX Force Feedback Headset provides the full rumbling sound of a large surround-sound system in an affordable and comfortable headset.

The black-and-silver headset features a circumaural padded earphone design, fully adjustable noise-cancelling microphone, and a rather large inline controller for adjusting the volume and vibration on the fly. There are also multi-coloured LED lights (red, green and blue) on the outside of the ear cups that are synchronised to the sounds coming through the headphones. Basically, the headset converts low, bass-heavy sounds into vibrations that can be adjusted spontaneously with the handy dial. If your head starts to hurt, you can turn the rumble level down or off completely.

The human ear cannot hear anything below 20- to 25Hz but other frequencies can be felt as vibrations. If you’ve ever watched movies on a powerful home theatre system then you know that bass is often times more a feeling than a hearing sensation. The Audio FX’s bass amplifier interprets frequencies below 20Hz and transforms them into vibrations that you can feel through the headphone earpiece. Advanced transducers located in the earpieces convert these low frequencies into real vibrations.

The headset uses a USB port to power the lights and vibrations, and analogue stereo ports for the microphone and headphones. The headset is plug-and-play, so there is no need to install additional software, but it’s not actually a USB device - it just uses the USB’s power to run the subwoofer circuit and vibrating effect. The downside to this arrangement is if your audio ports aren’t near to a USB port on your computer - you may struggle to connect all three jacks if your headphone and mic ports are at the front of your PC and your USB port is at the back. The separator cables are relatively accommodating, and the main cable is a whopping 6-foot long, but you should still bear this connectivity ‘issue’ in mind.

With build-in force feedback drivers in each earphone, the AudioFX pulsates and vibrates the sensations you experience in a game, movie or audio track. The downside is that the physical size of the headset is larger than usual because it has to accommodate the force feedback units. We also noticed that the headset emits a constant buzzing sound when the force feedback is switched on. You won’t notice the hum when you’re in the thick of the action, but it’ll drive you crazy when the action pauses.

The headphones performed perfectly well in the task that they were designed for (games), but those looking for a headset that delivers studio-like quality music output should look elsewhere. The vibrations were relatively subtle at comfortable listening volume, but in games or movies with frequent explosions or loud environmental sound effects, such as Call of Duty 2 or Saving Private Ryan, your head will be buzzing. The effect may actually make you feel a little nauseous at first, but you’ll quickly get used to it.

The force feedback headset helps to immerse you in a game so you’re more aware of your surroundings, and the volume levels are more than enough to blow your ear drums, but the bass-heavy emphasis on low-range sounds and lack of high-end tones make it unsuitable for regular music playback. The microphone is more than acceptable for videoconferencing, in-game taunting or strategising however, so it’s really a case of what you want from a pair of headphones and how much you’re prepared to pay. For gaming alone, the AudioFX Force Feedback Headphones are great value. [7]

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