Medusa 5.1 Surround Headset - Page 2

Update:

Things are going much better now. I hopefully assume that the same is true for others given the lack of further responses.

Didn't mean to issue bad press Matt.
I'll report here in full with what's going right. :?

Amp

I've been looking for 5.1 headphones for a couple of days now. I've read quite a few reviews.

I heard about the Medusa on another board and figured I check it here.

I just purchased a Medusa pretty much based on Matt's responses here. I figured if he took the time to post to this forum to help people out, he cares about the satisfaction of his customers.

That's probably more than I'm going to get from other companies.

Ok, just checking in. This headset is so close to being great. I have taken advantage of the new power supply, just got the universal adapter in the mail this morning. The front and center speakers sound fantastic, but the rear speakers are still really tinny. Was -really- hoping the power supply would fix my issue, but want to know if anyone else with the rear speaker problem ever got a fix.

If those rear speakers would sound as good as the front/center speakers, I'd be in heaven.

Note that I'm using a creative Audigy 2 ZS.

--Flayer

Hey Fellers!

Against my "inner voice", I went and purchased these from Medusa-USA. They just showed up. Out of the box, the left earphone covering was completely off. Also, the tape used to seal the box had been removed at one point and replaced with a larger piece (clearly visible). THis tells me that the box had been opened and, for whatever reason, resealed. Not what I want to see when I buy something that is supposedly "brand new".

So I tell myself don't worry about that, just check out the rest of the stuff. All the wiring appears to be ok, and it DID come with the NA power adapter. I then opened up the box containg the amp/control unit. Slight smudge/scuff marks on the top. Again, not what I want to see on newly purchased product.

I pick the unit up and start turning it over in my hand, looking at all the plugs and dials. As I turn it over the first time, I feel something move inside. I turn it over again, and I feel it "move" again. So I give it a little shake, and a loud, heavy, rattle is what I get to hear. It appears (based on the feeling in my hand when I shake the unit) that the entire insides of this thing are not joined/connected to anything. They just roll around whenever I move my hand. Now I don't see the plugs move or the dial move when I feel/hear the stuff inside move, which I guess is a good thing. However i'm guessing I shouldn't feel ANYTHING moving in there. Everything in there should be secured and steadfast, non-moving.

So far i'm not very pleased. I dropped $123.00 U.S. on these things, and before I even get them home to try them out, I find myself making concessions (resealed box... earphone cover not on... scuffed amp/control unit... loose insides of control unit....). To be fair (and honest), when I get these things home today i'll go thru the motions of setting them up. If they work FLAWLESSLY (and I do mean FLAWLESSLY), i'll probably keep em, regardless of the things i've mentioned. But i'm a confirmed pessimist for a reason, and something tells me when I get home today i'm not going to end up getting what I paid for.

I'll post here later today/early tomorrow as to what my findings are...

First off I wasn't shouting. THIS IS SHOUTING. I wasn't doing that. And it wasn't from the rooftops either. Save the theatrics for some other place.

Secondly yes, if it is indeed "sheer human error", I will be equally quick to post here in this forum that that is what happened once its been fixed. Curious though, how instead of offering to look into the problem you immediately go on the defensive. Real nice customer relation skills ya got there chief

Can't take a customer being angry that he didn't get what he paid for? Maybe you'd better find another job then, cause it happens a lot. Particularly when buying things online. People make the purchase in a matter of minutes, then they wait... and wait... and wait... for the product to arrive. After all that waiting they want what they ordered. Not pathetic, whiney statements about "sheer human error".

And as for a "little common sense", try applying a little to your reading skills. I didn't write that "every single component either damaged or scratched". I listed four specific items. Read it again Matt and try to understand, I think you can if you just try.

I appreciate that representative of medusa usa monitors this topic and tries to make it right for customers.
So I have 2 questions to Medusa_USA:
Do u plan to sell lower priced OEM boxed 5.1 sets anytime soon? I don't see any on your site at the moment.
Will these headphones work good with Philips Aurilium PCS805 USB2 sound card? It has 3 analogue outputs and work ok with 5.1 Zalman headphones. The only problem is that Zalman's don't have good sound quality and front to back separation is practically not noticeable


And more importantly, did anyone get these headphone to work properly for movies (I refer to rear speaker issue mentioned earlier). Are these headphones better for movies than good stereoheadphones? I am not a gamer at all but I hope that reported by gamers good spacial separation of channels in Medusa 5.1 will be great in movies too. Thanks!

Removed by request

First off, I just want to say kudos to Medusa_USA (Matt) for even participating in the forums. As said earlier, when was the last time you had even an employee a store, let alone the CEO, address individual concerns in the forum? That says something especially to a online mechant community that generally lacks personal responses.

Hamstring, surround sound I believe is more noticeable and more appriciated in gaming than in DVD playing. However, nowadays action movies are taking advantage of surround sound and I'm sure you will benefit from them for movies. Although I only was able to hear them with defective rear speakers, I can already tell the the spacial separation was really good. Everything about the headphones I liked, I had only wished the rear speakers had worked. And hey, if Tom's hardware liked them, they've gotta be good!

Sancti0n, take a chill pill. I don't want to start a flame war with you but just chill ok? I'm in the same situation as you with a defective product and just like everything else in life, accidents happen. Exert your energy and time to solving it.

As far as my situation goes with the defective rear channels, I checked with my other two friends who bought the same headsets with me and they had the same problem. I'm sure Medusa_USA will take care of it in a professional manner without the need of people flamming the forums. I believe that the only way can rate a merchents customer service is how they handle mistakes and by judging how Medusa_USA have made an effort to solve mistakes, I think very highly of them.

Don't instruct me to take anything. I don't want to start a flame war with you either. I don't know for a fact that it's a defective unit yet, as I haven't got home yet to test it. But as I said I will, and then i'll know, for sure.



GunzHost,

Oh c'mon man. Insults? The quality of my life is not at issue here, so try to remain on topic. And please refrain from foul language. If anyone has a "sad life" it would cetainly appear to be you for actually taking the time to type "f**k". Really, that kind of schoolyard mentality is old.

But to address that more specifically, I mentioned it (all four items) because it was a post of my experience with a product from the time I received it. Why is that so difficult for you to understand? Or anyone else for that matter? A pure, unbiased, objective accounting of what I saw and handled when i opened my just arrived purchase. Don't make any more of it than it is.

No, Medusa did not tell me it was a return unit. Matt wrote ".....when it was realized...". This suggests a past tense statement of something yet to be determined. Are you always so selective with what you choose to remember about a post located just above yours? And yes, I will come back on here with more "stuff". However your statement about a "return is returned for a reason" is generally true, in this case it's based on a flawed statement, as that has yet to be determined.

No one is forcing you to read this GunzHost. If you're not interested then don't read it. Simple yes? If it is determined to be a defective unit, and I get it replaced, then installed and tested, I will indeed come back and post about it. Hopefully it will be all good, as it seems that that is the only kind of post that is accepted here. However if it isn't, well, i'm going to post my experience be it good or bad. You and everyone else will just have to deal with that.

Also, I make no assumptions at all as to anyone being bothered. If they are, they are, and if they aren't, they aren't. Like you, no one is forcing them to read (or post for that matter). I think they'll read it and extract from it what they want, disregard the rest. And i'm glad to say i'm not as quick to judge a thing to be "broken" as you are. It's entirely possible that the unit will function perfectly, despite rattles n such. The only way to determine that is to set it up and test it.

Well that's good, cause apparently you just won't (or can't) learn. He did not say, clearly or otherwise, that it was a defective unit. He stated.. well here, i'll quote him:

"Please make sure you are as quick off the mark in shouting from the rooftops with the response you received from ourselves when it was realised a mistake had been made and you unfortuantly received one of the 'return' boxes...".

Ya see, he's hypothesizing. He's saying what "may" happen. He's asking that I be as "quick off the mark in shouting from the rooftops (still don't get the shouting part...) WITH THE RESPONSE I RECEIVED... RECEIVED.... PAST TENSE. WHEN IT WAS REALISED... PAST TENSE. Get it? He's saying what will be done IF it's determined to be a "return" box. Only, he can't make that determination yet, cause he doesn't have it yet. And he doesn't have it yet cause i'm not ready to throw in the towel yet.

Now how do you equate that with being "quite clearly advised"?

However, you mentioned last word. Well, since you wrote you wont respond to me no matter what I write I guess I do get the last word no matter what. Thank you! It is good that you've decided to stop. I've tried my very best to explain to you and you just won't get it. I can't make it any more clear than I have. You just... oh n/m...

ADDED ON 1 MARCH 06 0745 AM -

My first post detailed my experiences with receiving a new headset from Medusa-USA. In it, I listed the discrepencies I found with the headset upon opening the box. I made no accusations, no snide remarks, didn't point the finger at anyone. I expressed my displeasure with a newly-purchased piece of product. I really don't think i'm alone in that. I'd bet money that if any of you buy something online, then wait for it to show up, then when it does it's less than you expected it to be, you be displeased as well. Others have posted their experiences in this thread, and so have I. For my first post I make no apology. I stand by it 100%, for it is 100% true and factual, made with honesty and not malice.

I've been on other Forums (ones for a specific PC game for instance) where i've seen this happen before. A bunch of the regulars post about how nice the game is, and others post their agreement. Someone then posts their opinion of how bad they think the game is, and everyone jumps all over them. It's like, how dare they make a post that is not inline with the majority! They simply made their opinion known, and were attacked for doing so simply because it wasn't favorable or complimentary (like the majority). To those that were/are angry about my honesty, tough. Deal with it. What I wrote is exactly how it happened, no embellishment or exageration at all. There's always gonna be people that speak their mind, speak the truth. The sooner you understand that they are not all going to be of the same "flavor" as you/yours, the sooner you'll be able to get along in life with just a little bit less stress.

As for every post after that, well, things quickly went south. I think Matt over reacted somewhat. It's only natural that he be defensive and "stand up" whenever somebody talks about his stuff in a bad way. But I also think he took it a little too personally, and definately read into it that which wasn't there. His post read as if he were responding to someone that was bitching about bad product and their perception of his company's inability to fix the situation. I was not bitching, just posting what I found when I opened the box. And he/his company hadn't even been contacted yet as far as fixing it goes, because it hadn't yet been determined that it needed fixing. Certainly sounded like it (rattling amp for instance), but as I stated I wasn't able to set them up yet and test them so, at the time, it was still possible that despite the rattling and "cosmetic" damage they would work perfectly. ANd yes, if they had worked I would've kept them. I've always been a "function over form" kinda guy, and this is no different. I can live with scuffs and scratches if it works. IF IT WORKS. In this case though, it didn't. I think Matt jumped the gun and took my intial post as an attack directed at him specifically, and it wasn't. I do think it's very impressive that the CEO of a company is not only active in a Forum, but actually responded to its occupant's statements (concerning the NA power adapter). However as impressive as that is, you have to take the good with the bad. To expect nothing but "good press" is unrealistic, UNLESS your product nothing but good. Clearly, in my case, the product I received was not good.

The posts I made after my intial one were in direct response to those made directed towards me. And they were done so with the same tone or "flavor" that I interpreted when reading those posts. I perceived your posts (all but 1, maybe 2 of them) to be hostile and unjust. I mean, all I did was post what I got from DHL and my feelings about it. And for that i'm ridiculed, swore at, and treated like I did something wrong. As I wrote, my posts after the first one were in direct response to those made aimed at me, including the tone. I responded to those posts in the same way, and with the same tone. For example, if someone punches you, do you repond by tickling them? I don't, I punch em back. They kick, I kick (eye for an eye, that sort of thing). Same thing applies with all posts after the first one. Now if I interpreted your post as "mean" or "insulting" or "rude", then I responded in kind. Then (I suspect) you did the same thing. This is what I meant by things going south, and this is directed at Matt and GunzHost. If the posts(s) you made didn't have the "tone" I thought they did, then I sincerely apologize. To both of you if thats the case. Like I wrote, I respond in kind. But if I interpreted it wrong, then the subsequent post was wrong as well. And for that I do apologize.

supertim1337 - You said to just chill. OK, in spite of my initial reply to you i'm gonna take your advice and do just that. The light of a new day brings with it new clarity (or something like that). So I believe any further posts at this point, good, bad, or indifferent, would be pointless. This is my last post (for now anyway). I will be filling out the RMA or return form (whatever it is) at Medusa's site within the hour. If an exchange is performed, I will post my experiences with that as well, be they good or bad. I won't be back until then, so if you make a post and you want a response you're going to have to wait.

Depends where you live. In US look at http://www.medusa-usa.com/

Basing on stickers like "coming soon" and "new product" I hope that starting Feb 28 http://www.medusa-usa.com/ got new batch of retail boxed 5.1 headphones. I wonder if this batch is different and free of rear speaker issue.

Just got the replacement Headset from DHL. Opened up the package and checked it out, then took it home and set it up and tested it.

Short version: Everything looks great, everything works great.

Not so short version:

It showed up from DHL just like before (meaning 1 day earlier than DHL's estimated delivery date). I wonder if they do that on purpose, like leaving themselves an out? Regardless, it's nice to get something early for a change. I got the retail version (1 set) as well as the N.A. power adapter. As for that adapter, from what i've read in previous posts, this was quite an issue at one time. Also from what i've read previously, Medusa (or more specifically Matt) stepped up and did things right. I took this out of the little box you see in the first pic, and plugged it in and used it "as is". I say "as is" because at first glance there appears to be different settings, as well as a switch, that need to be "set" before use. I started worrying a little bit, cause i had no idea what setting to use, so I just pluggede it in and it appears that the default setup is the one ya need. Maybe I was lucky, but I didn't have to make any changes to it. I can imagine the frustration peeps felt when they first saw this Headset, and then weren't able to use it due to problems with the adapter that was initially provided. Thankfully Medusa/Matt stepped up:





And here's a couple pics of the Power Adapter. Overall:





And close up:





The next thing I noticed is something that i've read about in other reviews. Although at the time I thought it was some kind of typo, it turns out it wasn't. This is the first Headset i've ever purchased that had fluffy, velvet-like packaging for the goods. Most are in some kind of plastic or cardboard. Not these though, they had style starting right at the packaging:





I then opened up the little box located beneath the Headset that contained all the wires, as well as the Amp/Control Module. Nice little package that seems to have accounted for most potential needs. While they can't account for ecery possibility, what's included should be adequate for most peeps to get up and running real quick:





The next thing to really knock my socks off was the Amp/Control Module. Not because it has one (which is kinda cool in-and-of-itself), but because it's weighted. Not "heavy" but... weighted... (kinda hard to describe). I've owned other speaker sets/sound cards that had an external control module (3 in fact). And while they were all functional and operated as advertised, they were too damn light. Yeah, it's nice to have a little "box" with buttons and dials on the desk within easy reach, but it's super annoying to have to relocate that same "box" every time you use it because it moves whenever you push a button or turn a dial. Not so with this baby. Like others, it has the little rubber feet to help keep it from sliding. Unlike others, it's "heavy" and tends to stay where you put it. There's also a nice, bright red LED indicating power when you turn it on, as well as a satisfying "click" when you turn it on. The plug locations and overall design are simple and effective, which appeals to my "form-over-function" preference for things in general. Very nicely done Speed-Link:





And here's a pic of the back of it. Again, nicely organized and clearly labled:





Next is the Headset itself. Again, NICELY DONE SPEED-LINK! This thing is light and comfortable, providing a nice, soft yet "secure" feeling when you where them. The cord was more than long enough for my needs, and I imagine they'll suffice for most peeps. Speed-Link even provided a simple Headset holder that you can stick to your PC/Monitor/whatever. A nice little touch there Speed-Link. Here's one of the Headset:





The following was a REALLY nice find. The mic. Or more specifically, the arm or "boom" that the mic is attached to. Without a doubt, this is THEE MOST FLEXIBLE AND MAINTAINABLE MIC/BOOM I'VE EVER USED! This thing is.. awesome! All of the mic's and booms/arms that i've used have had limited movement for adjustability. Up and down, maybe a little lateral movement, maybe even a little "twisting" movement. But it was all minimal, and once I adjusted it, it eventually lost its position after donning/removing the Headset several times. Speed-Link's is much different (and BETTER!). It's mounted to the left side, and has a swivel so you can raise/lower it, much like others. But unlike others, the entire arm/boom (not sure what that's called hehe) is flexible. You can twist it all over the place. Put a couple bends in it, hell you could probably tie a not in it lol! But more importantly once you placed it where you want it, it STAYS there. I was shaking my head trying to get it to move and I couldn't. This was a very nice surprise, as I hadn't read about this in any of the reviews I read and was therefore totally unprepared for it. Again, nicely done Speed-Link.

The next thing I really like is the inline volume control. This was once of the criteria I had for selecting a Headset, as it was a pain to have to drop out of a game to adjust volume, or break from whatever I was reading in order to adjust the volume control in the tray. I guess i'm still old fashined that way, but I like a simple knob to turn. Up for louder, down for off. Period. That was my one main gripe about the Zalman's I used to have. They sounded pretty good, but they didn't have a mic OR inline volume control. I understand that now they do have a clip-on mic, but still no inline volume control. However even if they did, I wouldn't get em. Not after listening to the Speed-Link's. These are much better (imho).

The inline control has 4 separate dials for volume, each going from 0 to 10, lowest to loudest. They are Front. Rear, Center, and "Vib". The first three are pretty much self explanatory. Simply adjust each to your preference. THe fourth, "vib", was another little thing I din't know about and, therefore, another nice find. Apparently these things will Vibrate, with settings from 0 (no vibration) to 10 (as much as possible). I think I read somewhere else just yesterday that somebody else just found out about these as well. Unfortunately, I didn't get to test the "Vib factor", as I was having to much fun just playing CoD 2 and listening to stuff. Here's a pic of the inline control:





And this brings me to the end and final critique: sound quality. I've thought about how to write about this. What words to use, catchy phrases or comparisons. Then it occurred to me that "quality" is a purely personal thing. What I find nice others might not like, and what I find lacking or distasteful others might see as major pluses. For those reasons, i'm not going to try and write down all of my impressions. Well, that and i'm getting pressed for time. I know in COD2 things sounded different and MUCH better than what I had been used to. The base was rich, the treble was crisp, and directional sounds (coming from behind/in front of me or to either side) were on the mark. I had to play with my sound settings a bit, as I had them set up for one piece of hardware and since this was a totally different thing they had to be tweaked (this was expected actually and not a surprise at all). In the short time I used them in CoD2 (and an even shorter time in BF2), I was impressed AND pleased with my purchase. Next week Red Orchestra comes out and I just KNOW these thigns are gonna shine with that game (and I got the week off as well). WOOHOO!

If yer still reading this, thanks! I like to post about my experiences with newly purchased product whenever I can. I figure it helps me to keep up on my typing skills, and maybe it'll help somebody else out when making a purchasing decison. Whether the experience is/was good/bad, i've always "stuck to my guns" and told it as I saw it. On occaision this has lead to... unpleasentness... lol. In any event, i've always liked to think if more peeps posted their experience(s) with stuff they buy, then more peeps would be better informed when making a purchasing decision. If a product gets a bad rap, and enough peeps read about it, then that product will not sell as well as it could and, therefore, the manufacturers will be forced to address whatever issue(s) exist. If the product gets a good reputation, then that too will spread by "written word" and, most likely, that product will sell well. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part, or maybe my ignorance of modern business trends and tactics. If so, oh well. Whaddaya gonna do eh?

As for this Headset, I couldn't recommend it more strongly. It did everything I hoped it would AND did a little bit more as well. It's nice when that happens, a pleasent surprise indeed. Also, based on what i've read in this Forum, as well as my own personal experience, Matt from Medusa is not only a stand-up guy, he's one of an EXTREMELY FEW that listen to what the Customer has to say AND act upon it (specifically, the Power Adapter issue). I've seen similar behavior in other fourms, but it's just that. Similar. Nothing i've seen can equal what he's done in this Forum. Not only for me, but others as well. A great product that (imho) is definately worth the price AND a rep from the Company that's active in a Forum that discusses that same product. A very nice combination and definately one I recommend.

Sancti0n

Holy crapolla Sancti0n, that's one helluva review, very nice...maybe PC Gamer will read this and contact you This product/Matt deserved a post like yours.

I told my wife that the only thing missing with this headset/wrapping was a silk nightie <<<<<<:idea:

So basically instead of trying to add bass to the rear speakers, you're settling with trying to make the front speakers sound as crappy as the back ones? With your setup, you are only making the upper frequencies surround sound and the mid and lower frequencies mono sound.

Can I ask you if you switched the center channel and subwoofer channel? The default setup the headphones come in are opposite with most audio cards forcing you to use the phono plugs to swap these signals.

Well, i wouldn't say they sounds crappy, and you cannot determine the position of lower frequencies very well in real life anyway. Most surround sound setups are premised on this with the separate Subwoofer.

I will admit it isn't the best solution, but i have tried it and it sounds very good.

Note that there is still base comming from all the speakers, just not the lowest frequencies, and some is still directional. I especially notice when i am sitting in the m1a1 tank that the low frequency engine sounds are directional (on the right i think) I attribute this to haveing two subwoofers?

Interestingly i did ask MAtt what the frequency response of the speakers were, cause i just could't beleieve that the front l/r and rear l/r were the same. here is his quote:

Front and Rear 30mm 32ohms 20Hz-20 kHZ
Sub-Woofer 32mm 8ohms 20Hz-120kHz

Certainly seems to say the rear l/r and front l/r are the same speakers. I have noticed that center channel speakers also seem to be tinny.


I didn't have to switch the center/sub channels, is that unusual? I read about that on the FAQ, and it seemed to imply creative cards would work normally and that its was other cards or onboard sound that had this effect. I did pay attention and check this.

to rohan:
All i can suggest is pumping up the volume on the rear channel in creatives tools (or lower the other channels if everything is already maxed).


Ok. i went back into some testing with the cuttoff frequency. I set it to 20Hz which is supposedly the bottom of the response range from the frent and rear speakers. Front speakers sound fine, rear speakers wake that fuzzy sound like there blown.

I ran the cuttoff in steps up to the max of 200Hz (which is what i recommended). they stop making the distortion around 100 Hz but still don't sound as full till around the 200 Hz mark.

I would therefor conclude the numbers i got from Matt are incorrect, but i am not going to take apart the set to find out. Either that or i got a bumb headset with blown rear speakers. Interestingly the center channel is distorted at 20, but clears up around 50 Hz.

Hi Moonfog

It would be incorrect to use this forum for sales.

Please contact me via the feedback form on the website.

Matt

I've had mine for about 3 months, and just recently they appear to have stopped outputting to the Front Right Channel. Front Left and all the others are fine, but no matter what i do, Front Right is dead as a Dodo. If I just use th e3.5mm adapter and plug the headphones in as a standard pair of Stereo headphones there doesn't seem to be a problem, it's as soon as the App is involved AND the headphones are set to 5.1.

If I then switch the front and rear cables around, I gain both front channels again but i have then lost rear right. I can't find the right combo (or the reason) why I'm not getting all the channels.

I'm using a Audigy in 5.1 mode on a Asus A8N-SLi Premium

I think your right, it's something my setup i think, but i can't seem to find what it is.

Last night after an hour of fiddling I managed to get it to output on all channels but the front right is muffled. I can't seem to get much better than that currently.

Chill rhohan, I have the same problem. He's informed me that we are waiting for one of Medusa's tech guys to analyse this problem. Just wait for his response. As far as I can tell, he's doing the best he can.

Hi Rhohan

If I may I would like to clarify some points in your posts.

Your initial email to me this morning came via the sales section of the website rather than the support page. As a result I had no way of knowing who on earth you were as you did not identify yourself apart from an email address which on searching through the sales database drew a blank. I had to assume at that stage that you were not actually a customer of Medusa-USA (if you are then I apologise for not finding your details).

As a result I directed you to the support page where even if you were not one of our customers you could have utilised the numerous FAQ's to help with your problem or failing that contact the manufacturer for assistance.

Speed-Links site is very simple to use and had you clicked the English flag icon at the top of the page you would have been able to read the whole site in English. I am not Canadian by the way I am British and yes I do speak a little German but that is totally beside the point.

You fail to mention on your posting exactly when you purchased your headset but you do make a big point of saying..

* i did get them working flawlessly with an audigy 1.

but then go on to contradict yourself by commenting....

""i spent 100 bucks on this thing. while i dont' mind spending money on quality items, this has yet to be that""

Not sure now which it is. Worked flawlessly or dont work at all ??


From what you have written I think I have to assume that your problem has only arisen since the introduction of the X-Fi card into your system.

As I, as the owner of a company that simply re-sells the Medusa Headsets, neither make nor even pretend to know the finer intricacies of either the X-Fi card or the Speed-Link headsets how can you expect me to provide better diagnosing than the manufacturers ?

supertim1337 mentioned I am awaiting results back from Speed-Link regarding a similar problem but still you seem to think that my directing you to the manufacturer was the wrong thing to do.

Guess I cannot win. Maybe I should stop trying.

Matt


IF I BUY SOMETHING FROM YOU, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SUPPORT, REPLACE, FIX, OR DO WHATEVER YOU NEED TO TO MAKE THE CUSTOMER HAPPY. nice job matt.

Please identify yourself as a customer and I will do all I can for you.

I'd like to add my experiences here too, since this seems to be almost only place in the net I've found similar experiences about these headphones.

I got the headphones yesterday and it took whole evening for me to try different wire setups/software settings. I'm pretty sure they are now connected/set up as they should be. Still, I'm having same problems than others here.

1. Rear speakers miss "fullness" especially in bass and they sound more like an old radio (without the hiss and such though). They sound like they are limited same way than my old Dolby Pro Logic mono back channel is in my old amp.
2. Same thing with center channel, but not as bad as in rear.
3. When audio source moves from side to front, it feels like there is a small gap at the mix position -> volume decreases and rises back, but this might be only because the side/center sources has a different "feel".

I've even tried crossing the wires and have tried the motherboard soundcard outputs also. My soundcard is SB Audigy 4 by the way.

I'm located at europe, but this power adapter thingie is probably not the problem.

Maybe it is just a matter of taste, but I like the stereo scenery more than 5.1 with these headphones. I take test DVD from work to test singals through DVD player this evening and come back here then.

One thing to add here. Some webpages mention a CD/DVD switch on the inline remote that makes a big difference in sound. Mine doesn't have it although the manual shows that the switch should be there. Is that because I have a newer version of the headphones and thus the switch is omitted. ???

- Hannu

Here is the response from the speedlink tech support in germany:

neither of these made a difference. I have done these both before asking for help. i suppose i will go back and forth a bit with them, until they exhaust their resources. at which point i hope they have a "level 2" group.

NOTE: Like I already said in my earlier reply that it might be a matter of taste how the sound feels to one and it might be that my set up is faulty. So, if someone is decising between to buy these or not, I suggest they take my review below as just an one bad opinion between many good ones.

Ok, I made some quick tests and it seems that the rear speakers, or the signal they receive, have biggest problems between 200Hz-500Hz compared to side speakers. Bass redirect was on at its max 200Hz position and it worked well. Anyway, when side speakers are ok from 200Hz up, rear ones has quite big drop in sound pressure until 500Hz. Also, center channel got some distortion when listening 5.1 music with a bit louder volumes.

Anyway, when viewing movies, the overall quality was quite good.

But.

I bought these headphones mainly for playing BF2 and I have to say that I don't get them work in it like I'd like to.

The main thing I don't like is the totally different color of the sound in center and rear channels (at least when playing BF2). For example, if there's a tank near me, it has this nice soft and low humming when it is 90 degrees from my looking direction. But if I look staight at it, the bass is gone and I get only these weirdly filtered "old radio" frequencies. At 180 degrees bass is there (through redirecting I think) but the overall volume is low. This is most easily noticeable when close to artillery strikes: look straight at explosions -> huge bass and volume, look away -> the strike is more like hundreds of yards away and has very low bass. This coloring makes every vehicle and weapon sound different in different directions.

Until I get these work I'll be using stereo sound in BF2. I still try to fiddle the settings and such and if anything gets better I'll reply here.

- Hannu

I can relate exactly to what you say hhoffren about the sound in games. To test the headset i decided to do the following:
Have the headset connected to the speedlink amplifier
Have all 3 stereo 3.5mm jacks into the inputs on the amplifier
Try the other end of each stereo lead into the headphone socket of a music player (I used my Creative zen micro MP3 player)
Play music on the music player and listen through the medusa headset to the sound when each lead from the amplifier is plugged into the music player.

I found that when the 'front' input of the amplifier was connected to my MP3 player, the sound was good. When then 'rear' input of the amplifier was connected to MP3 player, the sound was quiet and tinny (no bass, weak sound). When the 'centre/sub' input of the amplifier was connected to my MP3 player, the sound was OK, with good bass (as to be expected).

Does this not prove there is something wrong/something setup wrong with my headset? I am not sure about how well my soundcard works at present since I do not have any other type of 5.1 speaker system I can connect to it other than the Medusa's. I felt connecting each input of the amp to the same source (my MP3 player) in turn, would prove if the headset could be blamed.

All of the inline volume wheels near the headset are set to 7.
Am I right to think that my little test shows the headset is faulty? I did notice that the outer box seal had been cut before I got it and once I opened the box, the material under the headset was ripped around the edges... I would be willing to look past this packaging if the headset itself worked correctly.

edited.