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The True Fidelity PS500MM stereo headset claims to offer boosted sound that will not harm your ears.
Linx Audio, the tech behind this headphone’s supposedly superior sound, was originally developed with long-term audio aficionados in mind, especially those who cranked things up to 11 way too often. By remixing the sound on the fly so it sounds louder without actually being louder, Able Planet claims its headset will save your cochlea from wear.
Out of the Box
The first thing you may notice, besides the giant headset floating in plastic, is the text across the top of the box and the three trophy-esque icons on the bottom of the box, reminding you that the Linx Audio technology won a bunch of awards (especially at CES). It takes a little online digging to find that that the tech enhances sound quality and speech clarity while reducing the sound levels. Basically, it makes things sound louder without making them louder.
Out of the box the the headset has an 80 in. (6 ft. 6 in.) cable with a volume control unit that’s about two inches long and not quite an inch wide about 16 in. from the headset. At the end of the cable are two 3.5 mm plugs, one for stereo (green with a tiny headphone icon) and one for the microphone (pink with a tiny microphone icon). The microphone is attached to the left ear of the headset with a semi-rigid, bendable attachment. The microphone is covered with the standard puffy spit guard.
The PS500MM is also packaged with an 8 in. plug-to-USB adapter and a small black cloth carrying pouch.
On My Head
The headphones are laterally adjustable with each ear being able to be moved independently of the other. Each ear is labeled so you can get the right left-Right sound mix. The plug-to-USB adapter means this will work with older stereo cards and newer USB-friendly computers.
While claiming to be more comfortable than ear buds, the padding on the headset is too small to act as an ear cozy and too large to be inserted in your ear canal. Instead they are an awkward middle range than sit on top of your ear pressing your lobes against your face in such a way that you’ll begin to feel some discomfort in less than a half hour. This can become quite troublesome during a marathon gaming session and, let’s face it, a headset with microphone is usually meant for long-term online gaming.
In My Ears (and Out of My Mouth)
Pickup from the microphone is nicely sensitive, enough so that you can keep it comfortably distant from your mouth. I was able to converse quite well with little need to shout or breakup. It also picked up more of my voice than my loud typing which is also good for gaming.
Each headphone has plastic padding that is meant to help keep out extraneous sounds and funnel the audio to your auditory canals. The sound quality from this headset is decent enough to make this headset a candidate for gaming. The claimed perceived increase in loudness is obviously difficult to compare but does seem to work.
The inline volume control is also a nice touch, eliminating the need to make those extra clicks that can be crucial during a first-person shooter. Instead, you’re a quick thumb flick from being muted.
Nice or Nix?
Without taking some electrical readings, it’s difficult to tell whether or not these are truly making things sound louder than they really are (you Philosophy majors have a field day with that one), so I’ll take Able Planet’s word for it. Making things sound louder without requiring more juice would mean less consumed electricity, though I’m not certain that would result in more than a couple pennies saved after a year of use.
Again, the sound quality from this headset is superior enough to make this headset a candidate for gaming. If it can save you from a bit of hearing loss, so much the better. I’m not even certain how we could test to see that was true without a law suit.
The comfort level, however, takes the True Fidelity PS500MM right off of my recommendation list. Yes, it more compact than ye olde head-covering headset but the force pressing your ears against your head is enough to make you wish you had spent the money on better desktop speakers.
The ear pads need to go in either direction – smaller or larger – to help make them more comfortable. Or at least make them swappable for other sized (included) pads. If you plan to game for longer than 30 minutes at a time, these are not the headset for you. After three hours of use I can attest to the two-day irritation I’d rather be without. (Maybe that is how they really save your inner ear.)
If, however, you are a short-term online gamer, you may never experience any discomfort and find this headset a joy to use.
Site [True Fidelity PS500MM] Photo Gallery [Gamertell]
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