TRITTON Pro+ 5.1 Surround Headset for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
Written by John Yan on 2/15/2013 for
360
PC
PS3
Tritton makes some pretty damn good headphones for gamers. Hell, check out Jeremy’s review of their Warhead for the Xbox 360. But, what if you don’t want to spend that much on a set for your console and want surround sound? Enter the TRITTON PRO+ 5.1 Surround Sound Headset coming in at $200.
The PRO+ features an all white design with the Tritton logo on the side of each cup. The heavy plastic construction makes the PRO+ very durable and should take a good beating, although with it being white you might see more scuffs and wear than darker colored headphones.
For fit, the PRO+ extends at on either side of the head rail allowing for adjustment for various head sizes. A nice feature is the earcups rotate and can be placed flat on the table or on your chest when hanging off your neck. The cups themselves have a very nice amount of cushion on them and they are wrapped in a nice leather that’s soft on the face.
To achieve true surround sound, you’ll need multiple drivers. The TRITTON PRO+ has three drivers and a sub in each ear piece. A lot of other headsets use just two drivers and software to produce a virtualized surround sound. Here, the TRITTON PRO+ went for physically including drivers that produce the sound through separate channels. This, in theory, should produce better surround sound results. The center driver is 23mm, front and rear driver is 30mm, and the sub is 40mm.
On the left ear piece, a mic connector is situated allowing you to attach the included flexible mic. You just push it in and twist to lock into place. The mic’s flexible arm lets you place the mic in many locations, not being limited like some other headset mics out there. Personally, I prefer where the mic can be retracted into the earcup as that’s one less thing I would be prone to losing. But, that doesn’t take away the flexibility of not using a mic and removing it when not needed.
A long braided cord extends from the headset to an inline remote that has a clip on the back allowing you to clip the unit on your clothing. The inline remote lets you adjust volume for both audio and voice as well as lets you switch on the ability to listen to your own voice or what TRITTON calls Selectable Voice Monitoring. A few buttons on the front allows for some surround sound adjustment as well.
The headset then runs into the decoder box, which features analog inputs, an optical input, USB port, and adjustment buttons.There’s even a connector for another headset if you wish to share. I was able to, on the PC, get audio via the USB cable and optical cable plugged in, but I had issues with trying to get the surround sound option to work. I attribute that to my PC setup. Mad Catz and Tritton has a PC connection cable that lets you use the analog inputs, but for some reason, they don’t include it in the package in the United States. It would’ve nice to have had this option as well here, but it looks like you’ll have to order it separately from Mad Catz.
The headset is marketed towards console gamers though, so getting surround sound on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 using the optical cable wasn’t an issue. Connecting to a PlayStation 3 is pretty simple as all you need is the USB cable and optical cable for sound and communication to work. The Xbox 360, on the other hand, takes a few more connections depending on the model you have and your connection to the TV. You’ll also need to connect the inline remote to the Xbox 360 controller if you want to talk with the microphone as well.
When it’s all connected, the Tritton PRO+ 5.1 Surround Sound headset works pretty well. Sound for both movies and games were good and featured solid mids, highs, and OK bass. I’ve tried many surround sound headsets, both ones that produce virtual surround sound and ones that use separate drivers for each channel, and I’ve always had a hard time hearing sound separation and location. The same can be said for the PRO+ 5.1 as with both movies and games like Black Ops II and Gears of War 3, I couldn’t tell real difference from stereo and surround sound. Every once in awhile, it would seem like there was something coming from the rear, but it was really hard to tell. I’m still a multiple speaker guy when it comes to surround sound, so while the TRITTON PRO+ 5.1 has multiple drivers, I didn’t find the surround sound to be effective. That isn’t to say the sound isn’t good, as it is. It’s just the surround sound, for me, is lacking and that could well be how my hearing is.
For long periods, the PRO+ is pretty comfortable. I like the ear cups and it’s softness as well as the padded headband. My ears never felt fatigued and I never felt annoyed with wearing the PRO+. The headset isn’t too heavy and they felt really solid. You get used to the weight and it’s balanced well so they sit comfortably on your head.
The mic did a good job as well as my friends were able to hear me pretty well. It doesn’t feature noise cancelling, but the mic did a pretty well.
At $200, it is getting into the more expensive range of headsets.. The PRO+ does have a lot going for it in that it’s a solid built headset with very good sound and connections for Xbox, PS3 and PC unless you want surround sound in the US. Connecting to the 360 still involves a lot of wires though, but that’s something that sometimes third parties can’t control. Surround sound is an OK since it was hard to tell with the various games and movies I tried to hear true sound separation. Then again, it’s hard to hear that for me on a wide range of headsets that have virtual surround or multiple drivers. Tritton does make good quality headsets and they have another one here with the Tritton PRO+ 5.1 Surround Sound headset for the most part. Some small niggles and the exclusion of the PC connector in the US prevents it from being a top recommendation.
The PRO+ features an all white design with the Tritton logo on the side of each cup. The heavy plastic construction makes the PRO+ very durable and should take a good beating, although with it being white you might see more scuffs and wear than darker colored headphones.
For fit, the PRO+ extends at on either side of the head rail allowing for adjustment for various head sizes. A nice feature is the earcups rotate and can be placed flat on the table or on your chest when hanging off your neck. The cups themselves have a very nice amount of cushion on them and they are wrapped in a nice leather that’s soft on the face.
To achieve true surround sound, you’ll need multiple drivers. The TRITTON PRO+ has three drivers and a sub in each ear piece. A lot of other headsets use just two drivers and software to produce a virtualized surround sound. Here, the TRITTON PRO+ went for physically including drivers that produce the sound through separate channels. This, in theory, should produce better surround sound results. The center driver is 23mm, front and rear driver is 30mm, and the sub is 40mm.
On the left ear piece, a mic connector is situated allowing you to attach the included flexible mic. You just push it in and twist to lock into place. The mic’s flexible arm lets you place the mic in many locations, not being limited like some other headset mics out there. Personally, I prefer where the mic can be retracted into the earcup as that’s one less thing I would be prone to losing. But, that doesn’t take away the flexibility of not using a mic and removing it when not needed.
A long braided cord extends from the headset to an inline remote that has a clip on the back allowing you to clip the unit on your clothing. The inline remote lets you adjust volume for both audio and voice as well as lets you switch on the ability to listen to your own voice or what TRITTON calls Selectable Voice Monitoring. A few buttons on the front allows for some surround sound adjustment as well.
The headset then runs into the decoder box, which features analog inputs, an optical input, USB port, and adjustment buttons.There’s even a connector for another headset if you wish to share. I was able to, on the PC, get audio via the USB cable and optical cable plugged in, but I had issues with trying to get the surround sound option to work. I attribute that to my PC setup. Mad Catz and Tritton has a PC connection cable that lets you use the analog inputs, but for some reason, they don’t include it in the package in the United States. It would’ve nice to have had this option as well here, but it looks like you’ll have to order it separately from Mad Catz.
The headset is marketed towards console gamers though, so getting surround sound on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 using the optical cable wasn’t an issue. Connecting to a PlayStation 3 is pretty simple as all you need is the USB cable and optical cable for sound and communication to work. The Xbox 360, on the other hand, takes a few more connections depending on the model you have and your connection to the TV. You’ll also need to connect the inline remote to the Xbox 360 controller if you want to talk with the microphone as well.
When it’s all connected, the Tritton PRO+ 5.1 Surround Sound headset works pretty well. Sound for both movies and games were good and featured solid mids, highs, and OK bass. I’ve tried many surround sound headsets, both ones that produce virtual surround sound and ones that use separate drivers for each channel, and I’ve always had a hard time hearing sound separation and location. The same can be said for the PRO+ 5.1 as with both movies and games like Black Ops II and Gears of War 3, I couldn’t tell real difference from stereo and surround sound. Every once in awhile, it would seem like there was something coming from the rear, but it was really hard to tell. I’m still a multiple speaker guy when it comes to surround sound, so while the TRITTON PRO+ 5.1 has multiple drivers, I didn’t find the surround sound to be effective. That isn’t to say the sound isn’t good, as it is. It’s just the surround sound, for me, is lacking and that could well be how my hearing is.
For long periods, the PRO+ is pretty comfortable. I like the ear cups and it’s softness as well as the padded headband. My ears never felt fatigued and I never felt annoyed with wearing the PRO+. The headset isn’t too heavy and they felt really solid. You get used to the weight and it’s balanced well so they sit comfortably on your head.
The mic did a good job as well as my friends were able to hear me pretty well. It doesn’t feature noise cancelling, but the mic did a pretty well.
At $200, it is getting into the more expensive range of headsets.. The PRO+ does have a lot going for it in that it’s a solid built headset with very good sound and connections for Xbox, PS3 and PC unless you want surround sound in the US. Connecting to the 360 still involves a lot of wires though, but that’s something that sometimes third parties can’t control. Surround sound is an OK since it was hard to tell with the various games and movies I tried to hear true sound separation. Then again, it’s hard to hear that for me on a wide range of headsets that have virtual surround or multiple drivers. Tritton does make good quality headsets and they have another one here with the Tritton PRO+ 5.1 Surround Sound headset for the most part. Some small niggles and the exclusion of the PC connector in the US prevents it from being a top recommendation.
The PRO+ 5.1 sounds good and feels good, but I didn't find the surround sound to be that noticeable even with separate drivers built into the headset. You'll need a few wires when connecting to various systems and the US version doesn't come with the PC connector for connecting to multi-channel sound cards. They are comfortable to wear and feel well built.
Rating: 8 Good
* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.
About Author
I've been reviewing products since 1997 and started out at Gaming Nexus. As one of the original writers, I was tapped to do action games and hardware. Nowadays, I work with a great group of folks on here to bring to you news and reviews on all things PC and consoles.
As for what I enjoy, I love action and survival games. I'm more of a PC gamer now than I used to be, but still enjoy the occasional console fair. Lately, I've been really playing a ton of retro games after building an arcade cabinet for myself and the kids. There's some old games I love to revisit and the cabinet really does a great job at bringing back that nostalgic feeling of going to the arcade.
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