Creative: Sound Blaster Tactic360 Sigma Gaming Headset

Review by Darren Carle | 17 Sep 2014

It’s a good job that videogames are an indoor pursuit when it comes to headphones. Though Dr. Dre’s Beats range have long ago opened the door to looking like a pillock around town, wearing gaming headsets in an outdoor capacity would be a step too far for even the most cutting edge urbanite. So it is with the Sound Blaster 360 gaming headset from Creative.

These are some big-ass cans with ample cushioning to fit around your ears, protruding outwards like some kind of stunted hammerhead shark. However, the trade-off is immediate after securing them around your dome. They are lightweight yet durable, cutting a fine balance between the feel of quality, weighty heft and cheap, disposable lightweight material. It means they are ergonomic enough to fit snugly and securely without the domineering pressure that other similar sized products can exert on the head after prolonged game sessions.

In fact, our first test was a quick re-visit to Grand Theft Auto V, initially scheduled as a quick quarter-hour session to put the Sound Blasters through their paces in an open-world environment. We found ourselves still prowling the streets of Los Santos two hours later, with hardly a thought for our headwear. The aforementioned size of those domes does a game like GTAV a lot of justice. There’s plenty of space for the differing planes of sound and much of it sounds almost tangible at times. There was perhaps the odd issue of sonic clutter but it was probably as much a game problem as a hardware one.

A further test on the sparser world of Portal 2 squirreled away another couple of hours and fared even better, the division between the distant machine rumblings in the background and the close-knit rambling of your robotic companions was clearly evident. Motion-tracking various sounds is also a plus point, and you’ll rarely find yourself confused as to where a specific sound is emanating from in these top-end games, such is the ‘space’ of sound that’s afforded here.

The volume control port is a mixed bag. It looks pretty unsightly, with an odd overall shape and the large metal clip is only really suitable for clipping to chunkier clothes. However, the twin dials for master volume and online chat are welcome, giving you all the permutations possible until you find your own specific sweet spot. The mic itself is perfectly fine, although it can only be worn on the left-hand side and the sponge cover has no grip to the actual mic, meaning our particular sound-warmer spent more time down the back of the sofa than where it should have been.

Setting up was no problem, with about ten minutes between opening the package and sitting down to our first gaming session. Cable length seems adequate for most living room set-ups, striking a nice balance without giving too much wire-slack thereby looking unsightly and impractical. Of course, if your Xbox-to-sofa distance is much more than two metres, you may find yourself on the edge of your seat for the wrong reasons.

Overall, the Sound Blasters are a decent recommendation if you’re looking to squeeze some gaming gold from the tail-end of your Xbox 360. Comfortable to wear and operating on a plane somewhere above their mid-range price point, gamers could do a lot worse than strapping a pair of these around their heads – even if they aren’t going to win you any admiring glances. Still, in this regard, substance over style is always going to win the game.

http://soundblaster.com