Development of the Xbox 360 Wireless Headset Options

[Xbox-Scene]

Development of the Xbox 360 Wireless Headset Posted by XanTium | January 27 20:54 EST

Elle (Technical Writer at Microsoft) wrote a new article on Xbox.com about the development of the Xbox 360 Wireless Headset: [QUOTE] The team started with more than fifty design ideas. When they narrowed it down to about six designs, the team began usability testing. They went through eight rounds of human testing with mockups, then more after they had working parts. They tested various earloop configurations, and ended up learning more than anyone wants to know about heads and ears. Once the team found a direction they liked, industrial design began. They studied battery size and weight, boom length, and optimal placement for vocal reception. During the studies, for example, they found that people didn't want to see the boom or have it touch their face. But if the boom extended too far, it picked up excessive ambient noise. The boom also had to be adjustable to accommodate different head and jaw shapes. The design team worked closely with electrical and mechanical engineering to make sure all the guts fit and worked within the design parameters. They knew people would be using their headsets for hours at a time, so the design had to accommodate a larger battery, yet not be so heavy as to be uncomfortable or unstable. The team also examined controls. They found that it's more natural to push buttons into the side of your head than to fiddle with controls on the sides that might push the headset off your ear. The plus symbol on the control that increases volume is raised so you can feel it, and placed so that it's almost instinctual to use. One of the great challenges in designing the headset was the earloop. It might not look like it, but that little rubber beauty was the cause of much consternation for the design team. It's like trying to design a one-size-fits-all shoe, for both left and right feet. [/QUOTE] Full Story: Xbox.com

[spinr34]

can't argue with the article, the design is great. however, performance is horrible.

[HSDEMONZ]

yah.. sure seems like all of the r7d went into the physical end.. and the esthetic's.. and zip into actually getting it to function and behave properly.

back to the drawing board Microsoft.

[Software2]

I don't really have any complainsts about it... except for the crap battery life. 6-7 Hours is insignificant! And if I forget to plug it in to charge one day? Well, back to the craptastic (and broken) wired headsets!


On a side note, does anyone know if there's a better rechargeable battery that's the same size & voltage somewhere out there? A little extra money for an extended talk time would certainly be worth it.

[ConteZero76]

Well, this isn't exactly something really useful to know...
Anyway it's surely a good piece from an aestetic perspective.

[SomeoneX]

I haven't had any performance issues really, except in Halo 2 (as the BC emulator seems to cause issues with the 360 headsets).

And it's a million times better than those wired headsets which are utter shit; a truly fantastic example of bad ergonomics.

[Landlocked]

Unfortunately it works for me. I can hear cursing at each other all the time.

[rippinitto]

".......a one-size-fits-all shoe, for both left and right feet."

how long till some one invents that!
i mean....sony and the nike shoe!!
some modder will end up makin some thing crazy

This post has been edited by rippinitto: Jan 28 2007, 03:59 AM

[Penfoldian]

did it ever dawn on them to look at current wireless headsets like many other bluetooth devices (for mobiles) in the current market?....there are hundreds of better designs that fit much better than this one.....

[No_Remorse_666]

Im on my second one now. Works great for me, but its everyone else in the room that it sucks for.
The constant buzzing every 5-10 minutes, followed by a room a screaming people. Great job MS, $60 POS.

I miss my logitech wireless head set, Maybe MS should have called them to find out how a real wireless headset is built.

This post has been edited by No_Remorse_666: Jan 28 2007, 04:17 AM

[o The Drizzle o]

i got one on christmas, i have no complaints thus far. considering how the reg on is $20, the wireless one is atleast 3x better, so i guess the $60 is kinda justified

[LumpStatus360]

I purchased one...Thought I had a bad one then found out that it wont work for people with an ORIGINAL xbox 360 controller that came with the 360 on day one. So I got a new controller and it worked... kind of...

It would cut out occasionally completely for about 5-10 seconds at a time and then it would auto-reconnect. Then I start getting complaints from everyone in the room I am playing in that it is "buzzing" and I need to tun it off and turn it back on to get rid of it.

Other than that it works great!

Oh, I almost forgot. I purchased a polk audio 5.1 surround speaker set and a receiver to go with it. Now if I have my volume up loud enough to simply HEAR IT, everyone else in the room hears it too. So basically the mic is WAY too sensitive and there is no way to adjust it.

Other than that it works great!

Needless to say I switched back to my original microphone that came with the 360. I will tell you that using a bluetooth headset and a bluetooth adapter is MUCH better way of using a wireless headset, if there were only a way to keep my bluetooth headset from going into standby mode...

Anyone want to buy a nearly brand new 360 wireless headset? Contact me if you do! FREE SHIPPING!

[Altima NEO]

I purchased one...Thought I had a bad one then found out that it wont work for people with an ORIGINAL xbox 360 controller that came with the 360 on day one. So I got a new controller and it worked... kind of...

It would cut out occasionally completely for about 5-10 seconds at a time and then it would auto-reconnect. Then I start getting complaints from everyone in the room I am playing in that it is "buzzing" and I need to tun it off and turn it back on to get rid of it.

Other than that it works great!

Oh, I almost forgot. I purchased a polk audio 5.1 surround speaker set and a receiver to go with it. Now if I have my volume up loud enough to simply HEAR IT, everyone else in the room hears it too. So basically the mic is WAY too sensitive and there is no way to adjust it.

Other than that it works great!

Needless to say I switched back to my original microphone that came with the 360. I will tell you that using a bluetooth headset and a bluetooth adapter is MUCH better way of using a wireless headset, if there were only a way to keep my bluetooth headset from going into standby mode...

Anyone want to buy a nearly brand new 360 wireless headset? Contact me if you do! FREE SHIPPING!

I called MS, and am sending mine back. I doubt theyll fix anything though. But yeah, I get the same buzzing and disconnecting crap too.
And aesthetically, its not that great. The loops are fine, if you have small ears, but if youre like me, none of the included loops fit. So I have to remove the bottom part of the loop and use it as a hook instead.

[bucko]

I don't really have any complainsts about it... except for the crap battery life. 6-7 Hours is insignificant! And if I forget to plug it in to charge one day? Well, back to the craptastic (and broken) wired headsets!
On a side note, does anyone know if there's a better rechargeable battery that's the same size & voltage somewhere out there? A little extra money for an extended talk time would certainly be worth it.

I don't have one of these since I don't have a 360, but if it takes AA batteries you can buy high ampage rechargeable batteries along with a special 1-2 hour mains recharger. My batteries for my FujiFim FinePix S7000 camera are 2300mAh NI-MH and they last about 3 days non stop (& I mean that) taking photos. My Dad has some 2550mAh ampage batteries and I bet they would last about 4-5 days.

Worth looking into getting some high ampage batteries but you need the right charger with it.

This post has been edited by bucko: Jan 28 2007, 12:26 PM

[wesdre]

The team also examined controls. They found that it's more natural to push buttons into the side of your head than to fiddle with controls on the sides that might push the headset off your ear. The plus symbol on the control that increases volume is raised so you can feel it, and placed so that it's almost instinctual to use

Not totaly agreed with that.
I dont use mine cos of i cant enable/disable the mic on my controller.
I personaly think its more easy when i am playing a game i got the controls where my hands are. So thats on my controller and not on my head.
And i also got the problem already pointed by LumpStatus360 that the mic is too sensitive.