I like noise.

Whether it be music, gunfire, explosions or the satisfying call of “Tango Down”, when I am on my computer I like to have noise. Unfortunately there is a slight problem in my quest for a noisy computing environment. Her name is Aimee. If she isn’t watching television in the next room then she will either be found revising or even sleeping less than 6 feet behind my computer station. Needless to say she does NOT like noise. Apparently her favourite soap is not improved by world war two being re-enacted in the next room… So something needed to be done.

For a while now I have had my eye on a few sets of 5.1 headphones and with my birthday swiftly approaching I started to drop some rather large hints to anyone and everyone who would listen. The particular set I had my eye on were by a company called Speed Link and are called the Medusa 5.1 Surround Headphones..

Well… it must have worked because April 24^th comes along and low and behold… my wonderful housemates present me with a large box about the size of a set of headphones! Woo Hoo! The wrapping flew off and I was presented with the future of my late night noise-giving pleasure!


So… on with the review:


Firstly a summary lifted straight from the manufacturer’s website


Description


“SL-8790
Medusa 5.1 Headset
Unique elegant headset with 5.1 Surround-Sound due to 4 integrated loudspeakers in both earpads! Perfect for pc and DVD player enjoying movies, action games or all kinds of voice recognition. The cushioned headband and collapsible, cushioned earpads offer extremely high wearing comfort! An In-Line remote control offers volume controls and bass boost. The enclosed amplifier box provides a practical volume control, an On/Off switch, three 3,5mm jacks and two earphone jacks. Take part in live conferences and experience live chat using the latest internet communication programmes like Skype™, MSN® Messenger, Yahoo!® Messenger and many more... “


Features

“The ultimate 5.1 sound (4 loudspeaker in both earpads) | cushioned headband | microphone | cable remote control (Rear/Front/Centre Volume, Bass) | amplifier box with volume control, On/Off switch, 2 earphone jacks, 3x 3.5mm jack for 5.1 systems”



Packaging


As this was a birthday present I can’t comment on the quality of the shipping – apart for the fact that the box handed to me was in excellent condition so whoever it was shipped with… well done!


The box itself:





The box is pretty standard with no windows. There are several images of the headphones along with descriptions of the various features offered. There is also a “compatible with Skype” sticker and a couple of recommendation stickers from some German sounding magazines.


Moving inside we find a black box inside… nothing exciting there

Opening up the black box things start to get a little more exciting…





As you can see the box is lined not only with a sexy faux-silk lining, but there is also a red ribbon neatly tied round the phones. A very nice touch!


Under the headphones is the box-o-goodies and instruction manual.

I was very impressed with the shear amount of goodies supplied with the set.





Included are:

• Medusa 5.1 surround headphones with in line remote
• Amplifier with 3.5mm 5.1 through jacks and 2 x headphone sockets
• 3 x 3.5mm male to 3 x 3.5mm male colour coded 5.1 cable
• 3 x 3.5mm male to 6 x phono female colour coded 5.1 cable
• 3 x 3.5mm female to 6 x phono male colour coded 5.1 cable
• 3.5mm male to 3.5mm female mic extension cable
• Headphone 3.5mm converter
• Power brick with ffice:smarttags" />UK adaptor (European as standard)
• Hanging hook with adhesive pad

What was excellent to see was that these phones could be used with a standard sound card or a more high-end solution with phono connectors just as easily as the package contains all the necessary cables for both.

What was also a good idea was the headphone adaptor cable. The Medusa set uses a PS2 style plug and so would not fit in a standard MP3 player, however that is more than possible with the supplied adaptor cable.


Including a hanging hook was another very nice touch which would have been overlooked by many companies I'm sure. As soon as I move into my new place I'm sure that will be used to very good effect.




First Impressions


First impressions were very good. I instantly noticed that all the connectors were gold plated which was very good to see. It’s the little things that I'm sure you will agree make all the difference!

As for the headphones themselves I was amazed at their build quality. They are very lightweight but feel well made and not flimsy like a lot of banded headphones. The in-line remote unit also felt solid and well constructed. All of the pivoting joints were smooth without being loose and floppy.





The ear cushions have a very soft velvety covering which I will talk about more later and the headband is also very soft being covered in a synthetic soft leather type material I think.


The amplifier unit is another exceptionally well built piece of kit. It has enough weight to it to ensure you it wont fall apart. The power / volume switch is knurled for a better grip and has a very nice click to it for power function.


All in all my first impressions were very good… lets hope it can live up to the expectation!




Performance


So… onto what I'm sure you are all interested in if you have kept with me this far…

I will be comparing these headphones against my current Philips A3.610 5.1 surround system and the only other headphones I own, my Sony Fontopia buds.


I shall be comparing in terms of ease of set-up, sound quality (inc. surround reproduction, overall listening experience) and comfort.


So on with the fun stuff!!!!!


Well… as my current 5.1 system has been set up for a while now I was not about to un install it just to re install it. I'm sure you know the drill… plug everything in, try and find something to put all 4 corner speakers on…. Fail… either get as close as you can or get some double sided tape and stick the little buggers to the walls… have a beer… realise your cables don’t reach from the PC to your sub / amp… repeat until satisfied… then try to hide all the wires that are currently going straight across your room… DOH!


Ok… so that’s a bit over the top but its not a 2 minute job to get it all sounding good. A full set up would probably take most people 30 minutes to an hour.


Once all that is done there is the job of tweaking soundcard for optimum performance but to be honest… is anyone EVER satisfied with the way their computer sounds / performs / looks? Lol… didn’t think so.



Moving onto the Medusas... Well it really couldn’t have been an easier job. All that is needed is to plug the amplifier into the mains and then insert into the 5.1 lines using the male-male 5.1 cable (As shown)





From there simply plug the headphones into one of the available sockets and you are good to go. The microphone is connected using the extension cable and the 3.5mm jack that is spliced from the main headphone cable about 8 inches from the socket end





Assuming your computer is already set up for 5.1 any adjustment is then performed via the in-line remote. There are controls for Front, Rear, Centre and Base levels. All in all it took about 5-10 minutes to be listening to some of my favourite tunes exactly how I like to hear them through the Medusa 5.1 headphones.


Setup for the standard Sony stereo headphones was pretty simple as you might expect. The only just a few clicks in Control panel and the PC is outputting stereo rather than 5.1. The annoyance comes when wanting to return to 5.1 speakers and some re-calibration is necessary. This was one of the main reasons I was looking for 5.1 headphones.



So the Medusa headphones are very simple to set up assuming you are using a 5.1 system already. How do they sound?!


The simple answer is amazing! But I expect a bit more depth is probably required…

What sets these speakers apart from several other ‘surround’ speakers on the market is that these headphones actually have 4 individual drivers in each ear (8 in total). This means that each sound is coming from where it is supposed to as opposed to being simulated with phase manipulation or whatever other clever tricks those audio engineers use.

Admittedly they don’t have the kidney thumping bass that a 200W sub can offer but it is a clean, deep and rich sound. I listened to a range of music from (of course) Offspring through Led Zep to Eminem and even some hard house & trance and I have to admit I was very impressed. Right up until the point where it was almost painful to keep listening, the sound was clear and ‘crackle-free”. With the sound coming from only an inch away from your ears and the outside sounds being drowned out you hear frequencies that would otherwise have been lost especially in the mid-high ranges.


The Sony Fontopias are known for having very good bass response due to their ear-plug style design however the mid and high range response of the Medusas I feel was far superior.


Fire up a few games and these babies REALLY come to life though! WOO yeah! You though FEAR was scary before… well try playing it in the dark… at 1am with these bad boys on your head! Sounds you have never heard suddenly jump out from no where. Moans and groans surround you and I found myself jumping and looking around behind me on more than one occasion. The total immersion is complete. You are IN the game. Not in a room playing a game but IN the game. What REALLY did it for me was when after a rather early exit from a CS:S round I flew over to a particularly vicious shoot out going on. Once there I closed my eyes and just scrolled round with the mouse and the effect was simply stunning. Bullets flying through my head, explosions in front of me and flash bangs behind. I felt I could pin-point the location of ever event. It truly is the ultimate gaming experience.


The same can be said for movies… watching Black Hawk Down was an amazing experience.


So far we have seen that the Medusa 5.1 surround headphones are easy to set up and sound very good indeed! The only thing left to consider is the comfort level. After all if these things are as good as I seem to think they are then you are probably going to want to spend a LOT of time wearing them. Well I'm not about to disappoint you!


You know you are wearing them. I wont pretend you don’t but after a while the extra weight on across your head and the very slight pressure on your ears becomes un noticeable. The padding across the head band is very comfortable and the velvety covering on the ear pads prevents the stickiness I have experienced with other larger headphones. As you would expect they are suitably pivoted as well. As you can see from this pic I look VERY comfortable wearing my headphones and have been wearing them here for nearly 2 hours.





I was impressed my ears did not over heat… which is one of my pet hates! The design of the headphones features a mesh pattern on the reverse which allows for some air flow and I assume helps keep ears nice and fresh!





I have had a chance recently to test the microphone on these heaphones over MSN. What more can i say other than it works very well... My mum said it was very clear and i got no feedback so what more can you ask for







Conclusions


Overall I can say that the Medusa 5.1 Surround Headphones from Speed Link are and amazing piece of kit! Not only do they provide a totally new level of gaming and movie immersion but they also provide a high quality sound for all needs, whether it be music or a furious fragging session! I simply cannot recommend these headphones highly enough. If you have a 5.1 sound card then you should buy them… NOW!



I have no hesitation in awarding the Medusa 5.1 Surround Headphones a member rating of 9.5 out of 10





Top Of The Pops

• Genuine 5.1 surround sound
• Total Gaming / Movie immersion
• Excellent sound quality and reproduction
• Incredibly easy to set up
• Excellent value for money
• Space saving

Top Of The Flops

• Could be a little bassier…

The Medusa 5.1 Surround Headphones cane be found a eBuyer.co.uk for the RIDICULOUSLY cheap price of £33.99 inc VAT HERE

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Nice review! I hope they/re available here in the states. Fixing to go look, as I've been debating getting a good pair of 'phones to go with my new rig. Thanks!

Tat, here ya go: http://www.medusa-usa.com/

thanks drougnor!

Quote: Originally Posted by Tattoo Nice review! I hope they/re available here in the states. Fixing to go look, as I've been debating getting a good pair of 'phones to go with my new rig. Thanks!

Thanks dude.

Def. check them out... as you can probably tell i have been very impressed so well worth investigating.

I can also add that my girlfriend cooked me dinner last night for the first time in quite a long time! I cant put this entirely down to the headphones... but... who knows eh?


Mark

** Update **

Updated main review with information about the microphone... ill save you the effort of scanning through... it works well!

Thanks for the info! greatly appreciated, considering replacing my 5.1 zalmans with these now, much better wiring it seems. Thanks again for the review!!!

No problem :-)

I was really tempted by the Zalmans when i was looking around... partly because they look so damn cool! but for ever 2 good reviews there was a bad one - where as i dont think i heard anything bad said about these Medusas...

The wirings setup is VERY good... keeps my desk nice and tidy even with something like 10 wires just for audio knocking around.

Glad the review was some help


Mark

Did yours come from ebuyer?

reason I ask is that speed links quality control has gotten mixed feedback so I'm trying to find the source of a good batch.

Well i got them for my birthday so i couldnt say for certain... but i know that when i was waffling on about them and dropping all my subtle-as-a-sledgehammer hints that i mentioned eBuyer a LOT lol.

I would guess that they came from there but cant be 100% im afraid. Ill see if i can find out though


Mark

Well I want them tomorrow for my day off so I ordered through OCUK (their next day delivery actually arrives the next day).


I kind of have more faith in their RMA procedure too just in case anything goes wrong.

Lol... always good to have a contingency plan!

I know what you mean about ebuyer though... i tried RMA-ing a keyboard they sent me as it arrived in about 12 pieces! im sure i hadnt ordered a kit-form keyboard! lol. Took about 2 months as well so i was not best pleased!

Anyway... let me know how you get on with the headphones! Im sure you will love them (hope you do or else im gonna feel a bit guilty!)


Mark


P.S. Did you go for the regular version or the Pro-Gamer edition? From what ive heard the Pro-Gamer is not quite as good because the amplifier is built into a unit in the wire (like a big in-line remote). There is no separate Amp unit for rigging your 5.1 system through

I didn't go for the usb one's 'cause I know better lol.

Plus I'll always make extra efforts to ensure I don't have any extra background apps / services running.

edit:

Ok they've arrived. Really impressed with the build quality. Very comfortable. But I'm a little curious... to me it sounds like the centre speaker only plays through the left ear piece?

I know this can't be right and it seems like it could be exactly the thing i was afraid of happening.

hmm it might just take my getting used to it. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

edit:

my own dumb fault had 2 wires in the wrong way round! doh!

brilliant bit of kit, I'm really liking them. Perfect surround sound.

lol - easily done.... i didnt get centre speaker at first until i relised i hadnt plugged the plug all the way in

Glad to hear you are impressed Dont know about you but i love having the front / rear fader controls on the remote. For Games / Movies / Music its always nice to be able to tweak a little here and there without having to go through various software screens.

Enjoy


Mark

Absoloutley.

They are incredible for the prince. Feel like they could take a knock or two as well. I like the weird metal wire thing the mic has on it. Way easier than turning the whoel thing up or down and it feels like it'll last forever.

My CSS was helped by these puppies.

Quote: Originally Posted by z0mbi3 They are incredible for the prince.

Is that William or Harry? Didn't realise our potential future King was into his surround sound hehe


Mark

Well they've certainly got these ears for it

My name's Harry btw.

do you think that these are better than the zalman 5.1 speakers?

Speakers or headphones?

If the headphones get then yeah the medusas are better.

They really really remind me of the kinyo headphones I have..
except the kinyos were $50 compared to the Medusa priced at around $100+

they have the same technology and even the same amp..


Also the kinyos have better ventilation, aswell as better material for covering the ears.. I've had these kinyos for bout a year now and I dont have any complaints.. they are awesome for LAN parties and I dont even notice them when they are on.