Altec Lansing AHS602i Gaming Headset

What makes this headset special though, is the SRS 3D Audio technology. What this does essentially, is allows you the ability to play a game in surround sound, theoretically, with the headset. Generally speaking, this should make the games you play sound much better using Surround Sound, rather than choosing the regular Headphones option. This can be controlled via the remote that you see in the pictures. That control allows you to adjust the volume, and depth of the surround sound. Unrelated to the sound, the control also has a clip so that you can attach it to your shirt if need be.

Lastly, the control requires 1 AAA battery, which is not included. Now that we have got the specifics covered, let’s jump into testing this baby.

I tested the AHS602i using Music, Movies and of course, Games. The sound card I am using is the Chaintech AV-710, which the headset will be directly plugged into.

Of course, this headset is being touted for gamers, so it only makes sense that we test it out using two of the most popular team based FPS on the net! In Counter-Strike: Source, I played a round through the cs_office level, using the “Headphones” audio selection, as well as the “5.1”. In Battlefield 2, I played through the Dalian Plant map, and had selected high audio quality, plus EAX support. I did not have the option to use the Ultra High audio quality setting.

As much as I love CS: Source, it’s not exactly a game that stands out in the audio department. Even so, a good headset should help you determine where the enemy is, as that’s extremely important in this game. The headset performed greatly here, and the sound was crisp and clear, even at loud volumes. That’s important.. it was so clean sounding that it didn’t give me a headache like a previous headset may have. As for Battlefield 2, this is the type of game that this headset was made for! The tanks, firing and chat sounded incredible. Overall, the game was very enjoyable just because of this audio boost. It sounded great without the boost, but when it was enabled.. wow.

Regardless of what game you are playing, it should technically sound better using the booster. In CS: Source, I would have figured that the 5.1 setting would have sounded leaps and bounds better than the headphone setting, but I was wrong. The headphone setting sounded better and clearer, and also could reach higher volumes. So I guess it would pay to experiment with the settings in each individual game to see what sounds better with this headset.

I can’t help but be very impressed with this headset. I have verified with my teammates, that I came in loud and clear. Since being able to communicate with your teammates is a top priority, you want to be clear enough so that they will understand… and the AHS602i delivers.