Play Video Anywhere: Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate
I got a new phone a little over a week ago, moving up from my old HTC Hero to a Motorola Droid X. With the bigger screen and dual core processor I finally started thinking about how cool it would be if I had some of my favorite movies on the phone for when I am sitting in a waiting room bored, or stuck at a family dinner.
So the problem I faced was how to take my movies from the DVD and put them on my phone. There are a bunch of methods and programs for doing this but I wanted something simple so I could just say do it and walk away. I tried a few trials and then ran across Wondershare. This company makes a number of nice little utilities for your PC and the one that caught my eye was Video Converter Ultimate.
The program opens to a very simple screen. You either drag in the video file you want to work with or select from the options listed across the top. You can work with straight video files, a DVD, download videos from the internet including streaming such as Youtube or you can use a net came you have and record the video right then. These are pretty self explanatory and as I set for my goal, very simple to use.
For example, lets say I want to download a video, in this case from Youtube. All I do is go to Youtube, find the video I want and then copy
the URL for the page I am on watching the video. Then I select the Download and a simple box pops up that asks for the URL. You paste the URL you copied into this box, hit the download button and sit back and relax. The software will download the video for you and allow you to then do minor editing to it such as trimming off the lead up or ending if you do not want it. The video you downloaded is not part of the library and ready to be converted into the format you might like to use it in.
Now if you only have one device you will be using and have already set it then you are done the files are saved as the format you chose. However you can then use that video file you have now saved and convert it to one of the numerous other file setups this software supports.
At the bottom of the screen you have two options one for save location, which of course is pretty self explanatory and the other for profile. The profile opens to show all the various devices and formats the software will prepare the video for use with. This includes Apple devices, various Android Phones, Blackberries, various game systems and other media players. You also have an option to search for a device not in the list and if they have created a profile for it you can download it right then. Wondershare seems to be doing a pretty good job of keeping up with devices and creating profiles.
Picking a profile will make the video file the appropriate size for use on your device, finding a good balance between image quality and space saving. If you saved the file in one profile and need it in another, for example sharing with the family, then select the new profile and the video file you want to change and click the convert button.
Now as I said this was about getting my movies off my DVD not about getting online videos, okay not originally but this is really cool. To get
the movie from your DVD to your device is just as easy. You put in the DVD you want the movie from the select the DVD button at the top. The screen that pops up gives you some choices such as just the main movie, the one we will most likely use. however you also get to select by scene, just grab the special features or in episode mode you can break up the movie to watch parts of it at a time, really useful if you have only a little space in your device of choice.
Without diving into the settings of the software it is very efficient and quick, best of all it just works. The settings you do need to adjust such as picking the device and choosing the source for the video are super easy to use and very intuitive. If you have an AMD or nVidia graphics card then you can go into the Preferences and turn on support for making use of the GPUs to help with the file conversion. This gives the software a nice speed boost, however even without turning it on this is still pretty quick.
The only downside to this program is that it is not free, the program cost $59.95 however if you really want the ability to move videos between devices this cost will soon prove to be worth it. If you want to open your options for viewing videos to the various devices you have then the Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate is a package that should be the first choice on your list. It is versatile and super easy to use plus it does as advertised. In other words everything we look for in a product.
Review Segment Aired Live 19 May 2012
Kepler in the House: nVidia GTX 670
nVidia for some time has championed the cause of the GPU compute direction for PCs. They have pushed out their CUDA programming system and shown how it can make the GPU in a computer do way more than put pictures on the screen. Now they have also discussed gaming with their cards and put some neat features on the cards but when you speak to them the push was always CUDA and GPU Computing, that is until now.
With the first release for the Kepler GPU there was a difference in the attitude of the people at nVidia. In the various briefings I have attended and even the keynote I listened to live by their CEO, I have not heard the same drive at Cuda or GPU computing. In fact I barely heard it mentioned at all. However what I have heard talked about is computer gaming and nVidia renewing their commitment to it.
As an avid computer gamer. this push and the vigor I hear in their words excites me, so when we got the chance to take our first hands on look at a Kepler based video card to say I was excited was an understatement. However I was cautious as well, history has shown us hardware companies love to hype a product, so it is 
not until I get my hands on it that I actually believe anything they say.
Lets begin by taking a look at the card itself, the particular card we are looking at is a reference design card provided by nVidia. The card came in a rather simple black box, however as I began to open the box it became apparent that nVidia was serious about this being a gaming card. Inside the outer box cover and on the back of the box was printed what you see in the picture to the left.
Since this is a reference designed card there was nothing in the box except for the card itself. The card we have in front of us is not a fancy design, in fact it looks from the front to be very similar to the already release GTX 680. It has the same looking cooler, a design that has over the years become the stock look for most basic higher end video cards.
In this case the appearances are correct, the cooler we are seeing is the same one used on the GTX 680. The fan and shroud are designed to push the air through the shroud to the back of the case and out vents on the back of the card next to the various display ports. The shroud is actually very tightly enclosed so that air does not escape from the top or the inside thus forcing the air out of the case and removing the GPUs heat from the system.
The design looks vary plain jane but again remember this is a reference design. This same design in fact is used in a lot of the cards that are on the market and basically just snazzed up with some artwork stuck to the shroud. The cooling solution works well, in our testing we found that the temp when gaming seldom went about about 65C, even with overclocking it did not rise about 70C. The testing was done in a Thermaltake Level 10 GT with the fans all set to low and only using the stock fans.
Not only is the stock design doing a good job of cooling the card it is also quiet. It was impossible to pick the fan for this card out of the normal sounds coming from the computer unless the GPU was pushed hard with stress testing. Under normal game play the card is very quiet and cool, exactly what we expect and want from a cooling solution.
The Kepler design is super efficient in the way the card handles power and even performance. Using a dynamic clock system that monitors the game you are playing for performance, the card kicks up or lowers the cards GPU speed as needed to ensure smooth game play. Now the kicking of the speed up makes sense to a lot of people but you might be confused by the kicking down. The simple truth is not all games need a card to run full tilt to ensure great game play. This design allows the card to pull back on the power of the GPU to still give a great game play experience and at the same time cut the heat and power usage. The design aspect of this was easy for us to test, we played games and watched the power levels. The 670 delivered on it’s promise and sipped 
juice, actually coming close in many cases to much lower powered cards when it came to power draw.
The card comes stock with a good set of connection options, 2 DVI ports, an HDMI and a Display Port. Where previous models of nVidia cards required two cards to game on multiple monitors, this card out of the box directly supports three monitors for gaming. Plus you can hook up a fourth monitor for other uses such as watching your voice comms software or searching the internet for gaming hints while you play. The mutli-monitor versatility built into this card is very impressive if that is the type of setup you enjoy using.
Flipping the card over I had a bit of a surprise, this card is much smaller than it seems. The fan area of the shroud is not actually over the card’s board but in a separate area. The board itself is tiny, in the picture on the right I wanted to give some perspective. The card of the 670 ends where the fan area starts as the picture shows. The card below it for perspective is a Sapphire HD 7850.
nVidia claims the reason for the smaller board is that the chip’s efficiency allows them to use smaller power components and this allowed them to move the power from the tail end of the card to the business end. This simple move meant that less space for the cards components were needed and has the added benefit of putting the heat producing power components near the exhaust and thus making them easier to cool.
Okay so at this point I imagine you are all chomping at the bit, tell us Ed, how does it perform! Well let me put it this way, the card performs from a raw horsepower point of view so well that it steals the thunder from nVidia’s higher end GTX 680. In all of our subjective testing the GTX 670 was able to deliver maxed out detail, some of the games we ran were Skyrim, Champions Online, Star Trek Online, Civilization, Batman; Arham Asylum and Mafia II. We did run other games as well but I think you get the idea. The system we used for performance testing was an i5 2500K on a Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 with 8 Gigs of Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600 and using a Kingston HyperX 3K 240 Gig SSD. Our testing was done at a resolution of 1920×1080 and the system we ran was a typical usage system. What I mean by that was it was not purely for benchmarks, we had Comodo AV, Steam, Skydrive and Skype running in the backgrounds. Our goal is to test the card as you are likely to use it.
Now everyone knows we do not put much stock in benchmarks and with a tons of sites on the web doing extensive benchmark testing I do not see the need to rehash the material they found here. If you need specific benchmark scores to look at I suggest heading over to the review of this card done by our friends at Overclockers Club, the numbers they got were in line with our findings. I can say however that the performance is impressive, in Skyrim with the HD pack from Bethesda and maxed out in game settings I was able to pin the frame rate counter at 60 FPS. Now that is with vSync enabled and by pinned I mean it was never under 55 FPS and was mostly right at 60 FPS. I did the same in Champions and Star Trek Online with maxed out settings in each. No card that we have ever had in the labs was able to deliver such a consistent frame rate in a game.
However even with the impressive horse power, this is not what has impressed me the most. The card is fast no doubt, in fact it is safe to say that it is the fastest card in it’s price point and is even close in performance to the top end cards from both nVidia and AMD. That is so strange nVidia building their own competition. What impresses me more however is the effort made by nVidia to have a real impact on the gaming experience other than pure frame rates.
Lets begin with efforts to refine anti-aliasing, nVidia introduced FXA a while back but with the Kepler they have placed to ability to force FXAA to be enabled, even in older games that did not directly support it. FXAA allows for better image quality with less of a performance hit. In Kepler this is being further enhanced to TXAA, a new method that is available only on Kepler based cards. This new method allows for even higher levels of anti-aliasing with less performance hit. What this means for all of you is your games look better and you do not lose your smooth game play by using it.
Next we come to the GPU Boost, this system basically monitors the work load on the hardware and makes changes dynamically to the GPU clock speed to ensure it stays within it’s power/heat envelope yet gives maximum GPU speed. We have seen this feature before in CPUs and it only makes sense to see it move into the GPU. While tweakers can still overclock the card even more if they desire, there is little need as the card at stock speeds does a lot of auto-overclocking. In fact I do not recall ever seeing my GPU running at stock speeds, it seems like when it was under load it was always running jacked up. This increases the gamers experience by offer extra power when it needed and reduced power when it not thus saving electricity.
We also see Adaptive VSync, basically this feature allows VSync to work more effectively than the stock on and off options. VSync is the setting that ensures your game does not produce frames faster than the monitor can show them. A lot of games turn this off but doing so risks something call tearing. That is were the monitor could not keep up and you get some textures that tear on the screen. By keeping VSync enabled the gamer does not get this but does suffer through some performance issues. Adaptive VSync takes out those potential performance issues by capping the frame rate but also leaving it more open at lower speeds. This has the effect of removing the downside of VSync and thus means you have no reason to see tearing.
A similar tool that we now have is Frame Rate Targeting. The reasoning behind this is that some older games would take the GPU to max power and have incredible frame rates but lets face it, at around 75 it is hard to see performance boost in real game play so 300 FPS is just crazy. Rather than force you to waste the power and potential of your card the Frame Rate Target lets you set a max frame rate your system will strive for and actually slow down the GPU if it can once that target is met. This tied in with the GPU Boost means you only use as much of the GPU as you need to use. This however can in my opinion replace the Adaptive VSync, it can be used to create the same effect after all. Set your Frame Rate Target at 60 FPS and you do not need any form of VSync since the GPU will hold down the frame rates to 60 and with this you have none of the down side of VSync.
Add to these features the old standards from nVidia of PhysX and their 3D Vision and you have a card lineup that is geared to give the gamers the best experience possible with their games.
Priced at $399 the GTX 670 is at the upper end of the gaming cards in cost. The card sits squarely in the second tier of the nVidia lineup for single GPU cards and is direct competition to AMD’s 7950 and 7970.
The GTX 670 really does change the gaming experience when put to full effect. The horsepower of the card lets you run your games at maxed out detail and the features make sure the game looks great and the card is efficient in it’s use. In June nVidia is going to up their game for the user experience with GeForce Experience, which we will review. Right now however they offer great support for games on GeForce.com which has a great section of optimized settings for various game and card combinations.
If you are a PC Gamer then nVidia has you squarely in it’s sites. They are looking to become the defacto gaming card for the PC. With the Kepler releases to date and the features they offer that are aimed at improving the gaming experience I would say so far they are hitting the target dead center.
nVidia GTX 670 Review as aired 12 May 2012
HyperX 3K SSD: Reducing the Cost of Speed
When Kingston first put the HyperX name on an SSD we were there to see it’s release. The goal was simple, they wanted to produce a super fast SSD with high reliability and ton of little extras to make it stand out in the crowd. They met that mark and we were thrilled. So when I heard the HyperX 3K was going to be a reduced cost version of the Hyper X I was concern, I mean we paid the extra cost for the entire packages, what would be slashed to reduce the price? The answer is not as much as you would think.
The box on the Hyper X 3K looks very similar to the original HyperX and while it is well made it does not have the nice slide off top. So they obviously cut some of the cost by reducing the packaging. Once inside the box however we see an identical feature pack to what we saw in our original HyperX
review.
We have the drive, screw driver, 2.5” external enclosure with USB cable, SSD mounting bracket and cloning software. The exact same feature pack we had in the original Hyper X. This time however instead of a blue coloring on the SSD we have a dark gun metal. Also just like the original Hyper X the 3K carries a 3 year warranty. Okay that’s great the packaging is nice and the extras are the same but what about were it counts, under the hood.
From a pure performance point of view the drives are identical, what that means is FAST. The Hyper3K was within 2% of the HyperX in the every benchmark, usually bettering it. This BTW is normal since it is a bigger drive and bigger SSDs of the same model tend to be faster.
The difference internal is found in the drives name. The 3K is an indication of how many write cycles the memory can perform within it’s expected life time. The original HyperX uses 5K cycle memory.
Now this may sound like a bad thing but it is not really that big of a deal. On last weeks show we talked about how SSDs had more life to them than people expected and worked out the math with you. Well this week I sat down with some folks from Kingston and went over my calculation method from last week and confirmed that I was doing it correctly. What this means is even with the 3K memory, if we assume a full drive and do 3gig of writes EVERY day with the over provisioning on the drive it should be good for around 20 years of use.
Think about it 20 years! You are very likely to have moved on to a new drive before this one fails. Now in fairness it will likely not last 20 years. This is not a fault of Kingston or the drive but just a fact when it comes to electronics. The everyday wear of small surges and low voltages causes electronics to wear faster than the expected cycle but these factors effect all electronics equally. What you need to know is the write cycle of 3K is not likely to ever be an issue.
Now I am sure you were expecting a longer write up on this drive. Sorry to disappoint you but there is no need. If you want more data on the performance and features of the upgrade kit then I refer you to our original Kingston HyperX review. With the exception of the outer box the package is identical, even down to the foam being cutout in the HyperX symbol. I know this may seem a bit lazy and maybe it is but when you have a drive that is REALLY fast, has a great and fully packed feature set AND costs 15% to 20% less than is equally fast and feature packed big brother, what more is there say?
Okay maybe one more thing, can I have 2 please!?
Okay seriously, at $289 the HyperX 3k 240 Gig SSD is about middle of the road pricing but has extras that make it way ahead of other drives in it’s category.
Now if they would make a red one to make it a little faster. By the way, be sure to tune into this weeks show as we announce the winner of one of these great SSDs.
Segment as aired live 5 May 2012
Less Hype , More Product
This week I thought I would take a different direction for the blog post. Over the decade or so we have seen the political process in this country expand to the point that it seems to never stop. We have candidates promising us the moon and then election day hits and we realize it is the same old thing again. We then set in to endure another long process of the same thing all over again. Well it seems over the years that tech and gaming companies have decided this was a great way to sell stuff, after all these people get elected.
Looking back at a lot of releases of both hardware and software over the last few years we have seen companies built hype over long and longer periods of time. The company will announce a new product is on the way and give us vague release times. Then over the next few months if not years the company will release will tidbits, teasing us at how great the product will be, claiming it will change everything. We will get emails weekly telling us about the latest video that has been put out and people will gobble up the material like it is candy. The company will leak information and do exclusive interviews building the hype machine up to a frenzy and then…. Well you know what happens next.
Over the last year or so we have had some real hype up and let down moments. One of the biggest was AMD and the all mighty FX chip. We were told this was the chip that would put AMD on top. We were promised an 8 core beast that would change the way we all used a CPU. What we got instead after all the secrecy, hype and waiting was a chip that was actually slower in everyday use than their previous model and was priced higher.
Bioware and EA did it to us with Star Wars: The Old Republic. A Bioware rep actually said something to the effect that other MMOs were broken and Bioware was about to show the world was what an MMO should be. They claimed we would see a game system unlike any ever created before and state of the arts graphics. We were promised that the full voice over system would not slow down the release of new content despite the pundits claiming it would. What we got was an MMO just like every other MMO except it had voice overs. We also have Bioware and EA now telling people to be patient because new content takes longer due to the full voice over. We endured tons of little videos and an amazing amount of hype to deliver just another MMO with a Star Wars skin.
Intel to a lesser extent got hit by the hype slap with the release of their Ivybridge processors. At CES we had displays everywhere telling us how get the onbaord graphics were and how we could get a great gaming experience using Ivybridge. We also hear how great the Ivybridge upgrade would be since it was using a smaller die we would see this great improvement over the Sandybridge chips. Go read the reviews, Ivybridge does okay but performance improvements and power improvements are marginal and the graphics is till the weak link in the Intel setup.
The reason for this article is because of the recent hype methods used by Bethesda, the maker of Skyrim. In March the team from Bethesda let some info trickle out that gave the impression the wait for the Skyrim DLC could soon be over. This trickle lead to an announcement that in April there would be a big surprise for Skyrim gamers. Well April is nearing a close and the only big news out of Bethesda is their new game and that Kinect users will get voice activation for Skyrim. The first has nothing to do with Skyrim and the second only effects a small percentage of the players and even then is not that big of deal since a mod that offers this same support is already out for the PC. Now with April about to end and Bethesda being silent the leak is that we “might” get word next week. This is classic hype building, I mean seriously an announcement of maybe an announcement?
Now in fairness to the above companies they are not the only ones to do this, a lot of companies in hardware and software are guilty of this hype campaign. The saddest part however is not that these companies keep doing this, but rather that we as consumers not only accept it but encourage it. We go to the rumor sites, we download the latest videos, knowing full well they are not going be representative of the game we look forward to. We listen to the BS the companies throw us through so called sneak previews that are closer to paid advertisements and eat it up like candy. Then when the final product hits the shelves and we see that they hype was just that we actually get mad at the companies.
So to us, the consumer I say it is time for us to wake up. Game trailers are NOT 90% of the time what you will see in game. They are specially prepared and scripted events to get you excited, not about the product itself but the dream of that product. When a hardware company spends time telling you that their next product will change the industry, smile at them and go on with your gaming, or work. If it changes things for real we will know it on release and if it is just another small step forward then at least you can feel like you did not waste your time in anticipation
To the companies I am begin you to please for the love of god lay off the hype. If you have an announcement to make then make it. We do not need forewarning it is coming just tell us what you have to say. Game companies, take the money and time spent in making the various trailers and put it into developing the game. You can make a trailer easy enough with Fraps and some real game play. It will mean more to us because we get the see the real game and will cost you the company less resources and time. I mean come on we can do it, why can’t you?
All of you companies out there pay a lot of money for marketing reps to help you build these strategies however they have taken you all for a ride. I will give you the following marketing advice for free.
1) Be honest with us, the consumers. We do not need hype and slight of hand to like a product, show us who and what you are openly and honestly, we will react better than you can imagine.
2) If you have an announcement then make it, nothing kills the impact of an announcement as much as making use wait and wait. We lose interest and move on and the impact of your announcement is lost. Surprise us with the announcement, show us something at the time that is real and the impact will be a hundred fold better.
3) Tell us about your new product when you are nearing release, not 6 months or more out. In 6 months your product might be meaningless to me and the hype train makes us all lose interest anyway. If you have a game announce it when you are in the last stages of a close beta so the launch is getting close. If it is hardware then practice the same idea. Announce in advance enough to let review sites and testers have played with it but we the consumers do not need road maps and wink and smile promises of performance.
4) Finally take all the money that you would put into your hype campaign and use it for putting finishing touches on your product. We would love games that do not need day one patches or hardware that needs a new driver release within days of launch. Put that money to use in a way that BENEFITS the consumer.
Listen we are geeks, we get excited about new hardware, software or games just because it comes out. We do not need you to stoke us up, we are stoked to begin with. Maybe if you spent less time stoking us up we would not be so let down and the negative forum posts would decline. Cut the hype, just give us the products.
Monster Digital Le Mans 240 Gig: Taking the Test Drive
We have looked over a lot of SSDs over the last year or so and we continue to be impressed more every time we see one. SSD’s are one of the most transformative upgrades you can do to your PC. When in place an SSD changes every aspect of your computing experience by putting a snap into the system. Files open much faster and this translates into the whole computer just feeling faster.
When Monster Digital decided to get into the SSD market they had a problem, everyone was in the SSD market. So when you have a hot rod that is blazing fast with a smoking motor but the rest of the cards have similar motors how do you make yourself stand out? That was the issue they faced and Le Man’s is their answer.
The Le Man’s line of SSD makes use of the Sandforce 2281 controller, however by waiting until the controller had been out for a while Monster was able to get the most stable firmware right on release. To give themselves even more of an edge Monster cherry picked Toshiba toggle 2 NAND Flash chips to ensure only the best memory chips were used for the drives, achieving the highest possible performance and reliability. The wait was well worth it as the Le Man’s delivered the fasted benchmarks numbers of and SSD we have had in house topped our former champion by about 2% on average.
Not a bad start for a first SSD lineup but Monster released that even with these speed they needed a touch more so they pushed things over the top by adding accessories. Now to go back to our car analogy Monster did not just give us a fast sports car. This beats is equipped with Whale scrotum leather seats, mother of pearl shift handle and satellite radio with internet access.
To be specific they made the drive look a little different by forgoing a lot of colors and decals and instead did a simple silver finish. It might hold finger
prints but it looks very sophisticated. It also comes with a matching SATA to USB adapter. This is not an enclosure but and small adopter piece that will fit on SSD’s, laptop drives or spindle drives.
Once you get past the packing foam you will find a bootable disk using Kamino Clone to make it easy for you to copy your existing HD to the SSD and then just swap to drives to enjoy SSD goodness. You will also find a small screw driver with interchangeable tips, a 2.5” to 3.5” bracket, mounting screws and the USB cable for the adapter. All of this is put into a nice heavy cardboard box that uses a flap design to open. The box is very high quality and has two magnets in the flap and two more in the side panel. All of this comes with a 5 year warranty, definitely a cut above the norm in the SSD world.
The drive we were sent is 240 gig and will carry a premium price, this will not be the cheapest date at the dance. However the feature rich package and out standing performance places this drive a cut above.
We did find a few things of note during our testing, bit none of it was with the drive performance. The screws that came with the kit are all torq screws, like that used in the Mac. Now personally I wish all PCs would move to these types of screws, they are much easier to work with and much harder to damage. However the simple truth is that the PC is built around the phillips head system and while this is a better solution it will cause an issue somewhere in the future.
The SATA to USB adapter is designed for USB3 and that is awesome, if you are already in windows. When using the kit for your upgrade this can cause some frustration. The adapted needs to be plugged into a USB 2.0 slot for the system transfer as the USB 3 ports will not have drivers loaded and the software cannot see the drive.
Speaking of the USB adapter, it has a place to attach an external power source. While the USB connection will provide enough power for an SSD and many laptop drives, it will not give the needed juice for a 3.5” spindle drive. We noticed that the power adapter was not included with the kit, nor was any way to order one or the information to pick up a generic adapter if you chose to do so.
We had a chance to talk with the people at Monster about these findings and they were very receptive. Based on our feedback I can tell you that the screws will be changed over to phillips, the quick setup sheet will include a notice about using the USB adapter in a USB 2.0 port for the data transfer and a section will be added with information to make it easy for you to get a power adapter to make the USB adapter even more versatile.
Now I have to admit I was already impressed with the Le Mans drive but talking to the company moved it up a notch. These people genuinely seem to care about making the user experience the best they possible can. During our discussion about the material mentioned above they took the time to explain the reasoning for each decision and then listened to our feedback with a very open mind. This attitude is something not seen often in this industry anymore and was a really welcome change of pace.
The Le Mans series comes in 80, 120, 240 and 400 gig sizes. All of the drives have the same bundle and will be premium priced for their size.
You know for a lot of people an SSD is an SSD. The truth is even the slower drives make a huge difference over a spindle drive. However when you are building that system for yourself sometimes you do not want good enough, sometimes you want something more, something a step above.With performance measuring the fastest we have seen to date, a 5 year warranty, a solid accessory package and a flashy finish the Le Mans is definitely a step above.
Sure the Mustang can give you a great sports card but sometimes you want more and go for the Porsche. The Le Man’s is aptly named, great speed and a lot of style.
Review of the Le Mans 240 Gig SSD as aired live 21 April 2012
USB vs. Soundcard for your Headset
We have recently been looking at quite a few headsets for gamers and as you know headsets hold a special place in the hearts of myself and Doug. When we started the review we saw some analog and some USB sets but since none of them were really the same headset a proper comparison was just not fair. However I REAALY wanted to do a comparison and talked to a few companies about this. Our friends at Steelseries though this was a good idea and sent me their Diablo III headsets which are very close in design to their Siberia v2 headsets we already had.
So with these two headsets in our hot greedy little hands it was time to let the testing begin. For the purpose of our test we used my main gaming rig 
and put in a Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series card with the front I/O Port. Four our USB hookup we used the front USB ports on our Thermaltake Level 10 GT case. I considered using the rear hookups because they would have less cabling in them and could give a cleaner signal but I wanted a realistic setup and the front connections were more likely.
As we do with all our headset testing we ran sound comparisons using music, movies, games and a microphone comparison done by recording me speaking. The testing was done in two rounds, the first with the sound set at default, stock settings and the second with the sound tweaked using the control software for both methods.
At the stock settings the X-Fi and Analog headset were clear winners with the sound having a much richer tone to it. Bass in my musical choices was clear and thumped nicely, the movie playback had clear sound with explosions and special effects having good rich tones and the game playback was really nice to listen to. The USB headset was not awful, I have heard much worse over the years but it was not close to the sound delivered by the X-Fi. The bass was lacking and this resulted in everything having a sound that was just not pleasing, the depth of sound did not seem to be there.
Opening the controls for the USB headset I found that Steelseries has some very basic software with a nice feature. You are not seeing wrong, that is a simple 5 band EQ. Now the sound guy in me cringed when I looked at this, a 5 band EQ is not going to give me a lot of control but I was pleasantly surprised at much effect it did have. With just a few minutes of tweaking I was able to pull in a sound that I really enjoyed, equaling if not being a little better than the X-Fi at stock.
Now the cool feature I mention is under the properties tab. There I can select an EXE and have the sound dynamic I created with the EQ change automatically for the program I am using. Now in fairness I am personally not likely to use this. I like to get my sound tuned in the way I like it and find that it works well for me in anything I am listening to, but I do know a lot of people that like to tweak sound for specific uses and this would be very handy.
Opening the software for the sound card gives a much richer set of tools to adjust the sound. We double the EQ controls to 10 channel as well as have controls to add other effects. Playing with the settings I was able to take the sound to an even higher quality level again passing the USB solution but not by much. While I was able to achieve some more bass and a bit more sound depth the difference was not enough to really effect my listening pleasure.
After we got the listening testing done it was time to turn to the recording, using the microphone. Again I tested at basic settings and then tweaked the settings. The USB solution had no real tweaks to the microphone other than adjust the levels. The X-Fi however has a very rich sound recording package that essentially gives you a small mixing board for your PC. However even with these extra tools the recorded audio quality was nearly identical.
Now looking at this setup I can imagine some of you are wondering why I would compare a good quality sound card to a USB solution. Why not instead compare to the onboard sound that can be found on most motherboards? Well I did actually start there and what I found was that the USB solution was better at stock than the sound on 3 different motherboards, all using Realtek solutions. I realized I needed to up the level of this testing a bit. Further looking at the USB headsets I have looked at, they are all running around $80 or better, this means to get a meaningful headset comparisons you need a similar quality analog set, something someone that is just using onboard sound is likely to pay.
So lets begin putting our conclusions together by first looking at cost. A good sound card is around $100 and the card I chose to use is closer to $150. The basic Siberia v2 headset is around $80 and the USB solution of the Diablo III set is around $110 on Amazon. If you are spending this much on a headset then the odds are you are going to tweak it to get the sound you truly want so the base settings while an interesting exercise can be thrown out for the final conclusion.
From a pure sound quality point of view the analog set with a good sound card wins, however the margin of victory is not all that large and when you realize that 200% or better cost of that solution it is definitely not a value. While the sound card approach in this case offered some nice features for recording, the simple truth is most people do not need those features and again for the cost difference did not really matter.
Now you can see were I am heading I am sure, the USB is the better solution from a cost to performance perspective in the case I mentioned. However take that conclusion with a grain of salt. What I mean is that not all USB headsets are created equal and so this might not always play out this way. In the review I have done here I am comparing two headsets that are VERY close to identical hardware with the exception of the USB connection. This means we are actually testing the headsets less than the USB sound solution they are using.
This at the end of the day is the real test we are seeing here, can a USB solution keep up with a good analog solution and the answer is yes. The USB solution from Steelseries beat out onboard sound on a few different boards and after tweaking gave an X-Fi a run for it’s money. I have recently look at another solution that produce sound close to the X-Fi as well. The key is to make sure you get a good USB sound solution.
What this means for gamers is you can have the high end headset and great sound without the added cost of the sound card. The onboard sound is usually enough for everyday use but when it comes time to delve a dungeon in Skyrim and you want the immersion of a headset then these work great and with a little less cost than getting the same quality headset with a good soundcard to make it worth the headsets cost.
USB sound has come a long way and for a gaming headset it seems a solid way to go.
Show Segment as aired 14 April 2012
Let me take the time to say thank you to Steelseries for giving us the headsets used in this comparison as well as to Kingston for providing the RAM and SSDs used in our test systems and Thermaltake for the PSUs and Cases used for our test builds.
Do Not Track Plus: Operation Cloaking Device
Internet privacy is something Doug and I spend a great deal of time on during the show and is actually a topic a lot of you, our listeners say they want to hear more about. It was not all that long ago that Doug and I asked everyone to take part in Operation Smoke Screen. The idea was we would flood search data collectors with crap and make some of the marketing data they collected useless. However, while this might sound like fun and could be effective if enough people took part, it was not going to stop the marketing people from spying on your web browsing activity.
The government, due to public pressure has actually been looking at ways to give us back some privacy and the industry came up with a method called, Do Not Track, this is similar to the Do Not Call system we have on phones. The idea is you can enable a setting in your browser that would tell a website to NOT use your browsing data while there in an effort to track your movement or create marketing data. Just like Do Not Call this sounds like a good ide and just like Do Not Call it is less than effective.
The reason it is not effective is that first the person has to opt out. This means by default you give the companies permission to track you just because you exist, thus you arte being tracked automatically. To Opt Out you need to be aware of your options and then find the settings needed and make sure they are switched on. However while that ends what you need to do there is another part to this that you have no control over, and that is if the web site you are going to will bother to pay attention to your choice. That’s right you can say no all you like but they can choose to ignore you, track you without you knowing it and there is repercussions.
Well a little company in Boston decided this was not good enough. Abine is dedicated to helping users to enjoy a better level of online privacy than we have now. To introduce themselves to the world they have a free program called Do Not Track Plus. This program goes a step beyond the passive opt out system that is built into some browsers such as Internet Explorer 9. Rather than taking a passive approach this program is very active, it works to stop more than 600 different tracking technologies actively. By actively blocking the technology the choice to be tracked using these technologies is now 100% in the users hands and the companies will only be able to by pass this by using new technologies. Never fear however the folks at Abine are watching for this and will update, much as anti-virus companies do to keep your data private.
For the last few weeks I have taken Do Not Track Plus for a test spin on my Internet Explorer and Chrome browsers. The picture on the left was taken using my IE9 browser and visiting MSNBC. The screen shot is showing the program after I requested to see what it had found. Now I expanded this fully so you can see what the program is doing.
When it is not expended the program is nothing but a small circle sitting on the browser toolbar. I have run a few browser benchmarks with the DNTP program active and with it uninstalled and there was no performance hit from using the program. In page open speeds there might be a slight slow down but nothing we could notice with anything short of a program measuring it specifically, in real life the performance is the same.
When a page loads the program is watching for various tracking technologies and then blocks them when they try to open. As you can see the program is looking for three specific areas of tracking; Social Networking, Ad Networks and various misc. companies.
When you are at a webpage the program will show you how many total tracking it has stopped on that page and by clicking the button you can see the specifics in each area. I can tell you now I was really surprised at how much tracking some sites have while others have none.
Now in some cases you might actually want some of these trackers to work, I do not know why but you might. If this is the case you can go into the settings and pick the specific trackers you do not want blocked. The default is to block everything and I can tell you I have had no glitches on any website when doing this.
After all my testing I noticed that a number of ads I used to see before are no longer showing up. Turning off the program allowed the ads to appear again. The end result has been that my browsing experience has not really changed but I am now more securing in knowing that companies that had thought they could track me without my permission are now no longer gaining data from me.
Now I am not going to tell you that this program will give you complete privacy, it cannot. The reason is that you have to do some of the work to, lets face it there is no program that can stop us from posting to the internet if we want to. However this simple, little, free program does give you a level of privacy that is not usually there. It is super easy to use, just install it and that is it, you are protected. This makes it a great add-on for anyone, novice or geek.
Operation Smokescreen was our effort to help you befuddle the people tracking us on the internet, with Do Not Track Plus we go from befuddling with a smoke screen to vanishing from their tracking with a Cloaking Device. Do Not Track Plus is running now on my system and will continue to do so, I like knowing that people cannot spy on me and make money from my browsing. Considering the price this one is a no brainer and should be on everyone system.
Abine Interview and Review Segment as Aired 7 April 2012
Belt Buckle Shoot Out: FX vs. Nukem
By Doug “The Hat” Berner
In the last several months the tech world has seen the introduction of not one but two belt buckles. Both of these buckles were worthy of mention and yet got little press. The first because it accompanied the launch of an entirely new breed of CPU from AMD and the second because it accompanied the rebirth of a legend, namely the king himself Duke Nukem.
The Computer Ed labs has been tasked with the job of examining the two and determining which is superior in the world of “Man Buckles” For the purposes of this review a Man Buckle is defined as a belt buckle device which will not only dependably hold up a man’s pants by keeping his belt fastened securely but which makes a statement and could in a pinch be used as a defense device.
Upon first examination we find that both buckles are substantial, hefty in the hand and bold in design. The AMD buckle sports a wicked scorpion on a riveted metal plate motif, while the Duke Nukem buckle touts the nuke symbol that made him such an icon. So both pass the test of making a fashion statement, and the statement is “Here lies danger, proceed with caution”.
One primary focus for a Man Buckle is weight and size. Both matter, don’t fool yourself. The AMD buckle weighs in at an astounding 6 ounces and measures a full 5” X 3 ½”! This is a buckle you really have to hold in your hand to appreciate. By comparison the Nukem buckle, while impressive on its own falls short in this head to head comparison weighing in at just 3 7/8 ounces and measuring just 4” X 3 1/8”. Again while that is no small buckle, in this comparison it clearly finishes second.
Fit and finish are always important in a buckle after all you are wearing this kind of buckle so that people will take notice. Here we find that the AMD buckle step quickly ahead of the Duke Nukem buckle as it sports a polished and much more pleasing finish that the much rougher Nukem buckle. That’s not to say that the Nukem buckle does not reflect that the Duke is a tad rough around the edges but we in the lab 
all felt that the finish of the AMD buckle was defiantly more desirable.
Another all important component of any Manbuckle is the Chape. That is the wire bale device that the rear end of the belt fastens to. Here we find that the AMD and Nukem buckles, while different in construction and methodology, seem to be equal in size and effectiveness for all practical purposes. Our testing procedures did not allow for a point of failure test where we would normally attach both buckles to straps and apply weight until they failed, comparing the breaking stress each one could endure. However with the tests that we did conduct, we were able to determine that both would be adequate and probably equal in performance.
Moving on now to the prong. As the name might indicate this is the part of the buckle that penetrates the belt via a hole punched in the leather, or in the case of some belts, canvas or I don’t know some unidentified fiber material that is probably made up of chopped up things we have never heard of. Anyway when it comes to your prong, three things stand out most. Its length, its diameter and its shape. Ideally you want a prong with a respectable length, more than long enough to do the job without being so long that you poke yourself in the eye while using it. A heafy girth, thick enough to fill the average hole, without being so big that you have to rule out wearing some belts because their holes are not big enough. Though in fairness I have found that if you simple shove the prong in hard enough and wear it for a while the hole will tend to stretch to accommodate the girth of your prong. Also it is preferable that your prong have a slight curve to it as this helps insure that once fastened the belt is less likely to slip free of the prong.
In this comparison we found and you can clearly see from the photos that while both prongs would be adequate, the AMD takes a clear lead here. The reason is that the prong on the AMD buckle measures a whopping 3/8” while the Nukem buckle’s prong though long enough to get the job done is a full 30% shorter at ¼”. Now the Nukem buckle did have a bit more of a curve to it which as we said is desirable, but in the end it came up lacking in both length and girth. Additionally prong on the AMD buckle benefits from a prominent knob on the tip. This knob in addition to a slight curve seemed to work idealy to insure that once the prong had penetrated the hole in the leather belt we used for testing it did not come free until you applied at least one firm yank. So here the points again go to the AMD for having a clearly superior prong.
Our testing complete we tallied the score and unfortunate for the Duke it was not even close. In nearly every category we used for evaluation the AMD-FX Manbuckle with its highly polished, riveted finish and bad ass scorpion logo was the hand down winner. Sorry Duke, we still love and respect you but I suspect that on you days off you would be proud to sport this AMD buckle around the house.
AMD has defiantly set the bar high for the future of tech related Manbuckles and we here in the Computer Ed tech labs will be looking out for any worthy contenders that may come along but for now they rule the roost.
Be sure to check out our Facebook page for more photos from the Manbuckle Shootout.
Corsair K60/M60: Jumping into Pro Gaming
By Doug Berner
Back in January while at CES, Ed and I had a chance to sit down with the folks from Corsair. Among the cool stuff they had to show us, were the Vengeance K60 keyboard and M60 mouse. I was struck by the style and feel of both of them at the time but did not have a lot of hands on time at the show to put them through their paces. When Ed called a couple of weeks later to let me know we had gotten a set in for review I jumped at the chance.
The K60 and M60 are billed as FPS (first person shooter) gaming items and so one would expect them to be both rugged and reliable.
When I got my hands on the set, the first thing that struck me was the same thing that had leapt out at me when we saw them at CES. Both the K60 and M60 have a one of a kind aggressive design that looks distinctly military. A solid, no-nonsense chassis built from brushed aluminum peeks out from the edges of the M60 mouse. There is a plastic mouse body attached to it but there can be no doubt that the heart of this thing is a solid metal brute. Even the scroll is made out of a solid piece of aluminum, extra wide in appearance with a notched black rubber center. The K60 takes this level of solid and aggressive styling one step higher. Black matt keys rise up from the surface of an upper deck crafted from one solid piece of brushed aluminum. Unlike virtually every other keyboard out there the upper deck does not rise up around the outside edges of the keys. The result is a look and feel that make the K60 and M60 stand out in a crowd. 
Plug and play performance for both the K60 and M60 was flawless right out of the box. The K60 is a mechanical keyboard but I noticed right away that it has a very light feel to the keys. This is surprised me since this is a mechanical keyboard. The reason is that Corsair has chosen to use cherry red MX switches in the K60. Compared to the cherry black switches I had been used to in other keyboards the cherry reds in the K60 have a much lighter touch. One of my very few complaints about mechanical keyboards was that if you are not used to them you can experience some finger fatigue with extensive typing. The K60 eliminates this concern because the cherry red switches are both light and crisp. I have always found typing on a mechanical keyboard to be a joy and the K60 takes that joy to the next level. The K60 offers the great solid and responsive feel that I expect from a mechanical keyboard but with no finger fatigue even after hours of constant use.
I’m all about innovation and thinking outside of the box, and Corsair has scored points with me by doing several innovative things in the K60. First, they set the multimedia keys down at a lower level than the other keys on the keyboard. Since they are not used nearly as much as the typing or even the numpad keys this make sense, it keeps them out of the way while still being accessible . Also the volume control is an analog knurled aluminum wheel. At first glance this type of control seems out of place on a modern digital device but in practice it gave me a faster way to ramp my volume up or down than holding a up or down button for the adjustment. It also lends itself to the military styling of the K60.
Corsair knows that a FPS gamer lives on the WASD keys and to accommodate players and make our lives a little easier they include a contoured removable wrist rest just for the left wrist. I found this to be very comfortable helpful while gaming and easily removable while using the K60 for the more mundane hours of my life which require typing. The wrist rest is not just a wrist rest though for it also houses a set of bright red rubberized replacement keys for the WASD and the numbers 1-6 keys, again for the benefit of the gamers. (this is after all a FPS gaming keyboard) also contained in the wrist rest is a key puller to make changing they keys over a snap. After installing the replacement keys I have left them in full time because they do not distract from typing but they have a texture on the top which makes the easily identifiable in the dark. You will need something to find them if you game in the dark as one of the few shortcomings of the K60 is that it does not come with backlighting of any kind. I am fond of back lighting and if I could change one thing about the K60 it would be to add it. However at 109.00 there is just no way you could expect all the things you get in the K60 PLUS backlighting. I am hopeful that the future holds a ”K60 plus” that would offer everything that makes the K6 great and adds backlighting.
Speaking of keys; here is where the K60 had a hiccup and I stress a hiccup because while is has been a problem in early models it is being addressed as we speak. Some of the lettering on the keys wears off prematurely and by prematurely I mean in like a week. Apparently there was a problem at the manufacturer that resulted in poor etching of the letter area and the ink sticks to them only slightly better than an egg to a Teflon skillet. Corsair is aware of the problem and is offering replacement keys to anyone who has the issue and requests a new set. Future versions will not have this problem. In fact they are even moving to a different type of key labeling system.
I mentioned earlier that the K60 deck does not rise up to enclose the keys but leaves them standing starkly above the brushed aluminum deck which gives the whole thing a very aggressive military look. While evaluating the K60 I inadvertently discovered another more practical effect of this design. Spills don’t go down into the body of the K60 the way they would a typical keyboard. Instead they run between the keys and slide down to the bottom of the keyboard where they are easily mopped up without making the keys all stick together in a mess like you get with most other keyboards. I’m not sure if this is a case of form following function or of the result was a fortunate side effect of the design. Either way I am impressed by the fact that for the first time I have a keyboard on my desk that does not eat more chips and soda than I do. Thank you Corsair!
Now on to the M60; as I stated in the introduction I was immediately blown away by the styling of the M60. Seeing that aluminum frame peeking out at me from under the matt back body, with that fat aluminum mouse wheel bedecked with a flat heavily lugged rubber center came near to giving me a physical response that I probably should not have from looking at a computer input device. Add to that a solid heavy feel, some subtle backlighting and this thing looks like it could have been designed by a well know American motorcycle maker.
Performance wise I could not ask for more from a mouse. The M60 takes a beating and does not stop, it looks rugged and it is rugged. The button response is crisp and precise and if you want you can use the downloadable software to customize this performance in about every imaginable way.
The DPI is adjustable from 100 – 5700 through the software, which allows you to set up multiple profiles and adjust the report rate and lift height. Here you can also adjust the DPI of something they call the Sniper Button. Located on the right side under the normal forward and reverse buttons you would expect.
The Sniper button allows you to instantly drop your DPS with a press of your thumb for that micro fine feel you want when you are trying to place that perfect head shot in your favorite
FPS. This is another example of a great idea from Corsair, because while many mice let you adjust your DPI on the fly you normally need to use one of your mouse fingers to do it. Problem is that finger is also probably your trigger or your zoom finger. Allowing players to instantly drop that DPI down to say 600 snap off the shot and return to the normal DPI this way means faster response and better accuracy and in a FPS that’s the difference between bringing home the bacon or being the bacon.
Additionally in one of those more mundane hours of my life spent editing text I found that the Sniper Button was useful when I was highlighting text to be copies. With my normal DPI settings I sometimes have to be careful not to highlight way too much text. The Sniper Button let me instantly drop to the lower DPI for the highlight faster than using the normal method of hitting the DPI switch with my index finger, highlighting they switching back. So there you have the justification for buying this great mouse to make you more productive at editing text which just happens to also let you score more precision shots in games!
I have only one small bone to pick with the M60. That Sniper Button that I loved so much comes with a scope crosshair marking on it which I was able to wear off in about 3 weeks. Yeah it’s not noticeable unless you are looking for it but hey I figure if you are going to put it on there, it should be on to stay.
Oh I mentioned above that the M60 has a great beefy feel to it. I love this in a mouse, while I want them to glide effortlessly across any surface I chose I also want to know I am moving something and at 4 5/8 ounces the M60 is the heftiest mouse to come across my desk. The average for a gaming mouse seems to be about 3 7/8 ounces and while that may not sound like a huge difference it makes all the difference in the way it feels when I’m using it. If however you like a lighter touch to a mouse never fear, the M60 allows you to quickly adjust that weight by removal of up to 3 weights from the bottom. You don’t even need a screwdriver to do it as the heads are slotted to accept a coin for easy removal for the “tool challenged” among us. Each of those weights is 1/8 of an ounce and I suppose you could even leave the screws out that hold them in to save another 1/4 ounce overall of you want to get the M60 down to a bantam weight contender.
I could add more information on both the K60 and M60 here but being a combination review this has already gotten pretty lengthy. So lets get down to the part I always jump to when reading other people’s reviews. 8 > )
Conclusion: The K60 gives you the the durability and response you expect from a mechanical keyboard with crisp and lighter key touch than most. It brings to the table an aggressive military styling that any FPS gamer will love and an innovative volume control that is faster and more precise than buttons. The price is very reasonable for a mechanical keyboard and both typing and gaming on the K60 is a dream. Defiantly check this out if you are in the market for a new keyboard even if you are not a gamer. It performs as good as it looks. Lack of backlighting may be a deal breaker for some but not for me.
The M60 is a winner in every aspect. The styling and heft of the thing remind me of a sportster, and its performance and customization make it a top notch choice for hard core gaming or day to day professional use. Remember the Sniper Button has more uses than just awesome headshots! Its solid construction and dead sexy looks make it stand out in a crowded room and the price is spot on, you can spend a lot more money and get a lot less mouse from other companies.
I have been using the same keyboard for over a year and as much as I love it the K60 will now be on my desk for my everyday use and gaming. And the M60 is going to fill a void I have had for a while now, I have gone through at least 6 mice in the last year and while many of them were noteworthy none captured my heart and fill my mouse needs the way the M60 has.
Great work Corsair these two are a match made in geek heaven!
Review of the Corsair K60 and M60 as aired live 31 March 2012
Corsair Vengeance 1500; Taking Revenge on Gaming Sound
Headsets hold a special place in our hearts on Computer Ed Radio. As radio show hosts we use headphones a lot for working with the show and various other aspects of radio. In addition as we are both avid gamers we use headphones for our recreation as well. To give you an idea of how big a deal headphones are to us, I figured out that I wear a headset roughly 45 hours a week. That’s a lot of time to be in a headset so not only does it need to sound good, it needs to be comfortable as well. We spoke with the folks at Corsair about our passion for headsets and so they decided to step up and asked us to take a look at the Vengeance 1500.
The Vengeance line is Corsairs line of high end, professional, gaming gear and the 1500 is their premier headset. The 1500 uses a USB connection to give you 7.1 surround sound as well as Dolby Pro Logic. The 7.1 sound is simulated and not multiple speakers per cup. 
Four our sound testing we picked some of our usually music choices, specifically two songs I now use all the time, Unskinny Bop and The Race is On. Both songs have strong base range and this is something I look for in a headset. For movies I chose I use Ironman, a great movie BTW and then for gaming I chose some games I am active in right now, Skyrim, Reckoning and Arkham City.
Opening the box I was amazed with how littler there was in the package. The only think in the package was literally a couple of pieces of paper for registration information and the headset, that was it. I expected a driver CD but the enclosed papers told me to download the drivers from the Corsair website. This is actually a good idea as this allows Corsair to make sure a new customer is always getting the latest driver with their purchase.
The 1500 comes with a nice long USB connection that has a volume control in line. Instead of a scrolling wheel as so many headsets use, Corsair has opted for a volume up and down button along with a mute button. When the headset is in use the volume buttons are surrounded by an LED that is blue when the mike is on and red when it is muted.
The headset itself uses a clamp style band that is very stylish with a nice soft, padded top and the sides are brushed aluminum to match the rest of the Vengeance peripheral lineup. The ear cups each hold a 50mm driver for great sound quality and is padded with a fabric material with memory foam. The mike is a stiff arm design that lifts out of the way when not in use and the ear cups can rotate 90 degrees for easy storage. The cups themselves are larger and deeper than most headsets meaning it should fit nicely over anyone’s ears.
My wife can be seen modeling the headset for us to show you the nice aluminum side and the mike extended for use. The styling is really nice with a light hint of blue trim and the black and aluminum giving this a very classy look. The cabling is very high quality with a nice heavy braid. The construction is very solid and Corsair is backing it with a 2 year warranty, very nice for a headset.
The software, as we mentioned needs to be downloaded for the headset to be used. The software is outstanding in it’s simplicity and ease of use. The software allows you to choose between three base settings;
- Bypass which is the basic headphone settings.
- Dolby which lets you adjust environmental size and type
- 7.1 which simulates surround sound and adjust the parameters to give you the experience you will most enjoy.
All three settings also allow you to use the software’s EQ which comes with a great collection of created profiles; Default, Music+Bass, Music Reference, Movie Mod +, FPS Gaming and MMO Gaming. Each of these has been created by Corsair to work with the sound dynamics of the headset and try to optimize for the use intended. You have to be a real sound buff to tell the difference but this is still a nice feature to offer. You can of course also create custom profiles.
Okay so the 1500 looks good, is well built and has cool software but how does it sound? For music the bass sound reproduction was outstanding. The sound quality was really spot on and just great to listen to. What was really surprising was that this USB headset actually sounded BETTER than a good analog headset on a stock setting X-Fi sound card. Now with some tweaking the X-Fi was able to regain a small lead but the USB sound system created by Corsair really delivered the goods.
Movies delivered the same great base, you feel the sound as much as hear it and the reproduction was well done. Also I was really impressed with the 7.1 sound these recreated. I understand logically that this was not true 7.1 but just a simulation with 2 drivers but the simulation is so well done that the difference was to small to matter.
For gaming the combination of the 7.1 sound with the nice base made gaming a really great experience, the sound was very immersive and makes me glad I game in a headset. Speakers are okay but I still believe that nothing beats the immersion of a good headset, I can say the 1500 really shows that immersion at it’s finest.
Finally we turn to the microphone, something we are really picky about here. Microphones often seem like an afterthought with many gaming headsets. Now that is not to say they are generally bad but it seems like they are never at the same quality as the sound components. Like I said I am really picky about my mikes so I was not expecting a lot from the Vengeance, however that did not stop it from delivering. The Vengeance 1500 had the BEST mike I have found yet in a gaming headset. The input was very clean, excellent noise cancelling and was noticeably clearing than any other mike we have put through the ringer.
While we loved using the 1500 all was not perfect. The cloth ear padding cover made my ears warm up under extended use a great deal more than a leatherette design. The material was also a little coarse for my taste. The clamp style headband lived up to it’s clamp name, there was more pressure on me head than was comfortable for long use. After about an hour or so I actually was a bit uncomfortable and could not imagine wearing these for a long gaming session. Finally I encountered a few glitches with the software, basically when a game would turn of it’s sound while sitting idle, like when I stepped away from the game for a bit, the headset would not pick up the sound again when I returned unless I restarted the game.
The issues however I have mentioned are very much personal choice in the case of comfort and the software glitch is actually minor, only happened in two games, and only under very specific circumstances. In actual active game play, listening to music or movies the headset performed flawlessly. Priced on Newegg at around $85 the Vengeance 1500 is priced as you would expect a high end gaming headset. Corsair has shown that when they making a gaming component they take it to the next level and the 1500 has done that. The sound quality is outstanding and the mike is the best I have seen on any gaming headset. The software makes this headset easy to tweak to suite your particular audio tastes. It is a definitely a headset worth of the Corsair name and should be on your short list if looking for a great gaming headset.
Corsair Vengeance 1500 USB Headset Reviewed Live 24 March 2012
About
In June of 1977 a 14 year old walked into Morris Library at Southern Illinois University. Downstairs in the media lab he was put into a cubical. The dull orange glow of a plasma screen lit his face as he first began to use the Plato computer system. Now all these years later he still has the same passion for computing that he caught that fateful day.
Hi, I am Computer Ed, also known as Edward Crisler. Computing to me is more than a job, it is a hobby and a joy, something I do for fun and work. Joined by my sidekick Doug Berner, I try to spread that excitement about computing through Computer Ed Radio, a local radio show done live every Saturday on WGGH, AM 1150.
This show got it’s start in 1996 as a simple one time on air interview to discuss how to make wise computer purchases for Christmas. Soon it grew to a monthly and then weekly regular interview on the Morning Meeting with Pat Benton. When Pat left WJPF the show left with him for a short time but the efforts of Roz Rice and Tom Miller helped to raise it again. From there the show grew into a one hour regular show ever Sunday but we continued to grow and soon needed more space. Jim Fishback at WGGH saw our potential and gave us 3 hours every Saturday to see where this show will go.
This show is about trying to infect others with my passion for the hobby of computing. We discuss computing news, new technology, review software and hardware as well as explore how to get the most out of your PC and more. However the true topic of the show is you, our listeners and how we can help you get the most out of your computing experience.
The show airs live Saturday afternoons from Noon to 3:00 PM CST. Use the listen live link to hear the show then, or if you have to miss it check back here every week where we will keep not just the most recent show but an archive of about the last 3 months of shows.
You can reach me with comments here, email me at computeredradio@gmail.com or you can join the Computer Ed Radio Show page on Facebook.
Show Aired Live 19 May 2012
