INTRODUCTION

   Unlike most review samples that reach our lab on a daily basis gaming peripherals require quite a bit of time to test and so we always wait until we have more than just 2 or 3 here before we start testing since usually that saves us a good amount of time. Of course the most ideal and obvious way for someone to test gaming peripherals is by playing games and so we also need to have a brand new game title in our hands in order to do that. Luckily we haven't finished Batman Arkham Knight yet (no free time to play unfortunately) and we also just started to play the brand new World Of Warships naval action MMO (by our friends over at Wargaming.net creators of World Of Tanks and World Of Airplanes) so since we have everything covered today we're going to take a thorough look at one of the latest gaming peripherals released by Tt eSPORTS the Shock 3D 7.1 headset.

   “Challenge is the game” highlights the philosophy to bring out gamers’ addiction in gaming and the ambition of reaching to the extreme. Tt eSPORTS, a gaming obsessed division from Thermaltake, is uniting gamers from all over the world in a unique & fascinating eSPORTS culture, inherited the spirits of Thermaltake, is an energetic, powerful, bold and intelligent challenger who never says “no” to the extreme competition. We do not only provide gamers the ultimate gaming gears but also fulfills the passion to achieve the ultimate success. Thermaltake has been a well-known brand in the gaming & DIY market for PC Chassis, Coolers and Power Supplies PSU for many years. The brand personality of unique, aggressive, vivid and stylish makes Thermaltake an expert in creating exciting things and fascinating environment for gamers and enthusiasts. Tt eSPORTS inherited the brand personality with unique and creative design by observing users’ behaviors and requirements. The fan cooling design on Tt eSPORTS Challenger keyboard demonstrate the brand spirit. It is the worldwide first keyboard with fan cooling function that could dry your hand sweats and blow tension away during cut-throat competition.

   As far back as i can recall Tt eSPORTS always had the Shock line of gaming headsets but the Shock 3D 7.1 is actually the very first model in that line to feature 7.1 virtual surround sound. To achieve this Tt eSPORTS has used two 40mm neodymium stereo drivers that feature a frequency response of 20Hz-20KHz, 92dB sensitivity and 32 Ohm impedance with a virtual surround USB sound card (placed inside one of the earcups). This of course is nothing new since there are numerous similar gaming headsets in the market by pretty much every gaming peripheral manufacturer but Tt eSPORTS didn't just stay there since as you will also see later on they also focused quite a bit in the design (didn't win the 2015 Red Dot Design Award for no reason) and quality of the Shock 3D 7.1. A flexible Omni-directional microphone with a 100Hz-10KHz frequency response, -35dB (+-3dB) sensitivity, 2.2 KOhm impedance and auto shut-off function while in upward position completes the package.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Shock 3D 7.1 arrived inside a very nice looking box that has a large product picture at the front, its main features, the company logo and a clear plastic section which extends from the right side all the way to the rear.

You can check the specifications of the headset from the left side of the box.

All of the features are showcased at the rear of the box with the help of 4 pictures.

The box contains the Shock 3D 7.1 headset, carrying pouch made out of soft fabric, warranty policy paper and two stickers with the company logo.

THE SHOCK 3D 7.1

The Shock 3D 7.1 gaming headset is a small to medium sized model which weighs a total of 355g (337g without the cable).

Typically to showcase the size of the headset we placed it right next to the compact Jabra REVO Wireless.

On the exterior of both earcups there's a black grille but only on the exterior of the left earcup do we see a red volume control knob, the equalizer selection button (4 available presets) and the 7.1 surround sound button.

The flexible microphone can rotate up to 90 degrees vertically and turns on only when in the downward position.

Surprisingly enough even though the Shock 3D 7.1 is not large it does have large and thick earpads.

Both earcups fold to reduce height and thus size for easier transport and storage.

The headpad is also very thick although it's not especially soft.

You can extend the headband on both sides for a total of 60mm via 11 increments (7 visible ones).

The 2 meter braided cable has a gold plated USB connector at the end.

It may not be very clear in this picture (still getting the hang of the new D3300) but beneath both grilles Tt eSPORTS has placed red LEDs with their logo.

USING THE SHOCK 3D 7.1

Since the Shock 3D 7.1 doesn't come with a software CD inside the box you will need to download the latest driver from the official Tt eSPORTS support page.

The control panel is very easy to use and as a matter of fact it's just what you see, no popup menus, no submenus, no pages, nothing.

From here you can enable/disable the 7.1 virtual surround sound and bass enhancement modes (instead of using the buttons on the exterior of the left earcup), check the left/right channels, manually adjust the equalizer, choose one of the 4 equalizer presets and choose one of the environment presets.

CONCLUSION

   Whenever we get a virtual surround gaming headset we don’t expect to encounter the perfect soundstage with excellent mids/highs and that’s really understandable since such solutions are not aimed towards the most demanding audiophiles but rather gamers of all calibers. Well the Shock 3D 7.1 is no exception to that rule but fortunately it does offer very good mids and highs with sufficient bass levels (it did however leave me wanting more) and surprisingly good audio positioning feedback. Tt eSPORTS claims that the Shock 3D 7.1 was not designed with the traditional front/center/rear configuration in mind and although I’m not one of their engineers I can only say that it works in surround compatible games (movies well not so much if at all). Build quality is also very good with one exception, the volume control knob which just feels out of place compared to the rest of the headset not only because of the plastic used for it but also because it rotates harder than it should (has more resistance). The microphone works quite well according to our recording tests and Skype calls while in terms of comfort the Shock 3D 7.1 is one of the best headsets we’ve tested in 2015.

   As I type these lines the Shock 3D 7.1 gaming headset by Tt eSPORTS retails for USD74.72 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 80.98Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price which is pretty much balanced for such a headset. We do feel that Tt eSPORTS should bring down the price a bit inside the EU to reflect the one in the USA but regardless the Shock 3D 7.1 is still worth the extra bucks so for people who can’t or don’t want to cross the USD100/100Euros line it’s a solid 7.1 virtual surround sound gaming headset and for that it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design
- Very Good Mids/Highs
- 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound (Good Positioning Audio)
- No Bulky USB Sound Card
- Fold Flat Design
- Comfortable
- Gold Plated USB Connector
- 4 EQ Presets
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Volume Control Knob Quality
- Bass Levels