Some clarification on the Fatal1ty Professional Series Headset from Creative

CreativeRS

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Hey there everyone!

Just wanted to throw in some "facts" in regards to the Creative Fatal1ty Professional Series Gaming Headset "review" that was linked to (and locked) last week here in the forums.

I'm the Product Manager for this product, so you can consider this coming from the horses mouth so to speak.

For starters. The headset isn't in final hardware yet. I have really no idea where this reviewer received their sample. It certainly wasn't through any official capacity from Creative, our team is contacting them to find out exactly where they got it...and to ask for a retraction or at least a clarification that they were NOT reviewing final hardware. Through the pictures they had it looked to me like they were using an early engineering sample (there are markings that are not present in the pictures that are on the later versions).

Secondly, I also have no idea where this "reviewer" got their facts on the product from, but they are grossly off on the pricepoint. The current scheduled retail for the headset is US $129.99...nowhere near the price they are quoting in their review. Yes, this still places it in the high-end spectrum of headsets. The hardware that is included in actual headset is impressive to say the least. The boom microphone for example is the same technology used in F-18 fighter pilot helmets. So you're paying for some serious hardware with your hard earned cash...not just a cheap headset with a professional gamers name slapped on it. That's completely against what the whole Fatal1ty initiative at Creative is about.

Whether you love or hate Johnathan, his experience as a gamer in both a professional and non-professional capacity has merit and this has all gone into the development of the products. Some people will love it, and others not so much. And we all know in forums it tends to be the "not so much" crowd that are the vocal ones ; ) . Being a gamer myself, and using the headset, I can honestly say that these things are solid. But what works for me might not work for everyone...that's the beauty of it. These are another option for you to choose from. I just want to make it clear to everyone that the Fatal1ty lineup of products is a lot more than just a branding exercise. It's about offering something different on the market...another option for gamers and tech-enthusiasts to have to trick out their rig.

I'll update here when the product is actually shipping and we have a reputable review site that actually does some fact checking (or multiple of these sites) with hardware en route to them so you can check out their reviews. That way at least we have someone basing their review on final product.

Hope this clarifies for everyone here. I appreciate the comments (both good AND critical) and hope you folks will give this another look when the product is actually shipping. We've got a lot up our sleeve moving forward (with Fatal1ty and Non-Fatal1ty products) and hope to convert some of the nay-sayers in the process!

Oh and I'm a huge HardOCP fan...I just lurk around here...so be gentle OK?

Best Regards,

Ryan Schlieper
PM for Input Devices / Headsets
Creative
 
Would you care to post some pictures of the product you are using? ;)
 
Then you would be the person to ask I guess.
Can you comment on whether this headphone uses the sennheiser HD580 driver.
That really would interest me.
 
It's not that I don't like the guy, I just don't see the point in putting his name on products. Gaming isn't like sports where people idolize players. If anything I'd never buy a "fatal1ty" product just because I find it to be a tacky commercial ploy. If you guys really want to impress us come out with gear that's worth the money like the xfi elite pro, not the fatal1ty edition with useless xram. I'm curious who handles the audio side of the headset, Is it creative that manufactures them or another company?
 
I will say this right now before this thread turns into an anti-Fatal1ty rant. (so consider this the first and only warning) Let's keep this about the audio. The Creative rep was kind enough to come here and give his input so lets keep the discussion civilized.. unlike the last few threads I had to close. Thanks in advance. (fyi, this isn't to anyone in particular)
 
Thanks for the responses folks:

Mister X: When I have final product I'll most certainly pop some pictures up for you. To clarify, the pictures in the "review' were indeed the general shape and design of the headset..there are just additional branding touches and markings that make this clearly an early pre-production sample that was used.

TowerT7: The headset is not using the Sennheiser drivers you mentioned. Although we have used this in our testbeds for acoustic reference and graphing and modeling (along with some other high-performance headsets).

StaticSurge: Like I noted in my first post...for some the branding scheme won't work. But I do have to disagree with you on you breaking the gaming genre vs. sports. If you go to CES or E3 or any event where we have a Fatal1ty shootout going on. There are people of all ages clamoring to just see Johnathan in action...or get a shot against him in a shootout. He does have a large fanbase that really do see him as an icon. This obviously isn't your cup of tea, but believe me when I say it...he has a large fanbase. The product however isn't based around marketing his name solely. It's about an "expectation" for people that know his reputation as a winner on the gaming scene. If he's using this stuff in competitions (as he is and has been) and putting that tournament money on the line. You pretty much know that even if it's not ideal for your gaming or use style..it performs at a professional level of quality.

In regards to the audio design. The microphone has been developed by a third party who has several patents on the noise cancellation side of things. We sourced this. The headphones themselves are acoustically modeled and designed by Creative.

Hope this info helps you all!

Regards,

Ryan
 
CreativeRS said:
Thanks for the responses folks:

TowerT7: The headset is not using the Sennheiser drivers you mentioned. Although we have used this in our testbeds for acoustic reference and graphing and modeling (along with some other high-performance headsets).
Ok, thanks for the info.

Cheers,
~Drew
 
Its nice to see a company care about its product instead of releasing something and hoping it will sell because of its name.

I know gaming headsets in general have been taking a backseat to the likes of audiophile headphones for its good performance in both gaming and general music listening. I hope that you can turn this trend around and at the 129.99 price point you are competing against the hd555, ath-a500, ath-a700 headphones which have been the current favorites among gamers

Im not too sure on why such a high quality microphone while it is important for game communication I would think that the overall gamer would prefer to pay more for better audio quality, but if you can pull both off the more power to you.

Again thanks for the update
 
osirus35:

Without a doubt we're in the range of some tremendous products from other companies.

The trick is being able to include a mic AND the drivers in the ears to deliver sound + communication.

That's normally where you get hung up at.

We have some others in the lineup that are lower in price point as well that we feel will offer some great performance at a great price point for those not willing to shell out the $100+ cash for the "competitive" level stuff.

I'll drop some more info here on the forums once we're ready to talk about it.

I'm actually glad I finally got around to registering here...longtime fan...just had not ever regged and lurked in the shadows here.

Thanks for the kind words. We'll do our best to live up to expectations.

Regards,

Ryan
 
Im not too sure on why such a high quality microphone while it is important for game communication I would think that the overall gamer would prefer to pay more for better audio quality, but if you can pull both off the more power to you.

I've been playing WoW for a while now, and my guilds have all used either Vent or Teamspeak. And you can ALWAYS tell who has the cheap-ass $2.99 stick mic and who has spent some money on a good mic. The guy who has the stick mic, you can hear EVERYTHING. The dog barking in the background, the neighbors fighting next door etc. The guy who got the good mic, all you hear is him/her.
 
osirus35 said:
I know gaming headsets in general have been taking a backseat to the likes of audiophile headphones for its good performance in both gaming and general music listening. I hope that you can turn this trend around and at the 129.99 price point.

I agree. I've seen people ask so many times, "what is the best gaming headset". Sadly they usually are just recommended to get a decent headphone, and buy a mic on the side. The gaming industry needs better gaming headsets. One's that weren't designed for the professional broadcast public (expensive) or the el'cheapo ones for 20$, right about that 130$ price point (100-150$). Serious Gamers are willing to spend up to 200$ if it's for a good product that will improve their gaming and double as a good headphone for music listening.... so the nich market is there.
 
Even better if we could get a great sounding headphone with a removeable microphone. I do a mix of gaming/music listening and it'd be nice to have a mic for vent/TS and be able to pull it off for single player action and music listening.
 
you guys could gain some market share if you develop a version for the xbox360/ps3, drop the fatal1ty name for those versions since hes not into consoles.
I will give creative labs credit for making a pretty decent headset.
 
you guys could gain some market share if you develop a version for the xbox360/ps3, drop the fatal1ty name for those versions since hes not into consoles.
I will give creative labs credit for making a pretty decent headset. It can't touch my a900ltd's but for the average consumer it's a pretty good deal from the cheapo headphones and it comes with a microphone.
 
jester1176 said:
I've been playing WoW for a while now, and my guilds have all used either Vent or Teamspeak. And you can ALWAYS tell who has the cheap-ass $2.99 stick mic and who has spent some money on a good mic. The guy who has the stick mic, you can hear EVERYTHING. The dog barking in the background, the neighbors fighting next door etc. The guy who got the good mic, all you hear is him/her.
Damn straight, I for one have to say I know you can tell who has a cheap mic and a Quality mic, However whats even more important is the mic placement, to close to the mouth and it gets distorted and you get alot of breath sounds, In my old SWG Guild we called these people "Thunder God"! To far way and you get the ambient sounds and someone thats hard to hear. It is very anoying when to much ambient sound or distortion comes thru your headphones or when you have to struggle to hear what someone is saying!
 
The #1 request I have of creative would be for some option to unify the MIC1 and MIC2 inputs in their drivers, since a lot of games do not recognise the MIC2 (I/O Drive) port without you manually switching the recording input over after the game has started.

As for mics and things I'd love to see a separate head mounted mic that could be used alone when using speakers. I'm not one to be using headphones if i can help it. :)

I'm not very big on the fata1ity branding myself, but ultimately a good product will sell itself regardless.
 
Hey, thanks for coming down to talk to us!

Just one question - is there a reason you choose to go with standard headphone jacks as opposed to the hybrid model that Sennheiser utilizes in the PC165? That is to say, offering both standard headphone and microphone jacks, as well as a little adapter that converts them to a USB device?

As a frequent Teamspeak and Ventrilo user, I found this to be the most flexible option. That way, I can have my game music and sounds coming out of my speakers but designate my voice comm software to use the USB device instead. Of course, if I go to a LAN party or other environment where speakers wouldn't be the best option, I can remove the USB dongle and plug them in like a regular headset. If you're going after the hardcore gaming market, perhaps it would be best to look into this.

Thanks!
 
squeezee said:
As for mics and things I'd love to see a separate head mounted mic that could be used alone when using speakers. I'm not one to be using headphones if i can help it. :)

Thats a horrible idea! Whoever's on the other side of vent or ts will hear everything echoing from your speakers.
 
Thanks for the comments everyone!

Couple quick comments back to folks with questions:

Squezee: I'll forward this to the devs downstairs in regards to the Mic 1 / Mic 2 comment. As far as the separate mic idea...I like this idea..hmmmmm...

Xaeos: Being a sound card maker we stand behind the fact that our Soundcards give you the best performance and sound quality experience. It's something we take seriously. Believe me when I say the developers are all gamers (myself included) here as well so we're not just saying this stuff to sell cards. A soundcard vs. a USB offering makes a HUGE difference any day. Although that may change at some point in the future.

Your point is noted though. The scenario you point out would be really convenient and USB is definitely a large portion of the gaming market. Thanks for the suggestion..I'll definitely add it to my list of stuff I'd like to see happen product wise.

Schapman: Detachable mic...hmmmmm....stay tuned....
 
I'll forward this to the devs downstairs in regards to the Mic 1 / Mic 2 comment

While you at it, can you ask them when the new X-Fi Elite Pro drivers (64bit too :p ) are coming out (the ones that fixes ASIO/Cubase)? :D I would normally not bug you, but it has been ten months since our last driver update. :(
 
I'd also like to see a new driver update, otherwise I'm very happy with the X-Fi Fatal1ty. I've also had good experiences with Creative technical support.
 
Pipo said:
Thats a horrible idea! Whoever's on the other side of vent or ts will hear everything echoing from your speakers.
Not specifically. All that this would entail is the use of a fairly directional mic and proper placement close to the mouth. A small pop filter and a high pass filter would remove popping, breathing noise and reduce the proximity effect (low frequency accentuation inherent in dynamic mics).

If there were speakers behind the user, that would be the issue.
 
CreativeRS said:
osirus35:

Without a doubt we're in the range of some tremendous products from other companies.

The trick is being able to include a mic AND the drivers in the ears to deliver sound + communication.

That's normally where you get hung up at.

We have some others in the lineup that are lower in price point as well that we feel will offer some great performance at a great price point for those not willing to shell out the $100+ cash for the "competitive" level stuff.

I'll drop some more info here on the forums once we're ready to talk about it.

I'm actually glad I finally got around to registering here...longtime fan...just had not ever regged and lurked in the shadows here.

Thanks for the kind words. We'll do our best to live up to expectations.

Regards,

Ryan


So true. Going for the extreme, I plumped for a Zalman clip-on mic to stick onto the Sennheiser Orpheus and although I think it was MisterX who gave me the reco and the mic worked OK, I thought "Well this is suitably ridiculous". These days I use an AKG K701 for all purpose gaming but mic placement is still a problem.


There's nothing really around which takes a beating, sounds good and has a proper mic built-in. I've painted myself into an audiophile corner over time, but I'm actually looking forward to this new generation of gamer phones which (presumably) sound decent, are designed for long-term wear and also come with a proper mic.
 
Moofasa~ (ooooh say it again!) - I just pinged our devs downstairs and they are gonna give me an ETA on the Asio / Cubase drivers and their release date. They ARE being worked on but part of a larger compatibility driver (that will work with Vista, etc) rollup. He'll hit our lead engineer on the driver team and get me an ETA for you. Hopefully I can get a timeline by this week for you. There ARE new drivers up for the X-FI for those using it that offer even better performance tweaks as well as some compatibility and bug fixes. I think ANYONE that owns an X-Fi will agree that we've made our drivers rock solid with the X-Fi and the engineers are very proud of this fact indeed.

Ronco - Totally hear you on this one. Right now there's a LARGE gap in the market for a great sounding AND TOUGH pair of headphones + a great mic. You either get one or the other. Most of the headphones are a DJ style headphone built to take a beating but give you great sound response (in particular bass..for spinning in clubs). As a former DJ myself...my goal is to make a hefty pair of headphones that can take some serious punishment and keep cranking along with great sound response across all registers and have a great mic on them. The release product of the Pro Series headphones will be the first step in that realm. Of course long term wear is SUPER important as well..as we all know how a "I'll play for an hour..." session turns into an 8 hour marathon..last thing you want is a headache caused by cheap cushions on the earpads pinching your earlobes for that period of time.
 
Please keep us posted in that case. I've owned a ludicrous number of phones in my time but recently scaled back to more sensible proportions, and headphones have taken on more of a functional use - i.e. I use them almost only for gaming and iPod use these days.

If you are providing early samples for purchase, please let me know as I can objectively evaluate them. I can't claim to be a demon gamer, but I can probalby provide a balanced games/music opinion.
 
I'm just impressed that a CL PM is actually postingin [H] forums, and answering questions at that...

You have managed to turn around a PR nightmare into a positive event, great job!

Now...if you would be so kind as to send me a free pair I would appreciate it as well. (J/K :D )
 
Moofasa~ (ooooh say it again!) - I just pinged our devs downstairs and they are gonna give me an ETA on the Asio / Cubase drivers and their release date. They ARE being worked on but part of a larger compatibility driver (that will work with Vista, etc) rollup. He'll hit our lead engineer on the driver team and get me an ETA for you. Hopefully I can get a timeline by this week for you. There ARE new drivers up for the X-FI for those using it that offer even better performance tweaks as well as some compatibility and bug fixes. I think ANYONE that owns an X-Fi will agree that we've made our drivers rock solid with the X-Fi and the engineers are very proud of this fact indeed.

Thanks, I appreciate it. :D

It's been tough because right now I have the choice between choosing the last official Elite Pro driver release (from 10 months ago with working ASIO, but partially broken bit-perfect playback and none of the new game fixes/improvements) and modifying the latest general X-Fi drivers from June to work on the Elite Pro or using the Beta driver that are nearly the same thing (they fix bit-perfect playback and add new fixes/improvements to games, but break ASIO). It's not that big of an issue right now because I can use the modified drivers and use Kernel Streaming output (instead of ASIO) with Foobar2000 as a "hot-fix".

I agree though that the drivers are overall very stable for the X-Fi (a big improvement over the Audigy 2 ZS), but there are a few quirks that still need to be ironed out (like the ASIO support that lags). Thanks again! :)
 
Is there an official release date for this product? I am interested, but not sure about them as I am more of an audiophile that happens to game.

My current gaming setup is bulky though so moving to a headset solution is interesting, but I don't want too much of an audio quality compromise.

Will there be an etreme version of this product, or just the one you mentioned at the $129 pricetag?
 
BBA: Thanks for the kind words...like I said..I'm a huge [H]'er and this thread lured me from my lurking hole in the shadows.

Moofasa: I think I'll have some info to share with you on your issue soon. I saw our lead engineer in the hallway and "reminded" him I was waiting for some info.

Treyshadow: We're shooting for an early October release on the products. The first acoustic design / driver did not satisfy our spec so we went back into testing. Close now though!

And there is no Exxtreme version of these. $129 will be our "high" pricepoint...more details to come soon.
 
Just make sure there's bass and midrange for footsteps. Need to hear the pitter-patter of targets. That and I like hearing things go BOOM.
 
I will wait for the review of the latest model. But for right now, I want to ask you a question since you helped design this. Can you say your product is durable? I ...about 2 hours ago ...dropped my headset (steelseries steelsound 5h usb v1) on the ground and the right earphones broke off :eek: so I'm trying to fix it right now :( But what I want to know is if your product is durable enough to take a hit or two and not break. I know this might seem off-topic but in my mind it is the difference between a buy and no buy. And what will be the warranty on the product if I may ask? Thank you for taking your time and making this thread. Creative has just reached a new level of customer server in my book that is better than it was. Again thanks for listening to the customers :)
 
CreativeRS said:
Secondly, I also have no idea where this "reviewer" got their facts on the product from, but they are grossly off on the pricepoint. The current scheduled retail for the headset is US $129.99...nowhere near the price they are quoting in their review.

Ryan Schlieper
PM for Input Devices / Headsets
Creative

Hello again Ryan. It's been roughly four months and wanted to follow up on this. Did a serach for the Creative Fatal1ty Pro headset, and only found it at digitalhome (link) (an australian site) on sale for 215$aud. According to them, the RRP is 249$AUD, or roughly 195$us. Has the retail price gone up from the 129.99$us?

I find it interesting that it's very hard to find a US site that has recent information on this product, but there's lots of sites in different countries.

As I said before, with the advent of these "team speak" technologies, more and more gamers are wanting a nice headset. It doesn't take a physicist to look at this sub forum and see all the people asking for good headset recommendations. There is a niche market here, and I'm very surprised it has taken this long.

Cheers,
~Drew
 
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