LTB Magnum 5.1 AC97 Headphones

Testing:

Testing for the LTB Magnum 5.1 AC97 Headphones will consist of four different types of applications: Music, VOIP, Gaming and a DVD Movie. I will be comparing them to the LTB Magnum 5.1 USB Headphones.

Testing Setup:

• AMD 64 5400+ AM2 CPU
• Abit AN-M2HD (nVidia Onboard Graphics)
• 1GB Mushkin HP5300
• Apevia 500W PSU
• Maxtor Diamond Max 9 100 GB SATA Hard Drive
• Apevia X-Qpak2 Case
• Windows XP Pro SP2
• DirectX 9.0c
• BenQ FP222WH Monitor

Benchmarks and Apps:

• iTunes (Music)
• Team Speak (Voice Application)
• Call of Duty 2 (Gaming)
• Godzilla Final Wars (DVD Movie)
• Comfort

iTunes:

I listen to many types of music, so being able to take a set of headphones out of the box and hook them up without having to worry about installing software is a plus. Since the AC97 headphones are not USB as their predecessors, this was a plus. While listening to the music I noticed highs that were a little more dominant with the AC97s than the USBs. I did use the same exact settings for both, but while listening to one of the songs (GIGI D'Agostino - I'll Fly with You) I was able to hear birds in the background, something that I have never before heard with any headset I have owned. I ended up pulling out a couple of other pairs to see if I could duplicate the effect and it was a no go, the sounds were too faint.

After every section I will place a graph just to put a numerical idea of how I felt with the quality ranked in each test. The scale will be from one to ten. Ten being the absolute best I have ever heard and one being the worst.