Gainward Music2Go 7.1 & SoundXPlosion 5.1 headphones

Conclusion
It's hard to imagine that the Music2Go supports all that sound in a tiny little puck. Not bad at all. It has more features than some internal PCI sound cards and with a much nicer driver user interface. But in the state of surround sound we need more than DTS and Dolby to do the trick. I'm waiting for some direct neural stimulation on that front. What you do get is a device that is very stable, looks refreshing and doesn't sound bad at all, provided you stick to movies and games.

The SoundXPlosion 5.1 headphones may not be the end all for surround sound that I was hoping for, but it's not bad. In fact, the only drawback I can spot from surround sound headphones isn't the products fault: it's the ears. They may work great for your ears, so you should give them a listen if you can. They got rumbling bass (which you must enable in the driver) and a pretty clear sound. If you're into serious listening, then these babies won't do it for you. The slight coloration, while not as bad as most bundled headphones, won't satisfy your hunger for fidelity. You'll likely be scratching up the dough for Sennheiser's or some Grado's. You'll only get stereophonic sound, but most recordings (and mixes) are set for stereo and will sound excellent that way.

The Music2Go is a surprisingly good bit of gear, well featured and well done. The SoundXPlosion is intriguing, but limited to gaming and DVD watching, which it does well. Serious listeners will most likely want to have a second set of headphones for music.

Music2Go: Recommended.

SoundXPlosion: Above Average.

Linkage:

I would like to thank Hilbert for handling the logistics (and pumping out a dozen reviews by the time the rest of the Ed's can put out one). And a big thanks goes to Charlotte Su and David Jiang from Gainward USA. Gainward play AC/DC as their 'on-hold' music, which rocks.

http://www.gainwardusa.com/products/Music2Go.htm

http://www.gainwardusa.com/products/SoundXplosion_HS.htm

http://www.holtek.com.tw/docum/uc/48x0506_1.htm

http://www.cmedia.com.tw/product/CM106.htm

http://www.cmedia.com.tw/doc/Xear%203D.pdf

http://www.gradolabs.com/

http://www.sennheiser.com

http://www.contrabass.com/pages/frequency.html

http://audio.rightmark.org

http://www.cakemusic.com

http://www.head-fi.org

This review dedicated to the letter 'C'

Our moment of Zen:

BAM

+++