Hello everyone!
First off I’d like to say thanks to everyone who came out and visited us at the Sound Blaster booth at Blizzcon ‘09 this year. The enthusiasm we saw from all the fans we talked to was absolutely amazing. We knew we were making a next-gen headset that was designed specifically with World of Warcraft in mind…but the reception you all had to it was just awesome!
As promised. Here’s some details on the Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset.
Technical Details:
- The headset uses a 2nd generation uncompressed wireless 2.4 connection. Due to the fact that the signal is uncompressed you don’t lose sound fidelity when transmitting voice or receiving audio. This also means latency is VERY low (unnoticeable). This tech is also highly resistant to interference as it employs several techniques to avoid it altogether. It uses a very small area of the 2.4 band and also intelligently looks at the signal to adapt and switch channels if it detects interference. All of this with no interruption of signal.
- The headset is equipped with full-spectrum 40mm drivers capable of delivering full performance audio. Just because it’s wireless does not mean it’s going to lack a powerful punch.
- The headset connects via a simple plug and play USB adapter.
- The headset hardware is PC and Mac compatible.
- The headset DOES have a mic! We’ll have more pics up soon with the mic attached to the headset! The mic is removable (a signature feature of all of our Sound Blaster headsets). The mic is noise-canceling.
- The headset is rechargeable.
- The headset is USABLE while being recharged. This is done via a simple mini USB connection. This was seen as a critical feature as no one wants to have to doc their peripheral if it loses power in the middle of an Ulduar raid.
- The headset has volume and mute controls directly on the earcup.
Cosmetic Details
- We’re using a decorative system called the “Glyph” system (inspired from WoW itself) to allow gamers to customize the headset. The headset will ship with a set of Horde and Alliance symbols to show your allegiance. Other “Glyphs” are planned as well (we know…CLASSES and Murlocs! we’re listening!).
- The headset employs RGB LED’s to allow for 16 million colors of customization.
- The combination of the decorative Glyphs and colored lighting options will allow people to easily customize the headset to their own personal tastes. All of the color choices are selectable in an easy to understand color picker in the headset software.
(Side note: It was actually pretty crazy to see how offended all the Hordies got when they saw the Horde symbol illuminated in BLUE!)
- The headset has a metallic finish offset by a matte black band. Giving it a look that is both sturdy and elegant.
- The headset has extra large padded earcups. The design is intended to be worn for LONG periods of time (longer than respawns). This will be especially beneficial to those of you like me who wear glasses.
- The ear cups are sweat resistant and designed to breathe so you don’t end up with sweaty lobes.
Other Details
- The headset will be the first Creative Sound Blaster product to use our newly announced THX TruStudio PC technology. I’ll be making another post that breaks down this tech in detail soon. One of the killer features is the focus on virtual surround..and in particular the ability to create true 3D audio allowing you to hear above and below you as well as in 7.1 (or more actually) around you. There’s other benefits to our THX TruStudio PC tech…which we’ll reveal soon.
- The headset has other software features we’ll outline in much further detail in the near future!
Hopefully that whets the appetite of those not able to attend Blizzcon!
If you’re interested in absolute up to date info on the headset I suggest clicking on the press release linked to in the teaser flash and then clicking on the “sign up here” graphic. All you have to do is enter your name and email and you’ll get up to date info on availability of the headset.
Again…thanks to all the amazing comments and enthusiasm we’ve been receiving from the denizens of Azeroth.
And of course..as always..more to come!
Ryan S
(AKA DigitalRonyn)
37 Comments
When can I expect it to be out?
We’re shooting for a holidays launch this year. More details will be coming soon!
Holiday release is best news yet, any links on where we can see more pictures? maybe a 360 view and projected purchase price?
Just a shout out from your fans at Blizzcon! Me and most of my guild are extremely excited to hear about the new headset, it looked fantastic!
Thanks! The feedback we got from the crowd was truly awesome. I think people will be even more happy with the final result as well! My guild can’t wait either..and now I can actually talk about it in some detail.
i was wondering if you guys plan to make anymore WoW themed items, i saw your headphones at blizzcon and they seemed amazing.
We’re also developing a foot pedal as well that will be usable with world of Warcraft as well as other games as a bindable key. I KNOW as an affliction lock this is going to be very helpful while raid leading and keeping my rotations rolling…the pedal will be firmly bound to my push-to-talk key.
No comment
This is great Ryan, but still falls short for players with small heads or have upper spinal injuries that require minimal weight on their heads. My wife falls into both of those catagories. This generally means she’s stuck using those gawd awful BT sets intended for cell usage to run her vent or WoW voice.
I was not at BC, so I don’t know what the USB adapter is like. hopefully it’s sturdier and less cumbersome than Logitech’s G7 wireless mouse. Maglini’s working on her 3rd this year.
Still they look nice…but here’s hoping for smaller headsets with the bells & whistles.
Artok, great points to keep in mind. I’ll be sure to get the weight of the headset up ASAP. One thing people were especially surprised of was how light the headset is. Even though it’s built like a tank and is wireless…it is actually light. As far as Bluetooth goes we’re actually connecting via uncompressed 2.4, which is a lot more robust in sound and connection than Bluetooth for Audio. It has better uninterrupted connectivity and of course voice clarity because the audio data goes through no compression.
We’ll keep the other details in mind moving forward as well..so thank you for the feedback!
Idea for other glyphs, what about the racial emblems, Darnassus, Exodar, Silvermoon, etc?
Represent your favorite group within the alliance or horde
All of the above are things we’re looking at for additional Glyphs!
We’re thinking VERY much alike =)
This headset sounds awesome. I haven’t seen anything about a price set on this and you can expect me to buy this. I use Ventrilo alot and having a wireless set like this would be so much better.
I have single-sided deafness, will there be a way for me to override the surround sound? I need all sound to come into one earcup.
Thanks in advance,
Rain
Hey there Rain,
YES. The surround sound is completely configurable. You’ll be able to choose the level of surround and the panning in the GUI. So if you want it to run Mono you will be able to.
these look fantastic. as long as they keep that 3D glass bubble look I’ll pick up a pair.
However are you saying your going to release change able lenses so you can replace the horde or alliance sign with your class symbol?
I also hope the USB connector isn’t to big because I play on a laptop in public. cheers
Yes. The headset will come with a set of Horde AND Alliance symbols by default.
We’re planning on releasing other “Glyphs” as well. With classes being the priority currently.
Yes. The headset will ship with a set of Horde and Alliance symbols. Class / Faction / and other glyphs are in the works. Any suggestions?
Just class icons.
Or in light of the lich king patch coming, perhaps the skull on frostmourne
How much position adjustment does the mic have?
The area on the mic pic that is “black” is adjustable so you can get the mic positioned just how you want it. And remember it’s removable as well.
Can you change the colour of the glyph lighting on each side of the headphones seperatly?
Now that it’s been revealed at BlizzCon, how about some pictures of the actual headset? I’d really like to use good wireless headsets but want it to be over the head and not behind the neck, and have ear cups large enough to actually go around my ears and not sit on them. I currently use a SteelSeries 5Hv2 headset and like the comfort they provide.
We’ll have additional pics up soon. We’re working on final finishing elements for the headset. Once finalized we’ll reveal in all its glory.
The WoW Wireless Headset IS above the head.
Hey Ryan it’s Cameron from Blizzcon 09 hows it going.
Whatsup Cameron! How are those Arenas treating you?
Arenas = GODLY Absolutly amazing!
WTB More updates and information on pre-orders or more importantly betas!
We’ll be dishing out info for pre-orders and availability very soon! Hang in there. It’s coming.
How much? Haha! Seriously though. More info coming very soon!
Public beta for hardware? Yeah right.
Arena = GODLY Absolutly AMAZING!
ok, iam sure there will be pre-orders!
i have the xplaptop- the mouse- now ill need this headset!!!
sign me up as soon as there is a pre-order list!!!!!
thank you in advance!
gene
You are correct! More info on this soon.
I saw this before blizzcon went out, was excited about it.
Any word on when you are releasing more info? Holiday season is coming soon.
Also if you can, will you be able to change the lighting?
Also can you turn it off? Since its wireless how does the battery hold up?
In my most recent post (10/21) I noted we’ll have a lot more to talk about very soon.
The lighting is 100% customizable. 16 million colors and you can change how long it stays on…pulsation…and intensity as well. We’ll show the GUI soon so you can see how easy it is to change and customize. You can indeed turn off the lights altogether through various means (more on that later as well). The internal battery is rating out at about 8 hours per charge right now…and you can charge it in use via the USB charging cable so you’ll never run out of a charge in the middle of a raid.