So you love the full immersion of a good surround sound setup and you want to take it on the road for the next LAN party or business trip.  Or maybe you bought a nice laptop but never had the option to upgrade the included sound card from the stock 2 channel they stuck you with. Well, Turtle Beach has the surround sound headphone solution you have been searching for; the Ear Force AK-R8 USB Surround sound headphones.  Based on their award winning HPA2 headphones,  the AK-R8s may finally be the cure to your USB 5.1 blues.

     The Turtle Beach packaging shows off the product nicely and still manages to provide nearly everything you could ever need to know about the product.

     The back of the packaging provides a nice combination of marketing speak and details about the included Audio Advantage SRM.  The same headphone technology with out the USB can be purchased as the Ear Force HPA2.

     Included in the AK-R8 packaging are the Quick Start guide, Software and Drivers disk, USB cable, Optical S/PDIF Adapter, Detachable boom Mic, and the Audio Advantage SRM USB Sound Card.  The SRM sells separately for $79.95 and is the primary reason to consider this package over a lower price Turtle Beach offering.

Features:

Specifications: 

     The AK-R8 headphones are finished in a metallic finish that looks remarkably like a aluminum or nickel finish right out of the box.  Each ear piece is padded by about .75 inches of soft padding and supported by a self adjusting head band.

     The earpiece is nearly 4 inches round and open in the back.  Combined with the larger foam padding these oversize cups sit comfortably over your ears but still breath well through the back.

     Thanks to the tension on the head band, these headphones are some of the most comfortable surround sound units I have ever worn.

     The surround sound is carried to your ears through a total of 8 separate speakers: Two 40 mm Front drivers, two 40 mm Surround Channel speakers, two 30 mm Center Channel speakers and Two Vibrating Bass drivers.

     This 9-Pin plug Plugs directly into the SRM module and combines with the included USB cable to provide a total range of about 8 feet.

The Audio Advantage SRM:

     The Audio Advantage SRM module can be used with any USB setup as a stand alone 5.1/7.1 USB Sound card.   The top of the unit features a traditional headphone jack for stereo headphones or to drive channels 7/8 when used in 7.1 mode.  The 9-Pin 5.1 output is amplified for the headphones or for analog speakers using a breakout cable (sold separately).  The Stereo Mic In can be used for both mono and stereo microphones and automatically defeats the internal microphones.

     The Left side of the SRM includes an IR Remote Control sensor for the optional Turtle Beach Remote and one of the two internal microphones.  These two microphones operate internally and can be used to control how much ambient room noise the system allows into the earpiece.  This is handy for playing games or movies at a nice, rich volume and still hearing when your wife yells at you from another room.

     The Right side features the second internal microphone and the SRM volume control.  Pressing the volume roller will mute the system and eliminates the need to open your software during use.  Unlike several systems we have tested the volume control is easy to find and use without even having to take your eyes off the action.

     The bottom of the SRM unit includes the USB cable input and a set of input/output ports that can be used as analog or optical S/PDIF ports using the included adapter.  These two ports allow you to use the SRM for recording and playback just like a traditional sound card.  The raised surface on the top of the SRM here contains a green status light for easy reference during use.

     To use the SRM as a stand alone 5.1 or to get true 7.1 from the sound card, you may want to check out the other accessories from Turtle Beach.

AK-R8 Accessories page.