Tritton AX Pro 5.1 Gaming Headset

Surround sound gaming is one of those things that can easily make a good game even better, especially if done correctly. Thankfully, the current generation of developers seems to understand this, as we have seen a decent level of support for surround sound in many of the latest games. Being able to hear positional audio accurately can really make a difference not only in terms of game play, but especially in immersion factor. Hearing the grunting and groaning of a Boomer in Left 4 Dead around the corner has saved my butt more times than my horrible aim. Of course, audio fidelity and surround accuracy is only as good the equipment being used to play it. Today, we’re going to take a look at the Tritton AX Pro GA611 5.1 gaming headset to see how well its 8 speaker powered circumaural headphones handle some of today’s common games.

The AX Pro is a true surround headset with support for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, including voice support on all three platforms. The AX Pro includes a small breakout box that decodes Dolby Digital over TOSLink, and includes many configurable options for adjusting surround output, such as time delay and dynamic range compression. Unlike other surround headsets which can only feature 2 speakers per cup, 1 for the LFE, the AX Pro features 4 speakers per cup or 8 in total. In theory, this should give you more accuracy in terms of surround sound and directional audio.

The headphone wire features an inline volume control for both voice and audio. Users can even adjust each channel independently of each other, should you find one channel is too overbearing. The front of the volume box contains the individual channel buttons for volume adjustment, each one lit-up thanks to a backlight LED. On the side of the box there is the customary microphone and audio mute buttons, while the backside has a handy little volume guide for the volume LED’s. Tritton also included swappable leather ear cups and headband, allowing the user to cater the headset to their taste.


The headset also sports a small clip that hangs on to any loose articles of clothing, keeping the box from shifting during long game sessions. Finally, the bottom of the volume box contains a 2.5mm jack for connecting a cable between the headset and the Xbox 360 controller. The headphone wires end in a split that contains a plug for an AC adapter and a 9-pin male mini-din connector. The mini-din connector can either plug into the decoder box or into a small adapter cable that supports 6-channel direct connectivity. The use of an AC adapter on the headphone is somewhat perplexing, as it apparently only provides power to the LED’s on the inline volume control. As the Dolby Decoder box also requires the use of an AC Adapter, you are going to have to clear some room on your surge protector as these adapters easily take up two plugs on any common power strip.