TC Droidcast Episode 28: Android Wear Weary, Go For GRID Gaming

On this week’s Droidcast, Chris Velazco joins us from a bathroom, Kyle Russell contributes from New Hampshire, Greg Kumparak rises from his sick bed, and Darrell Etherington hosts from the permanent midnight of Canada. Up for discussion are two new Android Wear devices, the LG G Watch R and the Asus ZenWatch, as well as Nvidia’s Grid streamed gaming service, and fashion watchmakers getting antsy about copycat Android Wear watch faces.

We didn’t get a chance to talk about HTC putting Lollipop on the One M8 or M7 – because that’s been delayed on HTC’s end, do fingers crossed for next week.

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Download it directly here: http://traffic.libsyn.com/droidcast/droidcast-28.mp3

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Week in Gaming: GTA V hits the next-gen, PS4's Vue and Nvidia Grid is locked on

Steam - coming to the boil?

Week in gaming is not normally one for talking about Christmas in November, but just like Ebeneezer Scrooge at some point you just have to give in and embrace the mistletoe*.

Because the last seven days have provided us not only with the ghost of Christmas past - in the shape of the next-gen consoles' first years - but also the ghost of Christmas present in the form of the launch of Grand Theft Auto 5 for PS4 and Xbox One and even a little spectre of the future with the talk about streaming services and more information about the arrival of Steam Machines.

Not even a particularly misanthropic curmudgeon could deny the lovely people at Sony an extended moment's glory as we continue to celebrate the first birthday for the PS4, a console that has flourished since its arrival.

Given that the campaign for Xbox One spent the first six months of focusing its laser sights very accurately at its own big toe, it's fair to say that the competition is now finally hotting up, and we're very much looking forward to the console war escalating to the levels where the next-gen consoles start to feel a bit more thrilling.

This weekend, the Xbox One turns, erm, one so keep an eye out for a whole host of great features on Microsoft's comeback kid.

A big part of the second year push for Sony is the PlayStation Vue service so we wondered if the TV service could be yet another major factor in deciding whether to go with Microsoft or the Japanese gaming leviathan.

PlayStation Vue

The arrival of the much-heralded GTA V for this particular generation is definitely a step in the right direction. We celebrated the launch of the new version by asking for a few words from gaming gods Matt Hill and Dan Dawkins and, typically, they refused to boil things down at all and gave us the kind of scintillating and well thought out insight that makes WiG wonder if it's one word review of the game ("Woo!") seem somewhat skimpy.

"If you'd shown me a world that looks like this back when I first got into games, in the 'glory' days of the ZX Spectrum, I'd have considered it indistinguishable from magic," said Dawkins - simultaneously filling us with glee and that horrible realisation that the Spectrum is now so old that most people won't even understand the joke we were going to make about rubber keys and cassettes.

So instead we'll talk about the future and the Steam Machines that, whisper it, could potentially re-ignite not only a new gaming war, but also make PC gaming hip, cool, rad, awesome and potentially even spiffing all over again.

The sad news is that the TechRadarians flocking to CES in droves will sadly not be seeing Valve's take on its own PC-project, but the good news is, that as we revealed this week, the droves of TechRadisters flocking to GDC 2015 will see it instead. We could not be more excited.

At this juncture we'll move from Steam to stream - and talk about the Nvidia Grid Gaming service, which despite some fairly hefty flaws right now (not least the fact it needs a special modem and an internet connection more robust than superman) is definitely a fascinating glimpse into the future.

"Imagine if Grid came to every desktop or laptop running an Nvidia graphics card. It'd be more robust than OnLive and backed by a company deeply entrenched in the industry," posited our very own Nick Pino. "I'm not saying Nvidia's infallible, but there's real potential to grow in this space. The developers haven't ruled that out. The Shield products, they say, are a testbed for the platform."

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Week in Gaming: GTA 5 changes its perspective, Majora's Mask finally gets its remake, and Hearthstone tempts us back

I hate you, Rockstar. I love you a lot. But I also really, really hate you.

Despite all my efforts, you've persuaded me to re-buy a game I purchased only months ago. I was already intrigued by the idea of GTA 5 on new-gen, but this week was the absolute clincher.

GTA 5 on PS4 and Xbox One looks gorgeous. Stunning. Majestic. Look at the grass. Just LOOK AT IT!

Sure, it's the same game at heart. But the prospect of experiencing Los Santos in first-person perspective is alone a reason for me to throw my hard-earned cash at this. Yeah I feel like a sucker, but did I mention the grass?

Put side by side with last year's version, you can see just how big the graphical leap has been. Watch this and tell me that the PS3 doesn't suddenly look really old and rubbish.

CVG spent a couple of hours with the game, and released a special GTA V o'clock filled with initial impressions on Grand Theft Auto's first next-gen outing. Worth a watch.

I also hate you too, Blizzard. Just when I thought I'd kicked the Hearthstone addition, you've pulled me back in with the promise of a delicious expansion pack. Goblins vs Gnomes is the first proper expansion set for Hearthstone (Curse of Naxxramas didn't really count) and features 120 new cards.

You'll be able to win the card packs in Arena mode or purchase them with in-game gold/real money. In addition to the new cards, Goblins vs Gnomes will introduce a spectator mode that'll let you watch your friends' games (so long as they've enabled the option).

Finally, Blizzard announced that Hearthstone will come to Android tablets in December, while Android phones and iPhones will have to wait until early next year.

But there was bigger news at BlizzCon this week: for the first time in years and years, Blizzard is launching a brand new franchise. It's called Overwatch, it's a team-based shooter a la TF2, and it's entering beta next year.

With some subtle hints of Blizzard's cancelled MMO Titan, Overwatch looks hella fun. The game's cinematic trailer alone is superb, and that's before you get onto any of the gameplay footage.

"The action of Overwatch takes place in a technologically advanced, highly stylized future earth," describes the game's press release. "In a time of global crisis, an international task force of soldiers, scientists, adventurers, and oddities known as Overwatch had come together to restore peace to a war-torn world. After many years, the group's influence waned, and it was eventually disbanded. Overwatch might be gone now . . . but the world still needs heroes."

'Oh great, another Zelda game' some of you might have groaned at the announcement this week that The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is finally getting re-released on 3DS. But this is not just another Zelda game, friends. Majora's Mask was different.

It stepped away from the formula and conjured up a game that was brave, sad, dark and downright beautiful. 15 years later and it's still my favourite game of the franchise (sorry Wind Waker, you only lose by a smidge) - I still think the three-day time structure was a stroke of genius.

Of course, if you are a Zelda fan then you've been clamouring for this remake for as long as I have; I don't need to tell you why this game is so important. As for the rest of you reading this, do yourself a favour and pick it up when it arrives in spring 2015.

Oh, and if you thought the moon was creepy enough as it was in the N64 version...

Far Cry 4 is almost here, and we've been having a lot of fun with it. So we wrote some stuff about it:

After making a name for itself with the insanely popular Moshi Monsters, British developer Mind Candy is taking a proper swing at mobile gaming with World of Warriors, which launched this week on iPhone and iPad.

The freemium title combines battling and strategy in the hope of winning over hardcore gamers and children alike. But unlike Moshi Monsters, World of Warriors is exclusively a mobile game, so it'll be interesting to see if it can find success in a market that's already got its grip on young gamers with popular names like Candy Crush and Clash of Clans.

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Week in Gaming: We gear up for Assassin's Creed Unity and Uncharted 4, Hotline Miami 2 puts us on hold

'I'm leaning... this is where I lean'

We're going to mention this once and one only: Alien Isolation is now out, and if you haven't already got it then you need to ask yourself "what the hell is wrong with me?", read this, then go get. Then come back, thank us, and read the rest of Week in Gaming. Kapish? Good.

Sorry to kick off with a bit of a downer, but we thought you should know that Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number has been delayed to late 2014/early 2015.

Developer Dennaton Games announced this week over Twitter that the game is still getting "some final tweaks and polish". Which probably translates as: more blood.

We loved the first Hotline Miami, which combined fast-paced, addictive gameplay, neon-baked ultraviolence, and a thumping electronic soundtrack. It feels like we've been waiting for Hotline Miami 2 for ages, but we suppose a few extra months can't hurt.

Especially as we're promised that the second game will include a level editor, which will let us build and share our own tiny labyrinths of depravity.

Uncharted 4 was confirmed for a 2015 release back at E3, but we've seen and heard very little about the project ever since. However, Naughty Dog has revealed that we could be in for a proper reveal very soon.

"It's coming along nicely," the studio's co-president Evan Wells recently told GameCrate. "We've been hard at work since E3 and all I can say is that we'll be having some stuff to show you very soon."

The game stars an older, Dark-Knight-Returns-esque Nathan Drake, who's been . But of course, just when he thought he was out, they pull him back in. Some blurry photos of some soon-to-be-released concept art surfaced earlier in the month. The book, which looks set to celebrate the studio's 30th birthday, opens with an introduction:

"We haven't revealed a great deal about the game just yet, but in the following pages we are sharing some never-before-released pieces of concept art from Drake's upcoming adventure.

"We're not going to spoil it for you, but rest assured: he and his companions will be traveling the globe again discovering secrets lost to history-and you might even discover some secrets about Drake himself."

We recently got to enjoy several very intimate hours with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Unity, which is set to be the first proper next-addition to the series.

In case you hadn't already heard, it's set in French Revolution-era Paris, which feels incredibly befitting for the franchise. In fact, we couldn't help but wonder why it's taken taken so long for the series to get here.

Unity is the biggest and more gory entry in the franchise yet, but one that also goes back to many of the fundamental basics of the series. Ubi also told us that keeping the game down the 30fps was largely to remain a "cinematic" feel, adding that hitting 60 would have been a lot of hard work for little gain.

You can read our in-depth look at Unity here.

Oh, and finally, remember IllumiRoom, Microsoft's massive augmented reality gaming experience? Well it's back and under the new name of RoomAlive.

Unfortunately it's still a proof-of-concept idea, so it won't be coming to a living room near you any time soon. But maybe if you project the video below onto a wall, you can sort of pretend it's a thing.

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Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. M Wireless Mobile Gaming Headset

Pros Powerful bass. Lots of connection options. Comfortable. Long battery life.

Cons Expensive. Highly sculpted sound profile isn't as good for music as it is for games. Multi-purpose button is easy to accidentally tap. Bottom Line The Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. M Wireless headset lets you listen to your games and media almost any way you want—if you can get past the price tag.

By Will Greenwald The Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. M Wireless tries to do everything, and it generally succeeds. This $199.99 headset is part of Mad Catz' GameSmart line of mobile device-focused gaming accessories, but it's more than just headset for smartphones and tablets. Besides Bluetooth with aptX support, it can function as a wired device through a 3.5mm or USB cable, offering ways to connect to any device you might have. It's packed full of features and flexibility, but its sound quality doesn't quite hit the levels you can get from similarly priced dedicated Bluetooth headphones like the Editors' Choice Supertooth Freedom or non-Bluetooth wireless gaming headsets like the Skullcandy PLYR 1.

Design
Like most of Mad Catz' gaming devices, the F.R.E.Q. M Wireless is colorful and stylized, with a glossy, candy shell-like plastic body available in red, black, or white. The headband and outsides of the earcups sport the headset's primary color, while the round earpads, the hinged joints between the headband and the earcups, and the small padded cushion on the underside of the headband are black or white. The F.R.E.Q. M Wireless is comfortable to wear without being bulky, even if the fit is a bit snug. The hinges on the earcups both pivot and bend inward, letting the headset fold up neatly for carrying in the included padded mesh pouch.

The outsides of the earcups are shiny and angular, with casings shaped vaguely like Mad Catz' R.A.T. gaming mice. They're differently and irregularly shaped compared with the circular earpads they hold, which along with the big hex bolts on the hinges give the headset a stylish cyberpunk look.

All connections and controls sit on the outside of the right earcup. A large button that takes up most of the earcup's area sports the Mad Catz logo and serves as the standard multi-use Play/Pause/Call control. The button's easy to tap accidentally, especially when folding up the headset and putting it in a bag. Two smaller sets of buttons flank the large one above and below, offering volume controls, track navigation, and microphone muting. Full-fledged Track Forward/Back and Volume Up/Down buttons are welcome and not often found on Bluetooth headphones, and it's nice to see a full selection of physical controls that don't require multiple, timed taps to get the job done. A 3.5mm port and micro USB port sit on the back edge of the right earcup, between the two rows of buttons.

Features and Connectivity
Mad Catz' free A.P.P. app for Android and iOS offers some useful controls and information about the connected headset. It can switch between Speech, Game, Music, or Movie equalizer settings or turn off the equalizer entirely, and can toggle the microphone on and off. It also has a very handy battery meter that shows how charged the headset is and how much time is left on it. Mad Catz estimates the F.R.E.Q. M Wireless can last approximately 24 hours playing music at medium volume, but that number will obviously go down as you crank the headphones up. With regular use at high volume and connection to multiple devices (the headset can maintain two connections at a time), I found the battery life to be closer to a still-impressive 12 hours.

The F.R.E.Q. M Wireless is primarily a Bluetooth headset, but it can work as a wired headset with or without power. It can connect to your mobile device with the included 3.5mm audio cable to work passively in what Mad Catz calls Flight Mode, or connect to your computer through a USB connection, serving as its own digital-to-analog converter (DAC).

Performance
While it's billed as a gaming headset, the F.R.E.Q. M Wireless also works as a pair of Bluetooth or wired headphones. It does an admirable job playing music, but it doesn't quite reach the clarity or response offered by dedicated, non-gaming Bluetooth headphones in the same price range. It handled our standard bass test track, The Knife's "Silent Shout," very well, though it did brush up against distortion at maximum (and borderline unsafe) volume levels. The bass response is powerful enough to rattle the ears, but I heard just a hint of crackle when the bass synth hits kicked in. Fortunately, it went away completely by reducing the volume a little bit.

The F.R.E.Q. M Wireless handles non-thumpy music fairly capably, as well. I listened to Ninja Sex Party's "Everybody Shut Up" and "Attitude City" through a Bluetooth connection on my computer, and the funky synth of both tracks sounded full without muddying Danny "Sexbang" Avidan's dulcet vocals. Miles Davis's much less synth-heavy "So What" didn't fare nearly as well, though, with the piano lacking enough definition and brightness. The texture of the recording itself lost its warmth or clarity, turning the scratchy analog sound into a steady hiss. This isn't a headset for audiophiles or fans of very subtle mixes at all. 

So music performance isn't quite on par with music-oriented Bluetooth headphones in the same price range, or high-end, non-Bluetooth gaming headsets like the Skullcandy PLYR 1 or its older, more expensive brother, the Astro Gaming A50. Instead, the audio profile is very clearly tweaked towards gamers, with notable sculpting in both low-end and high-end to make games and music sound more exciting. Even the equalizer presets, which are only available through the A.P.P. app, change the headset's sound in ways that will make audiophiles cringe, like pulling up the midrange and high-end and completely dropping out the bass for the Voice preset. For music, the Music equalizer setting offers the best general performance, but it's still sculpted heavily enough to give even my forgiving ears pause. It sounds very good, but not particularly accurate to any given track's mix.

Because the earcups are relatively small and don't completely cover the ear, the F.R.E.Q. M Wireless can bleed sound outwards if you play games or music too loud. It's not an issue for your listening experience, but it can be disruptive if you're using them in a relatively quiet place around other people.

I played Team Fortress 2 with the F.R.E.Q. M Wireless, and the small, collapsible headphones sounded full and powerful while I fought through the Asteroid beta map. Explosions were forceful and punchy, and the music and atmospheric dialogue was clear. The headphones are strictly stereo, and there aren't any audio processing effects to produce positional imaging, like many dedicated PC gaming headsets offer.

I paired the F.R.E.Q. M Wireless to my PlayStation Vita PCH-2000 without any problem and played both Persona 4 and Persona 2: Innocent Sin. The games' soundtracks came through loud and clear, though both funky, atmospheric games obviously emphasize dialogue and music more than explosions.

Conclusion
The Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. M Wireless is an audio Swiss army knife that's aimed at gamers, but capable in multiple roles. It sounds very good for a gaming headset, but for its price its sound profile isn't particularly balanced or friendly to audiophiles. If you spend most of your time on front of a PC or HDTV when gaming, a Skullcandy PLYR 1 might be more up your alley, or the best-in-class Astro Gaming A50 if you can afford the even higher price tag. If you mainly want a good set of headphones to listen to music wirelessly on the go, the Supertooth Freedom offers a more comfortable fit and superior sound. If you're the type of hardcore gamer that lands between those categories, and wants to be able to go wireless both on the go and at home across multiple devices, the F.R.E.Q. M Wireless is an ideal headset.

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Polk 4 Shot Xbox One Gaming Headset

Pros Comfortable. Elegant design. Strong, clear bass. Comes with Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter.

Cons Expensive. Sculpted, bass-heavy sound profile is light on the high-end. Microphone is finicky. Bottom Line The Polk 4 Shot Xbox One Gaming Headset looks and feels good and can double as a smartphone headset, but you can find a better deal by purchasing dedicated headphones and a separate adapter.

By Will Greenwald

The Microsoft Xbox One doesn't work with many headsets out of the box. In fact, without the Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter, it only works with the included monaural headset and its special connector that plugs into the Xbox One gamepad. Polk Audio offers its own Xbox One headset in the form of the 4 Shot, which includes the aforementioned adapter. It's a well-designed, comfortable headset that can easily work with any smartphone or tablet, but it suffers from a very bass-heavy sound profile, a funky microphone, and a rather high $159.95 price tag. With the $25 Xbox One headset adapter available separately, there are just too many solid alternatives from both the audio enthusiast and gaming ends of the spectrum in the same price range. The Marshall Monitor headphones and the Plantronics RIG headset, are just two examples.

Design
The headset is remarkably sleek for an over-ear pair not primarily focused on portable use. No clunky boom mics or gaudy colors are in sight. The outside of each cup is covered in glossy black plastic with a flat gray stripe and an embossed Polk logo. The arms are a matte black plastic, extending into a leatherette-covered steel headband. Polk offers two more, slightly flashier versions: white earcups with brass highlights and a black headband, and gray earcups with blue highlights and a white headband.

The leatherette of the headband and the leather-like insides of the earcups are padded and feel comfortable on the head, without being mushy or risking getting too hot from long periods of use. The earcups are mounted on arms that extend over their corners, letting them adjust easily by pivoting up and down to fit the shape of the user's head. The cups can also turn 90 degrees to sit flat for storage, though the arms don't fold and no carrying case is included.

The left earcup holds a hidden microphone that pops out of the bottom edge. Instead of a boom mic that extends near the mouth, it's a simple wedge of plastic that rests under the earcup and disappears when not in use. It's a functional and unobtrusive design element, like the rest of the decidedly elegant headset.  The bottom edge of the right earcup holds a 3.5mm port for either of the included two four-foot cables. The gaming cable is a simple audio cable with no button or microphone, intended for use with the bundled Xbox One Wireless Headset Adapter. The other cable has an in-line one-button remote and microphone for use with a mobile device.

Connecting the Headset
Plugging in the cable with the in-line remote and microphone disables the mic built into the headset itself. You can use the headset mic with a mobile device by using the non-remote-equipped cable, but this resulted in a much lower recording level than my Google Nexus 5's own on-board microphone. The headset mic seems to be designed specifically for game systems (and even more specifically the Xbox One), and isn't suited for phone calls. 

The headset comes with Microsoft's Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter, which you can purchase separately for $24.99. Like the wired headset that comes with the system, the adapter plugs into the bottom of the Xbox One gamepad, into a port that looks vaguely like a micro USB port. The adapter is a small plastic trapezoid with five buttons on the face for adjusting game/voice chat balance and overall volume, and for muting the microphone. A 3.5mm port sits on the underside, to which you can connect the 4 Shot (or any other 3.5mm-using headset).

Performance and Microphone
The headset mic is fairly functional, but suffers from an issue that Polk claims it's aware of and is working to fix with a software update: The mic is so close to the driver in the left earcup that it tends to pick up audio from whatever game you're playing, in addition to your voice. Polk says this is not an issue with the hardware. For now, be prepared to mix game volume way down and chat volume way up if you want your voice to come through your game.

As pure headphones, the 4 Shot has a very sculpted, bass-heavy sound that doesn't quite offer the level of performance and balance that similarly priced, non-gaming headphone pairs like the Marshall Monitor and Sennheiser HD 280 Pro (which lacks a microphone) can produce. It handles low end very well, just as a gaming headset should; it reproduced both the bass synth notes and the heavy kick drum hits in The Knife's "Silent Shout" with strong presence and no distortion at maximum (and unsafe) volume levels. For very thumpy, bass-heavy tracks, the 4 Shot indeed sounds excellent.

However, outside of songs built from the ground up to shake the listener, the 4 Shot is hit-or-miss depending on the track's mix and just how prominent the bass is. For example, The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" has a very clear and warm opening that here gets eclipsed by the song's usually forgettable bass line as soon as it kicks in. The plinky notes of the opening guitar usually cut through every other aspect of the song before the vocals, but the 4 Shot's emphasis on the bass blunts what should be a crisp edge to the guitar sound. Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla" fares a bit better, since the entire song revolves around its iconic bass riff, but both that and the kick drum drown out the rest of the percussion. It's clear the 4 Shot is built for video game audio and action-packed sound effects, and not a remotely flat response for accurate music listening. It by no means sounds bad, but the weak high-end makes it seem far less appealing as your go-to pair of headphones.

Conclusion
The Polk 4 Shot is a very well-designed gaming headset that sounds fantastic when you're playing games on the Xbox One. However, its microphone is finicky and its general audio quality outside of games doesn't justify its $160 price tag. Considering its included adapter is available separately for $25 and can work with any phone headset or headphone pair with a 3.5mm connector, the 4 Shot isn't a particularly compelling package. If you can spend slightly more, the Editors' Choice Marshall Monitor offers excellent all-around audio performance and, with its in-line microphone, can work easily with the Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter for a much more flexible listening experience. The Plantronics RIG is another solid candidate for use with the adapter, and its boom mic is much more functional than the 4 Shot's. And if you want a really inexpensive option, the Tritton Kama offers solid performance (though not nearly as good as the aforementioned headsets and headphones) for just $30.

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Polk 4 Shot Xbox One Gaming Headset

Pros Comfortable. Elegant design. Strong, clear bass. Comes with Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter.

Cons Expensive. Sculpted, bass-heavy sound profile is light on the high-end. Microphone is finicky. Bottom Line The Polk 4 Shot Xbox One Gaming Headset looks and feels good and can double as a smartphone headset, but you can find a better deal by purchasing dedicated headphones and a separate adapter.

By Will Greenwald

The Microsoft Xbox One doesn't work with many headsets out of the box. In fact, without the Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter, it only works with the included monaural headset and its special connector that plugs into the Xbox One gamepad. Polk Audio offers its own Xbox One headset in the form of the 4 Shot, which includes the aforementioned adapter. It's a well-designed, comfortable headset that can easily work with any smartphone or tablet, but it suffers from a very bass-heavy sound profile, a funky microphone, and a rather high $159.95 price tag. With the $25 Xbox One headset adapter available separately, there are just too many solid alternatives from both the audio enthusiast and gaming ends of the spectrum in the same price range. The Marshall Monitor headphones and the Plantronics RIG headset, are just two examples.

Design
The headset is remarkably sleek for an over-ear pair not primarily focused on portable use. No clunky boom mics or gaudy colors are in sight. The outside of each cup is covered in glossy black plastic with a flat gray stripe and an embossed Polk logo. The arms are a matte black plastic, extending into a leatherette-covered steel headband. Polk offers two more, slightly flashier versions: white earcups with brass highlights and a black headband, and gray earcups with blue highlights and a white headband.

The leatherette of the headband and the leather-like insides of the earcups are padded and feel comfortable on the head, without being mushy or risking getting too hot from long periods of use. The earcups are mounted on arms that extend over their corners, letting them adjust easily by pivoting up and down to fit the shape of the user's head. The cups can also turn 90 degrees to sit flat for storage, though the arms don't fold and no carrying case is included.

The left earcup holds a hidden microphone that pops out of the bottom edge. Instead of a boom mic that extends near the mouth, it's a simple wedge of plastic that rests under the earcup and disappears when not in use. It's a functional and unobtrusive design element, like the rest of the decidedly elegant headset.  The bottom edge of the right earcup holds a 3.5mm port for either of the included two four-foot cables. The gaming cable is a simple audio cable with no button or microphone, intended for use with the bundled Xbox One Wireless Headset Adapter. The other cable has an in-line one-button remote and microphone for use with a mobile device.

Connecting the Headset
Plugging in the cable with the in-line remote and microphone disables the mic built into the headset itself. You can use the headset mic with a mobile device by using the non-remote-equipped cable, but this resulted in a much lower recording level than my Google Nexus 5's own on-board microphone. The headset mic seems to be designed specifically for game systems (and even more specifically the Xbox One), and isn't suited for phone calls. 

The headset comes with Microsoft's Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter, which you can purchase separately for $24.99. Like the wired headset that comes with the system, the adapter plugs into the bottom of the Xbox One gamepad, into a port that looks vaguely like a micro USB port. The adapter is a small plastic trapezoid with five buttons on the face for adjusting game/voice chat balance and overall volume, and for muting the microphone. A 3.5mm port sits on the underside, to which you can connect the 4 Shot (or any other 3.5mm-using headset).

Performance and Microphone
The headset mic is fairly functional, but suffers from an issue that Polk claims it's aware of and is working to fix with a software update: The mic is so close to the driver in the left earcup that it tends to pick up audio from whatever game you're playing, in addition to your voice. Polk says this is not an issue with the hardware. For now, be prepared to mix game volume way down and chat volume way up if you want your voice to come through your game.

As pure headphones, the 4 Shot has a very sculpted, bass-heavy sound that doesn't quite offer the level of performance and balance that similarly priced, non-gaming headphone pairs like the Marshall Monitor and Sennheiser HD 280 Pro (which lacks a microphone) can produce. It handles low end very well, just as a gaming headset should; it reproduced both the bass synth notes and the heavy kick drum hits in The Knife's "Silent Shout" with strong presence and no distortion at maximum (and unsafe) volume levels. For very thumpy, bass-heavy tracks, the 4 Shot indeed sounds excellent.

However, outside of songs built from the ground up to shake the listener, the 4 Shot is hit-or-miss depending on the track's mix and just how prominent the bass is. For example, The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" has a very clear and warm opening that here gets eclipsed by the song's usually forgettable bass line as soon as it kicks in. The plinky notes of the opening guitar usually cut through every other aspect of the song before the vocals, but the 4 Shot's emphasis on the bass blunts what should be a crisp edge to the guitar sound. Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla" fares a bit better, since the entire song revolves around its iconic bass riff, but both that and the kick drum drown out the rest of the percussion. It's clear the 4 Shot is built for video game audio and action-packed sound effects, and not a remotely flat response for accurate music listening. It by no means sounds bad, but the weak high-end makes it seem far less appealing as your go-to pair of headphones.

Conclusion
The Polk 4 Shot is a very well-designed gaming headset that sounds fantastic when you're playing games on the Xbox One. However, its microphone is finicky and its general audio quality outside of games doesn't justify its $160 price tag. Considering its included adapter is available separately for $25 and can work with any phone headset or headphone pair with a 3.5mm connector, the 4 Shot isn't a particularly compelling package. If you can spend slightly more, the Editors' Choice Marshall Monitor offers excellent all-around audio performance and, with its in-line microphone, can work easily with the Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter for a much more flexible listening experience. The Plantronics RIG is another solid candidate for use with the adapter, and its boom mic is much more functional than the 4 Shot's. And if you want a really inexpensive option, the Tritton Kama offers solid performance (though not nearly as good as the aforementioned headsets and headphones) for just $30.

View the original article here