| | |  | Gaming | Home » » » Creative Sound Blaster Tactic3D Alpha Gaming Headset | | | | | | | Description: | | Evolve your game with immersive 3D audio, thanks to THX TruStudio Pro Technology Experience the evolution of 3D gaming audio with the Sound Blaster Tactic3D Alpha gaming headset. Acoustically optimized 40mm drivers combine with THX® TruStudio Pro™ technology to transform everyday audio into a mind-blowing cinematic experience. Touchscreen software and Tactic Profiles allow you to save and share your favorite settings including THX TruStudio Pro Surround for immersive 360° headphone surround and VoiceFX™ voice morphing technology. The dual mode design allows you to connect via standard minijacks or use the Dual Mode™ adapter to connect to your PC or Mac’s USB port for the full THX TruStudio Pro experience.  | Connect the headset via 3.5mm minijacks to your Sound Blaster sound system, onboard audio or MP3 player. Alternatively, use the THX TruStudio Pro Dual Mode USB Adapter to connect to your PC or Mac via USB. |  | THX TruStudio Pro Surround™ audio immerses you in the game so you hear sounds clearly from the front, back, around, above and below. Only THX TruStudio Pro Surround delivers truly 3D audio surround effects to give you the gaming advantage you need. |  | Customizable TacticControl™ driver interface optimized with Live!Touch™ for touchscreen controls under Windows 7 operating system gives you full control over every nuance of the THX TruStudio Pro audio suite as well as custom graphic equalizer and VoiceFX controls. |  | Customize your own TacticProfile™ EQ and audio profiles, and then export and share them with other gamers. You can also use pre-configured audio settings from world-renowned gamers such as Fatal1ty, compLexity and Team Dignitas. |  | Morph your voice into different in-game characters with VoiceFX technology and restore surround audio to your Windows XP games in Windows 7 with Creative ALchemy. |  | Use the Sound Blaster Tactic3D Alpha headset with your favorite gaming communications software such as Ventrilo or TeamSpeak. |
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 9.84 inches | | Product Width:
| 4.39 inches | | Product Height:
| 13.19 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.77 pounds | | Package Length:
| 11.8 inches | | Package Width:
| 9.8 inches | | Package Height:
| 4.3 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.3 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 140 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 140 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 found the following review helpful:
 Best headset for the priceMar 27, 2011
By A. Yue
I've had my Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Alpha's for about two weeks now and couldn't be more pleased. I've use them everyday putting them through various field tests involving videogames, music, and movies. This headset has passed all my tests with flying colors. In games you can hear absolutely everything and can pinpoint your enemies' locations thanks to the stellar 3D surround sound. The same goes for movies. In fact, I was watching Aliens just the other day and found myself looking over my shoulder because I could have sworn the iconic hissing sound was coming from behind me. When listening to music, I was simply blown away. The bass is full. The treble is crisp. What more could you ask for?
I love the fact that these headphones come with a USB dongle. My laptop has a pretty crappy soundcard that produces noticeably lower quality sound. Thanks to the USB attachment, these headphone bypass my crappy soundcard and produce some simply awesome audio.
Another feature I love is that the microphone is detachable, rather than folding up like almost every other headset. This allows me to use my headphone in public without looking like a nutbag.
I should also probably mention how comfortable these cans are. Unlike most headsets, the Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Alphas are sturdy yet light and not cumbersome what so ever. The actual ear pieces have some freedom to rotate, meaning the plastic is less likely to snap under rotational pressure. They also swivel vertically, so you won't need to pull them apart to put them on your head (a motion that has been the death of several lower quality headsets I've owned).
All in all, I could not be more pleased with this headset. I've been a lifelong gamer and have seen my fair share of low-quality-high-price headsets. It's refreshing to see a product that is the exact opposite of the crappy headsets us gamers are used to; a headset that is high in quality, yet low in price.
25 of 30 found the following review helpful:
Great Sounding Headset From The Leader in Computer Sound CardsNov 05, 2010
By J. Garcia
So, my Wife doesn't like the war sounds from my 5.1 Surround Sound system while playing EA's Medal of Honor and not having any suitable headphones, I decided to buy the Creative Lab's Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Alpha USB Gaming Headset. I did a little research online and saw that the majority of folks liked the headset as a cheaper alternative to the Fata1ity series of gaming headsets and gaming headsets over $100. I was also happy to read that the 3D surround sound features weren't bad, that the software allowed for fine tuning of the sound, and that the mic was removable. The bad things that I read were related mostly to comfort but this came from people with large heads or ears that stuck out. I decided to purchase the headset from Amazon because of Amazon's great return policy if the headset didn't work out. As an Amazon Prime customer, my package came in two days and was waiting at my doorstep when I got home. First things first, the packaging isn't very Earth friendly and is composed mostly of clear plastic packaging with very little paper. However, the packaging is easy to open without destroying things and allowed for easy removal of the headset. Inside the package there is an analog to USB adapter with the THX logo on it and two documents, one describing the dangers of driving with the headset on and a how-to instruction sheet. There is no CD , which is a definite plus in the Green column for Creative. The software is retrieved online at the Creative site for the Tactic 3D headset and quickly installed onto my rig.
After restarting the computer, the Creative software updater alerted me to a number of updates available. This was rather confusing since I figured I had downloaded the latest version of the required software. I clicked on the install button and was told that it would take nearly an hour to download, which immediately caused me to curse the name of Creative. This is the one biggest complaint that I have with Creative and why I took away a star from the rating. I figured while I waited I would go ahead and try the headset out and plugged in the analog plugs, which are color coded, into the USB adapter and plugged it into a USB connector. My Windows Vista machine immediately registered the headset as new hardware and began to install the drivers. I placed the headset onto my 7 3/4 sized head and waited to feel any discomfort. I noticed that the headset was not as tight as some had described but was actually comfortable. The padding on the headband did seem thin but was velvety soft sitting on the top of my head. The ear cups also felt roomy and my somewhat normal ears didn't touch anything inside the cups. The mic has an analog plug and easily went into the port in the headset. The flexible boom sits at the 10 o'clock of my mouth and actually wouldn't interfere with drinking from a glass or bottle. The cord has an aligator clamp to pin the cord to my shirt but strangely is not removable. There is a volume control on the cord which hangs near my abdomen and also has a mic mute switch. The cord is approximately 6 feet long and is flat rather than round and is very light in weight.
While the software continued to update, I placed a Family Guy DVD into my rig and waited to see what the sound quality would be like. At first, I heard nothing and plugged my headset into another USB port and still heard nothing. I opened up my sound card's volume controls and saw that nothing was amiss. I clicked on the speaker icon in my systray and saw that the headset was registered there. I went to my Start menu and found the Tactic 3D software program and opened it and voila, sound. At first the volume was low and I was able to turn it up using the inline volume control. With the volume up I could hear in stereo and felt at ease that the headset worked. I began to flip through the application for the headset and played with the voice changer for the mic. This turned into much merriment as I spoke in different voices and soon began LMAO. The software updater was still updating after 30 minutes and was nowhere near finished. I decided to cancel the download and loaded up MOH.
Medal of Honor, which is a First Person Shooter, has a lot of gun play and voice acting in the game and the Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Alpha delivers as promised. The sound quality was very good with sharp highs and bombastic lows while voices were easily understood. The 3D effect was there to some degree and allowed for immersion into the game. I plan on trying out the mic feature with a game like Team Fortress but feel satisfied with what I think it will deliver after having played with it in test mode. Overall, I feel very satisfied with this purchase and addition to my gaming rig. One thing I forgot to mention was that I have a Creative XiFi sound card in my PC and have always respected Creative's equipment and thus the number one reason why I bought this headset. Their software updater, however, leaves a lot to be desired. My $0.02.
16 of 20 found the following review helpful:
Great value headset if you can withstand a little discomfort.Nov 05, 2010
By J. Chu
Build Quality: Overall it was very good. The faux leather on the headstrap was very comfortable. The only thing I disliked was the cheap plastic ear cans. One big plus was the ribbon cables, no tangles, easy to fold on top of each other. I would have liked to see a little bit more reinforcement where the cable connects to the ear cans. The headphones weren't completely noise isolating.
Sound Quality: Excellent. Once of the best I have ever listened to for a headset under 100 dollars. The first time I installed the software I had an issue where the program hanged when I started it up. I uninstalled and reinstalled and it worked fine. They start you off with a bunch of sliders: crystallization (I guess treble) , surround (increasing this made me feel like I was in a smaller room), bass, dialog (vocal), voice normalization. They were all disabled. I fiddled around it and I couldn't figure how to make it sound good. Just when I was about to turn frustrated I found there were presets on the first page. I chose one and wow the sound quality just sky rocketed for a moment I thought I was wearing my Grado SR 80's. Out of the 10 or so presets I found love with the one from the [Fifa] and the Keepers of whatever game. The 40mm driver was powerful in some preset settings you could feel the vibrations outside your ear. The voice morphs were okay just a few pre-made ones woman-to-man, man-to-woman, deep voice, munchkin, orc, demon, etc. No options to customize the preset but can probably be done through the equalizer. Microphone was good no complains about it.
3D surround was good to an extent from the regular left, right, front, rear sound came to me at the right angles I could hear tiny gnomes skipping along through the water, mechano hogs passing by. Up and down was there but to an extent the 3d surround emulation could emulate a diagonal/above your head sound well however I didn't have time to experience up and down I was hoping maybe I could find a game like call of duty where a helicopter would fly over your head.
Comfort: The ear cushions feel soft and very nice on your ears initially after a couple of minutes I noticed my ears starting to feel squeezed because of the ear cans being too tight creating discomfort making it difficult to go though an entire sitting without taking them off at least once. They also weren't very ventilated that sometimes I would just open the ear cans to let a little cool air in.
Overall Impressions:
++ Sound quality is amazing for the price. 3D surround is just like 7.1 sound. Up and down are there but I didn't try to the full extent
++ Construction is sturdy but the ear cans are made of cheap plastic but you easily forget about it
++ Software has a lot of customizations
-- You could get lost in software customizations if you don't know what you were doing at first
-- Comfortable but ear cans are too tight so your ears might end up being tired
If you have been buying 30-50 dollar headsets (regular 2.0 stereo) for a long time this is definitely something you should invest in for 20 dollars more only if you like tight clamping ear phones. The sound quality of this headset is of that of headsets that cost 100-150 with build quality being the compromise.
Updated 11/13/2010
I returned this headset after 3 days. During the time I tested out the Steel Series Siberia V2 and the Corsair HS1.
The Corsair HS1 are the most comfortable. The sounds are really good for the acoustic/vocals/high frequencies but I found that the low frequencies such as footsteps left alot to be desired. Corsair is probably the closest headset you can get to being like Grados but you need the bass. I really underestimated the software as well. The creative tactic 3d's software is by far one of the best.
I really want to return back to using the tactic 3d's I felt their sound was the most immersive out of the bunch performing great on the high frequency but even better on the low but I couldn't pull trigger yet. Not yet.
My wishlist for the Tactic 3D
1. COMFORT. I would trade sound isolation for comfort. If it can be as comfortable as the Sound Blaster Arena I am sold.
2. Improve the volume rocker. It looks very cheap.
3. Wireless version.
I'd pay 100 bucks for those 3. It would match the Corsair HS1's and be better all around if that can be improved. If comfort can be improved I'll be back for 59.99. Promise.
Score changed from 3/5 stars to 4/5 stars. -1 for comfort
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
LOVE THESE! I'm no technie!Jul 31, 2011
By Vikki Hallen
"lizardwitch"
These are just awesome. You just go to the website and download the info and viola! your control screen comes up for you to set yr bass, equalizer, surround, etc. It didn't take that long to download in my opinion, certainly not an hour. Like I stated, I really don't know alot of technical things so I feel anyone can follow the simple directions. The sound quality is unbelieveable..I'm talking just plugged in to my laptop! The headphones are very comfortable and I use the clip to keep the cord out of my way, there's plenty of it too. Highly recommend, even just for watching movies and listening to music!!
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Pros and ConsFeb 02, 2012
By Ryan
This is a very nice headset. I would Highly reccommend it. Here are some Pros and Cons:
1. Sound quality- The sound from this headset is amazing. I can't stress that enough. I was blown away from how good the sound was when listening to music, watching movies, or playing games.
2. Surround sound- The 3D sound is really cool and works really well. While playing Skyrim, I spun around while someone was talking and I could hear their voice rotating around my head.
3. Comfort- These are a little awkward at first, but only takes about 10 minutes to get used to them. After that they are very comfortable and I usually can't feel them even after wearing them for hours.
4. Microphone- A nice feature is that the microphone can be removed from the headset to turn it into just a pair of headphones. I prefer this to a headset with a folding microphone. Unfortunately, the microphone is a little quiet, but it is also very clear.
5. Durability- I've had this headset for about a month and it has been holding up very well so far.
6. Equalizer- The headset comes with an equalizer program. You actually have to download the program from the soundblaster website. The link comes in the user manual. The program is very nice because it gives you a lot of control over the volume (The mic can be turned up here), sound, and it even has a section to change the way the microphone sounds. It also has a very nice interface, which is a bonus.
7. Plugs and wires- The plugs are normal auxilary inputs (I think .35 mm or .40 mm, not sure which but they are the standard ones). The headset box comes with a converter to convert it to USB, which is nice. Just an FYI, the equalizer program only works when the headset is plugged in via USB. The wire is also very nice because it is a flat, rubber wire which prevents from getting tangled. It works really well because it doesn't tangle or coil up on itsself, which is a very nice feature.
Overall this is an extremely good headset, especially for only around $30. There are very few cons, all of which have already been mentioned, such as the quiet microphone and the equalizer only working with USB (although that is because of the way drivers work, not the way the headset is made).
I personally reccommend this headset, and I hope that this review has been helpful.
WARNING: THIS HEADSET WILL TRICK YOU INTO THINKING YOU LIKE SONGS! I have heard many songs with this headset that I thought sounded really good, but then when I listened to it later on my ipod, realized that I really didn't like it afterall.
See all 140 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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