Review on Turtle Beach Elite Tactical Audio Controller by Dina Harvey

Sounds terrible on Xbox One? Not at all. Is the sound distorted? Chat is terrible? Everyone I've played with on Xbox Live says it sounds good (and I've spent hundreds of hours on it.) Outgoing chat garbled when using the charging cable? mmm Several posts in the Q&A say it will happen. It shouldn't come as a surprise. Can the adjustment slides be moved easily? Well, I don't keep my TAC where the controls accidentally move while playing, so that's not a problem for me at all (although I suppose if my cat is intrigued by the lights on the sliders and jumps onto my desk, they could become problems to play with.) Does Mixamp Pro sound much better? Hmm, I have both, and no, that doesn't sound much better. In fact, they are quite comparable. Surround sound not working? DTS Headphone:X works very well compared to other solutions. It's actually better than the Mixamp Pro, but none can match real surround sound because it's simulated. Headphones just don't reach far enough to create true surround sound. It's far from perfect, but it's the best you'll find. If you think TAC sucks, you'll find that it sucks more than any other solution. The only legitimate complaint I've read is that pairing with the Xbox One requires a cable to connect to the controller. I'm guessing a little but this is probably a compromise for TAC to be able to work on BOTH Xbox One and PS4 since MS decided to use a proprietary chat setup on Xbox One (still can't figure out why Turtle Beach couldn't do this (I can't find a way around this as my 520X didn't require it). Okay, I can't say the Footsteps Focus Preset isn't overzealous, but it's hardly a deal breaker. On the other hand, superhuman hearing is actually effective. As for using TACs with the A40, as long as they work (you can plug any device into any headphones) you just won't get the volume that you get with the Mixamp. The A40's high impedance of 50 ohms means it's not as efficient as the 32 ohm Elite Pro headset; They require more power, so when paired with the Elite Pro headset, they're not as loud as the TAC. It's just physics. The worst thing about TACs is that they are (or were) overpriced. When TB first released them, a headset, TAC, and noise-cancelling mic cost around $430, which is ridiculous no matter how good they are. Their prices have come down recently and I've seen them listed for short periods (a day or two) on Revain for $111 a couple of times and at that price they're great. At $149, the cost should be "so-so" for most. The regular price is currently $149 for the headset and $149 for the TAC, which will set you back $298 (you can add a noise-cancelling mic for an additional $10). . It's reasonable, but you can get the A40 TR with the mixamp for $249 (and $199 on sale, if you're paying attention - and at this price point, it's not hard to decide which one to go for). I'm not going to be a fan and throw one away or say one is better than the other. Sound and comfort are subjective, so none of the answers will be right. While I prefer the Elite Pro setting (slightly better sound, slightly better positional sound, and a few more features in the audio controller), with the right settings, there are no more setting rules. After evaluating both, I left the Elite Pro setup and returned the Astros, but depending on what's available at the time you're ready to buy, it's possible to offer a better (even much better Astro priced at $199) than before . Miscellaneous. For me the most important thing was that the Elite Pro set was maybe a bit better and TAC works with both my PS4 and Xbox One. In my situation I would have to buy 2 mixamps for an Astro, which is not a good price for me. I would give TAC 5/5 starts except that it requires an additional cable for chat to work on Xbox One. There is no excuse for that.