Nerd Mentality

E3 2010: NOX Audio Interview and Impressions

Posted July 1st 2010 by Brandon Schmidt.

At this year's E3 I had the chance to talk with NOX Audio, an up-and-coming creator of audio headsets for use with phones and gaming platforms. I spoke with a couple of their people manning the booth, including public relations representative John Hardin, while trying out a couple of their flagship products.

The first headset I tried was the NOX Specialist which seems like it will be a great fit for PC gamers, and potentially for those on home consoles.  I say potentially because out of the box the headset is only compatible with PC's and any other device with a standard audio jack. I immediately noticed a couple of nice features that the reps explained to me. For starters, you control the volume by turning a dial on the outside of the right ear. This was much simpler than fumbling around for a volume dial along the cable. The headset also features a boom microphone that retracts by turning a dial on the outside of the left ear. The mic is fully bendable which is a godsend. I use the standard headset that's part of the Xbox Live starter pack, and either that mic is too far away or I'm constantly on the verge of eating it. That wasn't the case here, as I was able to position it so it was just out of the way. Unfortunately, the demo they had set up didn't offer the opportunity to test the mic's ability to pick up my voice. While my time on the demo unit was limited, I still appreciated the comfort of the headset itself as both ears are heavily padded and will be ideal for extended gaming sessions. I don't recall the specific game they had set up, but it was a first-person shooter and the sounds were pretty crisp. Obviously NOX took into account the general cacophony of noise on the show floor by setting up their booth in a location off on the far side of the hall. While there was still some noise pollution while I was playing, I was far enough away from the louder areas to still be able to appreciate the sound quality. A test run without all the background noise will definitely be needed before the true quality can be judged.

Although platform compatibility is limited out of the box, you can purchase the NOX Negotiator peripheral that will allow it to work with the PS3 or Xbox 360. It includes a USB dongle as well as interfaces for both the PS3 and 360 that you can switch out directly on the Negotiator unit. There's also an optical audio connection that really does make the sounds sharp. I happened to be on a demo unit set up for the 360. I really wish that you didn't have to buy a separate component for compatibility with gaming consoles, but they at least offer a discount if you buy it along with the Specialist. John informed me that both products are now available for sale via their website as well as Amazon. I asked if they intended to sell their products through physical storefronts and apparently that's an avenue they're currently pursuing but haven't locked down yet.

The second unit I had a chance to try out was the Scout, which is a high-quality, multi-featured set of earbuds. They had a test unit connected to a Nintendo DS with a copy of one of the Mario and Luigi games playing. Part of me wishes I'd tried out the mp3 player they offered to let me use, but the DS trial was still fairly impressive. The Scout includes a built-in mic along with a send/end button which they claim is the world's smallest. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to try out the headset with a cell phone to see if the mic quality is as good as advertised. I still noticed that playing the DS offered a fuller sound than what I was accustomed to when using a standard set of Sony or Apple earbuds. There are also rectangular pieces of plastic on each earbud that are meant to stabilize the earbud within your ear.  These are kind of neat in that they are stylishly unique, but whether they help hold them in your ears when moving around feverishly I wasn't able to test. I'm sure that'll be a marketing point for active people such as joggers and runners, though I can't imagine wanting to carry around an $80 pair of earbuds with me when sweating. I was told that the Scout will be released later this year and that it is also compatible with the Negotiator.

Tags: NOX Audio, E3 2010

Posted in: Tech, Gaming, Features

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