Rude Gameware is a newcomer to the peripheral industry. Founded in 2009 as an offshoot of a 3D glasses manufacturer, they set out to make game hardware that fit the needs of core gamers while maintaining reasonable prices. We took a look at their RUDE-100 PC headset recently and now we get a chance to check out their first foray into headsets for the Xbox 360 (and which gave birth to the first wireless headset for that console)—the Primal Wireless Headset.
The most immediately noticeable thing that sets apart the Primal Wireless Headset is that it uses infrared for wireless communication instead of RF or Bluetooth. This means you have to have the receiver set within clear line-of-sight to the headset. The headset itself has IR sensors on both ears and facing front, sides, and rear; so if you move around a lot you’ll still be alright, although finding a place for the receiver could be problematic depending on your gaming area. The choice of IR versus radio is an interesting one, but it isn’t necessarily bad
The receiver has an unfortunate number of cords, as well. You have the receiver, an audio plug that goes into your sound system, and a power cord with a wall-wart on the end. I did have a nice clean home theater cabinet until I ended up having to have the receiver on top of the desk, with requisite wires trailing away from it. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it is somewhat unsightly.
This is not a natively supported audio configuration in the same sense that a Microsoft-supplied headset is; the voices from other players come through on the same channel as the game audio, and you have to configure your Xbox as such. You cannot have player audio coming through on the headset and game audio coming through your normal speakers.
The tiny yet effective little mic
The wireless mic is a tiny, tiny little nub of a thing that is prone to getting lost. It’s not much bigger than an audio jack. It plugs into the bottom of your Xbox 360 controller and has a swivel mount on it. It is very sensitive and picks up your voice very clearly, and does a surprisingly decent job of knowing when to transmit sound and when to shut up. If there are other people talking loudly in the room, it can be an issue, however. A push-to-talk switch or even just a mute button would have been a welcome addition.
The headset uses two AAA batteries; if you happen to have rechargeables, the IR transmitter doubles as a AAA battery charger, which is a nice convenience.
The headset is fully over-the-ear with soft padded cups and is very comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The sound quality is excellent, with two cobalt-magnet 40mm drivers. I played for four solid hours with them on and never really had any issues with comfort or performance.
While this device is primarily marketed towards Xbox 360 gamers, it can work just as well with any audio system, as it uses a standard 1/8th inch stereo plug. In addition, they supply a 1/8th inch-to-standard RCA left and right Y adapter if you happen to need one. The audio quality is not what I would call superb for music listening, but it’ll do. It’s fine if you consider that these are first and foremost gaming headphones—they are bass-heavy and a little muddy, but this works better in a warzone than a concert hall.
At a MSRP of $99.95 (Amazon)
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