If you're playing on XBox Live, you really need a headset. Most games involve voice coordination between people on the same team, and sometimes even discussions with your opponents.
I'm not sure why my experience was so different than the previous reviews. Maybe they got an older version of the headset? It definitely seems to be the same unit - made by Microsoft, for the XBox 360, the basic model.
This headset is relatively inexpensive, and has a padded earphone and microphone. The earphone is adjustable, to have the headband part expand and contract. This lets it fit on larger and smaller heads. The microphone rotates, so that the unit can be worn on the left or right side. It only spins down to just under a 90 degree angle, though, so this forces you to wear the headset with the band right over the top of your head. At that spot, the microphone is pretty much right in front of my mouth (I prefer it a bit lower) and the opposite-side "bracer" part is digging into the skin just over my non-earphoned ear.
I don't know what it is with these headset creators - but at its smallest setting, the unit is still too large for several adults I know. That makes it even worse for teens and kids! That being said, I find this problem with a lot of headsets, so it's something you just have to deal with.
There's a relatively long cord, and it plugs right into the base of your controller. It doesn't interfere at all with wireless controllers. The base part has a mute button as well as a volume control.
I didn't have any problem at all hearing other players when I was online - their voices came through very clearly. Also, the unit fit very snugly into the base - I didn't have any problems with static or dropped signals. In fact for a while I was letting my boyfriend drive in PGR3 while I talked in the headphone/mic, and even with the cord stretched out between us two I could hear fine. Other players could hear me. I didn't notice any issues with lag, our conversations went back and forth rather quickly.
Xbox 360 Head Set CommunicatorI had one because my Xbox 360 came with one. It worked for a while, but considering how well I take care of my things, I didn't expect it to suddenly stop working. It's cheap and not very comfortable. I preferred the original Xbox headset that went around the back of the head. I also never had a problem with that one. It lasted as long as I needed it to. I would suggest using this until it breaks, and it will, then move on to something else. Perhaps the wireless headset. You can't really play online without some sort of headset.
I liked this headset that came included in the pro xbox360, though I'm not a big fan of the headset wrapping around the top of your head like traditional headsets, I would have liked it to wrap around the back of your head like the original headset for the original xbox. The headset was good to decent quality in terms of the way it is built but seems a bit to plasticey and not of superior quality but its good enough, it has a good microphone and a good loud speaker and comes with volume control and a mute switch. Its a good headset for general use and decent if you compare it to better ones made by plantronics, but the sad part about this product is that it had an early death. The microphone dies after a while making the entire headset useless, even with good care it died. After a about a month or two the microphone first starts making a lot static on the other gamers recieving end and then the microphone just doesnt pick up any sound at all. I take good care of my headsets, I still own 2 of the original xbox headset (which are years old) and have a halo 2 headset and all work perfectly. I also have seen this headset have the same failures to many other fellow xbox live friends and all have had to revert to other headsets.
Ok, I thought my old Xbox headsets were cheap, because they always broke where the little clip by the speaker attached to the wrap around head thing-thing. But at least the old headsets stood up to being superglued repeatedly, and I never lost sound or mic. I have had two of the new headsets, and they both have stopped working, I can hear my team, but my team cant hear me. I have decided to use my old, super-glued and duck-taped, original Xbox headset, and it works perfect, with the exception of the volume control.
BUT, I plan to take on a project this weekend, and I will be hard-wiring my old Xbox headset into the new headset communicator. If anyone else is interested, the instructions are here
http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/9860/How-to-Use-Any-Headset-With-the-Xbox-360-Communicator/
and this method works with any headset that worked with teh original Xbox.
A headset is a must have for any 360 online game. You'll find it hard to get anyone on your friends list without one, but you really don't need THIS headset.
I agree that the Official headset isn't the greatest, and some people might not take the best of care with them, but I can say that there are 3 of them in my apartment, 2 are almost a year old, and they're all as good as the day they were purchased. You just have to realize that they aren't very durable and treat them as such.
If you do go the route of a third party headset (any cell phone headset will do), I highly suggest that you get one with an in-line volume control and try to get one with a mute. If you don't get an in-line volume control you may have problems with things being too quiet. - Xbox Live - Headset - Xbox 360 Headset - Xbox Headset'
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