SUPER HEADPHONES SALE!Audiovox Acoustic Research ARW200 – Headphones ( ear-cup )

Audiovox Acoustic Research ARW200 – Headphones ( ear-cup ) for $29.99 and free shipping

normally sells for around $60 or so…

• TRUE 5.1 SURROUND SOUND TECHNOLOGY 3 DRIVERS IN EACH EARCUP OPTIMIZES EACH AUDIO CHANNEL AND
• EXTENDS THE BASS 15.4MM NEODYMIUM DRIVERS FOR FRONT/SUBWOOFER 12MM NEODYMIUM DRIVERS FOR CENTER
• 12MM NEODYMIUM DRIVERS FOR SURROUND INTEGRATED MULTI-CHAMBER DESIGN COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS? XP

Watching movies, gaming and listening to music – on your laptop or PC – will never be the same. True 5.1 surround sound headphones with USB connectivity offer optimum sound quality. Enjoy your personal entertainment in a whole way, with unsurpassed depth and clarity. All delivered though integrated three-drive Omni-directional speakers, softly padded to comfortably conform to the shape of your ears and block out distracting outside noises. A sleek, fordable design makes it the perfect travel companion.Separate speakers in each ear cup give you real, physical separation for a listening experience others can’t match. The integrated multi-chamber design enhances speaker separation for a clearer, more spacious sound.

Construction:
The object appears a little flimsy; the ear cushions are rather small and do not insulate from external noise; the cushioning pieces of the headband are glued and detach easily. The USB connector, containing probably some driving electronics, is rather large, so that in might interdict the simultaneous use of adjacent computer ports. On the positive side, the headphones fold up and can be placed in a nice travel pouch furnished with them.
Sound quality:
Being used to the sound of recording studio-grade near-field monitors I’m perhaps too finicky: the sound quality is good but not outstanding; the surround effect is limited by the constraints on the position of the speakers, but it is enjoyable and adds enough spatiality. The dialogues in movies are easier to understand, even for a person affected by partial phoneme deafness, as I am.
Ease of use:
I’ve tried the headphones only with Macintosh computers running Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). There are no serious compatibility issues, but for some annoying shortcomings. To be clear, these flaws are due to Mac OS X and not to the headphones themselves.
- Setting up the computer for 5.1 output is done easily enough by changing a few parameters in the “Audio MIDI Setup” application. Unfortunately, whenever the headphones are disconnected from the computer the settings return to normal stereo default and must be changed again and again. I’ve found a workaround by using Applescript GUI scripting to restore all the parameters with a single click.
- presently DVD Player, the standard Apple movie player, does not output 5.1 sound data to USB audio devices. Fortunately, the open-source VLC application does not share this limitation and can be used for this purpose. VLC lacks some of the niceties provided by DVD Player (visually driven chapter choice, automatic return to the spot were watching was last interrupted, etc.) but it works flawlessly.
Bottom line:
This product has its limits, in particular for Macintosh users, but it delivers clear, enjoyable surround sound and it’s well worth its (discounted) price.