It's been some time now since we interviewed James Hildebrandt, founder and CEO of Psyko Audios Labs, who announced his revolutionary creation in terms of 5.1 gaming headsets. It's worthy checking out what he had to say back then. But now, it's that time when the coach finishes to deliver his motivational speech and the team faces the field to show if it has what it takes or not. As usual, we'll beging by describing the physical characteristics of the product and then proceed to evaluating its performance.

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Figure 1: The Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming Headset

The device is really big. What would be a typical headband is, in fact, the brains of the headset, the place where the air ducts – the “waveguides” – are located. The tubes distribute the sound through the air to the ear cups just like they were some kind of tubular speakers. The inside of the headband is covered by cushioned indentations to better distribute the weight. Yes, the Psyko is heavier than the typical headsets, but its bulky appearance leads to believing that it is actually heavier than it looks. The airducts, being hollow, don't weight as much.

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Figure 2: The headband

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Figure 3: The inside of the headband

The cushioned earphones are cloth-wrapped and feature a subwoofer and two small speakers on each side. It really looks like a miniature home theater around the user's ear. The earcup can be opened to relieve the heat. The Psyko comes with a detachable microphone to be plugged in the right earphone.

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Figure 4: The phones

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Figure 5: The speakers

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Figure 6: Ventilation opening