When comparing Turtle Beach Ear Force Elite 800X vs Audio-Technica ATH-M40x, the Slant community recommends Audio-Technica ATH-M40x for most people. In the question“What are the best headphones?” Audio-Technica ATH-M40x is ranked 17th while Turtle Beach Ear Force Elite 800X is ranked 56th. The most important reason people chose Audio-Technica ATH-M40x is:
Sound signature is quite accurate, almost flat. Bass is much more controlled instead of boomy, while there is a slight elevation on the highs, resulting in extra energy and detail up top. These offer a nice middle ground between a fun sound and a more reference/analytical sound signature. This sound quality makes the headphones quite versatile as music enjoyment headphones or studio-use cans.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Fully wireless
A clear advantage of this headset over the competition is that it retains full functionality even in wireless mode. While other wireless headsets require the controller adapter and a wired connection for full voice functionality, this is not the case for the 800X.
Pro Detailed sound with powerful bass
The 800X delivers great bass levels, giving low frequency sounds a lot of power and boom. In-game explosions sound very immersive with these. What’s great is that the bass does not muddy up the mids and highs so the sound is still fairly detailed. More nuanced game audio like dialogue and high pitched sound effects can easily be appreciated with these.
Pro Wide sound stage via the surround sound feature
While this comes at the expense of audio quality, the headset’s 7.1 virtual surround sound feature does help in widening up the sound. This enhances the feeling of being in the game, making the direction of gunshots and explosions easier to pinpoint.
Pro Minimal sound leak
The closed design of the ear cups and the leather-surfaced ear pads keep sound leakage at a minimum. You won’t be bothering other people with in-game audio when using these.
Pro Soft on the head
It uses memory foam as cushioning for the ear pads and head band. These are quite comfortable and help ease the pressure on the head that this headset may apply.
Pro Virtually eliminates all outside noise
The already decent passive noise isolation is complemented by active noise cancelling. Outside noise frequencies are filtered so they are not likely to interfere with your audio.
Pro Stable wireless connectivity
The wireless connection has great range, with the headset still playing clearly even when listening from a different room. Signal drops are kept to a minimum.
Pro Charging base has great features
Aside from functioning as charger and headset stand, the base is also the headset’s wireless transmitter, so you can reposition it for maximum signal stability. There is also an optical pass-through port which allows the audio from the headsets to output to external speakers for others to enjoy.
Pro Decent battery life
A full charge is enough to keep these headphones playing for up to 10 hours.
Pro Can connect using Bluetooth
This headset can be used with Bluetooth-compatible devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops.
Pro Fairly neutral sound signature
Sound signature is quite accurate, almost flat. Bass is much more controlled instead of boomy, while there is a slight elevation on the highs, resulting in extra energy and detail up top. These offer a nice middle ground between a fun sound and a more reference/analytical sound signature. This sound quality makes the headphones quite versatile as music enjoyment headphones or studio-use cans.
Pro These have a high quality and durable feel
The M40xs feel solid and are known to be quite durable. The plastics used in the build do not easily flex or make creaks, giving the impression that these can last quite a long time.
Pro Can be used in noisy environments
The over-ear, closed back design along with the thick pleather ear pads can block out quite a lot of ambient noise, and will help users to focus in on the music. These make the headphones great for travel or for mixing/monitoring use.
Pro Comes with two detachable cables
The headphones come with a straight cable and a coiled cable, making them useful in the studio or while walking.
Cons
Con Disappointing mic sound quality
The 800X’s mic does not have great clarity compared to other high-end options. Instead of a boom design, Turtle Beach decided to integrate the mic into an ear cup, which limits the mic’s voice reception.
Con Ear cup buttons are too fiddly to use
The buttons on the lower part of the ear cups control various functions of the headset like audio volume adjust, mic volume adjust and other functions. However, the buttons are multi-directional, which can make their functions difficult to memorize. These buttons are also quite sensitive so unintended activation can be frequent.
Con Incompatible with cables from other brands
Only Audio Technica cables can be used with these headphones.