Creative has long been in the computing audio industry for customers to know they offer a wide range of products that cater for just about any budget and need, and today we’ll look at something more niche since it involves hardcore gamers. Of course, regular gamers will also appreciate the technology found in the Creative Tournament Gaming Headset HS-1100 that features Silencer, the company’s proprietary noise cancelling technology. This is the first product in the world to do so, and we are extremely sure that it won’t be the last either. What is Creative’s Silencer technology all about? Judging by the name alone, it shouldn’t be too hard to deduce – this is a breakthrough in voice technology that enables the user’s voice to be clearly heard by other gamers whom they are communicating with as the Silencer is smart enough to remove ambient background noise so that voice fidelity is improved.

This opens up a whole new world of opportunity for gamers, as they won’t suffer from a loss in communication with loud music blaring in the background or having a dog make a ruckus outside – the Silencer is more than able to meet these challenges, removing them as ambient noise. This enables both teammates and allies to have a clearer communication channel than ever before where online gaming is concerned. There were live demonstrations of the Creative Tournament Gaming Headset at CES 2009, with professional gamer Fatal1ty endorsing the product.

According to Steve Erickson, VP and GM of audio and video at Creative, “With the Silencer technology, gamers will be blown away whether they’re playing an intense 5 v 5 Counter Strike match or a raid in World of Warcraft. Our award-winning audio engineers are passionate about gaming, so they had a lot of hands-on experience when they invented Silencer, which was developed specifically to give gamers a competitive advantage.”

I certainly don’t doubt what he says, as I used to be a gamer myself and having a headset like that sure beats shouting to one another in a room where all five of us are huddled around our respective computers in a game of Counter Strike. Other features found in the Creative HS-1100 include :-

• X-Fi Crystalizer technology
• X-Fi CMSS-3D technology
• VoiceFX which offers up to 18 selectable voice-morph personas that range from Aliens to Orc, for more engaging in-game voice communication
• 40mm Neodymium magnet drivers for excellent sound quality
• A detachable microphone boom allowing the headset to be used as regular headphones in non-gaming scenarios
• Ultra-comfortable earpads for extended gaming sessions
• An in-line volume adjustment with microphone mute control
• Foldable earcups offer convenient storage

The Creative Tournament USB Gaming Headset HS-1100 will ship sometime this spring for $129.99, which ain’t too shabby. It would be interesting to see how rival companies will meet this new contender where professional gaming headsets are concerned. What do you think is the next possible improvement which can be made in this area of gaming?

Press Release