I bought this headset yesterday to try it out, it was onsale for $67+tax at best buy. Supposedly the X12, X22, and Z22 headsets all have exactly the same 50mm drivers and headset portion, just different colored plastics (green, blue, red) are associated with each product, and an amp/mixer with the X22 and Z22 models. I am impressed by the sound quality, the 50mm drivers are superior to many other headsets and they are the same size as on the SteelSeries V2 which has had this feature for several years. The remote control seems to have every feature imaginable (Bass, Treble, volume, mic-feedback-mixin, mic-output-volume). I played some Jann Arden guitar music on these headsphones and sounded great. However, when I turned up the Bass the limitations of the speakers became beyond 3/4 of maximum, after that the Bass became muffled, indicating that the speakers were either overdriven or overdamped.
My comparison is the SteelSeries V2 which does not have Bass/treble controls, although it does have a surround sound card ($80 onsale after xmas). In side-by-side tests, the SteelSeries has a little more Bass out of the box, however, if you crank up the Bass control knob on the Turtle Beach PX22, it sounds the same when the Bass button is at 3/4 of maximum.
Because all the controls are analog and there are NO drivers for these headsets, I believe this is a foolproof headset and that will work with anything. The equalizer and several extra cables are supplied allowing it to work with every major game console (PC, Phone, XBox, PS3/4). If you just want to make phone calls, you can leave the heavy cabling of the mixer / USB / 4-way phone plug behind and use the first 3' of lightweight 4-way phone-plug cabling only. You won't have a Bass tone control in this case, however.
The biggest downsides I have are (a) The ear cups are cloth, which is a selling point for some people who get sweaty with leather or leatherette ear cups, HOWEVER, the cloth material is not terribly soft and the foam underneath the cloth is rather hard, and not only that, the oval muffs are not as large as e.g. the SteelSeries so the comfort may be less than expected. (b) The mic is a boom mic (not retractable into the headset) and does not have noise cancellation compared to the SteelSeries V2, so that is a downside. (c) I wanted to run the equalizer with my phone. Well, the split between USB and 4-way phone plug only happens 12 inches up the cabling. So if I plug the USB into a wall outlet on the floor, I have to leave my phone on the floor, whereas the headphones and remote can be operated 10 feet away. That's a downside for usage with a phone. (d) I wish the equalizer had a micro USB input for a micro USB cable and/or a phone cable so I could I had a choice of a lighter weight or shorter cable to supply power to the headset.
I am very happy with my purchase so far and recommend this headset very highly. These Turtle beach products don't get much respect but I did notice that the sister product the X12 is the #1 selling headset on amazon.com and it has the same hardware. I think that because they share designs among all of their wired headphones under $100, I think that for the money I paid I there is no better headset. If you don't need the XBox / PS3/4 versatility, save yourself $20 and get the Turtle Beach X12 instead!
