Ear Force D2

I take my DS Lite with me everywhere. I’ve found that there are countless opportunities throughout the day to pull out the system and get a few minutes playtime into whatever handheld epic I’m halfway through. Since I’m usually in public, though, I tend to keep the sound turned off. Even on those occasions that I could have the sound on, the DS Lite’s relatively quiet speakers (coupled with my relatively poor hearing) weren’t really cutting it; I’d keep the sound off just to save that much battery power. I never even thought about getting a set of headphones before; I guess I thought I wasn’t missing out on much. Now that I’ve tried Turtle Beach’s Ear Force D2 headphones, I don’t know if I can ever go back.

The Ear Force D2 comes in three different colors, corresponding to the three different colors the DS Lite itself comes in — black, white, and pink. Comfy earpieces have plenty of cushion, and each floats independently to shape perfectly to your ear, both for comfort and the speaker is in the optimum location to direct the sound into your ear. The microphone is attached to the left earpiece; its arm is flexible and plenty long enough to receive anyone’s speech. There’s plenty of room for adjusting the set’s size, accommodating just about anybody’s head. Volume can be controlled on the DS itself (of course), or it can be adjusted by means of a small dial on the Ear Force’s input cable. (Small side note: the Ear Force’s volume control can be adjusted in small increments much easier than the DS’s, making for easier volume fine-tuning.)

Nintendo acknowledges that the DS Lite’s speakers aren’t as powerful as the original DS’s were; that’s one of the compromises they had to make to fit everything in a smaller package. I never realized, though, how much audio fidelity wasn’t coming across when using these default speakers. When heard through the Ear Force D2, DS games’ audio shines. I tested the headphones using many different types of games, and while they helped the audio in every one, two types especially benefited.

First-person 3D games were the first type I tested. Deep Labyrinth, a first-person dungeon crawl RPG, was significantly improved when using the headphones. Through the Ear Force’s earpieces, every footstep through the caverns and fields was crisp and clear. The headphones also highlighted the stereo-sound effects; I could accurately pinpoint enemies’ locations simply by following the sound of their growls. Using the Ear Force D2 with this game really made me realize just how much of my games I was missing; the experience of the game was much more immersive and simply more fun when I was able to hear all the audio detail the developers intended for me to hear.

The other major type of game to benefit from the headphones’ use was music-based games. Nintendo’s obscure rhythm game Electroplankton is practically tailor-made for headphones, as you create beautiful music on the fly. Jam Sessions, the DS’s virtual electric guitar, sounds great through the Ear Force, which lets you practice in private during that steep learning curve. And Elite Beat Agents’ licensed tracks sound better than ever, allowing for deeper immersion as you tap to the beat.

The set does possess a few minor drawbacks. The set’s microphone isn’t nearly as sensitive as I’d have liked; for voice-recognition games (like Brain Age, or Nintendogs) you have to speak louder than usual for the game to accept your input (the mic works fine for games with voice chat, though-Pokemon, for example). Also, the set is a little bulky; while this is necessary for all the comfort and features they’ve packed in, it does put a bit of a hamper on the portability of the whole thing.

But these are minor issues. I never realized how much of my DS games I was missing until I tried the Ear Force D2. Between comfort, volume, and functionality, Turtle Beach has turned out quite an amazing set of headphones. I know I won’t be playing my DS Lite without them anytime soon.

Pros:

Comfortable fit, DS Lite-matching colors, fine-tunable volume control, and great audio fidelity combine to make a serious improvement on any DS game’s audio component.

Cons:

Their size keeps them from being quite as portable, and the mic’s a little less sensitive than I’d like.

Overall: 9.2

I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to the standard DS speakers. The Ear Force D2 headphones are a smart investment for anyone serious about DS gaming. Easily recommended.