INTRODUCTION

   Because the PC gaming peripherals market is enjoying extremely high profits it's normal to see more and more companies trying to get a piece of the pie. As a matter of fact, it's quite ordinary lately (less so long ago) to see PC hardware manufacturers also expand in the gaming peripherals market (and vice versa of course sometimes), some successfully thus rising in popularity especially among gamers and some well not so much. For example, GALAXY begun manufacturing graphics cards back in the mid 90's and although they are still not the most popular manufacturer in the market their products have won numerous awards by the press not just because of their performance and looks but also because of their build quality and innovative cooling solutions. GALAXY was renamed to Galax not long ago and since then they also started manufacturing SSDs, memory modules/kits and quite recently even gaming peripherals via their brand new Xanova sub-brand which send us their JUTURNA-U Gaming Headset to review.

   Xan signifies ZEN. Zen derives from Japanese pronunciation of Chinese word (CHAN) which traces its root from Indian practice of meditation. Xanova gear aims to unleash every gamer’s inner ambition and evolve their capabilities (ZEN) and empower them to reach for the stars. Xanova’s ambition is to create a brand that is relevant for the gamers of today and tomorrow, to always deliver an experience that enhances the awesome world of gaming. The founder Ms Connie Chiu has witnessed the development of PC Gaming/ Esports industry for majority of past 15 years. She has teamed up with her long time Italian friends who have been in the console gaming accessory business concurrently. Blending the Eastern Wisdom with the Italian Fantasy has conjured up a “NOVA” gaming brand. Xanova products are sparkling with the magic gamer touch and the trendsetting Italian culture and style. We are passionate about gaming. Behind Xanova, there is a team of cross-cultural, highly skilled and creative gamer professionals, committed to provide gaming gears that are at the frontiers of technological advancements, that look fantastic, are comfortable to use, and are durable.

   The JUTURNA-U is a 7.1 virtual surround sound headset and just like every other virtual surround sound headset in the market it's based on two stereo dynamic drivers which in turn are connected to an 7.1 virtual surround USB soundcard (there's also a JUTURNA model without the USB soundcard). The dynamic drivers used by Xanova in the JUTURNA-U are 40mm in size (PAR polymer coated diaphragms) and feature a frequency response of 20Hz-KHz with 32Ohm impedance and 95dB sensitivity (+-3dB). The JUTURNA-U also comes with a removable omnidirectional boom microphone that has an impedance of 2.2KOhm, 60dB SNR (signal to noise ratio) and -52dB sensitivity (+-3dB). That's not all however since the JUTURNA-U also features three available bass levels (adjustable via switches located at the rear of both earcups - +6dB max), FPS button on the USB sound card (enhances mids and highs for first person shooters) and 90 degrees rotating earcups (easier to store). So, let's check and see just what you can expect by one of the first headsets released by Xanova.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The box inside which Xanova ships the JUTURNA-U has a product picture at the front and both the XANOVA and GALAX logos.

Both sides of the box have the features list printed in a total of 8 languages.

At the rear of the box we see the product specifications, features and the contents of the bundle.

Once you remove the exterior cover you will see the company name on the box.

The headset is safely placed inside a formed piece of plastic.

Along with the JUTURNA-U headset inside the box you will find a storage/carrying cloth pouch, the USB soundcard with a 1.5 meter long cable, boom microphone with a 1.3 meter long cable, 1.3 meter long 3.5mm cable and the user manual.

THE JUTURNA-U

The 290g heavy JUTURNA-U is made primarily out of hard plastic and PU leather.

As you can see from the above picture the JUTURNA-U is a medium sized headset.

Xanova has placed their logo on the exterior of both earcups (unfortunately it's not illuminated) and their name just over them.

Two 3-way switches are located at the rear of both earcups (from here you can adjust the bass levels - the left one is just over the 3.5mm microphone/cable port).

Left and right markings are printed on the interior of the headband just over the earcups.

As already mentioned, the earcups can rotate up to 90 degrees on one side.

To offer optimal comfort however they can also rotate slightly on the other side as well.

Although not the thickest earpads we've seen the ones used in the JUTURNA-U are large and quite comfortable thanks to their memory foam padding.

The boom microphone is connected to one of the two 3.5mm cables and as you can see it's very flexible.

Just like the earpads the headpad is also covered with PU leather.

The headband extends up to 42mm in both sides (84mm total) and has no markings.

Xanova has also placed their name on the USB soundcard right next to the FPS button and above the 3.5mm port.

The 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable has an in-line answer/end call button.

Both 3.5mm jacks (actually all four) are gold plated whereas the USB plug is not.

XANOVA CONTROL PANEL

You can download the Xanova control panel software (compatible with both the JURUTNA-U and OCALA-U headsets) from their official page (do a google search for it, should be faster).

The Xanova control panel is easy to use so from the first tab you can adjust the EQ (4 available slots to save your settings in) and enable the 3D feature of the headset.

From the second tab you can choose one of the 4 available (theatre/bathroom/living room/corridor) sound effects.

There's also a mic tab from where you can adjust the microphone volume (boost and mute functions are also available).

Xanova has placed everything related to the 7.1 virtual surround sound feature in the last tab so from here you can adjust the location of where sounds come from (basically this means you can rotate the entire sound stage).

CONCLUSION

   We ended up using the JUTURNA-U 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound Headset for a total of 11 days with titles like Metro Exodus, Far Cry New Dawn, Dirt Rally 2.0 and Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (yes, no multiplayer titles this time over) and we have to admit that we were pleasantly surprised. Sure, the JUTURNA-U may not sport the highest possible build quality and the lack of any form of lighting does stand out for a headset manufactured last year but audio quality is very good with accurate and detailed mids and highs while in terms of bass the three available presets do help quite a bit (still bass is not as rich as we’d like it to be). Positioning audio thanks to the 7.1 virtual surround USB card is also very good and the FPS button does help (alas not by much) when you want to hear footsteps getting closer to you or where bullets are coming from. Xanova claims that the microphone they used is professional grade and although it works well and we had no complaints when using Viber and Skype still we don’t think it’s something special. One more thing we didn’t like much was the lack of volume control buttons or a knob since that means you need to control the volume from either within the game or Windows. True this isn’t a game breaker especially since most modern keyboards come with volume control keys on them but still it would be a nice feature to have.

   The most serious drawback of the JUTURNA-U 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound Headset is its availability which is limited at best. We were lucky enough to find it in the USA for a price tag of USD104.58 (Amazon.com) and for 86Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) but although we feel that this isn’t really much for what you’re getting still we think it could get even lower when availability becomes better. At the end of the day we were satisfied with the JUTURNA-U by Xanova. Sure, it’s still a bit rough around the edges (lack of volume controls) but for a first try basically it’s a lot better than what we had hoped and for that it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Comfortable (Large Earpads / Memory Foam Padding)
- Good Mids & Highs
- FPS Button & Bass Boost Switches
- Detachable Microphone (Easier to Replace)
- Xanova Control Panel (Easy to Use)
- USB & 3.5mm Compatible

CONS

- Current Availability
- Lack of Physical Volume Controls