Turtle Beach Ear Force XP500 User manual

XP500 Advanced Sound Editor
Page 1
XP500 Advanced Sound Editor Users Guide - Table of Contents
Introducing the XP500 Advanced Sound Editor........................................................................ 3
Downloading the XP500 Advanced Sound Editor Software.................................................................................................. 3
Installing the Software.......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Setting up the Software........................................................................................................................................................ 3
Using the Software with a XP500......................................................................................................................................... 4
Basic and Advanced Modes of Operation ............................................................................................................................ 4
About the XP500 Presets.......................................................................................................... 5
PS3 and XBOX Modes......................................................................................................................................................... 5
Presets Architecture................................................................................................................................................. 6
Software Controls –Presets Tab.............................................................................................. 8
Advanced Mode Presets Tab................................................................................................................................... 8
Volume (Master Volume Section)......................................................................................................................................... 8
Basic mode Presets Tab.......................................................................................................................................... 9
Mic Section.......................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Mix Section........................................................................................................................................................................ 10
Master Volume Section...................................................................................................................................................... 10
Presets Section...................................................................................................................................................... 10
Creating Master Presets .................................................................................................................................................... 11
Presets Buttons ................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Saving a Preset ................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Deleting a Preset ............................................................................................................................................................... 11
“Upload to Headset” Button................................................................................................................................................ 11
“Save Presets to File” Button ............................................................................................................................................. 12
“Restore Presets from Files” Button ................................................................................................................................... 12
Battery Voltage.................................................................................................................................................................. 12
Headset Mode ................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Software Tutorial......................................................................................................................13
Listening to the Factory Presets............................................................................................................................. 13
Downloading New Presets ..................................................................................................................................... 14
Managing Presets .................................................................................................................................................. 14
Creating Master Presets .................................................................................................................................................... 14
Deleting Presets................................................................................................................................................................. 14
Uploading Single Presets to the Headset........................................................................................................................... 14
Uploading all Presets to the Headset ................................................................................................................................. 15
Editing Presets................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Software Controls - Configuration Tab.....................................................................................17
Update Section....................................................................................................................................................... 17
Update Firmware ............................................................................................................................................................... 17
Update Voice Prompts....................................................................................................................................................... 17
Update EEPROM Settings................................................................................................................................................. 18
“Restore All Defaults” Button.............................................................................................................................................. 18
Headset Info Section.............................................................................................................................................. 19
“Refresh” Button................................................................................................................................................................. 19
Software Controls –Chat Preset Tab (Advanced Mode Only) .................................................20
Silencer.............................................................................................................................................................................. 20
Chat Boost™ ..................................................................................................................................................................... 20
Equalizer............................................................................................................................................................................ 21
Chat Volume...................................................................................................................................................................... 21
Software Controls –Mic Preset Tab (Advanced Mode Only) ...................................................22
Silencer.............................................................................................................................................................................. 22
Limiter................................................................................................................................................................................ 22
Voice Morph....................................................................................................................................................................... 23
Mic Monitor........................................................................................................................................................................ 23
Software Controls –Game Preset Tab (Advanced Mode Only) ...............................................24
Silencer.............................................................................................................................................................................. 24
Sonic Lens™ ..................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Multi-Band Equalizer.......................................................................................................................................................... 26
Sound Field Expander........................................................................................................................................................ 26
Blast Limiter....................................................................................................................................................................... 28
Game Volume.................................................................................................................................................................... 28
Dolby on/off Button ............................................................................................................................................................ 28

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XP500 Advanced Sound Editor - Users Guide Revision 1.0
Documentation copyright © 2011 Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted by any means or in any form, without prior written consent from Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc.
(“VTB”). Use of VTB software is subject to the terms and conditions of the End-User Software License Agreement.
In no event will VTB be liable for direct, indirect, special, exemplary, incidental or consequential damages resulting from
any defect or omission in this manual, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. In the interest of continued
product development, VTB reserves the right to make improvements to this manual and the products it describes at any
time, without notices or obligation.
Turtle Beach, the Turtle Beach Logo, Ear Force, Chat Boost, Ear Guard and Sonic Lens are trademarks of VTB. Voyetra
is a registered trademark of VTB. Dolby and the Double D symbol are registered trademarks of Dolby Labs. Windows is a
registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. PlayStation is a trademark of Sony Corporation. All other trademarks are
the properties of their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged.
The Ear Force XP500 is a product of Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc. 150 Clearbrook Road, Elmsford, NY 10523
www.turtlebeach.com

XP500 Advanced Sound Editor
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Introducing the XP500 Advanced Sound Editor
The XP500 Advanced Sound Editor lets you view and edit all of the parameters in a XP500
preset. Once installed on your Windows PC or laptop, you can connect the XP500 headset
via the USB port on the left ear cup and manage the presets using the software.
Downloading the XP500 Advanced Sound Editor Software
The XP500 Advanced Sound Editor software is available as a download from our website,
www.TurtleBeach.com.
1. Navigate to the XP500 section of our website at www.turtlebeach.com/customize.aspx.
2. Click on “Download XP500 Advanced Sound Editor”.
3. Select a location to save the .exe file to and press OK.
The software is compatible with Windows 7 (32/64 bit), Vista and XP.
Installing the Software
Once the file has finished downloading, navigate to
its location and double click it. (Note: You must be
administrator to install the tool) Before running the
installation, close any programs (including anti-virus
programs) that are running so they will not interfere
with the installation process.
Follow the prompts to complete the installation. The
install may require you download the latest .Net 4
package. If so, it will take care of this automatically.
Setting up the Software
Connect one side of the USB cable (included with your XP500) to the USB port on the left
ear cup of your XP500 and the other side to a free USB port on your PC or laptop. After
you’ve installed the XP500 Advanced Sound Editor software, double click the XP500
Advanced Sound Editor icon on your desktop to launch the software. When first
launching the software, the XP500 Driver screen will appear. If the XP500 is not connected,
you’ll be prompted to connect the headset. Once the headset is detected, the XP500 driver
installation process will begin.
CAUTION: Do not disconnect the headset during this procedure!
If Windows prompts you to restart your computer because it installed a new
device, choose “restart later”.
After the software installs the XP500 drivers and the presets are downloaded from the
headset to your PC, the message “XP500 Headset Attached” will appear in the lower left
corner of the software screen. At this point, you’re ready to use the XP500 Advanced Sound
Editor with the XP500.

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Using the Software with a XP500
The best way to use the XP500 Advanced Sound Editor is with a laptop located near your
game console. This way you can hear the effects of changing parameter settings in the
presets as you’re playing the game.
Connect the XP500 headset to your laptop with the included USB cable. Place the laptop
and XP500 near your game console so you can hear the game with the headset. With the
laptop next to you, start the game and try editing presets to hear the effects.
After you’re done using the software, be sure to unplug the USB cable from the
headset so the power will shut off. The headset power will remain on for as long
as the USB cable is inserted into the headset. This will eventually drain the
batteries even if the headset is not being used.
Basic and Advanced Modes of Operation
The XP500 Advanced Sound Editor operates in either
Advanced or Basic mode. The modes are selected by clicking
on the appropriate button at the bottom of the program
screen. The primary difference between these two modes is the tabs that appear, which are
explained later in this manual.
Basic Mode presents a simplified version of the editing tool. The Chat, Mic and Game
Preset tabs are disabled and additional controls appear on the Preset Tab.
In Advanced Mode, the Preset Tab controls are simplified and the Chat, Mic and
Game preset tabs allow the individual presets to be edited.

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About the XP500 Presets
The XP500 headset uses a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) to independently modify the
game, chat and microphone audio paths in the headset. The DSP settings are saved as
presets, which can be saved to the hard drive on your PC or laptop using the XP500
Advanced Sound Editor software.
The presets are grouped into four categories: master, chat, game and mic. The Master preset
is comprised of chat, game and mic presets as well as other global parameters, such as master
volume and Ear Guard settings. The signal flow is illustrated in the diagram below, which
shows the game, chat and mic sound channels being modified by the DSP processor, then
mixed down to the sound that you hear in the headset.
PS3 and XBOX Modes
The headset operates in either XBOX or PS3 mode. This is selected by quickly pressing on
the headset power button twice and listening for the announcement of which mode is active.
Each mode stores 9 presets, comprised of one Main preset and 8 Alternate presets. The
preset button on the headset toggles through the 8 Alternate Presets. The main preset
button on the headset toggles between the Main preset and the selected Alternate preset.
This allows toggling between the Main and Alternate by pressing the Main button.

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The difference between PS3 and XBOX modes is in the settings of chat and mic presets and
chat signal routing.
In PS3 mode, the mic signal is connected to the Bluetooth signal while in XBOX mode it is
connected to the Xbox live jack. Therefore, if the XP500 is in PS3 mode and connected to
an Xbox, the chat signal will not work, and vice versa for XBOX mode connected to a PS3.
In addition to this hardware difference, the chat and mic presets have different filtering and
noise gate thresholds for PS3 and XBOX modes. For this reason, the names of chat and
game presets are preceded by [XBOX] or [PS3] to identify the platform they should be used
with. The game presets will operate in either XBOX or PS3 mode, so they do not use
[XBOX] and [PS3] in the game preset names as do the chat and mic presets.
Presets Architecture
There are four categories of presets (main, game, chat and mic) each corresponding to the
signal paths in the headset. The illustration below shows the DSP signal flow and other
system processing.
Noise Gates
A noise gate on each input of the three channels (mic, game and chat) allows background
noise to be removed from that channel. For example, on the mic channel, the noise gate
threshold may be set to just above the room noise, so the microphone channel will only pass
sound that is above the room noise (such as the sound of your voice speaking into the mic).
On the chat channel, the noise gate may be set to just above the noise level of the Xbox
controller, keeping the chat channel quiet unless voices are detected from online players.
Signal Processing Sections
The noise gates in each channel are followed by a signal processing section with audio
modifiers that are specific to the channel. The parameters within these signal processing
sections comprise a “preset”. These parameters can be edited using the XP500 Advanced
Sound Editor software as described in this user guide. The game, chat and mic tabs sections
of this manual describe these signal processing sections in more detail.
Voice Prompt Player
A voice prompt is triggered when certain events occur, such as pressing buttons, low battery
conditions, power on, power off, and so on. The voice prompt player output is mixed with
the channel outputs to create the master signal heard on the headset. The voice prompts may
be changed by downloading a new voice prompt file from the Turtle Beach web site. Thus,

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for example, the factory-installed English voice prompts can be replaced with different
foreign language versions.
Ear Guard™Volume Limiter
A volume limiter precedes the headset amplifier to set the maximum level of sounds sent to
the speakers. This feature is referred to as “Ear Guard” since it reduces excessive sound
levels during loud sections of the game to help protect the ears.
MCU and Personal Computer
The MCU controls the programmable system functions and connects to a Windows PC via
the USB port. This USB connection allows the MCU firmware to be updated with new
versions downloaded from the Turtle Beach web site, and also allows editing of presets with
the XP500 Advanced Sound Editor software.

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Software Controls –Presets Tab
The Presets Tab is the main section of the XP500 Advanced Sound Editor. This is where
you’ll transfer presets between your XP500 headset and PC. This tab will look different,
depending on whether you’ve selected Basic or Advanced mode by clicking on the
appropriate button at the bottom of the program screen.
Advanced Mode Presets Tab
Clicking the Advanced button places the software in Advanced mode, with the Presets Tab
configuration illustrated below. The Presets section on the left is identical in Advanced and
Basic modes, so it is described at the end of this section.
Volume (Master Volume Section)
The chat, game and mic signals are mixed together and routed to the master output, whose
signal flow is illustrated below:
The game, chat and mic levels are located in the game, chat and mic tabs. These volume
controls allow you to balance the levels of game, chat and mic signals heard in the headset.
Ear Guard™
The mixer is followed by a volume limiter, referred to as “Ear Guard”. This
slider lets you limit the level of the overall sound to help protect your ears
from sudden boosts in volume. Pushing the slider all the way up will let all of
the sound come through, no matter how loud it is. Moving it down sets a
ceiling above which the sound won’t increase. To limit the sound of gun shots
and blasts, turn this down to about 75% or less.
Volume
This slider controls the master volume and determines the overall loudness of
the headset. We suggest setting this to about 80% of maximum.

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Basic mode Presets Tab
Clicking the Basic button places the software in Basic mode, with the Presets Tab
configuration illustrated below. The Presets section on the left is identical in Advanced and
Basic modes, so it is described at the end of this section.
The right side of the Presets tab has three sections, Mic, Mix and Master Volume, used for
editing certain key parameters on the presets. If you change any of the Mic controls, be sure
to press the Save button next to the Mic presets field so it will be saved with the new values.
If you change the Mix or Master volume settings, press the Save button next to the Master
preset field. Otherwise, you’ll lose the settings you’ve edited when you select a new preset.
Mic Section
The mic section has three controls that affect the way your voice will
sound when you speak into the mic.
Silencer (Noise Gate)
The Silencer noise gate keeps background noise from being picked up
by the mic. To set the noise gate threshold, listen to the mic while not
speaking and bring up the threshold until you no longer hear the room
noise. Then speak into the mic at a comfortable level and make sure
the noise gate turns on, passing your voice. If it seems that you have
to speak too loudly, turn down the threshold a bit so that you can
eliminate room noise while still using a comfortable speaking tone.
For instance, if you’re in a room with a blasting air conditioner, you
can prevent the mic from picking up the air conditioner sound by setting the noise gate just
above the air conditioner sound. That way, when you speak, the mic will pick up your voice,
but when you’re not speaking, it will shut out the air conditioner.
Pitch Shift
This slider lets you change the pitch of your voice either up and down. Moving the slider
higher will make your voice sound higher-pitched, while moving it lower will make it sound
deeper. Double click the slider to make it jump to the middle, where the pitch is not shifted.
The pitch shift effect is selected with the Morph slider, described in the next section.
Morph
This slider sets the balance between your normal voice and pitch shifted voice. Moving the
slider down passes more of your normal voice and moving it up adds the pitch shift you’ve

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selected. If you place it in the middle, you’ll get a 50/50 balance between normal and pitch
shifted voice.
Mix Section
This section controls what you hear in the headset. Use it to balance the
game, chat and mic levels as described below.
Chat
This slider adjusts the amount of chat level you’ll hear.
Mic
This slider adjusts the mic monitor level to determine how much of your
voice will be heard in the headset. Turn it down if you don’t want to hear
your voice.
Game
This slider adjusts the game volume level.
Master Volume Section
The mixer output is routed to the master output, which is controlled by this
section.
Ear Guard™ Limiter
The mixer is followed by a volume limiter, referred to as “Ear Guard”. This
slider lets you limit the level of the overall sound to help protect your ears from
sudden boosts in volume. Pushing the slider all the way up will pass all of the
sound, no matter how loud it is. Moving it down sets a ceiling above which the
sound won’t increase. To limit the sound of gun shots and blasts, turn this
down to about 75% or less.
Master Volume
This slider controls the master volume and determines the overall loudness of the headset.
We suggest setting this to about 80% of maximum.
Presets Section
This section is identical in Advanced and Basic
modes. From here, you can transfer presets
between your PC and the XP500 headset.
The XP500 headset has two presets buttons;
one that selects the Main preset and another
that toggles through the 8 Alternate presets.
These two buttons are represented on the
software screen by the row of 8 preset buttons
and one Main preset button.
Above these buttons are fields for the four
Preset types; Master, Mic, Chat and Game. The Master preset is the one that’s uploaded to
the headset and it’s a combination of game, chat and mic presets listed right below it.
Clicking the down arrow in any of the four Presets fields will activate a drop-down box that
lists all of the presets on your PC hard drive.