Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows

Most of my at-home listening is done via speakers, but if I'm in bed and not wanting to disturb the rest of the house, I have Shure SE 530s, via the laptop or a Sansa Clip. However, I've never been particularly in love with the Shures, which have spent most of their life in their case. I'd pretty much stopped listening to music on headphones.I thought I'd try these. I don't know why I expected $250 'phones to sound better than $500 ones, and they certainly did not. They sound exactly like what they are: mid-range, mid-price.That's not to say they're bad - they certainly aren't; they're just middle of the road. They're lovely and airy, and the sound stage gives a fair illusion of being out of the head. The bass is very nicely controlled (and there's plenty enough extension for this classical music afficionado). The highs are clear without being tiring. The mids... Ah, this is where I noticed where I (hadn't) spent the money. "Transparency" is probably one of the most abused words in audio, but once you've heard it (truly heard it) you're never happy without it.Although I've never spent crazy money on hi-fi I've some decent kit over the years, transducer-wise. I've had Quad ESL 57s, 63s and 998s; Spendor BC1 and SP1 and currently B&W 802. HPs have included Stax Lambda Pro (which I sold because they were just so bloody hot and uncomfortable!). All these transducers have what I think is true transparency - and none more so, IMO, than the positively ancient ESL 57, which I have never ever heard bettered in that department. They didn't have deep bass, and they weren't much use for a party, but I miss them to this day (thirty years after I had to sell them. Sob).I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I was stupid to think the 598 would somehow defy the price/performance equation. I should probably simply have got the Visa card out and bought the HD 800s, but I wanted something easy to drive. And that brings me to...The Fiio E17! I bought this little miracle at the same time. Oh, my. Suddenly, I realised just how good the SE 530s can be. I've always shied away from external DACs and amps for 'phones. Too much trouble and bulk for what's supposed to be a neat/portable alternative to my main system. I took a chance (at that price, why not?) on the E17 and to say I'm thrilled is an understatement. In combination with the Shures (and my laptop or Nexus 7) we're definitely in touch with the high-end. I've never been a great believer in the post-1980s philosophy of "spend most of your budget on the front end", but the E17 has made me realise that proper hi-fi does demand a little more than a Sansa Clip (amazing as that little device is), or the headphone output of a Samsung laptop.However, though I'm very happy to discover just how good the 530s can be, I'm afraid the 598s (although improved by the E17) still remain firmly earth-bound, and nowhere near as fine as the Shures.I'm not familiar with all the 598's competitors at their price point, so I can't say if they're a standout in their market segment. What I think I can say is that they're neither a bargain nor a rip-off. If someone put them on my head, blind, and asked me to guess the price I'd say $250 (or £164, in our money).Before I go, I can't stress enough that the 598s are very good - but if you're fussy and spoiled, these won't do it for you. I'm tempted to keep them, though, because I really like the design. They go so well with my few treasured pieces of Art Deco furniture!PS:I'm not sure if the rating system on Head-Fi is absolute or relative, so I've given them three stars for audio quality. If that's wrong maybe a mod could change it to four or five (though I'm not sure how logical that would be).

i bought this product about 7 years ago; in 2011, and it still works to this day. i used to have to go to microsoft's website to download xbox360 receiver drivers to apply to this product otherwise it would show up as "unknown device" in my device manager and be unable to sync.since the arrival of windows 10, microsoft has built-in xbox360 drivers and i am able to manually pick from a list of drivers on my computer to apply to this product instead of having to download on my own.cons:sometimes the pc forgets what device this is if you unplug it and it goes back to being "unknown device" when you plug it back in and you have to reapply the drivers to it. any other issues have been resolved by simply uninstalling the device and reinstalling the drivers.pros:it really did increase the amount of games i could comfortably play on steam and anything else that accepts microsoft controllers. it has been plugged in and on every time i power up my pc every day, for the past 7 years and it has not burnt out. whenever i ever had a sync issue, it was because of the controller im trying to sync itself having insufficient battery power and not the receivers fault.although...mine looks a little different from the black one with the word microsoft on it in the product picture though. mine is white on the top panel and gray on the bottom panel with the words "xbox 360" printed at the top and a green LED at the bottom of the front of the product. on the back it says pc wireless gaming receiver and the usual made in china and disposal logos etc. if i remember correctly, mine came with a pc drivers disc about the size of a gamecube game disc. i remember struggling with the drivers contained on that disc until i went to microsoft's website itself to download drivers which then did work more reliably. since then, windows 10 has made going to microsoft's website obsolete with the built-in xbox360 drivers on the system.to install:go to device manager and find the receiver (mine showed up as unknown device in the other devices section) right click the device and go to properties and driver tab and select update driver. you must select "browse my computer for driver software" and then "let me pick from a list of drivers on my computer" and go in the "xbox360 peripherals" section and select a receiver driver to install. after this point you should be able to sync a controller to iteither the provider changed how the product looks over the years, or perhaps it is coming from a different manufacturer and the one i own whose quality i enjoy, may no longer be relevant to this exact product page even though this is the exact page i ordered from so many years ago.