Performance

As with any type of audio systems it's hard to measure performance because there isn't any benchmark for it, so the following is just my interpretation of performance under the given circumstances. To test the set I have used my X-Fi Extreme music from Creative. I have listened to a large variety of music types all the way from classical music to techno and rock.

Gaming

I tried this speaker system in a variety of different games, right from FPS (First-Person-Shooter) games to Need for Speed. To start off with, I put it through its paces in Counter-Strike: Source. In this type of fast paced game where directional sound is important, a headset is a much better choice because the acoustics in a headset are way better at giving a full directional sound experience.

Don't expect to hear where the enemies are coming from with a 2.1 sound system. Most of the sound will be interpreted as coming from the front of you even with the advanced emulation features of an X-Fi enabled sound card.

This set performed just as good as any other 2.1 system on the market today in delivering directional sound. The sound quality on the other hand was really nice, the explosions and stuff like that had the right powerful expression.

After this little FPS test I moved on to Need for Speed. The sound-scape in the new Need for Speed is really nice and the sound system performed great. A responsive treble and a deep pounding bass for the thumbs and bumps.

Music Listening Experience

When listening to music a 2.1 sound system such as the Gravity XXL really proves its worth, this can easily out perform almost any headset on the market when it comes to reproducing music. The treble was really nice and provided a good balanced output well suited for listening to music or for movies.

One of the things that amazed me with this sound system was the performance in rock and classical music reproduction. The bass was powerful and responsive enough to cope with all of the different pieces I played. The fact that the sound reproduction is so balanced makes this set a nice buy for the music listener. The sub woofer proved its worth in both techno and some of the classical pieces, I was stunned that it could function so well in such a variety of music.

Sound quality is one part of a good listening set, the other is sound pressure. I have a fairly big room so when I go around, taking pictures for reviews and other important stuff, I like to be entertained with a nice piece of music. And I must say this speaker system can play loud enough to make it uncomfortable to be anywhere near my room. Another thing I also noted was that the sound reproduction was accurate also at high volume.