[by Steve Guttenberg, CNET]

I’ve seen these types of things before, but now Iogear has jumped into the fray with a new surround processor for stereo headphones. The product, the USB Theater Sound Xperience, is a USB audio adapter featuring DTS Surround Sensation Headphone technology. Connecting directly to a computer’s USB 2.0 port, the USB Theater Sound Xperience simulates a surround-sound effect over stereo headphones or stereo speakers. It’s a PC-only compatible device and will not work with Apple computers.

I have no idea what it sounds like, but I love the design; it looks like a vacuum tube! Fear not, it’s a 100 percent solid-state design. The USB Theater Sound Xperience takes two-channel audio and processes it with DTS Surround Sensation Headphone technology to produce the illusion of sound appearing outside the headphones or speakers. Iogear claims 5.1-channel encoded movies gain “more life” with the USB Theater Sound Xperience’s LFE (low frequency effect) mixing, which mixes low frequencies with left and right front channels for superior performance. Two 3.5mm jacks are provided for stereo microphone-in and stereo headphone-out connections.

The USB Theater Sound Xperience retails for $39.95 MSRP and is available from Iogear, Amazon, and other online retailers now.

See the original post here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-20077290-47/surround-sound-from-any-stereo-headphone-for-$40/?tag=mncol;1n