January 27, 2005 - Anyone with a nice surround sound setup can tell anyone else who's still stuck in the days of simple stereo that they're missing out big-time with games, movies and even TV. But even high-end surround sound enthusiasts need to pop on a set of headphones every now and then for one reason or another, be it a sleepy roommate or bitchy neighbors. And when you're used to watching flicks or smiting digital foes in 5.1 (or even 7.1), stepping down to the stereo experience that headphones provide is disappointing.

Enter Thrustmaster's solution, the (say it with me) T510 Dolby Digital 5.1 Decoder + Dolby Headphone. That's quite a mouthful, but this system is also an earful. The T510 is essentially a package that includes a small Dolby Digital decoder, a set of headphones and a slew of cables to get you all connected.

The decoder will decode both Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic II (and I, of course) signals and "translate" them to a stereo signal (that simulates surround sound) for headphones. Dolby Headphone is name for this technique, so when you put all of that together you have the product's name. Not the most elegant thing ever, but very descriptive indeed.

While the T510 is really one product, we'll discuss the two pieces separately since you can actually use any set of headphones with the decoder, which, for better or worse, Thrustmaster has no plans to sell separately at this point.

The Decoder
The decoder is a small, roughly 3"x2" device that receives and decodes an audio signal and then spits it out to a set of headphones. You don't need any sort of receiver to use this set, which is a pretty nice selling point. Even if you have zero audio components, you can step up to digital surround sound for $150.


The top of the device has a singular, multipurpose input. It'll take either a 1/8" analog connection or an optical cable. Included in the box are a handful of optical -> S/PDIF adapters to allow an optical cable to connect. Two optical cables are included, and there are also various stereo RCA -> 1/8" adapters and cables included for getting a non-optical device connected.

On the side of the unit you'll find the volume and AC adapter input, and the bottom has a 20" cable that feeds to the headphone inputs. The top of the unit has all of the signal LEDs (showing you what sort of signal is connected), a mute button, test button, output selector (to switch between surround and stereo) and the on/off switch. The back houses the battery door.

There's no need to select an audio type as the decoder will auto-detect the source and switch to Dolby Digital or Pro Logic II as necessary. If you want to switch to a plain-old stereo signal and skip the curround decoding for whatever reason, a click of the Output button will switch that on and off.

As far as the physicality of the unit goes, it has a couple pluses and a few minuses. On the plus side, the decoder is extremely easy to use. Plug in a set of headphones and an input and you're ready to rock (or shoot, as the case may be). It's also very small and lightweight so it'll easily hide next to or behind a gaming system or DVD player.

There are three main problems with the unit, though any or all of which may pose no problem to you. Firstly, the battery life is fairly disastrous. Thrustmaster is saying that you should get two to three hours of use with a set of rechargeable batteries. We were getting closer to two, both with rechargables and standard throwaway batteries. Luckily the unit can act as a recharger, though again, you'd only be able to use it for a couple hours at a time (or per pair of AAA batteries). On a positive note, you can recharge the unit while you use it, but you'll pretty much need to keep it plugged in at all times anyway. If you always keep it plugged in to the wall, you should have no problems.