The trade off you're lumbered with if you opt for 5.1-channel headphones is that to get all the necessary technology and speakers packed in, manufacturers need a fair amount of space. So headphones like Gainward's new SoundXplosion 5.1 are bigger even than those that you used to plug into stereos in the early 80s. That's the progress of technology for you, eh?

Still, we're getting ahead of ourselves. The headphones themselves are light, but bulky. Finished in silver and gold, they're also quite stylish, and naturally that's going to bother some more than others. However - and this a big plus - they're very comfortable to wear, even for long periods of time. They adjust easily to differing head sizes, and unless your bonce is particularly small, you're unlikely to grumble (they're very easy to adjust, too).

To get the most from them, you need to have in place a 5.1-channel surround sound card to handle the decoding (or some form of audio source with a 3.5mm stereo plug will do the job), and then - as you'd rightly expect - it's a case of plugging them in and away you go.

And while they're no substitute for a full-blown 5.1-channel surround sound speaker set, the audio from the SoundXplosion set is nonetheless impressive. We tried a mixture of audio CDs, movie DVDs and games, and were left suitably impressive by the output. Certainly, compared to other headphones in the same price bracket, the performance was in excess of our expectations.

One slight grumble of note. While audio that relied on full-on surround sound came across very well through the SoundXplosion headphones, more basic output felt a little more hollow. Not to the extent where you'd mark it down as a sizeable problem, but a minor niggle nonetheless.

Yet credit where credit's due. The Gainward SoundXplosion 5.1 headphones score highly on performance, highly on comfort and well on value for money. They're going to be particularly welcome for regular LAN party visitors, where headphones are becoming increasingly compulsory.

There's a set of extension cables included, meaning that you won't have to be hunched over your computer and can instead sit a comfortable distance away. Replete with a neat vibration effect, and the fact that your ears are totally covered, the SoundXplosion 5.1 headphones are remarkably good at shutting the outside world firmly out.

If you want to know the full specification, the sub-woofers are 40mm diameter, 100mW at 4 Ohms. The front/rear units are 30mm (two each side), 30mW at 32 Ohms. The centre speakers are 30mm, 30mW at 64 Ohms.

While not perfect, the Gainward SoundXplosion 5.1 headphones are good value, and offer very good performance when they hit top gear. One of the better 5.1-channel headsets on the market.