| |
When
paired with the 5.1 sound card we reviewed earlier
(or any 5.1 surround card with separate F, C, R outputs
and 1/8” sockets), the phones offer 5.1 channel surround
sound by feeding the separate audio channels to separate
drivers in the headphones. In situations of stereo
use, only the front channel is used. I have played
games with standard stereo headphones in the past
and it works OK, but placing WHERE the sound was coming
from was difficult. These phones offer to change that.
For
testing, I used the phones in three different listening
situations: Music, Gaming and DVD playback. I will
offer my experience in each situation and compare
it to my experience with my old Sony stereo headphones.
First,
and foremost, these offer advantages to gaming, so
let’s start there: I played a variety of games including
Unreal 2, UT2K4 demo, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
and Counter Strike: Condition Zero. In all of these
games, the 5.1 surround worked extremely well placing
me in the center of an environment. Sound quality
was sufficient, with crisp highs and decent bass.
I have to emphasize “decent” as the drivers here don’t
drop bass as low as my larger Sony stereo phones.
However, they are not “tinny” sounding, with an acceptable
level of bass for most gaming situations. The place
that I felt the lack of bass response the most was
during GTA:VC, but that was related to music, which
is next up for criticism.
For
music playback, the dynamic range is cut short at
the low end. I listened to a range of styles from
Rap and reggae to rock to jazz, and classical. Music
lacked power and fullness with these phones, mainly
in the low end. By including three drivers per side,
Zalman has obviously had to go with something a little
smaller than what my ears were used to, so the bass
is not as powerful as it could be coming from headphones.
As
far as movies go, I watched “The Perfect Storm” for
its 5.1 Dolby surround and high power audio. As with
games, the 5.1 surround was very impressive, however,
as with music, the bass was a bit weak, so the full
power of the sound was not quite there. However, the
surround sound compensated for a lack of bass, and
the movie was still immersive.
These
are all around decent quality headphones for basic
use (and for the money), although by no means audiophile
quality. The surround sound features are the ringer,
they do a great job at emulating 5.1 surround sound
from a set of headphones. Great for LAN parties, or
late night gaming in a household of more than one,
as you won’t wake anyone up with your desktop speakers.
When paired with the 5.1 USB sound card (ZM-RSSC),
they make a fantastic mobile option for laptop gaming
on the go.
Finally,
I need to mention that these phones are a bit uncomfortable
after about a half an hour of wearing them. The cups
are big enough to surround your entire ear, and the
pads are soft enough, it’s just that the tension is
pretty strong and the phones are heavy; I felt that
I needed a break after a little while. Not good for
the long haul with music, movies or gaming; all of
which can be hours on end for some of us.
Conclusion
The
3DVelocity 'Dual Conclusions Concept' Explained: After
discussing this concept with users as well as companies
and vendors we work with, 3DVelocity have decided
that where necessary we shall aim to introduce our
'Dual Conclusions Concept' to sum up our thoughts
and impressions on the hardware we review. As the
needs of the more experienced users and enthusiasts
have increased, it has become more difficult to factor
in all the aspects that such a user would find important,
while also being fair to products that may lack these
high end "bonus" capabilities but which
still represent a very good buy for the more traditional
and more prevalent mainstream user. The two catergories
we've used are:
The
Mainstream User ~ The mainstream user is likely to
put price, stock performance, value for money, reliability
and/or warranty terms ahead of the need for hardware
that operates beyond its design specifications. The
mainstream user may be a PC novice or may be an experienced
user, however their needs are clearly very different
to those of the enthusiast, in that they want to buy
products that operate efficiently and reliably within
their advertised parameters.
The
Enthusiast ~ The enthusiast cares about all the things
that the mainstream user cares about but is more likely
to accept a weakness in one or more of these things
in exchange for some measure of performance or functionality
beyond its design brief. For example, a high priced
motherboard may be tolerated in exchange for unusually
high levels of overclocking ability or alternatively
an unusually large heat sink with a very poor fixing
mechanism may be considered acceptable if it offers
significantly superior cooling in return.
Mainstream
User
These
headphones are a brilliant idea. They are well made,
have good enough sound quality for all around use
and the additon of surround sound is an innovation
that sets them apart from other headphone choices.
For basic performance in all catagories of use, they
performed well enough for the average gamer/movie
buff/music lover. The fact that they get uncomfortable
so early on is the only reason I see NOT to give these
a gold award... If the comfort level was on par with
the rest of the package, then they would be nearly
perfect for the average user. Maybe comfort will improve
over time as the tension eases but they'll still be
heavy.
Enthusiast
For
those audiophiles out there, I am sorry to say that
the dynamic range of the Zalman headphones is just
not as wide as it could be. I have used some very
high-end headphones and know what kind of sound you
can expect from a good pair. Even my consumer-level
Sony's have richer, fuller bass and slightly crisper
highs. Of course, I don't think that Zalman is marketing
these to audiophiles, rather offering a solution to
experience full 5.1 surround desktop sound when discression
is needed. As for the advertised features, they work
as stated; the surround sound effects are surprisingly
accurate in gaming and movies, the build quality is
exceptional and the fact that they fold to such a
compact size are all plusses. It's just too bad that
they are uncomfortable after short peroids and the
dynamic range is somewhat limited. If you need surround
sound without waking the neighbors/spouse/roomate,
then this is a fantastic solution (and the only one
of it's kind on the market), but if you are a true
audiophile and want a set of phones for accurately
reproducing music, then maybe look into something
geared towards music.
|
|
