Introduction
From the company that
brings gamers some of the coolest glass mousing surfaces, comes a new
line of audio gear. Icemat Audio has introduced two new MP3
players and a Microphone/Headphone set that is very impressive to say
the least. Today we are reviewing said headset, the Icemat
Siberia. The Siberia arrived in one piece shipped from Denmark in
a packing box and its sturdy and attractive display box. Here are
the specifications and features.
Specs
Headphones
|
Frequency
Response
|
18-28,000 Hz
|
Impedance
|
40 Ohm
|
SPL@1kHz, 1V rms
|
99-104 dB
|
Cable Length
|
1m
(Headphones) + 1.8m (Volume)
|
Jack
|
1/8" Stereo +
1/4" Adapter
|
|
|
Microphone
|
Frequency Response
|
80-15,000 Hz
|
Pick-Up Pattern
|
Uni-Directional
|
Sensitivity (1V/Pa@1
kHz)
|
-38dB
|
Features
The Icemat Siberia is essentially three separate pieces. This
includes the volume control, the microphone, and the headphone
assembly. This makes the headset very versatile in that it can be
used as a standard pair of headphones with your audio gear or as a
full-fledged headset for gaming and Voice-Over-IP technologies.
The outer shell has a very flashy high-gloss white paint and the design
of the phones is simply bad-ass. The "Open Type" headphones
delivery great sound while providing much needed airflow to your ears
during long hours of gameplay. I found the self-adjusting head
strap and ear cushions to be very comfortable. The microphone
will deliver best performance when clipped to your lapel, but comes
with a clip that can be used to remote the microphone on your monitor.
Performance
I listened to music as well as played games for hours on end with the
headphones. I found the sound quality to be excellent. A
little extra bass was needed for most music but raising the low-end a
little did not introduce any distortion. The low-end may suffer
slightly from the open design of the ear pieces. However, the
trade off for comfort is worth it. I tested the microphone by
recording three mp3 files from different positions. The first
sample is recorded wearing the microphone clipped on my shirt.
The second is from the monitor with no added gain and the third is
using a "microphone boost" option.
You will notice that the Lapel sample gives the best performance.
While using a boost and clipping the microphone to the monitor gives
adequate levels, the sound is a bit hollow and picks up ambient noise
from behind the microphone. In my case, this is the
computer. The microphone may be "Uni-Directional" but the pick-up
pattern will be pretty wide with this amount of gain.
Conclusion
The Icemat Siberia is a very well put together headset and I would
recommend it to any gamer. The sound quality is excellent and the
microphone performed better than expected for a computer
accessory. While the pricetag is a little steep at $79.00 US, it
can be seen in the Siberia's quality of construction and excellent
performance. For these reasons, it gets an AMDPower.com seal of
approval (valid monday-thursday breakfast only). Thanks go out to
Icemat for providing the headset for
review.
