Attitude One Almaz

[testman78]

Introduction


I love headphones, they're one of the most vital tools in my daily routine, I play a lot of games, I do a lot of work, I use applications like Skype and Mumble, I play guitar and make music from my PC, listen to a lot of music through out the day and so on, so it is important to me to have a well-balanced headset that can do multiple things with minimal fuss.Attitude One are dipping their toes into the world of audio with the release of their all new Almaz lifestyle audio product.



Specifications





Package & Bundle

The Attitude One Almaz is supplied in a medium-sized cardboard box which is decorated in an attractive white livery. The front of the box features an image of the headset .



Around the back we have the full specifications and box contents.



The sides of the box features the A1 logo.



With the top cardboard flap lifted up your presented with the Almaz itself.The box itself feels very good quality and should do a decent job of protecting the headset during transit.



Canvas carrying pouch included.



User guide.



Premium cable pack included!



The included cables are really high quality, with cool looking covers on the jack plugs. The cables seen below can be used independently or with the headphone/microphone splitter cable depending on your setup, be that direct to your PC, or a mobile device / media player.



The in-line controller is pretty simple, but durable too. It features three buttoms .





Closer Examination

Almaz is available in 6 different colors: Black, Blue, Green, Pink, White and Orange .



The model i have here is blue (obviously) and this is accented by a touch of silver plastic trim around the outside of the ear cup and with the A1 logo on the back of each ear cup.



Foldable design for easy storage and compact carrying.The ear cups are pretty slim and the compact size helps keep weight down and makes them easier to store in you bag between uses or when travelling.



Headband is steel sheethed in plastic.



The headphones is finished in a soft plastic / rubber material.The SofTouch finish feels fantastic, but it is also quite durable as far as finishes go.



40mm drivers.



On the underside of the left ear cup you’ll find the jack plug.



The headband is adjustable and should fit virtually anyone.Comfort wise, I was hoping for something much better, considering the nice soft squishy plastic padding on the ear cups and on the headband, it would be easy to think that you would be donning a very comfortable headpiece, however this was far from the case. The forementioned small earcups, as suspected, were too small for my strictly average ears and did not fully surround my ears. Reaching somewhere inbetween a circumaural/on-ear design. This could have been fine with the soft padding if it wasn't for the vice-grip like head tightness.This tightness may wear in with time and become more comfortable, but doesn't really make up for the small ear cups. The tight grip and thick padding did make for good noise isolation, as well as head wampth (re warmth).





Sound Quality

The Almaz audio quality impressed almost immediately. I used the Almaz for a solid month, taking it to work where it was used for music and occasional Skype calls, and using it at home for PC gaming .Despite its small size, the Almaz puts out good quality audio, even when cranked to maximum volume levels. No distortion, buzz, or extra noise ever reared its ugly head during raucous tune playing or gaming. And the Almaz gets plenty loud for its small size—I won’t say I wouldn’t mind if it got a little louder, but it does well enough.The Almaz’s produce big bass, and it never got ‘muddy’ even at nigh ear-splitting volume levels.



There were few songs that sounded underwhelming when listening with the Almaz.Some orchestral songs sounded unnatural, but that was easily attributed to the headset’s punchy bass. It’s not a super powerful basshead headphone, but the Almaz is quite fun for listening to just about every music genre ranging from rock and heavy metal to techno and house.The good frequency response, powerful bass, and energetic trebles make for a close cinematic listening experience with movies. There were virtually no problems with movie playback. The headset has a wide stereo soundstage.The Almaz good sound characteristic also makes it good for games, providing good audio reproduction.



Microphone

Voice communication adapter for PC with Mobile in-line remote.



This unique patent pending microphone adapter is bundled with the Almaz headphones. With this you can transform your headphones into a fully functional headset. Featuring a flexible microphone, microphone mute button, volume control and two meter PC-cable.It performed its duties flawlessly in several Skype calls and Android devices. (No complaints of poor audio, reception, etc.)



You can detach the headset from the inline controller and use the Almaz as a simple mobile headset, or you can connect your phone to the inline controller and use the Almaz for simultaneous phone calls and gaming.If a call comes in, you’ll hear your phone ring in the headset—if you have a loud ringtone and don’t have the audio so loud it will drown it out, anyway. Then you can turn down the headset volume, crank up the phone volume, and take your call. (Don’t forget to pause your game.)





Recap

The Attitude One Almaz is the best sounding headphones in Attitude One’s 2014 refresh. A wide audible frequency response, good to great detail at all frequencies, and a warm sound characteristic that energizes music makes for a great sound from the Almaz.Overall i feel the Attitude One Almaz is a quality product. It offers the flexibility of using it as a pair of headphones with a mobile device too. This makes it a 2-in-1 headphones.Everything about this product screams quality, except from one important factor when considering a headphone, comfort.This could be that I have an extraordinarily large head and ears. Contemplating that, if you want a pure audio headphones and have a small head, small ears and love booming bass, this is likely to be the best headphones you can buy.



At 110 Euro's , these are not a cheap date by any means, but you do get a lot for your money.Premium features like a lot of cords, gold plated connectors, and the Voice communication adapter , make for a pretty good bang for the buck.The Attitude One Almaz amongst the best headphones i have tested, once you start listening to music with this headphones, that's where the pricetag will make a lot of sense, trust me.A great performance award as such is well deserved.