Overview:
I would like to start by saying that this review is aimed at the trendy section section of society. The ones who can pull off a mullet, and not be embarrassed wearing skin tight jeans, and a blazer. The focus of today’s review is the Sandbergs StreetBlaster headphones, which at an RRP of £35.99, might seem a reasonable amount of money. Aimed at the gamer, and the street smart poser, and possibly both, these headphones are a bit of a break from the norm for Sandberg, and is part of their new StreetGear range of PC accessories recently launched.
Review:
So, out goes the familiar purple and yellow packaging of the Sandberg line of products, and in comes the black and orange street stylings that is the StreetGear range. Inside the box is 1 x StreetBlaster headphones, a short 1.2 meter cable, and a longer 2.5 meter cable with microphone, instruction booklet, and warranty card. The longer cable is for attaching to your computer while gaming, and includes the microphone for the all important comms, and the shorter cable is for attaching to your MP3 player while out and about. The specs are as follows:
- Earphone:
- Driver unit: 57 mm
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz
- Impedance: 32 Ohm
- Sensitivity: 110 dB
- Microphone:
- Type: 6mm dia. electret condenser microphone
- Direction: Omni-directional
- Impedance: Low
- Sensitivity: -58 ± 3dB
- Frequency Response: 30 Hz – 16 kHz
The headphones are black and white, and are the type that cover the entire ear. They have a leather seal around each speaker, and a leather band that goes over the head, is supported by two plastic bands that provide the spring to keep these headphones clamped on. The leather band is attached to each speaker via a bit of elastic that keeps the headphones snug on your head, and makes sure the seal around the speaker is more or less intact. The overall upshot of this is a set of headphones that feel secure, and fit well. Above each speaker is a piece of plastic that has the letter L or R on, depending on which side the speaker serves, nothing new here. But on the other side of the plastic, they have the letters in braille. A nice touch for the visually impaired, and costs Sandberg nothing to implement.
On the side of each speaker is the StreetGear and Sandberg logos. I’m sure that on the right head these could look pretty cool, though unfortunately on me, they look like some sort of medical brace or scaffold for those with a broken jaw. All that engineering also adds to the weight of these headphones which for me is a little on the heavy side. Not a lot, but over time they got a little less comfortable.
The headphones come with two cables for plugging into various devices as I have mentioned before. Both cables plug into the jack on the headphones, and secure in with a twist. The connection feels very secure, and I don’t envisage any problems. The shorter cable is designed with portability in mind, and is welcome when you don’t want to have a huge cable winding itself about your person. The longer is to give you a bit of freedom while gaming, or doing whatever it is one does in front of ones PC. The longer cable also gives you the microphone that is placed at a convenient distance from the face. The housing of the microphone also gives you a volume control, and a mute button, so you can have a good old swear without offending you fellow gamers.
Once you are all plugged in and ready to go, it’s time to listen to your favourite popular music record, or perhaps have that game of Jet Set Willie on the PC. I chose to listen to Billy Jean by MJ (RIP), and watch the Matrix (again). I also had a hack at Tomb Raider: Underworld. Billy Jean was done justice, and the baseline never got distorted no matter how much I fiddled with the graphic equaliser. Overall the sound quality was slightly flat, but the headphones coped with all aspects of the music, from the tweet to the bass, nothing was too much or too little for the headphones.
The Matrix again was done justice, although the flatness of the sound that I mentioned earlier was compounded by the fact that the headphones will only be stereo, and The Matrix will be better off in surround sound. Apart from that the reproduction was solid, but not outstanding. The headphones worked better with Tomb Raider: Underworld, the grunts and general Lara noises were reproduced well, as were the explosions and the sound track. These results should be expected, as these headphones are aimed a the gamer, and the casual MP3 listener.
The Microphone performed pretty well, although the recordings that I made of myself singing Baa Baa Black Sheep seemed a little silly on the quiet side. I fiddled with microphone boost and levels, and was able to get a reasonable recording, and the quality was fine. Certainly OK for screaming orders to your mates to out flank the sniper on the hill. Also I prefer a mic to be less sensitive than over sensitive to a point. Too sensitive, and you sound distorted quite easily, also you won’t perforate a team mates eardrum accidentally.
The Gaj-It Verdict:
Design: 7/10
Usability: 7/10
Features: 6/10
Value: 7/10
We Say:
A respectable set of headphones from Sandberg. Solid reproduction of music and games, and slightly lacking in the movie department. Very comforable, although I am not sure I would go out in public wearing these!