Final words and conclusion
Final words and conclusion
This was a suprisingly nice first introduction to Attitude One. Overall we are pleased with the build quality, looks and audio quality of both tested headsets. The winner however is the Tunguska 2.0 headset as it delivers direct and very good quality sound with deep dynamic bass. Now you'd expect the 7.1 USB version to sound the same as it uses the same drivers, but that's not the case. The 7.1 headset is in fact a standalone USB soundcard tied to the headset. The overall quality is good, but in my opinion sounded slighty less then the 2.0 headset. Typically we are not huge fans of USB enabled headsets, then again .. the overall quality is pretty good. Added benefit is of course Xear surround sound, coming from two channels it tries to virtualize 7.1 sound. While it is an okay feature I often found myself tweaking the EQ and found that the second you hit a preset like hall, the echo was way beyond what it needed to be.
Subjective
Now I also realize, there probably isn't anything more difficult to review than when it comes to audio, thus speakers and headsets. Audio is subjective so that's an entire big grey area that you need to describe loaded with subjective perceptions and facts from the reviewers side.
Comfort
The Tunguska kits are fairly lightweight and very comfortable to wear and the ear cups provide a proper fit for just about anyone. The headset is fairly lightweight but does seems to be of solid build quality. The ear pads are made of micro fiber and feel soft and comfortable.
Concluding
So it's time to conclude, the overall sound quality is of the 2.0 set we find to be really good. The 7.1 USB set we feel is a notch down, but after you've tweaked EQ a little it certainly is at a very nice level, just not audiophile quality. The EQ really is the strenght of the USB based Virtual 7.1 set. For straight up gaming both kits are hard to beat, the overall clarity and nice bass make them lovely headsets. Aesthetically these are also pleasing sets to look at with a wide varyity of color options. So the aesthetic problem lies under the heaadset :)
As noted, the overall wear comfort is nice, the microphone offers good quality and clarity, and with a little EQ tweakage the sound will most definitely blow you away as far as the USB version goes. Though the surround Xear modes worked fine the reality remains that it's 'guesstimated' or virtualized surround, it will never get close to real perceptive 7.1 sound for that matter. With the bass pumped and thumped, and the treble upped up a notch my personal sound flavor was reached and satisfied real fast.
Summing it up: The Tunguska 2.0 is a great sounding and comfortable headphone set, the USB 7.1 version however is not up-to my standard of audio quality. But again sound / audio is personal and I tend to set the bar quite high and realistically these kits sit in the 70 EUR range.. It is good to average in terms of audio and that is the sheer reality. Also remember, its not real 7.1 channel surround though. As such we surely can recommend the 7.1 USB headset, but find the 2.0 set downright good.
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