Ozone Strato Review

Intro

Today I got the opportunity to set my hands on an Ozone Strato Gaming Headset. A USB true 5.1 Gaming Headset. This Headset comes in a cube shaped package with a black backround and red splatters theme, and also a transparent corner for you to get a view of the product within. On the side of the box there are some brief details about the Ozone Strato, while on the backside one can find detailed features about the headset including technical specification

Packaging

Opening the package, I found the headset on top resting on a thin plastic. Pulling that out, there was the Driver's CD and a small booklet, the Manual.

Taking a closer look to the headphones, I noticed that they come fully black with a small red Ozone trademark on the head band. The Ear cups are large in size with a smooth leather like finish. The Headband comes with a leather covering with Strato imprinted on the top in a black finish. The bottom of the headband is a softer leather cushioning that accomodates my head quite comfortably. Heat is also tackled since the headband is also perforated, increasing airflow and reducing sweating.

Being a True 5.1 Surround headset the Ozone strato has 4 physical speakers in each earcup leading to a more precise surround sound. Both cups also swivel 90 degress forward for the best fit possible. The microphone can also swivel 90 degrees forward so that it reaches my mouth since it is flexible, the end tip is covered in a bean shaped plastic finished tip in a smooth rubbery coating.

Attached to the 3 metre cord that this headset has, I found the volume controller with some extra features catering for this headset's 5.1 Surround sound. The volume controller comes in the same matt finish as the headset itself. Apart from the volume throttle this controller also has the volume control for; Rear, Front, Subwoofer, Centre indipendently for custom sound levels to fit everyones preferences. Finally there is the mute/unmute microphone switch. I found the controller to be of great help avoiding me the hassle of changing the software settings to fit my needs.

Taking a look back to the professional looking and bulky earcups. They come with a thick leather cushioning that rested on my ears providing an excellent noise cancellation.  I noticed that following extensive periods of gameplay one starts to feel the weight of this headset since it is an on ear model. Even when just trying them with no sound output I could barely hear my younger brother doing his usual tantrums behing me. This is in my opinion a good pre LAN test. If I don't hear my brother I will definitely do well with it at LAN Parties.

Technical Specifications

Technical Specifications

Connection               USB
Cord Length              3m
Mic Dimensions       9.7mm x 5.0mm
Mic Sensitivity         -39db±dB
Mic Directivity         Unidirectional
Mic Impedance       2.2KO
Controller Functions     Main volume control; Single Volume control: rear,front,center, subwoofer; Mic On/Off

Features:
-5.1 Surround Sound
-Inline Controller
-Flexible Mic Extension
-Ear Cushions in Leather for Comfortable Use
-Foldable for Easy Portability
-4 Speakers in Each Earcup for Real Surround Sound

The Headset

Headset software

Installing the Headset's software from the CD was a piece of cake. When running this software I came face to face with a user friendly control panel having 5 different tabs dedicated to set this headset to fit your needs in various ways and also with some information regarding the driver's version, codecs etc. The first tab, The Main Setting tab allowed me to select the output method (channels) and the a virtual speaker positioning feature. The Mixer tab as usual allowed to manipulate the various sound levels. In the Effects tab, I found an equalizer, and pre-defined enviroment presets to suit my enviroment needs. The Karaoke/magic voice tab is a really pleasant feature included in this software that allows me to set different voice and sounds that morph my voice. It was quite funny I must say.

Testing it Out

Assasin's Creed 2

Being a game which hosts a character literally immersed in a world. It was a suitable game to test the 5.1 Surround sound of this headset. Whether you are up high on a building having the city market on one side and also guards on the building shooting at you on the opposite side, this headset kept a clear sound with sound distinction to fit the enviroment around the character in the game without having all that blast of a sudden bunch of sounds all hammering in my head. It kept a good balance with far and close sounds. I also liked the directional effect I noticed coming from guards speaking and hearing the sound of their voice shifting throughout the speakers. Thanks to this headset I found myself really immersed in the game making the experience much more realistic.

Movie: 2012

Personally I chose 2012 as a testing movie because you have a whole enviroment (the world) which is merely collapsing. Such a mixture of diverse sounds coming from different location made up for a good testing sample. I must say i really liked hearing sounds I never noticed in the movie prior to watching it with this headset.

Music: Everything's Magic - Angels and Airwaves (rockish), War on the saints - Green Velvet (electronic)

Well Considering it is a 5.1 headset, the sound has to be distributed between the speakers. So beggining from the bass, the bass performance was one of the top, with no distortion at all. When it came to mid and high frequencies the quality was average, resulting in some sounds heared less than others. On the other hand being a 5.1 the sound can be adjusted but it still requires some tweaking in order to achieve the desired results.

Microphone

I tested the microphone and the quality was average and could be improved in future models.

Conclusion

The cost

The cost of this headset is unexpectedly of €60, which is a really good price tag when compared to other USB 5.1 headsets on the market, also considering that most of them are virtual 5.1 whilst the Strato is true 5.1 headset with 5 speakers built in.

Pros and Cons

Good backround noise cancellation	Needs adjustment in order to switch from music to gaming to movies
Decent Sound Channeling	May be uncomfortable after a really long usage time
Comes with a voice morph software	May feel like heavy on your head
Cheap when compared to other headsets with similar specs
Ideal for surround compatible movies and games
Swiviling Cups give an excellent fit and great noise cancellation.

Overall:

We gave this headset the Hackers Bronze tag, for the superb 5.1 surround system it hosts, excellent sound directivity/channeling and the nice controller that allows the user  to adjust settings without alt tabbing out of games to access the drivers.

 

Thanks Go to Ozone for providing us with this sample for this review