Attitude 1 Almaz Multi-Format Headset Review

Performance

To put the Almaz through their paces I hooked them up to the wonderful Silverstone EB03S Headphone AMP via the Silverstone EB01-E Desktop DAC. I spun up a few of my favourite albums and was immediately impressed with the range and clarity available from the 40mm drivers on the Almaz.

There is a really rich low-end to the sound that is packed with detail, it’s not even a loud or really heavy base, but it certainly has presence overall that managed to rip through “Strapping Young Lad – The New Black (YouTube)” without faulter or distortion, even when things got really manic on the track “Wrongside (YouTube)” it was crystal clear.  This can likely be attributed to the closed back design on the drivers, the air is being locked in against your ear and that also helps keep a lot of excess noise leaking out and bothering others near to you. The clear bass doesn’t affect the rest of the frequency range either, crystal clear highs really lifted the finer sounds of “Steve Vai’s – Passion & Warfare (YouTube)”, and some delightful mid tones really bring out the guitar tones in any music.

I’m a big music fan and it’s important to me that a set of headphones or a headset can handle anything I throw at them, regardless of the volume being low or high and maybe even a little extra EQ for good measure. The Almaz never faltered and while testing the maximum volume I must admit that I had to chicken out, only knowing for a certain that they can go “very very very loud”. While I know fans of electronic music such as dance, dub-step, such as “Project Bassline (YouTube)” will get a lot of love from the Almaz because of the detailed low-end, so to will anyone else, be that classical or thrash metal.

Mobile performance was pretty spectacular too and the in-line controllers do come in handy for making quick changes. My only issue for mobile use is the fit of the head band. It’s a little uncomfortable and the back of the drivers sit quite wide from your ears. Personally I know for a fact I always look stupid in over ear headphones, but the Almaz really look like they’re trying to get away from me when I wear them. However, I don’t care that I look silly in them, so long as the sound performance is up to scratch, and it certainly is. The microphone on the boom isn’t too bad either, nothing remarkable overall but there rarely is anything remarkable about a microphone these days. Skype and in-game chat were nice and clear overall and really that’s all that matters for most of us.