course these come in different sizes including the set already on the ear phones . A nice addition that offers more options than the immediate competitors . Besides allowing you to find the best available match for your ears , should you lose a set or one is damage , you may easily replace them with the included tips . Since the ALUMA is built for gaming on devices that integrate the microphone and stereo audio jack into one lead , you may be unable to use the ear phones on some desktops or notebooks . To that end , ROCCAT has included a splitter which allows you to connect to just about any device that a regular headset would . A small addition , but one that is appreciated and should not be taken for granted . Case in point was the old Hyper X Cloud II headset which did not feature such a splitter .
That isn ’ t all that is included though , one last thing you ’ ll find within is an adapter for the inflight entertainment audio jack on older airplanes .
All that aside , performance is what matters and here ROCCAT
has managed to produce a fairly okay set of ear phones . The largest issue with this headset for me is that the buds tend to fall out with relative ease regardless of what tip I use . There ’ s also a notable transfer of noise from the cable . Just tapping the cable lightly transfers that to the drivers and it is easily audible . Those are the two largest detractors from what is an otherwise solid piece of kit .
Audio reproduction has no particular signature that one can assign to o it . It ’ s neither bass heavy nor does it lean towards the high end . The ALUMA sounds exactly as you ’ d expect from a mid to low end unit . A lot of this has to do with how the ear phones fit as on the rare times when you do get a solid and comfortable fit , the low frequencies sound a lot better . Mid-range can get a little muddy and the sound stage relatively narrow . These are typical properties of ear phones at the $ 25 to $ 35 mark which is ultimately where the ALUMA is . When compared to the Audio-Techinca ATH-CKS55 for example which costs $ 50 , the ALUMA is unable to compete and nor should it . It is however possible to get closer to that sound quality , so there is some improvement to be made by ROCCAT before these become the go-to in-ear headphones for gamers and casual users alike . I do believe that audio quality in line with the often ignored but very capable CoolerMaster Resonar headset is possible , even at this price point or a little
higher ( perhaps $ 50 ). The Resonar has lamentable build quality and presentation , but the signal reproduction is noteworthy .
If you , are not too fussy and use this headset strictly for your games and nothing more , you ’ ll find that they are more than capable and the issue of the buds falling out your ear is minimized to non-existent as you rarely move as much as you would when on the go . As a complete product , ROCCAT has done a fair job and it is a good place to begin ( these are not significantly different from their other in-ear headset ). In future , here ’ s hoping they will move forward addressing some of the concerns raised herein . To ROCCAT ’ s credit , it takes some convincing for a gaming peripheral vendor to step out of their comfort zone where they have a reputation of offering amongst the best if not the quintessential gaming peripherals . That ROCCAT has taken this step is commendable and there ’ s certainly a market for these headsets . At a slightly lower price , minus some of the included parts , this would be a great value proposition . As it is however , I find myself still partial to the ROCCAT KAVE XTD Stereo headset . It may be for a different user , a much higher price and incomparable in every way to the ALUMA , but it was a defining headset for me from ROCCAT . The ALUMA is more than a fair product for the asking price , however I ’ d rather it cost a little more and delivered a better experience .
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Issue 38 | 2016 The OverClocker 55