Z-Reviews || Hardware || Other Gadgets || Review

Just a few weeks ago my good old pair of headphones broke down on me. They were the simple and light kind made by Sony that’s flexible - about ten dollars retail. So, I got that window shopping bug feeling again. You know how that is: you look around for the best and end up going cheaper until your price range is just perfect. I’m still a real fan of my old Sony headphones but I opted to get something a bit beefier this time around.

In any Case I decided to purchase the “First ever surround sound headphones” created by the one and only Zalman Tech Co. The headset is named "Theatre 6" (ZM-RS6F), and it supports 5.1 true surround-sound. Unlike other brands that say they emulate 5.1 the Zalman’s really has 6 speakers – “Electro Dynamic Round Type Micro Speakers”. These headphones are like other earmuff-type headphones that have large cushions on the side and top to hold in the sound and soften the contact points to your head.

Quality-wise this item rocks hardcore. I’m not certain what kind of plastic it is but it all seems good. I’m guessing it’s not as good as PVC plastic but it’s not like cheesy Chinese rip-off toy type plastic for sure. The exterior of the earmuffs are covered with a gun-metal color. The headset is designed very well, though I heard from another review that it only supports larger headed people. I don’t know about that because it felt a little tight to me; I guess I have a really large head. Hopefully over time it will form more to my head. The headset itself is designed so that you can make it more compacted buy folding in the ear buds into the middle of the headset.

As for the audio I was as impressed as I wanted to be at first. Then I realized that there are ways to adjust this headset within my driver settings for my Creative Live 5.1 sound card. You need a sound card or motherboard that supports at least 5 channel sound. To take full advantage of these headphones I recommend you get a higher end Sound Blaster Audigy card.

These are not going to top your standard Sony headphones in stereo mode. The speakers only have a range of 50 Hz-20 GHz. This is standard number for average headphones. There’s a few that have a better range such as an $80 pair of Sony headphones I found that was 10 Hz-80 GHz, so you can assume that it would sound better as a stereo headset if you only listen to 2 channels all the time. I also looked at similar ranged Bose, and the ever popular and respected leader of the high end market Sennheiser, headphones. Sennheiser makes some of the best cordless headsets out there; they run you in the hundreds for any of their high-end models. I’m cheap and the concept of real surround sound was to cool to pass up for me. Even still, $53 isn’t a “steal” by any means; I think they are worth $15 to $20 less then their retail price. However, you do have to take into consideration that it is really 3 headsets in one: considering you get 3 sets of plugs merged into a single headset.

Here is my take on the problems that I think other reviewers have had for this item. I personally think that the back speakers of this headset were intentionally designed to sound more muffled to create the effect of distance. The only problem is: I don’t know what sound card Zalman designed these for. My guess is their own, and if their sound card outputs more power to the back speaker it would then make sense. I think the distribution to rear and front speakers are a bit off if you use a Sound Blaster Live standard soundcard like I have. The balance needs to be adjusted to a little less than halfway to the rear speakers in my opinion. Realism is hard to achieve when all the speakers are around your head. Maybe Zalman can make a helmet next and have the speakers right at the rear of your head to give more distance and a “realer” feel.

All I know is that in stereo mode with 5.1 on it sounds very bad if you have the back rears set too loud. So I find it sound best for clarity with 5.1 mode where you send all the sounds to the front 2 and side speakers.

Ok this item is cool but there are the flaws besides the audio not being balanced with my particular sound card, which is one of the most popular sound cards out there for the average user. The earmuffs are very tight if you have a large head like I do. So you might feel more pressure on the side of your ears then if you have an average sized head. Measure you head size first, and if you’re fitting hats that are large or extra large you might want to think twice. If you have a normal sized head it should fit well. There is an adjustable part of the headband but one size fits all really never works, even for headphones. Another issue is that there are no vents at all in this headset. So if you want comfort without the warm ear sensation then get the style of headphones that go inside your ears. I must also complain a bit about the cushions themselves. After a while it builds up a bit of grease from sweat off your head and ears. A suggestion to Zalman would be to use something that is more fabric-like as well as make it so that it is washable so users can clean, or at least replace, the cushions.

All in all I give it thumbs up for being a cool concept, with a great first try execution from Zalman. There are its flaws but the sum of the positives of price, performance in 5.1 mode, concept, and design outdo the negatives by at least 3 folds for me. I’m guessing this idea is going to be attempted by other companies soon enough. Zalman might have a patent but I’m thinking it’s hard to fight off other big names to take suite and design even more stylish and higher quality 5.1 headsets.

There was a common truth in a lot of the reviews I read before I purchased the headset: that it was good quality from a brand that is really well known for its quiet solutions for PC cooling. Zalman makes some of the most unique products for pc cooling, such as heat pipe hard drive coolers to GPU/CPU cooling heat sink blocks.

Back to playing Half-Life with my new Zalman Theatre 6’s while waiting anxiously for Half-Life 2!