Well, Hello fellow Pcapex'rs. Here goes my first review on this forum, let alone my first review ever. Go easy on me










The Icemat Siberia Headset (white).








It all started after I had easily gone through four pairs of Sony Studio Monitor headphones. And by gone though, I mean I leave them on the floor a lot. And occasionally, my foot meets them with a hardy “crunch”.


I had heard a lot of talk about these from fellow CS:S clan member, and how they actually help them. Whether it be hearing the footsteps of oncoming foe's, preparing for your first shot. Or hearing the intense gun fire around you, knowing where the battles are in Source, is the first key to victory.


After finally making my decision, which was mostly based off which headset I would care enough about to not step on, I chose Icemat's Siberia Headset.


The first thing you will notice, they are crazy “Ipod” white all over. This color choice I actually seemed to be quite keen towards.


The Package






The headset itself had been tightly packed into a thin, gray, plastic mold. This didn't seem to affect shipping or damages, since my set arrived in an undamaged box.


The box contains:


1 (one) Pair of Icemat Siberia Headphones
1 (one) 1.8 Meter Extension Cable
1 (one) Icemat Clip-on Mic
1 (one) 3.5mm to 6.3mm Adapter










The cord itself, on the individual headset, is quite short, measuring in at roughly, two and a half feet.


I did a comparison of all the cords lengths.


From left to right:


Headset cord, Extension cable, Mic and cable.










The Mic


The mic included is a small clip on microphone. I have heard a lot of complaints about the Icemat Siberia's mic, and its lack of quality. But personally, I found the mic to work out just fine. Sound was crisp and clear, and all of my Source teammates could easily understand me during play.










Personally, I enjoy the lightweight microphone, over a standard mic, that would be located on the side of the headset. The advantage I saw here, is that this headset would also be good on the go, without a mic sticking out of the side.




The Extension Cable


This item is pretty much self explanatory. It's an extension of the Icemat Siberia's, short two foot cord.
The extension cable includes a volume control wheel. It may not seem to be much, but I found this wheel quite handy in getting the perfect volume level.










The Headset


Headphone
Frequency response:
18 - 28.000 Hz
Impedance:
40 Ohm
SPL@1kHz, 1V rms:
99 - 104 dB
Cable length:
1.0 m + 1.8 m = 2.8 m / 9 ft.
Jack:
3.5 mm (6.3 mm converter included)

Microphone
Frequency response:
80 - 15.000 Hz
Impedance:
2K Ohm
Pick-up pattern:
Uni-directional
Sensitivity (1V/P@1 kHz):
-38 dB




Almighty, now what you've all been waiting for, the headset itself. Once again, I love the white color. It's very different than most headphones, which I would say a basic color would be black. And this color is sure to turn heads.





The IcematAudio logo on top







The actual speakers, or muff's, for lack of a better word, are quite big. But not to big to be annoying, or take away from the headsets new age look.






The “muff's” also include air vents, for keeping your ears dry while you listen. I didn't find these to really help, but they don't degrade your listening experience either.


Before I go any further. I would like to state that these are, in fact, the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn. And here is the reason why:




Both “muff's” are lined with a soft and padded, velvet like lining. These feel great. And both “muff's” fit around your ear perfectly. This seems to be so as not bend the ears, or cause discomfort, and it succeeds very well at this.


The Tests


I'm unsure of “benchmarks” to use for this sort of thing, so I'll resort to what I hear.




Counter-strike: Source


Wow, is really all I have to say when paring this game with this headset. There is nothing better than hearing your opponents footsteps and having the upper hand in every fire fight. Grenades explosions sound great. Spraying your M4 at an enemy, whilst your teammates flank with AWP's and AK's. You hear every subtle noise, every shell drop, every body hit the ground, every “dink” when there is a head shot. The headset also seems to be able to give a nice pseudo surround sound effect. Although not a true surround sound headset, I could definitely tell whether a shot was behind me or in front of me, to the left or the right.


F.E.A.R.


Now this is the game to buy these for. F.E.A.R., to me, seemed to have quiet voice overs with my Logitech X-530's. With these, every voice is crisp, clear, and at a great volume to hear. It also helps to hear voice overs, as the headphones don't have to battle with outside noised.


Music


This is probably the only downfall with this headset. I will include movies with this category as well. While audio in this case is crisp, clear, and downright good. It lacks in a few area's. The just don't put out enough bass as I would want them to. Though, songs that have a large amount of bass, these never seem to be overpowered, or distort when bass is introduced. However, highs and mids are a totally different story. They are handled exceptionally well, and never overpowered or distorted. I also enjoyed how this headset handles high volumes. I kept this in a safe area of course, as not to blow out the speakers. But as loud as I got it (safely), they never seemed to distort. This aspect I enjoyed very much.








Well there ya have it, my first review. This was pretty fun, testing, taking pictures, and writing this review. Though before I end, I will point out one minor flaw. Taking away from the white, some area's seem to have an “egg” colored stain, as pictured here






This was a little annoying, but almost unnoticeable in daylight.










All in all, this headset is for the gaming adept, and a must have for competitive players. If you are looking for a quality music or movies listing experience, they will satisfy, but I would suggest looking elsewhere. At an ESRP price tag of 80$, though www.tigerdirect.com has them for a very low price of 54$, these are an amazing experience for a very low price.


I hope this review helps you in purchasing your next headset.


Thank you for your time.

Nice write up bro!

How would you compare these in overall sound to your Sony MDR V6 and any other high end headphones that you may have used (Sennheiser or Grados perhaps)?

Whoa, I didnt know that my review actually got up, thanks PR mods.

Ok, in terms of sound, compared to my MDR V6, which I own a pair of. TBH, I could not really tell a difference music wise between the two.

I'd reccomend the MDR's for music though, not becuase of sound quality, but becuase they are closed aired, meaning, you wont hear whatws outside of the headphones, and no one will hear whats playing.

I've gone through a couple sennheisers since this review, and I havnt liked any of TBH. They're highs seem to be way too bright, and the overall build quality of the headphones just isnt quite up to par with the MDR or Icemats.

Here's a little idea on Icemats support. I eventually ended up accidentally stepping on my Icemats, and well, snap! So I emailed Icemats, the immediatly sent me an address and RMA number, within 3 days of mailing out my Icemats, I recieverd my new pair.

Though unfortunatley, I dont own my Icemats anymore, I gave them out to a freind for a going away gift for college.

Also, after actually using the EQ in winamp, and various other amps, these do have bass, nice crisp bass. It just takes some tweeking to get it right.

I'll stand by my review, and say this. This is the best set of headphones/mic you can buy, and at only 54$ at tigerdirect, you cant go wrong.

i just got a pair of the usb type god i love these
ive been so used to speakers and now i can have the bass (which my speakers sucked at doing)
and the software for eq settings are good

and given i dont know jack about headphones and speakers for comps but i know i love how comfortable they are

if this is the improvement for headphones i cant wait till i get my hdtv

I believe Buy.com has the black version for 10 bucks with google check out.

Buy.com - ICEMAT Siberia Professional Gaming Headset (Black) - 10064

Grood review.

Hahah I never saw this review before but I just ordered these from buy.com. I needed a new headset and for $20 on buy.com it sounded like an awesome deal so I jumped on it. I didn't see the black ones when I was ordering but I dont really care, the white looks really cool to me.

Quote: Originally Posted by The Amish Kid Hahah I never saw this review before but I just ordered these from buy.com. I needed a new headset and for $20 on buy.com it sounded like an awesome deal so I jumped on it. I didn't see the black ones when I was ordering but I dont really care, the white looks really cool to me.

yah, the white is pretty cool.

I didn't see it anywhere in the review, and I'm kinda curious, but what sound card were you using when you did this review?

I used a combo, An audigy 2 value, and with the audigy 2, I also hooked that up to my Pioneer VSX-815 receiver.

The sound quality was substantionaly better with the receiver.

I have ataully switched headphones though, I now use Sony MDR v6's, which I have to say, kill the Icemat's music wise, but they arn't so good for gaming.

Great review man

i acculty ordered these this mourning in black for like 10 bucks after google checkout and a rebate im so stoaked!

WOO!