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Paracon SONA Gaming HeadsetThe summer holiday is over, which means we'll have more time for reviews of cool products. I'll start the late summer with a review of a Paracon SONA gaming headset, which GeekUnit has been so nice to ask me to review.
Paracon offers many different computer accessories. It is a low cost brand, but the products are produced in a fairly reasonable quality.
Let's take a look at the packing. As we have seen in previous reviews of the Paracon accessories, the boxes are generally dull in black and blue colors by default. However, there has been a little green on this box, and that's because it's the green version of the headset I'm reviewing.
Content: Since the box contains nothing else than the headset, there is no need to make any list in this section.
Moving on to the technical specs. As you can read in the list, the headset is an over-ear headset. This means that the entire ear should be inside the ear cup. The headset plays the entire theoretically audible frequency range from 20-20,000Hz with its 40mm speaker devices, which is fine. The microphone is omni-directional and the cable is 2.2 meters long. Everything good for a headset.
General
Technical Details
Units
Microphone
System Requirements
Miscellaneous
Let's look at the headset. We jump straight to it and here see the headset mounted on my head. As mentioned before, it is the green version of the headset I have received, but it is also made in red and blue. So you should be able to find one that fits your setup.
The headset sits quite nice to the head and does not weigh very much. So there is no discomfort at all.
The ear-cups have nice markings and a nicely looking Paracon logo. I immediately think it looks great with the bright green color, it gives a little color to the surroundings.
Paracon could have chosen to make the entire headset in plastic. But they have chosen not to, but also use a little metal and steel. It's definitely a good thing and gives the headset the impression of quality. The main body itself is made with steel bars inside, and with relatively soft rubber on the outside. There is no cushion, but with a little adjustment it does not matter. The adjustment itself is stepless.
On the right ear cup is the microphone. It has a heavy relief, but is made of a very thin rubber-coated swan neck. It seems a bit loose when you adjust it, but it stays where you put it. If it should move a bit, it's quick to adjust again. The cable for the headset itself is made of silicone and also has a strong relief on the ear cup.
As you can see, there is a small hole on the outside of the microphone. It usually indicates that the microphone has noise reduction. So it will be exciting to hear in the test further down if it removes or reduces noise from the surroundings.
As previously written, this headset is an over-ear headset so it should cover the ears completely. It certainly does, and I do not even have small ears. The hole in the ear cup measures 6-6.5 cm at the highest point, the ear cushions measures about 10 cm on the outside. I guess that the cushions on the ear cup are made in memory foam, or just in some kind of solid foam. No matter what, they are fine on the ears and do not create any kind of discomfort. Not even if I wear glasses.
Then there is a small collection of pictures of the remote control, which is located about 60 cm down on the headset cord. On it you will find a button to turn the microphone on and off. As well as a volume control. Behind it is a small clip so that you can attach it to the clothes. However, the clips are very small and tight, so you almost have to slide it over an edge of the clothes. The possibilities may be a little limited.
At the end of the wire we find a pair of connectors for the computer. There is a green and a pink plug, which are the colors used for speaker and microphone, respectively. The connectors are both marked with color and pictogram, so you can not misunderstand which connector is for what. The plugs are coated with gold, so you are sure of a good connection every time.
How is the headset in use then? I have used the headset over a few days to get a feel of how it is in use for a longer period of time. I have been playing some games, and listened to a lot of music.
Comfort: This headset actually fits pretty well on the head. It does not weigh very much, so it does not strain your neck. It fits just right in the width of my head so it sits pretty well, without causing discomfort after long periods of time. It may be a disadvantage for some, that the headset is the closed type, so the ears can not breathe so much. It can give wet and hot ears after long periods of time, but it's generally not something I'm having trouble with. The same goes with the ear cushions, which are covered with leather. The headband has no cushion, which for some also could feel strange. But if you just take the time to adjust the headset when you put it on, it's no problem. It could have been nice with a cushion though.
Sound: I think this headset plays just fine. It's far from the best I've heard, but certainly not the badest. There is a fair depth in the sound / bass without it becoming too dominant. The middle tones are also fairly good, but the treble is missing. Unfortunately, that is a thing i hear often in many headsets, where producers forget about the details of the sound. The problem with missing treble may be that you can not hear the details of the sound when listening to music. The music becomes a flat feeling and lacks life. The same goes for when you play computer. The details are missing here too, and in some cases it may be devastating to the game. If you can not hear the little sounds like weak footsteps, or someone who loading his gun on the other side of the wall. That being said, you can often adjust the sound. The sound I explain here is the basic sound, and I do not adjust or use other aids to improve the sound. So the headset certainly has not lost, but the basic sound needs fine tuning.
Microphone: I have made a few recordings with the microphone, so you can hear how good it is. First recording is a fairly common voice recording without background noise where you can hear that the microphone actually records my voice quite nicely. I think it's as clear as it can be.
The next recording is with background noise, where a speaker is in front of me under my monitor playing music at reasonable volume. As you can hear, my voice is still clear, but there is still some background noise in the recording. Apparently, the microphone removes the background noise, and you can hear last in the recording how it actually turns up the background noise after I stop talking. It seems to work as it should.
Now my evaluation. Considering that this is a low cost product. This headset actually works quite good. There is no doubt that you compromise on a few things, but in you can buy this headset for as little as 150 DKK. The color is bold, and the headset actually seems reasonably sturdy built in spite of the price. The cord is long enough and there is a small remote control on it, which is positive for this product. Unfortunately, the negative side is that there is no cushion on the headband. This means that you have to take a little care with the adjustment before you sit down. So you do not get sore in the scalp. As I said, the sound in the headset is not the best I've heard, but it's quite honorable for the price. And since most drivers can adjust the sound, I think most people can adjust to the sound they wish for in that way. I choose to give the headset a nice Bronze star. The headset actually does it quite well, but is just in the cheap end. This applies to both sound and comfort. Read more about Paracon SONA here.
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