Ozone Rage ST Review

👤by Tony Le Bourne Comments 📅10-01-13
Performance Testing

Comfort
The Rage ST is surprisingly light, almost unnoticeable, and the grip is perfectly adequate to hold the headset fast without slip without it feeling like a headlock. The foam on the ear cups work well and the fabric is breathable but are not perfect for someone who wears glasses, especially if they are thick framed as the foam is not forgiving enough to meld around the frame so you end up taking the full pinch of your glasses to your head, while not extreme, it was uncomfortable.

Durability
The majority of the Rage ST is made up of a sturdy plastic, meaning the adjustable strap will wear down over time with constant readjusting. I did test this by extending and retracting the strap a few times and wear was noticeable, however, the strap did not slip and the wear was not significant. The ear cups do not fold in so there are less moving parts so should prove more robust in that area. If you set your adjustment and keep it that way, there is no reason why this headset should wear too quickly. The cable is rubberised and flexible which allows for a fair bit of movement, as long as it doesn't get pinched or cut the cable should hold up over time. The microphone though adjustable, will be prone to the same exertions as the cable.

Music
Starting with White Ring's 'Black Earth That Made Me', it is clear very quickly that the bass is lacking. The low tones lack punch with the deeper bass sounding barely like a muffle. Mid tones were clear and strong. This is not really the genre of music that would best reflect the capabilities of this headset so I went with some classical music. Fauré's Sicilienne proved strong mid to high tones. Listening to various electronic dance genres revealed some good quality listening though the lack of quality bass did reduce the overall impact of the music, for this price range it is still perfectly adequate.

Games
Skyrim gave an interesting experience, a dragon flying overhead tends to always make me want to duck and clear ambient noises really added to the experience. Explosions in Battlefield 3 were well pronounced despite the muddy bass, it didn't really have a negative impact on immersion. It is clear to say that the Rage ST definitely performs better as a gaming headset than something to specifically listen to music with.

Microphone
The microphone at first was really sensitive but turning the level down to 40 and turning off the boost resulted in a good voice pick up. Though the mix also still picked up a lot of background noise too, so unless you wanted your friends to listen to you breathe, drink, eat, swallow and lick your lips, it would be best that you keep the microphone away from you and not directly in front of your mouth.


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