Page 3 - Subjective Audio Analysis
There are many challenges when it comes to reviewing headphones, because of how subjective the experience could be. It takes experience and time to train your ears to be able to make a proper judgement for an audio review. These challenges force us to take quite some time to listen and compare it to other sound equipment to have the best results, and to be able to give it a fair observation. Unfortunately, since different people have different tastes in their headphones and what they should sound like, it is hard to come to a truly objective conclusion. As such, the GAMDIAS Hephaestus Almighty headphones were put through a series of subjective tests to come to the best final conclusion. All tests were done through the USB interface, which provides the data transmission, and relies on its internal digital to analog converter to provide the decoded output.
At first, the headphones were broken in to ensure during testing, they are performing at its best. All tracks were uncompressed CDs, FLAC, or LAME encoded MP3s at 192kbps or higher. Since the GAMDIAS Hephaestus Almighty is a gaming headset, I spent more time gaming with it. The tests were conducted in DOTA 2, Sid Meier's Civilization V, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Personally, headphones should perform best in a game such as Counter-Strike, because of how important it is to hear where the enemy is in relation to yourself. For games like, DOTA 2 and Sid Meier's Civilization V, the sound is a nice added feature, but will not directly affect gameplay.
Most gaming headsets have their bass increased compared to audiophile grade headphones, and the GAMDIAS Hephaestus Almighty was no exception. However, even though the bass was present and deep, it sounded more hollow and boomy than smooth. Instead of getting a really punchy bass, which moves you, the bass instead does not make the desired impact. It was easy to hear the bass due to the extra boost it received, but if you have the headset on and you tap the earcup, there is an almost echo noise produced. When I played Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the Hephaestus Almighty performed well, because the added bass allowed me to hear footsteps better. Furthermore, thanks to the GAMDIAS Hephaestus Almighty Blast Source Identifier, it made it easier to detect where the footsteps were coming from. The bass did not overpower the rest of the frequencies, even though it was more pronounced.
Sometimes the bass can be boosted a bit too much, which will affect the overall balance. The final effect for the GAMDIAS Hephaestus Almighty was the midrange sounded a bit blanketed; in a sense, it was missing some range. Certain parts sounded a bit raspy and grainy, while also being a bit hollow, as it was in the bass. However, instruments are heard clearly with some warmth. The headset is aimed at gaming, and performed better in this area than for listening to music, which is good. The midrange is usually reflected in-game sounds such as the gun reloading or shooting, both of which was audible on the Hephaestus Almighty.
Finally, reaching the top of the frequency range was the treble. From the tests, the treble came out as clean, even though it was a bit recessed. It was dark, and even sounded muffled in some higher range instruments like violins. Much like the midrange, it sounded slightly blanketed. During my gaming sessions, there was not too much treble present in the games I tested it on. Ultimately, the treble was present, but did not reach the sharp sounds of higher range instruments. The direction was good, which is rather important for gaming headsets. The soundstaging was defined, however, the soundscaping was average. Even though I could pick out the instruments present in the music, the headphones did not properly create the virtual environment for listening, mostly because of how bass heavy they were. Another reason for this would be the GAMDIAS Hephaestus Almighty are closed back headphones, and is physically restricted.
Together, all the layers sounded a bit stuck together. All of them were a bit hollow, and did not give that extra punch. I think this is mostly because of the emphasis put on the bass, making the higher frequencies to be less defined. They were separated, but when a full range was being played, they became a little close together, making it all less defined.
The seal the GAMDIAS Hephaestus Almighty was able to produce was very good. The earcups were rather large, and will fit over even some of the bigger ears out there. The leather definitely helps for a comfortable fit. Noise cancelling was good, and helped get rid of some external noise. The microphone performed well, and was very clear, while reducing quite a bit of external noise, depending on the direction it was facing. The microphone was positioned in a perfect spot at the corner of my mouth, but does offer some flexibility in how it is bent. It also features some voice change options if you use the software. I have to say once again the GAMDIAS Hephaestus Almighty headphones are really big and bulky. With the aluminum heatsinks included, they really add extra weight, and after prolonged use, it becomes a strain to have on. In all honesty, it felt better taking them off after wearing them for a while than the first time I put them on.
The 7.1 virtual surround sound does not help with the music listening experience, but it does help in gaming. I found it performed well in the latter application. There is also a Blast Source Identifier as aforementioned, which supposedly vibrates the earcup slightly in the direction of the sound. I was not able to distinguish the details of the vibration pattern, but it was easy enough to use to pick out the direction of in-game sounds. The Blast Source Identifier can be adjusted with a slider next to the volume control. It can be either on a 'high', 'medium', or off. I did not notice a difference in my listening experience.
To sum it all up, the GAMDIAS Hephaestus Almighty produces a more bass heavy listening experience, but unfortunately, even the bass sounds a bit hollow, while lacking that punch. Unfortunately, due to the heavy bass, all three layers sound a bit stuck together. Since it is a gaming headset, it performs well for this application, and will not let you down in detecting where the enemy is coming from. However, the general listening experience was not as realistic as I would like it to be, and it only has average soundstaging and soundscaping.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
