Page 3 - Subjective Audio Analysis
Reviewing audio devices requires extensively trained ears, lots of experience, and sufficient technical knowledge. Even for the experienced auditioner, it may prove challenging at times to obtain an accurate evaluation of a product without a thoroughly familiar product to use as a simultaneous reference. Furthermore, many self-proclaimed audiophiles are susceptible to biased write-ups due to placebo effects from false advertising. While I am not going to even try to claim that I am the only trustworthy or best evaluator for sound, it is fact that most computer review sites have editors who are insufficiently trained in reviewing audio equipment. Give them practically anything and all you will read about goes along the line of "good bass, nice midrange, awesome treble, really clear sound, 10/10". While there are many knowledgeable audio reviewers at various respected online media outlets, they are by far the minority.
As I have mentioned in my past audio reviews, there are really no true objective measurements for sound quality. As the evaluator, however, I will put it through a series of subjective tests to try to come up with the most objective rating possible. Yes, it sounds like a paradox. For all tests, I plugged the wireless transmitter into a USB port on my motherboard. After over 100 hours of break-in time -- well above the typical required period -- I put the Turtle Beach Atlas Air to the tests. All tracks are uncompressed or high bitrate audio files. I tested the headset without any effects active and with the equalizer set to a flat response. Specific to the headset, I also disabled any Waves audio effects through my Windows sound settings. For gaming, I played Overwatch and League of Legends. First-person shooter games are probably the most crucial games to test these headphones, as gameplay can heavily rely on hearing additional sounds. The other games have aspects where audio is useful, but this is less of a factor.
Starting at the low end, the Turtle Beach Atlas Air provided a sufficient amount of bass. This was a bit lighter at the lowest end of the bass range, which is in part due to the open-back nature of the headphones. As such, low-end bass drum kicks felt a bit less powerful than other gaming headphones. For what was present, the characteristics were solid with a rounded and defined output. The middle to upper range of the bass was a bit boosted to counter this, although it was still controlled without any muddiness. Even so, I think the Atlas Air lacked some depth and emphasis in this region. In games, the bass region is where you will hear things like footsteps and other cues. These aspects came through audibly without the need for additional effects or equalizer changes.
The Turtle Beach Atlas Air was again solid in the middle of the frequencies. The midrange was pretty clear and warm, which felt accurately representative of the audio source. Its sound was natural and with a good amount of detail. In the middle of this range, we had a bit of a reduction, although this is generally typical for a gaming headset. Instruments like guitars and pianos still were natural in sound with a good resonant quality. Furthermore, vocalists in this region felt warm and wet, which are good characteristics for this middle area, but also slightly recessed. In video games, things like voice lines and gunshots are in this region, which were clear and easy to hear.
At the trebles, the Turtle Beach Atlas Air provided a tight and clean sound for the most part. Moving from the upper-mids to the trebles showed again zero signs of dryness or missing areas. Its presence was balanced with the bass, which accounted for the bright sound. Instruments like violins and flutes were lively without sounding too shrill. At the very highest of the region there was a bit more of a drop-off. I did not notice too much of a shrillness or sibilant behavior either. High hat and cymbal crashes were crisp without being too clashy. In games, trebles are heard through cues like glass breaking. Overall, the sound signature was a typical flattened V-shaped curve with some variances. There was a slight reduction at the lowest end, followed by a boost in the upper bass to low midrange, a scoop in the middle region, and another short peak in the mid-trebles until a fall off on the highest trebles. This made for a fun-sounding headset that is typical of gaming headphones.
On paper, the Turtle Beach Atlas Air should excel in soundstaging with its open-back cups. Thankfully, this physical feature succeeds in providing an open and wide listening experience. In games, the directionality of sound was noted as I could easily hear where sounds were coming from. In music, tracks sounded expansive and balanced. There was depth and width, which made for an immersive and realistic sound image. The additional Turtle Beach effects such as Superhuman Hearing might have emphasized some of the in-game sounds, but I prefer not relying on additional equalizers to achieve this. As such, I was pleasantly satisfied with the soundstaging capabilities of the Atlas Air.
In terms of layering, the Turtle Beach Atlas Air was capable of reproducing good details without getting overwhelmed when there was a lot of noise. Again, I think the open-back construction helps a bit in this regard, but the 40mm drivers were capable in keeping all of the resolution of detail. The frequencies were cleanly separated and distinguishable while maintaining a single, cohesive sound. Everything was clean without any notable muffles or background wireless hissing.
Unfortunately, the one area that will not be good for the Turtle Beach Atlas Air is sound isolation. This is just part of an open-back design. As such, external noises will come in while your audio will leak out. If you are in a noisy place or in a quiet place, the Atlas Air might not be suitable for either environment. This is compounded by the fact I often found I had to crank the volume quite a bit higher on the Atlas Air in order to get to a typical listening audio.
As for the microphone tests, I used Audacity to record and export the captured audio as MP3 files. With the Turtle Beach Atlas Air's microphone somewhat angled at my face, I felt like it was artificial in capturing my voice. The recorded audio was compressed and sounded narrow or closed-off. Furthermore, it was mixed in handling background noise. The Atlas Air did avoid capturing my keyboard presses. However, you could also hear the noise cancellation at work, as the captured audio varied in volume to hide the background music. This overall quality is what I come to expect from most gaming headsets, but Turtle Beach could make some notable steps to improve this result. For voice chat or communications, this will do in a pinch, but I would not recommend this for anything like streaming or podcasting.
In terms of battery life, the Turtle Beach Atlas Air was strong. Turtle Beach quoted up to 50 hours per charge, and I was able to easily reach this mark before getting a low battery indicator. A full charge was reached within two hours, which is also solid. As for wireless range, the Atlas Air was only good when I was in front of my computer. Once I left the room, there would be occasional drops in reception and quality. Worse yet, my microphone input would become garbled even though the audio output was completely fine. On a minor note, the Turtle Beach Atlas Air does not allow for simultaneous USB and Bluetooth transmission at the same time, which may be a disappointment for some. Finally, I did not notice any wireless lag when gaming or watching videos with the Atlas Air.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
