Review: STEALTH A10 Cruiser Headset

Cruising for Fight 

STEALTH is out to vary the U.Okay. gaming headset market. They’ve received a broad lineup of headsets for each character that’s positive to create entry-level envy. They despatched me the Cruiser A10, a headset impressed by wars previous, and they’re catering to these trying to leap into video games like Name of Obligation: Fashionable Warfare in fashion.

Constructed for Fight 

For a wholly plastic construct, the Cruiser A10 is fairly sturdy. I’ve at all times most well-liked gaming headphones which have a minimum of steel skeletons to outlive the entire bumps and bruises they get in motion. However I used to be happy with how sturdy this pair’s build-quality is. They’ve acquired a couple of scratches and dents from day-to-day life and a fall or two. However I anticipated to have much more with a month of strong use for an all-plastic construct. My private choice is that it’s a camo of a unique variety. I’ve by no means actually been into the Name of Obligation-themed patterns discovered on controllers, headsets and even consoles, as a substitute favouring easy black and gold or black and white finishes which seem extra skilled. However I can’t deny this headset appears to be like fairly slick sitting on one of many frosted stands that STEALTH additionally affords.

I’m an enormous fan of the pointless hinge-like look of the facet arms. Every options STEALTH’s emblem in silver and a bent-but-not-bendable arm, which appears to be like slick.

One facet of this headset I like is the microphone. Within the low-to-mid-priced vary, I discover that microphones appear at all times to be the place the worth is misplaced. They both change into too elastic, let in an excessive amount of outdoors noise, or die inside a couple of months. The microphone on this headset is thick, sturdy, and stays totally locked in place. I had no drawback speaking with my staff in Overwatch, which is normally the premise of each victory.

Multi-platform Mishap

The Cruiser A10 works on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Change, and PC. However be warned that for those who plan to apply it to the ultimate system, chances are you’ll have to spend money on a secondary dongle to get audio working. That’s since you are required to make use of an antiquated microphone/headphone splitter. However what number of gaming rigs nonetheless have a microphone output? My 2019 Dell G5 doesn’t. Fortunately, My Corsair HS60’s ship with a 7.1 USB dongle that I used to be ready to make use of to attach the headset to my pc. However I might see how this might be upsetting for PC players trying to leap proper in.

Loud, however probably not Proud 

STEALTH maintains that the Cruiser A10 will allow you to hear each explosion, gunfire, and command out of your staff in clear, crisp audio. I can’t argue this level as my time spent utilizing the headset in Overwatch and the Name of Obligation: Fashionable Warfare beta was extraordinarily crystal clear. Nevertheless, I do discover the 40mm speaker drivers missing in polish. As a radio producer, I take my audio personally. I maintain no prisoners in relation to poor audio. With the Cruiser A10, it seems to me that STEALTH went to the equalizer in quest of loudness. It’s simple to make out phrases and sounds when utilizing this headset, however there’s no bass, no treble, no timbre, restricted and compression. Distinguishing minute sound and richness in these headphones are about as exhausting as it could be to identify these visually in a forest filled with bushes.

In relation to judging the audio advantage of headsets — gaming or in any other case — I normally use slipfunc’s “one other likelihood”, as this lo-fi lullaby is among the finest examples of correct mixing I’ve ever discovered. It’s a good way to separate good headsets from the dangerous. Begin by turning your headset about three-quarters of the best way up. The crackling needs to be heat of timbre, that means that it leaves you with a kind of comfortable feeling — when utilizing the Cruiser A10, the crackling was virtually tinny and missing bass accompaniment. Twenty-five seconds in, treble ought to present up with the voices. You need to have the ability to distinguish — for sure — between high-frequency and low-frequency notes within the voices.

With the Cruiser A10, voices seem to sound the identical, until somebody is yelling at you to play higher. Are you prepared for the bass? The bass ought to make you are feeling the heartbeat of a recreation or a track. It doesn’t must rattle your bones, nevertheless it ought to a minimum of make you are feeling just like the lifetime of your audio is throughout you. As soon as once more, that doesn’t occur with the Cruiser A10. And that one’s important for gaming as a result of if you end up taking part in Overwatch, you need to hear the route of these voice strains, so that you don’t get nerfed. If you end up taking part in Name of Obligation, you want these explosions and pictures from behind to maintain you working and gunning. I felt barely faraway from the motion whereas sporting them. However that is an entry-level gaming headset, so I definitely wasn’t anticipating the STEALTH drivers that concentrate on loudness to offer the identical depth as my go-to Corsair HS60’s, that are an entry level into high-definition gaming audio with out the worth tag.

STEALTH considers the Cruiser A10 to be a life-style headset. If you end gaming, they need you to have the ability to take out the mic and activate the soundtrack to your lively life. Nevertheless, it appears they need you to be residing that life as a brief individual. They provide you a three-foot cable with an L-shaped 3.5mm jack, which doesn’t work so nicely if you end up six-feet. I discovered that slightly pointless. I additionally discovered myself often wishing the cans had been just a bit bit larger as a result of they sit on my ears slightly uncomfortably. Nevertheless, I think about the target market to this headset being youthful players, so that is one other factor I’m keen to let go of.

Verdict

The STEALTH line of headsets is at the moment solely out there within the U.Okay., in order that’s going to be a deal-breaker for an enormous viewers. When you’re searching for one thing that may maintain as much as all your gaming fight with out breaking your financial institution, the STEALTH A10 Cruiser is a protected and low cost wager at solely £24.99 ($42.39 CAD).