With the rise of mobile gaming, companies are creating top of the line peripherals to make mobile gaming the experience that many desktop gamers have enjoyed for years. Roccat has just released their audio option for mobile and music, named the Roccat Aluma. Built and designed to handle whatever life has to through at you while you are away from your desktop, the Roccat Aluma offers top-notch in-ear audio quality, while also offering a durable and light-weight aluminum housing.
Packaging and Aesthetics
Let’s start off with what you get for your $55 US (or 49.99 Euros Roccat’s online shop only ships the Aluma to Germany currently). The Aluma comes packaged with the in-ear headset, 6 different pairs of earphone adapters for your ears, adapters for your PC, Mac, mobile devices, and a nice little case to store everything in while you are out and about. The entire headset is designed in a black and light blue aesthetic, which reminds me of a headset designed in the world of Tron. I really like the overall look and feel of the Aluma, with one exception. The cord that connects the headset to your device looks and feels like a rubber band. This is to make the cord much more compact and to fit in smaller places, but I do not like the look nor the feel of the cord personally. This is such a small gripe that I almost did not mention it, but being used to braided cords from my desktop headsets or mice, made this cord stand out a lot more then I expected for me.
Performance
The Roccat Aluma sounds good, really good. I tested the Aluma with my mobile gaming, some laptop gaming, and with my music while I was at work. In all aspects, the sound through the Aluma was impressive, and it immediately replaced all of my in-ear headphones as my go-to set. Music sounded fantastic through the Aluma, and the headset brought a nice depth to my mobile gaming that my old in-ear head set could not bring. The quality of the sound of the Aluma along with the portability that Roccat designed it for, makes the Aluma perfect for mobile gaming and music.
There are just a few downsides to the Aluma as well. The mic that Roccat uses for the Aluma is an omni-directional, in-cable mic that also has a mute button. This is great for some communication, but I find that a uni-directional mic always works better and cannot be beat for gaming communication. Also, there isn’t a volume control on the cord itself, so all volume has to be control via your device.
TECH SPECS
DRIVER UNITS
Frequency response: 20~20.000Hz
Max. SPL at 1kHz: 98dB
Impedance: 16Ω
Max. input power: 5 mW
Drive diameter: Ø8mm
Cable length: 1.2m
MICROPHONE
Max. SPL at 1kHz: -40dB
Impedance: 1.6kΩ
Directivity: omni-directional
Final Thoughts
The Roccat Aluma is a fantastic product that will give you quality mobile gaming and music audio while you are away from your desktop. The aluminum housing is both light weight and durable, so the Aluma will not start to hurt your ears even after hours of use. The mic used for the Aluma is similar to the mics you see in other in-ear headsets, which works fine for communication but cannot beat the quality of a good desktop headset with a dedicated microphone. Roccat also makes sure you have enough adapters to handle anything and everything you might run into out in the real world, with a pc, mac, airplane, and mobile device adapters. You also get multiple sets of rubber adapters to find that perfect fit for the shape of your ear. All of these can fit into a nice, durable carrying case that can travel with you where ever you go. The Roccat Aluma runs about $55 US (49.99 Euros), so it isn’t on the cheaper side for an in-ear headset, but considering the quality of sound and the durability of the aluminum housing, I would venture that it is worth the price.
[easyreview title=”ROCCAT Aluma Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]
