i-Rocks Gaming Peripherals Review

i-Rocks A05 Headset Review

Manufacturer: i-Rocks
UK price (as reviewed): £29.99 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): N/A at time of writing

With the M09 and K10 mouse and keyboard doing so well despite their low prices, we also had high hopes for the i-Rocks A05 headset too. As with most headsets in this price range it sports a closed-back design although we can't quite decide whether the ear cushions are supra aural or circumaural; the small-eared will likely find themselves with the latter.


Despite its low price tag though, both the ear and head band cushions are substantial and comfortable for long periods of use and the leather-effect surfaces did well to cope in the mini-heatwave we had here while we were testing them - no sweaty lugholes around (that's ears to anyone living outside London).


It's very well made and adjustment is fairly good, although there's a bias towards larger heads so if you're particularly small here you may struggle. We'd have liked to have seen more ear cup swivel too; as it stands it can be hit or miss as to whether both cushions sit planted on your ears for a nice seal - more premium headsets have a slight edge here.


There's a removable, flexible microphone boom and interestingly, the two 3.5mm mini jack sockets on either ear cup are interchangeable so you can mount the microphone and removable audio cable in either socket. The removable audio cable is a nice touch too - as well as providing the means for purchasing replacements compared to fixed cables, if you stand up and forget to unplug yourself, the cable will likely just pop out instead of your PC or speakers trying to yank your head off.

There's no microphone mute button but there is a volume dial around 80cm from the ear cup with the total cable length being 200cm. The cable itself is fairly weighty and coupled with the fact it's not covered in braiding, means it can feel a little heavy too.


Despite one or two shortcomings in the comfort department, we were amazed at the A05's audio capabilities. Its 40mm drivers punched well above its price tag in the low end of the audio spectrum, with the bass scoring highly in explosions and music that relies on this area heavily. In fact, we'd even go as far as saying it coped as well as many headsets that cost twice as much.

The mid-range and high end were, strangely, quite lacking out of the box by comparison, but flicking through a few Spotify Equalify equaliser settings or in the usual sound card software suite boosted things a fair bit. There was still some room for improvement here but considering the price, the performance was mightily impressive.

Drum and bass/Electronic or RnB fans will come off slightly better here but for the most part games are as good as you'll get without spending over £40. Our microphone recording proved to be above average, although there was a little noise and our voice lacked clarity at lower volumes compared to more expensive headsets we've tried.


Conclusion

We came away from using the A05 oddly disappointed but only because we ended up comparing it in our minds to much more expensive headsets. That's a complement and in reality, this is a fantastic headset for the money - it's comfortable, fairly adjustable and copes very well in most situations in terms of audio quality. It won't please everyone - not even headsets costing twice the price can do that, but if you can't afford more than £30 or want a spare headset for LAN parties or traveling, the A05 will fit the bill nicely.