When we first took Icemat’s Siberia headphones from the box, there was a general sense of disbelief that something so complicated looking could actually fit on one’s head comfortably. It is, however, the design of the headphone itself, with variable tension and comfortable ear muffs that make it a joy to use even for long hours. The Siberia even comes with white and black colors. No doubt the white helps with iPod users. Icemat is pitching the headphones as a solution for gaming, portable and media use.

In terms of audio quality, the Siberia’s best strength is in bass driven audio so naturally this would lend to good acoustics for games. Going directly to a PC or a receiver, we were able to pipe in normal stereo sound and EAX enhanced environmental effects. In spite of its analog connection, the Siberia is able to give you positional information on audio effects alone so with the proper games and hardware setup, you can pinpoint where things are and where they’re coming from. We tried several titles including EA’s The Godfather, Battlefield 2 and Vivendi Universal’s SWAT 4. The effect would probably be a lot stronger with some sort of 5.1 digital input into the headphones themselves but we were pleased with the performance of the headphones especially while wearing it for prolonged periods of time.

The microphone clip included enabled us to clip it on to clothing. Speech was clear while using the microphone and we were able to conduct conversations using various online telephony tools and in game chat functions without hearing too much breathing from the user or ambient noise. At higher volumes, sound does seem to leak from the Siberia headphones so it’s not advisable to clip it close to the ear muffs without some sort of push to talk function.

We also ran the Siberia through some tests with various movies. In an action movie, such as Kingdom of Heaven, the down-mixed audio still featured some surround elements while using the Siberia. Conversation was clear and male voices in particular retained their deep bass. Quieter movies, such as the recent Pride and Prejudice, also sounded decent with the Siberia.

There is no doubt that speakers and headphones are tailored to different applications and therefore different music. With the Siberia, we found R&B and bass heavy music sounded the best. Mariah Carey’s We Belong Together was great running through the receiver and our iPod unit. The range of sound seems constrained at the lower and higher ends of the spectrum. For example, when we played Diana Krall’s The Look of Love, we weren’t able to get a full bodied voice. Michael Buble’s Save the Last Dance For Me sounded close to the original source because his voice range is congested around the middle of the spectrum. More noticeable was when we played classical pieces like Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. In piano, the individual plinks and plunks of the pianist hitting the piano keys sounded richer in our reference speakers than with the Siberia. When we tried a Pavarotti and Freni version of La Boheme, the soprano’s forte passages were almost piercing.

Granted, that probably isn’t the audience that Icemat is aiming for with the Siberia. Our only wish was for some way to get digital input into the Siberia headphones. Being an ear muff design, the Siberia is also big to carry around for portable use especially compared to the tiny iPod players these days, although portable users will appreciate the extra volume regulator if they can find some way to tie down the extra cables.

We enjoyed using the Siberia for gaming and listening to the occasional movie and R&B track. The microphone should come in handy for someone who is hooked on VOIP or IM. At $54.99, the price is fair and you get a comfortable set of headphones that can give good acoustics for games, soundtracks and pop music.

Rating •••••85%•••••