Software

The software for the Arctic Cooling P531 Headphones is the common C-Media, so will be familiar to many. There are 5 tabs in the software to control the various functions. The first tab deals with system input and headphone output. DSP activation for virtual 7.1 is also here. It's a standard function of the software, but you can set the levels of each of the speakers in here, which is a little redundant considering that Arctic Cooling have provided controls for each on the in-line controller. Still, it allows you to further control the individual levels. The second tab is the mixer tab so you can set the various levels for microphone and speaker output.

The third tab is for DSP Environment settings and EQ functions. The Fourth tab allows you to set the Arctic Cooling P531's for karaoke functions and the final and fifth tab is the information display.

In Use

I wear glasses, so finding headphones that don't hurt when I wear them is important to me. Unfortunately the Arctic Cooling P531's are a little uncomfortable, although if I move the arms of my glasses to above my ears rather than behind, I can happily wear them for extended periods. The weight of the headphones is not a problem, and they can easily be adjusted for size. If it wasn't for my glasses, they would be pretty comfortable indeed. The cups sit on your ears rather than around them.

As I've mentioned previously, the fins on the sides can at times be noticeable in your peripheral vision, though that will no doubt be different for everyone wearing the headphones; how far back on your head your ears are will dictate if you see the fins or not.

One thing that may not be immediately apparent is that the Arctic Cooling P531's pretty much cut you off totally from outside sound. Others around you won't hear what you are hearing unless you turn the volume up very high and are listening to something with a lot of mid range frequencies. This means the Arctic Cooling P531's are shared room friendly.

The in-line controller can be learned for blind use quite readily, but the blinking light is very distracting. Time to break out the electrical tape and cover it over. I would have also liked to have seen a belt clip or something similar on the rear. A few similar headphones like this, the controller heats up during use, but the Arctic Cooling P531's remain barely warm even after extended play.

The Microphone boom is excellent. You can bend it into any position you want, but don't think for one minute that it's loose; it's not. You can bend the Mic into position and then rotate the entire thing up above for use again later.

The Mic itself is pretty sensitive, and if you raise the Mic volume level, you only really need to speak a little above a whisper to be heard by your team mates or chat friends. Another shared room friendly trait. Background white noise at these levels isn't loud or distracting either.

Music Test

Software settings, 6 CH, no DSP, No effects, Middle Sized Room Environment

The Prodigy, Voodoo People – The sound is a little off to begin with. Treble and bass is OK, but the midrange, while there, is quite low. In the end, I had to use the software to adjust the EQ. However, once I did, the sound was excellent. Bass tones are very good, and you get a great sub bass sound that isn't over powering. Arctic Cooling say that there is a vibration unit in each cup. Personally, I've heard stronger and more vibrating bass, but coupled with the software volume, you can get some great, non-distorting bass that will rattle your ear canal with this song.

Additional Prodigy song test; Funky Shit – For bass, this song sounds great, but again the EQ had to be adjusted. The sound is quite spacial, more so than some other headphones, partially because of the enclosed nature of the cups and the way they keep out outside sound and keep your music in.

Evanescence, Bring Me To Life – The mid range can often be a little overpowering with this, but with a flat EQ, the mid range was still a little low. Again, EQ tweaking brought all the levels into a decent sound arena. Highs were excellent with no tinny lisps, and the bass rounded things out nicely.

Queen, It's A Kind Of Magic – The highs were excellent and the bass thumped and punched beautifully. You can easily crank the volume up to near painful levels, but there is no distortion. A recurring theme, the mid-range has to be dialled up higher than you would expect, but the resulting sound is good.

Queen, Living On My Own - This has a pretty good bass line, which alters frequencies in a definitive way. The lower the frequencies in the song go, the more I expected the bass to falter, but it didn't. The P531's handled the bass very well, although again I wanted more bass than default settings offered. That said, the bass sounded much like you would expect from a high home room sound set up.

Prince, 7 – There are some very high tinkling bell like sounds in this song, but the Arctic Cooling P531's handled things quite well. There wasn't any lispy or tinny edges to the highs, which are often distracting in cheaper headphones.

U2, Pride – Again, it needs EQ fixing, especially the mid-range because there is a lot of mid range volume in the song, but it sounds good.

Jeff Wayne, Eve of the War – At the beginning of the song, the voice has a very slight echo to try and create a spacial intimidating feel to it. The P531's give you that spacial sound you get from an enclosed sound proofed room or movie theatre already. This lends the voice a quite spooky edge which sounds great. Then the orchestra kicks in and while it too has the echo edge to it, you do feel that the multiple instruments are playing in an enclosed space rather then spread out in a full orchestral stage.

The Island Soundtrack, The Island Awaits You - Very orchestral and a the heartbeat sounding bass thumps and punches wonderfully. It sounds great on the P531's, probably one of the best music tracks I've heard on them. Again, the EQ needs tweaking, especially for the mid range, but the result is great.

Star Wars III Soundtrack, Battle of the Heroes – The bass power of the P531's help the tuba's to really provide lots of presence. The choir voices are powerful, but not overpowering and there is no tinny-ness to the highs.