CONCLUSION

   Gaming peripherals have but one goal, to give gamers the "edge" they seek either in order to enjoy their favorite games to the fullest or to give them the "extra" punch needed to compete with others. When it comes to gaming headsets almost always at the top of the list gamers place positioning audio with plenty of bass (unlike audiophiles) and that pretty much means that audio quality/clarity comes third. Well the Blast Ocelote World 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound Headset offers plenty of volume (far more than what we were expecting actually) and does very good in terms of bass levels and mids but unfortunately it lags behind quite a bit in terms of highs. You may not easily notice when playing games (especially fast paced ones) but it will become clear if you decide to use it with movies and/or music. However in movies you may actually enjoy the relatively good positioning audio produced by the Blast Ocelote World although you shouldn't expect miracles (still better than many virtual surround headsets but not as good as some "real" surround models). You can improve on the surround feature if you decide to spend time with the control panel but two large stereo drivers just can’t compete with multiple smaller ones in that area (bass is better however). OZONE has also used a good microphone with the Blast Ocelote World since we used it with several online games and people said that our voices came through clear but personally i think it's the control panel that wins the most points. We have seen control panels with similar settings but the one used here doesn't only feature the largest number of settings we've seen from a similar product but it's also very easy to navigate and looks quite nice as well.

   7.1 Virtual Surround Sound Headsets are rarely expensive and the Blast Ocelote World by OZONE is not any different since it currently retails for USD79.38 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 74.69Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de). It is somewhat more expensive compared to many other virtual surround sound headsets but we feel that OZONE gaming has done a great job in terms of design, available features and audio quality. Certainly they could had used larger drivers of higher quality (wider frequency range) to further improve on audio clarity but i really doubt the majority of gamers would be willing to pay a hefty price tag for that and let's face it manufacturers almost always aim for the majority. That being said the Blast Ocelote World 7.1 Surround Sound Headset may not be the perfect gaming headset out there currently but it looks great, has quite a few interesting features (including a very nicely designed control panel with lots of available settings) and does quite well in terms of positioning audio and audio quality so we can't really deny it our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design
- Very Good Bass Levels & Mids
- 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound (Good Positioning Audio)
- Foldable Earcups
- Comfortable
- Gold Plated USB Connector
- 12 EQ Presets
- 4 Preset Profiles
- Control Panel
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Highs