How many times have you been out while wearing your gaming headphones and thought “I bet I look pretty un-professional”? If you answered yes to this question Lucid Sound has the answer. Found by a series of alumni from Triton and Mad Catz these folks are no strangers to video game peripherals. We got a chance to talk to Alex Verrey about the brand new product and I was quite impressed.
For the audiophiles of you out there here are the technical specs of the headset:
Speaker Size: 50mm
Sound Space: Amplified Stereo Sound
Power Output: 70mW 32ohm per channel
Frequency Response: 20 – 20,000 Hz
Characteristic SPL: 97 +/-3dB
Lucid Sound also includes 3 EQ Modes already baked in to the headset: Normal, Bass Boost, and Treble Boost
The headset I tried out is the current production model the flagship LS-30. I got to try out the white model of the LS-30 (color makes no difference in quality i just like white headphones). I found the LS-3o to be extremely comfortable, Alex told me it weighs just 188 grams and so I hardly felt it sitting on my head. Padding was ample with out being obnoxious. He went on to explain that the idea was that this is an everyday headset, to use with your phone or PC to listen to music, but to also use when you are sitting down at your Xbox or playing CS:GO.
To accomplish this goal of every day carrying (EDC) Lucid has done several things, first and easiest to see, these are just dam pretty headphones. Modeled off of hi-end sets like the AT-M50Xs and the Beats range of headphones they are sleek and made of metal and hi grade plastics. Appearance is a huge part of EDC headphones for me, so seeing something as professional looking as the LS-30’s always makes me feel more confident that I look good.
The second thing that’s been done is to remove clunky gaming controls, and integrate all of the controls in to the headset it self. It sounds odd, but its quite intuitive. The volume is a twist of the right ears outer casing, the balance of game vs voice is on the other side. Both controls feel smooth and are easy to use. Tapping one side mutes your mic, with the other silencing the speakers. This has the effect of removing the large amp box that many gaming style headsets come with, and means you can be rocking out to your music one minute, then go right back to your game the next with out fiddling with a bunch of cords.
The LS-30 can be operated either wired in to your choice of sound sources, or wireless with what Alex told us was a “new proprietary loss-less Bluetooth technology”. I got a few minutes of playing some Call of Duty in with the set and I have to say, despite it running on wireless the base was deep, footsteps sounded good, and I couldn’t see much of a difference from my much more expensive “gaming” headset that has wires strung across the floor of my living room.
The unit is fully rechargeable and Alex told us that a brand new set would get up to 12 hours of battery life on a 2.5 hour charge. Many people will appreciate the fact that the boom microphone is removable, but that even with out the boom mike the headset can function as a hands free phone device, as there is a secondary mic tuned for just this purpose. At an MSRP of $149.99, the LS=30 is available at Best Buy, Game Stop, and Newegg. If you are interested in more information you can check out the Lucid Sound website
