Two months ago, ALLA, a Japan-based company, introduced new 5.1 surround sound headsets with the Emocion AL-DP100V. Coming at an affordable price, this new series should provide you a real 5.1ch experience, at least according to the ALLA, and is mainly targeting gamers…
ALLA Corporation is a young company, created in 2003, and aims to sell in Japan different audio products (Headphones), computing peripherals (Keyboards), and accessories.
When the Japanese company announced the availability of their new 5.1 headphone for an affordable price, we thought that was the good moment for us to test the product and see how we can enjoy movies or games with this headphone while your girlfriend is sleeping next to you.
Emocion AL-DP100V specifications
• Interface:
- Coaxial in / Optical in / USB in
- Analog Output (Front / Rear / Cen / SUB) / Optical Out / Headphone Out (x2)
• Controller functions: Main Volume Control / Single Volume control (Rear / Front / Center / Subwoofer)
• Box Contents:
- Headphone
- Decoder amplifier
- AC adapter
- Optical digital voice cable(SPDIF)
- Coaxial cable
- Stereo terminal mini-cable(2.5Φ)
- USB cable(miniB-A)
- Manual
• Headphones specifications:
- Front: 27mm (x2) / 32Ω ±20% / 250Hz – 18,000Hz / 18mW / 90dB ±3dB
- Center: 10mm (x2) / 8Ω ±20% / 350Hz – 12,000Hz / 6mW / 85dB ±3dB
- Rear: 10mm (x2) / 16Ω ±20% / 350Hz – 15,000Hz / 6mW / 90dB ±3dB
- Woofer: 40mm (x2) / 32Ω ±20% / 25Hz – 7,000Hz / 18mW / 95dB ±3dB
• Price: 19.000 Yens, or 150€
Package Overview and first impressions
Inside the retail package you will find what you can expect: The headphones, the mini amplifier, an AC adapter, cables, and the user manual.
Regarding the products, to be honest this is far from being the best headphones ever. They are completely black, except for the place where you can find the rear speaker that comes in a silver color. The overall quality looks really cheap, with only glossy plastics. The design is the simplest thing we’ve ever seen.
For the headband, you will just have a piece of plastic on the top of your head. Padded leather could also have a great plus for these cheap-looking headphones. Indeed, I’m sure it could have added a more robust and solid look to the headphones.
The headband is also fully extend-able on both sides in order to let you adjust the headphones to your head. Concerning the ear pad, they are made of soft leather but with a major inconvenience. Actually, these headphones are on-ear headphones and not over-the-ear. That means it won’t perfectly cover your ears for a better experience. And using this for a long continuous time will definitely cause a real discomfort.
The inline control module looks very simple, just like the headphones part. It comes with volume wheels to control the front, rear, center and subwoofer independently. This part will allow the users to get more spacious listening experience with specific adjustment for the Dynamic range control.
Lastly, the Sound Control module offers a good interface (Coaxial in / Optical in / USB in / Analog Output (Front / Rear / Cen / SUB) / Optical Out / Headphone Out (x2)). Here again, and like headphones and their inline control module, the overall quality gives a ‘cheap’ impression.
On this mini amplifier, we can find the global volume adjustments button, as well as the on / off power button.
Anyway, that’s pretty much regarding the hardware. As we said, the overall quality is far from being the most stylish, and solid product. But the most important part is just coming, namely the performance.
Pump up the Volume Baby!
- Gaming Test
For our test of the Emocion AL-DP100V we tried to use the baby with different video games, from Variety genres (Football, FPS…) in order to have a good idea depending on the situation.
And to start our review with, we tried these 5.1 Headphones first with a personal shooter game. Actually, we thought that was a good test for this kind of headphones. As a reminder, the AL-DP100V comes with 8 drivers unit (or speakers) that are closed to your ears… In other words it means a lot noise with indistinguishable gunfire, voice, screaming directly in your ears…
But, surprisingly, the sound was far from being bad. I would even say that I had a lot of pleasure to play the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. The Emocion AL-DP100V headphones do their job, letting you to distinguish both the near and far gunfire. And with the well-balanced and deep bass, our headphones will totally immerse in the game. Yep, for an FPS I was really surprised and pleased to play with them.
During our test, we also tried such games as FIFA 2010, or Mirror’s Edge. For the first one, here again the headphones are amazing. Our AL-DP100V will immerse you in the stadium, with their great ambiance. You will be able to clearly distinguish different voices, from among the commentator, to the coach screaming at your player.
And for the second, the Mirror’s Edge, the result is really conclusive. I think this is the best example and test for this kind of 5.1 Headphones where you will have to pick out each voice, or city’s noise, or gunfire noise in order to discern where they have came from and all of these in a really calm atmosphere.
As I said, the result was really interesting. You could hear everything with crisp sound as you were walking, jumping, and running on roof top. You could also clearly distinguish the position of your enemies, if they were behind you or in any other direction. When you were under gunfire, you could guess how far they were from you, from the front to the rear. Every sort of sound was really easy to pick out.
Anyway, despite of a non-stylish design, the overall result is simply stunning and our headphones will totally immerse you in the game.
However, one thing was really annoying during our test. Actually, I would say that you could play all night and really enjoy your game, but because of the poor quality of the On-ear Pad, this became impossible and really uncomfortable. And after one hour, I had to give up because of my ear.
- Audio Test
Moving on to the music, I have to admit that I had to spend a certain amount of time to configure my headphones and find the best things. Actually, the adjust control button are too inaccurate. I listened to different kinds of music, from Metal to Drum & bass. Unfortunately, the sound is a little bit disappointing…. I mean, this is not bad, you will probably find a good setting but, if you compare this device with the
X-Tube USB DTS we tested a month ago… Granted, for this price it will be hard to get better, but I have to admit that I was not so much excited by the sound.
- Movie Test
And as the last point, regarding movies, the result is surprisingly better than the music part. And compared to the
X-Tube USB DTS, you won’t have that small and annoying echo as if you were in a movie theater that we found on the
X-Tube USB DTS. The sound is powerful, and detailed and will really let you enjoy the movie with your girlfriend since you have two headphones output.
Pros
- Sound Quality for gaming and movie
- Price
Cons
- Overall build quality (looks really cheap)
- Uncomfortable after an usage of one hour
- Sound quality for music
- Lack of padded leather on the headband
Conclusion
To put it simple, the Emocion AL-DP100V from ALLA Corporation 5.1 Headphones perform well when it comes to play games. You will be able to perfectly discern every detail depending on the game you’re playing. Actually, this is a good way to totally immerse yourself in the game. But, we noticed that you will have to tweak a little your setting depending on the game you’re playing.
Even if the overall buily quality of the product is not good, what we have inside the beast is a really good surprise. Another point that can bother some of you is the myriad wires you have to use to be able to fully enjoy your toys. You will have to plug wire to power the device, to plug your headphones, to plug a lot of other things…
If you’re looking for good headphones dedicated to the music, I won’t recommend this one to you… Actually, even after spending a long time to adjust your sound, you will find that it’s just not good enough and that’s it. Nothing minds-blowing here.
Regarding movies part, the result is better, well-balanced, and this will be a good solution to enjoy HD movies without bothering people living around you.
And the last point, and maybe the major issue (for me), the headphones are really uncomfortable and after one hour you will have to take rest for two or three hours…
