The Turtle Beach Atlas Air Headset marks a significant innovation in gaming audio gear, thanks to its pioneering open-back design and the unique floating earcup feature. This headset is meticulously engineered for both comfort and durability, aiming to elevate the gaming experience for users on both PC and consoles. It features powerful 40mm drivers that deliver crisp, clear sound, high-resolution 24-bit audio for an immersive listening experience, a long-lasting 50-hour battery life, and a detachable microphone that effectively reduces ambient noise. Turtle Beach has clearly pulled out all the stops with the introduction of the Atlas Air, ensuring that gamers receive nothing but the best.
In addition, Turtle Beach has carefully selected a suite of premium accessories to accompany the Atlas Air headset. The package includes not only the headset but also a stylish carrying bag, a detachable microphone equipped with a windscreen for enhanced sound clarity, a USB Type-A dongle, and cables for all connectivity needs: a 1.8m USB Type-C to Type-A charging cable and a 1.88m 3.5mm audio cable. Each accessory is crafted with high-quality materials, featuring braided cables for added durability and an audio cable with a convenient in-line volume control. This thoughtful inclusion of accessories ensures that every user can enjoy a seamless and enhanced gaming experience right out of the box.
Building on their reputation as innovators in gaming headset technology, Turtle Beach has once again raised the standard with the Atlas Air. Central to its design is what Turtle Beach describes as the “floating earcup,” a feature that provides unprecedented flexibility. This design utilizes three rubber bands to connect each earcup to the headband, allowing for extensive adaptability and movement. This flexibility ensures that the headset conforms comfortably to various head shapes and sizes, creating an exceptionally comfortable fit for prolonged gaming sessions.
The Atlas Air doesn't just excel in flexibility; it also focuses on comfort. The earcups are padded with soft memory foam, which not only enhances comfort but also contributes to the headset's superior sound isolation. Coupled with its open-back design, the floating earcup setup stands out as one of the most innovative and adjustable in the market. Moreover, Turtle Beach has innovated beyond the earcups with the headband design. Unlike typical headsets that feature standard cushioned headbands, the Atlas Air sports an adjustable floating mesh band.
This design not only enhances breathability but also provides a light, comfortable fit that reduces pressure on the top of the head, making it significantly more comfortable during extended use. This thoughtful design approach underscores Turtle Beach’s commitment to comfort and quality, setting the Atlas Air apart as a superior choice in gaming headsets.
The Turtle Beach Atlas Air combines top-tier comfort with lightweight design, tipping the scales at just 301 grams. This makes it one of the lightest gaming headsets on the market, yet it does not skimp on features or comfort. The innovative design elements discussed earlier contribute significantly to its overall comfort, particularly during extended gaming sessions. The open-back configuration and memory foam cushions allow for excellent ventilation, preventing the buildup of heat and ensuring that the headset remains comfortable over time. This design effectively dissipates heat away from the head, enhancing the user experience by keeping you cool and focused during intense gaming.
In terms of usability, the Atlas Air excels with its intuitive controls integrated seamlessly into the headset. The volume control dial is smartly incorporated into the left earcup, allowing for effortless volume adjustments without the need to pause gameplay or take your eyes off the screen. This dial is complemented by additional controls that are subtly positioned along the bottom of the same earcup. These include a mode switch, power button, Bluetooth synchronization, and a USB Type-C port, all designed to be easily accessible yet unobtrusive.
The Atlas Air also features Turtle Beach’s signature flip-to-mute microphone, which not only provides convenience but also delivers impressive broadcast quality. This makes the headset not only a tool for immersive gaming but also an excellent choice for gamers who stream or participate in competitive voice chat. The combination of lightweight design, advanced comfort features, and user-friendly controls makes the Turtle Beach Atlas Air a standout choice in the crowded field of gaming headsets, offering both casual and serious gamers a superior audio experience.
The Turtle Beach Atlas Air's microphone technology significantly enhances the gaming headset's utility, especially for gamers who require clear communication in multiplayer environments. The microphone's 16-bit, 32kHz sampling rate and uni-directional pickup pattern are designed to focus on the speaker's voice while minimizing background noise. This directional sensitivity ensures that the microphone captures vocal patterns more effectively, reducing the intrusion of unwanted ambient sounds.
In practical terms, the Atlas Air's microphone performs admirably. It activates primarily in response to vocal sounds, avoiding unnecessary activation from background noise. This is particularly useful in gaming scenarios where clear communication is crucial, and even without a noise gate, the microphone maintains a high level of vocal clarity. While there may be some minor artifacts in the sound capture—a common issue with many headset microphones—the overall clarity and intelligibility of speech are maintained, making it suitable for both casual and competitive gaming.
For users looking to refine their audio experience further, the Atlas Air is compatible with Turtle Beach’s Swarm II software when connected to a PC. This software enhances the headset's functionality by allowing users to adjust various audio settings. Users can tweak the microphone settings, including the noise gate, monitoring levels, and gain, to suit their specific needs.
Additionally, the inclusion of a 10-band EQ module in Swarm II provides extensive control over the audio output, enabling users to fine-tune the microphone to their preferences. This level of customization is a significant advantage for gamers who need precise control over their audio settings for streaming or competitive play, ensuring that the Atlas Air is not just a tool for immersive audio but also a robust device for effective communication.
The Turtle Beach Atlas Air headset's audio performance is anchored by its 40mm high-precision drivers, which are key to delivering a high-quality audio experience. These drivers support a wide frequency range of 20Hz to 40kHz, allowing them to reproduce a broad spectrum of sounds, from the deepest bass to the highest treble. This wide range is particularly beneficial in gaming, where from environmental sounds to high-pitched alerts, every detail matters.
In terms of audio fidelity, the Atlas Air excels in delivering a clean and clear sound across most of the frequency spectrum. The slight distortions noticed at the lower frequencies around 60Hz and 40Hz are typically minor and do not generally detract from the overall listening experience. This level of performance in the low-end is commendable and sufficient for most gaming and multimedia applications.
The mid and high frequencies of the Atlas Air are notably distortion-free, which is crucial for hearing in-game dialogues and higher frequency sound effects that can provide competitive advantages in games. The clarity in these ranges ensures that every detail is sharp, enhancing the overall immersive experience.
The capability of the Atlas Air to output 24-bit resolution audio at a 96kHz sampling rate when connected to a PC is a significant feature. This high-resolution audio support ensures that the sound is not only more detailed and clearer but also more dynamic, providing an auditory experience that is closer to what creators intended. Coupled with support for Waves 3D audio on PC, the Atlas Air offers an enveloping, spatial sound environment that can greatly enhance the realism of games and movies.
Turtle Beach's SuperHuman Hearing Mode, which amplifies mids and highs, is another innovative feature designed to give gamers a competitive edge by making important sounds like footsteps and weapon reloads more discernible. However, as noted, the default audio profile already provides such high-quality sound that the additional boost is often unnecessary. This speaks volumes about the default tuning of the headset, which strikes an excellent balance between enhancing audio cues and maintaining a natural and immersive sound profile.
The Turtle Beach Atlas Air offers impressive connectivity and ease of use across multiple platforms:
- 2.4 GHz Wireless Dongle: This allows the headset to connect wirelessly to PCs, PlayStation consoles, and the Nintendo Switch, providing a reliable, low-latency connection ideal for gaming.
- Bluetooth Support: The Atlas Air can also connect via Bluetooth to iOS, Android, and the Nintendo Switch. This feature is handy for users who want to switch between gaming and using the headset with mobile devices.
- Wired Mode: The headset includes a wired mode that expands its compatibility to include the Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One, alongside all previously mentioned devices.
The process of switching between wireless and Bluetooth modes is streamlined, thanks to a dedicated mode switch. This switch facilitates quick transitions between connected devices, enhancing user convenience. Pairing with Bluetooth devices is straightforward and once paired, users can easily toggle between modes with the mode switch.
Regarding battery life, the Atlas Air is equipped with an 800mAh lithium polymer battery, which is rated for up to 50 hours of use. Initial usage indicates that the battery depletes at a slow rate, suggesting that it can indeed last for several days on a single charge based on the 10 hours of use where the battery level remained over 80%. This robust battery performance ensures prolonged gaming sessions and usage without the frequent need for recharging.
The Turtle Beach Atlas Air redefines excellence in gaming headsets with its innovative design and superior components, setting a new gold standard for audio quality and comfort. Despite minor distortions in the low end and slight artifacts in mic capture, the overall audio reproduction remains stellar. Enhanced by Swarm II technology, the Atlas Air offers users unparalleled control over their auditory experience, making it an outstanding choice for anyone seeking a top-tier gaming headset.
