Nomad headset Plattan 2 Bluetooth: the Plattan 2, with Bluetooth

Ergonomics

Between the Plattan and the Plattan 2 already, the differences were tenuous. Between the 2 and its Bluetooth version, the distinction becomes almost impossible, except for the commands.

We find the arch covered with fabric and imitation leather, the shell and the plastic hinges connected by an apparent cable and, above all, the uniformity of the monochrome, which only contradicts a fine silver border encircling the atria.

Despite the average quality of the materials, the foldable ear cups, the removable pads and the extremely flexible headband make it a particularly enduring helmet, which seems to withstand the ravages of time quite well.

The very responsive and intuitive joystick button is located at the bottom of the right atrium. It allows the volume adjustment (up / down), navigation between tracks (right / left), call management and play / pause (short press in the center), switching on / off headset (long press) and activation of Bluetooth pairing (long press). Next to it is the micro-USB port. Autonomy, promised at 30 hours, easily keeps its word: at 75% of the maximum volume, we measured no less than 35 hours 20 of autonomy. It also benefits from the automatic switch-off of the headset after 20 minutes of inactivity.

The on-ear pads, slightly thicker than those of the first model, offer comfort which can be improved but is perfectly acceptable. With regard to cranial comfort, on the other hand, Urbanears does not seem to have heard the reservations that we expressed about the Plattan 2 and repeats with a roll bar with sufficient deployment for small builds, but too tight for large heads. For the latter, it results in a slight pressure at the top of the skull, more or less annoying depending on the morphologies. The incredible lightness of the helmet (145 g!) Nevertheless allows it to be almost forgotten, and the ear pressure, fairly well distributed over the roof, allows it to stay in place without tightening the user too much.

Although no mini-jack cable is provided, there is an analog input. Serving either input or output, this connection allows, as desired, to connect by wire to the audio player or to connect to it by Bluetooth then to share your music with a second, wired headset.

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Audio

Integrating a Bluetooth chip into a headset without changing its proportions is a daring challenge that can cost the audio a lot: to change nothing on the outside, you have to change everything on the inside. In this case, we are told that the speakers have been optimized, that the volumes have been arranged differently and that the position of the acoustic ports has been changed.

If the frequency response curve differs from that of the Plattan 2, it nevertheless remains uneven. The bass, very forward, is severely overweight. Their indolence prevents any precision, whether in time or frequency: the rhythm is blunt, the pitch of the notes, fuzzy. The second part of the spectrum is certainly behind, however the overall rendering is far from deaf, as the graph might suggest. The voices in particular are very intelligible, thanks to the solid boost they benefit from between 1 and 2 kHz.

That being said, apart from the bass, the Plattan 2 Bluetooth can be listened to without awakening any particular irritation, notably thanks to its low distortion. The sound, even at high listening volume, stays clean. On this subject, let us specify that the Plattan 2 Bluetooth offers a fairly good passive isolation while enjoying a good amplification: at maximum volume, it requires only 80 mV to reach 94 dB SPL in the ears of our model Rick. The stereophonic field, due to a slight crosstalk leak, is slightly narrowed.

Finally, the latency, slightly above 150 ms, creates a gap between the image and the sound which is certainly perceptible but quite bearable. However as always, if you go through a software allowing to do it, we advise you to delay the video by about 160 ms in order to synchronize the two streams as well as possible.

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Conclusion

Externally identical to its wired version, the Plattan 2 Bluetooth royally ignores the criticisms that we made of the Plattan 2. However, the switch to wireless is quite convincing thanks to full controls, excellent autonomy and the possibility of sharing its music with a second headset . The audio rendering, despite particularly soft bass and a slightly narrowed stereophonic field, remains intelligible, powerful and devoid of distortion.

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