The name Zalman doesn't usually spring to mind when you think about manufacturers of stereo surround sound headphones, as the company's prime energies have been directed towards water cooling, power supplies and fan controllers for desktop PCs.

However, recently it has turned its attention to a few audio products and has come up with a little gem in the shape of a USB-based, 6-speaker surround sound system.

Arriving in a large, dome shaped case, the first thing you notice is how neatly the ear pads fold in on themselves when the headphones are not in use. The headband and the cups are thickly padded - both for insulation and for comfort - but the unit feels decidedly weightier than usual thanks to the three speakers built into the tough plastic behind each pad.

The two other significant differences you'll clock straight away are the volume control unit on the main lead that conceals a 5.1-channel sound card, and the USB attachment on the end, which is principally designed to service laptops rather than desktop PCs. Zalman has released a parallel model (the ZM-RS6F+M) which is aimed at desktops and attaches via three 3.5mm jacks to make use of your own inbuilt 5.1 sound card.

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Unlike a host of stereo headphones that provide a simulated surround sound experience via your laptop's stereo speakers, Zalman's Real Surround Sound system offers a genuine surround field through its six micro speakers. The chipset in the 5.1 sound card is the C-Media CM6206 and it's targeted chiefly at gamers and lovers of DVD movies who want to feel they're right in the middle of the action but perhaps don't have a 5.1 card installed.

The package includes an installation disk that will set up both the driver and the USB 3D Sound Configuration controller. This allows you to tweak all your speaker settings (including repositioning the sound from each speaker) from a basic twin speaker setup all the way up to a 7.1 virtual speaker shifter. There's also a large Effects section which is supposed to iron out ambient problems and the virtual difference between speakers, but it's hard to see where that can be of much significance in a headphone configuration.

In terms of the overall performance, the best results undoubtedly came from playing action games. We tried it out on a Capture the Ring multiplayer contest in the recently released Lord of the Rings: Conquest and the surround sound kicked in beautifully with cries, grunts and weapon sounds coming from all sides quite distinctly and with good bass response. The same was true when it came to DVDs - watching Iron Man with full surround sound was truly exhilarating - but there was less sharpness when it came to music.

If you're fed up with stereo headphones that promise surround sound but fail to deliver, Zalman's reasonably priced Real Surround Sound USB based headphones deliver the real deal with their six integrated speakers and built-in 5.1 sound card.