Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 Digital Headset Review

The headset market is jam packed with products. It seems like every major manufacturer has at least one headset on their product page. Some headsets standout amongst the crowd while others leave you thinking “What were you guys thinking when this was produced?” Movie and game producers put music in to elicit a specific response during the show or the game. Without it, the specific portion of the game or movie may seem pointless or have a less dramatic effect. Sound has been a big part in getting a reaction from people for centuries; before movies it was plays and live theatre that included music and extra sounds to try and connect with the audience. In today’s age, producers have hundreds of 1000’s of dollars in equipment to make sure the sound is as clean a possible and while we may not be able to obtain the speakers that musicians and producers use should at least be able to hear the sounds they recorded. A rich full range speaker sounds a million times better than a tinny speaker. The speakers on most modern day smart phones for example sound horrible when listening to music. They are barely able to reproduce sounds let alone reproduce the sound the way the artist  intended it. Compare that to a simple bookshelf style speaker. The sound coming from the speaker will be considerably better. Most likely it will be able to reproduce all the frequencies recorded in the music.

I would say that most PC headsets produced today fall into three categories; excellent, good and OK. Excellent headsets will immerse you into whatever you’re listening to and have rich full sounds. The bass is clear and not distorted and the mid-range and highs are clear and crisp. Good headsets still have good sound, but lacks in the full immersion experience. The bass maybe a little lacking or the mid-range turns out a little muddled. OK headsets tend to just reproduce sounds with loud volume. There’s very little distinction between the bass, mid-range and highs and distortion is present at almost all but the lowest 1/3 of the volume range.

Roccat has sent us their greatest headset; the Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 Digital. The Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 has a lot of nice features that sound good when looking at the box but, how well did Roccat do with the implementation. Does the Kave XTD have clear and crisp sound or is it just another gimmicky headset that will soon be forgotten? Read on to find out.

[sc:sponsor sponsor=”Roccat” product_link=”http://www.roccat.org/Products/Gaming-Sound/ROCCAT-Kave-XTD-5-1-Digital/#crb_1`” product_name=”Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 Digital” product_price_link=”http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826436021″ product_price=”169.99″ ]

Features and Specifications

Features

• REAL 5.1 SURROUND SOUND
  with three driver units per earcup
• PREMIUM INBUILT MULTI-CHANNEL SOUND CARD
  for rich, interference-free audio
• SMARTPHONE TO HEADSET BLUETOOTH PAIRING
  let’s you handle calls on the fly
• FULLY-EQUIPPED DESKTOP REMOTE
  total audio control at your fingertips
• SUPREME COMFORT: ULTRA-LIGHT DESIGN
  suitable for lengthy gaming sessions
• NOISE-CANCELING MIC WITH MUTE LED
  fully rotatable and completely removable
• ROBUST AND DURABLE ENGINEERING
  built to last for long-term use
• 5.1 SPEAKER PORTS FEATURE IN REMOTE
  for a seamless hook-up to your existing sound system
• TANGLE-PROOF 3.6M CABLE
  for distraction-free gameplay

Technical Specification

CENTER/FRONT/REAR DRIVER UNITS

VIBRATION DRIVER UNITS

System Requirements
Free USB Port (500 mA) for power supply
Windows® 7 32/64 bit,
Windows® 8/Windows® 8 Pro
For phone feature: Bluetooth® 3.0, backward
compatible with Bluetooth® 1.1, 1.2, 2.0 (+EDR) and 2.1

Package Contains
ROCCAT™ Kave XTD Digital– Premium 5.1 Surround Headset
Desktop USB Remote with Inbuilt Sound Card
Driver CD-ROM
Quick-Installation Guide

Documentation in EN, DE, FR, ES, IT, PL, RU, TR, DK, FIN, SV

Art.-No.: ROC-14-160