Roccat Kave Review

[Phoenix92]

ROCCAT KAVE 5.1 SURROUND HEADPHONES

Box & Contents:

Just arrived from amazon:

The front of the box has a nice clear plastic window showing the headphones as well as the desk controller, it also lists some of the key features found on the headphones. The Left side of the box gives some more information about the features as well as an overview of the headphones themselves. The right hand side shows is clear again and shows the left headphone with the removable mic. The rear of the box has technical specifications as well as the features repeated again and in 9 different languages

Inside the box we find the headphones and the included accessories. The accessories consist of:

• 
  [*=1]Quick installation guide
  [*=1]CD with manual, 5.1 Surround Demo (which VLC doesn't play :( ), and "Roccat Stuff" - wallpapers for PC and mobile.
  [*=1]A weird booklet that is strange but includes a Roccat ID card (presumably for customer support or some such use)
  

The Headphones:

Once the small ties have been located and undone the headphones come away from the packaging and can be examined for the first time.

Starting at the ear cups we find that the exterior is made from a matte black plastic with a slightly rubberised texture and the Roccat Kave logo on the side (not a sticker or paint as it is near impossible to remove - scratching with fingernail, coin and key only slightly scratch the rubberised surface and the logo was fully intact). The ear caps have 2 degrees of rotation, the first is towards the front and rear of the head allowing the headphones to sit well on different shaped heads, and the second is a folding motion towards the inside of the headphones that both allows the headphones to sit comfortably as well as to fold up securely so that they can be stored in a small area.

The right ear cup is unadulterated but on the left cup we find the removable microphone which is encircled with a blue LED. The mic simply pulls out of the cup with a propitiatory jack and reattaches very easily. The end of the microphone has a blue LED that lights up when the mic is muted.

On the interior of the headphones we find that the ear cups are covered by a faux leather, which is neither slippery nor sticky (as cold/hot leather is), underneath which is a layer of foam. Personally I think Roccat go the amount of foam required perfectly correct as it is slightly supportive but not tight and has plenty of depth. The speakers are covered by a thin cottony material that prevents dirt/debris reaching them.

Moving up the side of the headphones we find the adjustable headband. The headphones feature a 10 step size adjuster with well defined positions that allows for varying sizes of head and comfort.

At the top of the headphones we find the Roccat logo embossed into the plastic which is quite a nice aesthetic, inside we find 3 individually rotating pads and my only slight criticism. The pads work extremely well and despite the headset feeling heavy in the hand it feels a fraction of the weight once worn, however, in my personal opinion the pads need a little bit more foam as after prolonged usage time (5+ hours gaming) I start to notice them, they are not uncomfortable but noticeable and slightly hard.

The headphones have 4x 3.5mm jacks (incl one for mic) as well as a USB to power the LEDs and remote control. In the packaging the jacks are covered with little plastic caps which is a nice touch from Roccat.

Desk Remote Control

The included desk remote control is very good. It is made of the same matte black plastic as the headphones and is very solid. The remote has a variety of functions. Starting at the left there is a ring and a circle, the ring is a 'clicky' rotational volume control (think ipods but without the buttons), and the center circle mutes and unmutes the headphones. The blue LED at the top is always on during normal use and flashes when muted.

To the right we find a cover with the roccat logo embossed. Underneath the cover there are sliding volume controls for; center speakers, front speakers, rear speakers and sub as well as a game and movie button. The sliding controls work very well, and allow on the fly changing of volumes. The game and movie button switches between two presets optimised for different playback. A

fter trying this in several games and 5.1 movies I have to say I found very little distinguishable difference between the two.

Build Quality

This is my second set of Roccat Kave's in 5 years, they are extremely resilient to marks, fingerprints, scratches and day to day wear and tear. The headphones are quite heavy when held in the hand and the plastic feels very solid, of all the headphones I have owned/worn they are by far the most robust and well built.

My first set broke when I took them off and put them on the floor at the end of a night gaming, come morning I walked in and ended up standing right on the ear cap (which probably wouldn't have broken if I had folded it up inside), however, they repaired well with epoxy glue and are now used by my parents.

Performance

Gaming

Of all the headsets I have used for gaming the Roccat Kave's have performed the best. I constantly find that whilst playing FPS games I can distinguish between sounds better, work out locations and directions of sounds better and have a much more immersive experience. The bass on these headphones is simply astonishing, playing any shooting game is incredibly immersive as the headphones vibrate with the bass, playing any FPS - Crysis, BF3, Planetside 2, etc explosions, tank shots, even heavy MG fire is replicated extremely well. Tanks, jets and helicopters flying overhead sound incredibly realistic as the headphones pickup on the bass and vibrate with it. It is not only bass that they excel in however, cracks and whistles of near shots are also replicated extremely well.

Overall the Roccat Kave's provide a very satisfying and immersive sound experience whilst gaming.

Movies/Music/General PC Use

This is a bit harder to compare, firstly the movie button does not do anything (as far as I can work out anyway), so stick to game mode. Watching movies and listening to music gives the same rich sound as playing games, once again especially with the bass, however, it is not as much of a noticeable difference as with other headphones.

Conclusion

For £59.99 or $124.15, these headphones cannot be beaten. They have a solid build quality, produce rich sound, excel whilst reproducing bass, and have true 5.1 surround that I personally find better than virtual 5.1/7.1 sound. They are competitively priced when compared to other manufacturers, albeit less so in the US than in the UK.

Overall I would give the Roccat Kave's a 9/10, the reasons for this are, a lack of carrying bag (for the price they really should include one), heavier than other makes, and slightly uncomfortable top pads.

[Money]

Nice review. Pictures were a nice touch. Does a carrying bag really matter that much to you? :S

[Rekx]

I myself have the roccat kave and i love the quality of them. Also the 5.1 is great to have, i got them becasue my steelseries saberia broked all the time, i think i have had it to RMA 4-5 times. So in the end i though i needed to move on to another headset

[Phoenix92]

Thanks for the comments :) Personally a carrying bag is something that would be useful to me. I travel from my home to my uni flat quite a lot and as I have an aging PC at home that I game on I take my mouse and headphones with me and a carrying bag stops my rucksack becoming a mess of wires and does a little to help incase something spills in my bag.

[Dr3nz4r]

Great review dude! And it's pretty nice that you've made some photos for us

your conclussion :

[Phoenix92]

Cheers! There should be quite a few photos but only 2 are showing up for me - anyone seeing the full set or more than 2?

[BogRoll]

I picked up this headset a few months back and I'm extremely happy with it, especially for the price. Love the bass and the vibration units, the only thing about it is the top headband gets quite uncomfortable after some time for me as well. Other than that it's damn good.