With the ROCCAT Kulo headset being designed for gaming its only fair that we observe its performance in the gaming environment. Although it is primarily a gaming peripheral, that isn't to say it won't be used for other applications such as music and movies. Therefore, it is useful to those reading this article that I report the Kulo's performance in multiple environments. So bearing all these aspects in mind - gaming, music and movies will be considered to give a decent and profound assumption of the performance of our headset today.

Its good practise to compare the headset in question against other solutions too, so I will be testing the Kulo headset along-side the Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty, SteelSeries Siberia V2 and 7H. These headsets are well regarded gaming peripherals within the community. They are recognised as being quality audio solutions. It's also important to keep the testing on a fair plane - so for the purpose of this examination, audio will be provided via the 5.1 onboard solution found on the ASUS Rampage III Formula.

Gaming

Gaming headsets are generally designed with FPS (First Person Shooter) gamers in mind, so with this in mind the following games were loaded up for some hardcore FPS gaming sessions.

Call of Duty Black Ops
Battlefield Bad Company 2

Both of the above are extremely popular gaming titles and feature not only intense visual action but also strong, pulsating audio tones from explosions, gunfire and other audio effects.

Overall sound quality in-game was good. Kulo offers good balance across both titles, sound is accurate and precise, there was a distinct lack of bass with gunfire and explosions though. Compared to the other headsets we have used and tested at Vortez, Kulo falls behind slightly.

NOTE: I did test the microphone out and discovered no apparent flaws. It was precise, accurate and crisp as with other mic's we have tested on headsets.

Music & Movies

For this series of tests. I played the following tracks which offer a vast range of audio tones and also watched a short action scene of Clash of the Titans on Blu-Ray.

The Naked and the Famous - Punching in a dream
Milk Inc. - In My eyes
Linkin Park - Waiting for the End

Audio playback featured in the tracks above and the movie scene were handled rather well by the Kulo. Music was fairly average compared to other headsets such as the SteelSeries 7H and Siberia. The action scene that was played on our movie featured some dramatic background music and sword action with plenty of well planned choreography . The audio delivered via the Kulo was good but still I felt underwhelmed by their ability to immerse me within the action. The bass lacked real punch, the drivers used appear to be quite budget orientated as certain aspects of music and movie were good but others lacking.

Comfort

Being lightweight, Kulo presents no weight problems whilst being used but I found the ear cup design uncomfortable and even irritating. Remember, there is no breathable material around the ears and the ear cups are being pressed directly onto the ear with only a few cm of cushion. After just 30 minutes of using the Kulo I was ready to take them off.

Personally I prefer a closed headset, this hybrid design of on-the-ear design isn't great. It makes the ears moist and uncomfortable for even short durations.