ROCCAT Kave XTD 5.1 Analog Review

👤by Tony Le Bourne Comments 📅20-05-15
Conclusion

ROCCAT once again deliver a great surround headset that allows you to dive deep in to other worlds. Sharing the refined body of the Kave XTD 5.1 Digital, surround enthusiasts with their own discrete soundcard will be pleased to hear that the Kave XTD 5.1 Analog is now available.



There are various oversights to consider, as with its digital sibling, it is a shame that we didn't see some form of modularity in the cable though considering the size and weight of the cable itself due to being an analogue headset that needs to carry 6+ channels of audio, it becomes understandable. Through in the scope of control is actually the inline remote, adding extra weight to that cable. The desktop stand included is a useful addition to remedy this problem but effective use of the stand may only be achieved by those seated in the 'right orientation'. It would have been nice to see some of the controls from the inline remote integrated in to the headset itself, like the mute switch or the game/movie modes but this would just work against the weight loss ROCCAT strived to achieve.

In our testing we use the Creative ZxR soundcard which by default may potentially elimiate various issues others could potentially observe, like any hiss, background interference, distortion or a noisy microphone. Understanding this raises the primary issue with a headset such as this. That is, people may find that their experience is entirely unique to their situation and setup. Setting up an analogue 5.1 headset can be a pain, especially if you will be juggling speaker systems or simply jumping between stereo and multi-channel formats for music playback or games/movies. Once you have these settings in place, you then may need to adjust the volume of each channel to preference as well as balancing the sound signature using your drivers equaliser.

Ultimately it comes down to which camp you sit in with your audio preference, whether you are happy with stereo channels and believe that 'real' surround headsets are a gimmick, or if you genuinely prefer the more open sound of a surround headset. If you are a gamer that also uses your system for watching a lot of movies, the ROCCAT Kave XTD 5.1 Analog will surprise you at how good its surround sound can be. Considering the pricing between the analogue and digital versions of the Kave XTD 5.1, if you do not have a discrete soundcard, the digital version is a no brainer as it has integrated DSP (Digital Signal Processing) while being easy to setup. If you don't mind putting a little extra effort into getting the headset setup to your preference and want to save some money doing so, the ROCCAT Kave XTD 5.1 Analog is just as capable as its digital stablemate and you will be rewarded with an excellent surround experience.

The ROCCAT Kave XTD 5.1 Analog lets you take full control of your surround experience, creating an extra dimension to your movies and games.

Pros.
+ Real 5.1 surround
+ Good Spatial awareness/ surround Sound
+ Great for gaming and movies

Cons.
- Long winded setup/adjustment




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