Setup & Observations
The setup process is very straightforward. All you require is a spare USB 2.0 or 3.0 port. Upon first use, Windows will auto-detect the headset and it will function as normal. You will, however, require the Swarm software to make use of the headsets more advanced features.
Given that the AIMO use a soft outer material and memory foam padding for their earcups I was expecting them to be comfortable and they are. They do have a slight problem with heat build-up though. Because of the materials used and the fact that the earcups aren’t perforated, they can build up some heat over longer use. We would advise short breaks be taken every now and then in order to alleviate this.
Lighting
The addition of RGB is not to everyone's taste, but ROCCATs implementation is nicely done with it being subtle and not too over the top. The lighting is bright, the colours are vibrant and it's uniform to. The effects are a nice touch as well, and of course, you can set the lighting to coordinate with the colours in your setup. The only minor downside is that the RGB can't be turned off via a dedicated toggle in the software. However, you can simply turn the brightness to 0 if you would like to turn the illumination off.
Multimedia
At Vortez we like to cover all the bases and test headsets in a variety of different situations. First up being for casual music listening and the AIMO do not disappoint. Give them some good quality MP3s or FLAC and they provide a vibrant and detailed sound. The bass in the flat profile is clean and smooth if a bit lacking in body. This can be easily refined by using the Swarm software to give them a bit more low end. This can be done by either using the built-in equalizer or BASS EQ slider.
The treble is detailed, bright but not harsh and it’s nicely open too. The soundstage is quite expansive giving them a real sense of height and space. Vocal production is natural, clear and it has a nice amount of potency without being too overtly forward.
For movies, the soundstage again impressed with the sound coming at you from all directions. Switch on the 7.1 audio and this heightens the experience, even more, thus providing an even broader more expansive soundstage. This, in turn, allows you to hear even more of the minute sound design details and gives a greater sense of space. The bass again in the flat profile was a bit lacking, but as with music, a quick BASS EQ tweak can alter this.
We spent a fair amount of time playing through a variety of different games across multiple genres to test out the Khan AIMO. What we found is that they provided not only great sound quality for in-game effects and sound design but also they impressed when the going gets a little tough.
When using the 2.0 preset they have impressive spatial audio, this allows you to hear your surroundings very well. Switching to 7.1 did open up the sound allowing more to be heard, but as a result, it made identifying minute details a bit more difficult. This is due to the extra effects being more prominent thus masking some other details like footsteps. However, in games like GTA V and Rise Of The Tomb Raider, this increased expansion and extra detail presence added to the immersion factor and made the game enveloping.
The bass not being very potent is a good thing for certain titles as it allows you to hear more detail in the treble. As like previously mentioned, the bass can be tweaked if you would like a bit more weight and impact. The bright and detailed treble remained during our testing and provided an enjoyable gaming experience.
Microphone
The microphone on the Khan AIMO is non-removable and features a built-in microphone mute feature. To mute the microphone, you simply bring the microphones arm towards the headset and place it an upright position. To resume chat bring the microphone arm forward and it will automatically switch on. The microphones arm is also flexible allowing you to position it to suit your preference.
To test the microphone, we set the sensitivity to just over 50% via the Swarm software combined with a volume level of 70 in Windows.
We found that with these settings, together with the noise cancelling turned off, the microphone provided plenty of volume with impressive clarity and detail. Bass pickup is solid and artificial robotic sounds are not present at all. There is a small amount of background noise present in the audio, however.
The setup process is very straightforward. All you require is a spare USB 2.0 or 3.0 port. Upon first use, Windows will auto-detect the headset and it will function as normal. You will, however, require the Swarm software to make use of the headsets more advanced features.
Given that the AIMO use a soft outer material and memory foam padding for their earcups I was expecting them to be comfortable and they are. They do have a slight problem with heat build-up though. Because of the materials used and the fact that the earcups aren’t perforated, they can build up some heat over longer use. We would advise short breaks be taken every now and then in order to alleviate this.
Lighting
The addition of RGB is not to everyone's taste, but ROCCATs implementation is nicely done with it being subtle and not too over the top. The lighting is bright, the colours are vibrant and it's uniform to. The effects are a nice touch as well, and of course, you can set the lighting to coordinate with the colours in your setup. The only minor downside is that the RGB can't be turned off via a dedicated toggle in the software. However, you can simply turn the brightness to 0 if you would like to turn the illumination off.
Multimedia
At Vortez we like to cover all the bases and test headsets in a variety of different situations. First up being for casual music listening and the AIMO do not disappoint. Give them some good quality MP3s or FLAC and they provide a vibrant and detailed sound. The bass in the flat profile is clean and smooth if a bit lacking in body. This can be easily refined by using the Swarm software to give them a bit more low end. This can be done by either using the built-in equalizer or BASS EQ slider.
The treble is detailed, bright but not harsh and it’s nicely open too. The soundstage is quite expansive giving them a real sense of height and space. Vocal production is natural, clear and it has a nice amount of potency without being too overtly forward.
For movies, the soundstage again impressed with the sound coming at you from all directions. Switch on the 7.1 audio and this heightens the experience, even more, thus providing an even broader more expansive soundstage. This, in turn, allows you to hear even more of the minute sound design details and gives a greater sense of space. The bass again in the flat profile was a bit lacking, but as with music, a quick BASS EQ tweak can alter this.
We spent a fair amount of time playing through a variety of different games across multiple genres to test out the Khan AIMO. What we found is that they provided not only great sound quality for in-game effects and sound design but also they impressed when the going gets a little tough.
When using the 2.0 preset they have impressive spatial audio, this allows you to hear your surroundings very well. Switching to 7.1 did open up the sound allowing more to be heard, but as a result, it made identifying minute details a bit more difficult. This is due to the extra effects being more prominent thus masking some other details like footsteps. However, in games like GTA V and Rise Of The Tomb Raider, this increased expansion and extra detail presence added to the immersion factor and made the game enveloping.
The bass not being very potent is a good thing for certain titles as it allows you to hear more detail in the treble. As like previously mentioned, the bass can be tweaked if you would like a bit more weight and impact. The bright and detailed treble remained during our testing and provided an enjoyable gaming experience.
Microphone
The microphone on the Khan AIMO is non-removable and features a built-in microphone mute feature. To mute the microphone, you simply bring the microphones arm towards the headset and place it an upright position. To resume chat bring the microphone arm forward and it will automatically switch on. The microphones arm is also flexible allowing you to position it to suit your preference.
To test the microphone, we set the sensitivity to just over 50% via the Swarm software combined with a volume level of 70 in Windows.
We found that with these settings, together with the noise cancelling turned off, the microphone provided plenty of volume with impressive clarity and detail. Bass pickup is solid and artificial robotic sounds are not present at all. There is a small amount of background noise present in the audio, however.
