ROCCAT Khan Pro Review

👤by Tony Le Bourne Comments 📅03-10-17
Conclusion

Something we love about the ROCCAT crew is that they work tirelessly on their designs aiming to give gamers something great. The ear-cups are clearly angling the drivers at the ear, giving a wide audio, and the focus on the deeper, low-mid range gives a clear, thumpy focus on footsteps that makes gaming exciting and immersive. During out gaming session, we found that the comfort of the Khan Pro was great, but is slightly let down by the plasticky ear-pads, had higher quality material been used, we would see the Khan Pro delivering outstanding comfort.



Though we are not a fan of full hard-lined cables, we did enjoy the simple controls built into the Khan Pro which helped remove the need for an in-line remote. The volume dial is easily accessed on the ear-cup, while the microphone boom intuitively mutes when raised.

The primary point of contention with the Khan Pro lies with its Hi-Res Certification. This simply means that the drivers used with the Khan Pro have a frequency response of greater than 20Hz - 40KHz (10Hz - 40KHz in this case), which is well beyond the range of human hearing. While it is nice to have a break from the generic 20Hz - 20KHz drivers that plague gaming headsets, this doesn't automatically mean that the ROCCAT Khan Pro has superior drivers that can deliver the 'best' audio. In fact, they are relatively poorly tuned, missing out details in the high end as well as the very low end. This results in that Hi-Res Audio certification (which is Licensed) being a costly addition that does little to add any real value. As it is, we find it difficult to see the Khan Pro being competitive at the £89 price tag.

'Hi-Res Audio' certified products will undoubtedly be a new fad that will bump the price of headphones and hardware. We can easily make the case that it is entirely unnecessary for a gaming headset, or even mainstream headphones, to support the 'Hi-Res Audio' specification, let alone paying extra for a little logo to tell you that it has this specification. However, this would be a great way to challenge the 20Hz - 20KHz used in mainstream drivers. This frequency range has been selected as it is considered a 'rough' guide to human hearing, however, it is far more subjective than that. The extreme extents of human hearing isn't just about what is perceived as sound, but what we are also sensitive to. The extremities of human hearing can be as low as 12Hz, or as high as 28KHz. As humans get older, their hearing in the upper register diminishes, with few adults being able to hear tones over 18KHz at all, which is why some headphones move to 10Hz - 22KHz to ensure that audio clipping (caused by compressing audio waves) occurs outside the range of human hearing, or even the 5Hz - 35KHz frequency response found on higher end, studio grade headphones. Seeing a manufacturer of gaming headphones directly challenge the norm is a refreshing thing and I hope, despite the unnecessary certification, ROCCAT and other manufacturers will take this on board when considering the specification for their headsets.

We loved the sleek aesthetic of the Khan Pro and its lightweight design making it great for wearing over long periods of time. The Hi-Res Audio Certification challenges the mainstream approach to gaming headsets and the drivers they use, though this addition does little to improve the value or performance of the headset itself, and so the pricing may deter some people.

Pros.
+ Sleek aesthetic (available in black/white, more colours to come)
+ Lightweight and comfortable
+ Good quality construction
+ Intuitive controls (volume dial + auto mute microphone)
+ Wide audio with clear low mids (focus on footsteps)
+ Removable ear-pads

Neutral.
+- High-Res Audio Certification is unnecessary

Cons.
- Price
- Microphone is a little quiet
- Non modular cables
- Strong competition

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