PC Peripherals Roccat Kave first hand impressions?

B

bruc3

Disciple
Hi guys, after reading all the positive reviews on the Roccat Kaves, i decided to take the plunge and purchase one myself. However, it has proven to be a regretful purchase.

I am using the Kaves with my Realtek onboard 7.1 HD audio sound. I have it set to 5.1 and have tested to confirm each driver in each ear does in fact work.

BUT, directional sound doesnt seem accurate like reviews make it seem, i can NOT pinpoint directions of sound in games (tried on BF Bad Company 2/COD WAW/Metro 2033). Also in Bad company 2, I have sound set to "wartapes" and gunfire sounds very flat (not realistic) also sound is very hollow overall.

I have compared the Kaves to my cheap $30 Logitech stereo headphones, and i have to admit that the sound difference was barely noticeable, for both gaming and music. Direectional sound + sound quality was almost the same on my Kaves and cheap logitech headphones.

Bass and vibration only works in games when i turn the "Sub" control up max + max master volume. Bass however does NOT sound solid and the vibration is pretty weak also. Also i notice a very low "hiss" sound when the headphones are on idle (if i pull out the USB the sound is gone, i assume this is caused by the amp in the headphone which makes me think it is somewhat cheap).

Overall, Kaves was too expensive and does NOT work well like reviews have said, also it is pretty uncomfortable and heavy to wear.

So i want to know what other peoples experience are with the Kaves, and am I alone in this?
 
Regarding positional audio, perhaps is related to your sound card, feel like the X-fi chips provide better positional audio than onboard. (want to know others views on this)
For music - they are just banal & can be compared to normal headphones costing ~ 2K from microsoft & logitech.
For movies - good but I too feel the bass is muddy & not strong.
For gaming - better overall but heavy & you can feel discomfort after 1-1.5 hrs of game play.

I sold mine after 1.5 months of usage.
 
luckyishere said:
I am using Kaves too but my reviews are completely opposite..I guess you should fiddle with the settings of your onboard sound card
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Yeah ive installed different drivers for my sound and tried many different settings on it, still doesnt sound that great. Are you also using onboard sound?
 
I say u talk to someone like Vikid or Faheem for the settings ...coz as of now , KAVE's are kinda the best 5.1 gaming headsets u can get in India.

May be re-install the application from the cd ?
 
^ The Kave is pretty much limited by the source used as per my experience as well as Vikid's review. I highly recommend one to use a decent 5.1 soundcard or something as good as a X-fi card to get the best out of the Kave.It won't sound half as good with onboard. That said I would prefer the Kaves only for entertaining gaming + movie experience . Yes they are heavy and slightly uncomfortable but its not that bad and if one can live with it they sound pretty good for 5.1 entertainment :D
 
Waiting for the Sennheiser PC 163D or PC 333D gaming headphones.
IMHO comfort wise Razer Megalodon are the best as they are less than a pound compared to others ranging from 1.5-2.x pounds.
 
Yes, i have been thinking of getting a new sound card. Which specific sound card would you recommend? I was thinking of getting the Asus Xonar D1.

Also has anyone compared onboard sound to a sound card to see how much difference there is? Because i was told that sound would mostly only be improved for music, but not much for games/movies with a sound card.

Which sound card would you recommend out of these 2:
-Asus Xonar D1
-CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Xtreme Gamer

I can get both of them for about the same price. I mostly play FPS games, dont listen to much music or watch movies with my headphones.
 
FaH33m said:
^ The Kave is pretty much limited by the source used as per my experience as well as Vikid's review. I highly recommend one to use a decent 5.1 soundcard or something as good as a X-fi card to get the best out of the Kave.It won't sound half as good with onboard. That said I would prefer the Kaves only for entertaining gaming + movie experience . Yes they are heavy and slightly uncomfortable but its not that bad and if one can live with it they sound pretty good for 5.1 entertainment :D
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+1 for this

and i am using Creative X-fi Titanium with these :eek:hyeah:
 
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