ROCCAT’s recent PC accessories line up has been really impressive – I love my Vulcan keyboard and the Aimo mice are great too. This month sees the release of their new headset range. The ROCCAT Elo 7.1 USB Surround Sound RGB Gaming Headset is their mid-range effort, while the 7.1 Air gives gamers the freedom of wireless connectivity.
Features
The first thing you will notice is the headband, rather than extending the length of the plastic headband like most headset the ELO 7.1 USB has a self-adjusting metal headband that expands depending on the size of your head, it also has rotating earcup hinges for added flexibility. The earcups have a soft memory foam cushioning that feels great and accommodates gamers who wear glasses too.
There are two precision-tuned 50mm neodymium drivers in each ear cup and a removable unidirectional microphone for when you are playing solo.. The left earcup has the power button, volume control and a dial for variable mic monitoring. On the outside of the earcups you’ll find an RGB ROCCAT logo that syncs up with the Swarm software. Personally the RGB seems a bit pointless to me but it looks good while you are streaming.
The headset looks really smart, it’s light and really comfortable too so it will be great for longer gaming sessions.
Setup
Setup is simple, plug the headset into your PC, update the ROCCAT Swarm software and ELO 7.1 USB and you are good to go.
While diving in to the settings you’ll find an impressive array of customisable options including the ability to turn the 7.1 surround sound on and off, managing your mic monitoring and of course the colour that your ROCCAT logo is on the side of your head.
Sound/Microphone Performance
I test a range of PC games from Left 4 Dead 2 to Apex legends, with 7.1 audio turned on I was impressed at how well the headset performed – I was on edge during Left 4 Dead two as you could pick up all the freakish noises around you while in Apex Legends I found it much easier to work out where opponents were when they were out of sight, only to be let down by my own lack of ability! I also tested listening to a range of music and watched a movie and again was impressed with how the headset handled the sound.
When it comes to microphones I’ve tested enough headsets to know when a microphone is good or bad. For me it’s about how clear I am to my friends during gameplay. I’m often criticised when I use my Astro A40 TR edition because it’s often too quiet – I recently picked up the Hyper Quadcast which sounds amazing. However I wasn’t expecting the ELO 7.1 USB to get the reaction from my gaming pals that it did. The first time I used them to party up I was told I was the clearest I’ve even been. This is a huge compliment to this headset. I was also really impressed with the mic monitoring, it can be finely tuned through Swarm to suit your needs.
I’ve often had issues with Swarm, especially with my Vulcan keyboard, it just seems to want to do as it feels when it comes to the colours it decides to display, but so far I haven’t had any issues with the headset.
I’ve only really had one issue (and it’s probably just a personal thing rather than with the headset so far, the usb cable comes out from the left earcup, but my PC is on my right hand side, which means the lead goes across me and just always feels like it’s in the way, it would have great to able to plug the lead into any side of the headset.
Coming in at £59.99 this is a great PC headset that look stylish, is really comfortable and is suitable for all your gaming needs, the fantastic microphone and software support make this one of the best USB headset I’ve used.
