ROCCAT, now under the control of Turtle Beach, have launched a new wireless headset with 7.1 surround sound, RGB lighting and a 24-hour battery life, but is it any good?
Product on Review: Roccat Elo 7.1 Air
Manufacturer: Roccat
Street Price:
GBP: £89.99
USD: $99.99
AUS: $199.95
ROCCAT, now under the control of Turtle Beach, who are undoubtedly best known for their console-orientated peripherals, have today provided us with a sample of the new Elo 7.1 Air gaming headset. ROCCAT appear to still focus primarily on the PC gaming market, though the Elo 7.1 Air does support the Playstation 4 and 5 as well as the Nintendo Switch.
ROCCAT’s Elo boasts something called Dynamic Fit, where the metal headband and earcups adjust on the fly to ensure a good fit no matter how big or small your head is; pair this with memory foam around your ears, and Turtle Beach’s ProSpecs Glasses Relief System, you’re unlikely to experience any discomfort regardless of how long you play for.
7.1 surround sound delivers 360° audio through precision-tuned 50mm neodymium drivers, proven to give a clear competitive advantage according to Turtle Beach’s Superhuman Hearing study. The 24hr battery life ensures you’ll never come up against power issues during lengthy sessions either.
Being able to hear your opponents is incredibly important, but your team mates hearing you can be just as important during critical moments. The
The Elo 7.1 Air arrives with a competitive price-tag and lengthy feature list, but with umpteen different manufacturers all producing some excellent wireless headsets, all with similar features, what sets this apart from the crowd? Let’s have a look and find out.
ROCCAT on the Elo 7.1 Air:
Combining the latest in wireless technology with a weightless fit, the ROCCAT® Elo 7.1 Air Surround Sound RGB Gaming Headset is the next-generation headset of today. Experience 360° visual audio surround sound powered by precision-tuned 50mm drivers. Stellar Wireless technology provides incredibly reliable connectivity and the comfort and freedom of a cable-free design.
Technical Specifications
General
– Direct wireless connection via USB-A transmitter
– 2.4GHz transmitter frequency response
– Rechargeable 24h battery (average 1+ week play time based on typical ~3h use per day)
– Audio controls: power button, master volume wheel, mic mute, mic monitor wheel
– Removable unidirectional microphone
– Leatherette headband with foam cushioning
– Over-ear design featuring memory foam
– 345g weight
– Charging Cable Length: 2m
Driver Unit
– Measured Frequency response: 20 ~ 20000Hz
– Drive diameter: 50mm
– Driver unit material: Neodymium magnet
Compatibility
– System requirements: USB 2.0 (or higher), Internet connection (for driver software)
– Windows® 7, 8, 10 & 11 (software support)
– PlayStation® 4* / PlayStation® 5*
*Master volume control not supported from the headset. To adjust, Press the PS button > select Sound > go to Headphones, and change the master volume from there.
– Nintendo Switch*
*Nintendo Switch wireless compatibility supported through USB connection while in docked mode only. Chat available for games that support in-game chat capability.
– Direct wireless connection via USB-A transmitter
– 2.4GHz transmitter frequency response
– Rechargeable 24h battery (average 1+ week play time based on typical ~3h use per day)
– Audio controls: power button, master volume wheel, mic mute, mic monitor wheel
– Removable unidirectional microphone
– Leatherette headband with foam cushioning
– Over-ear design featuring memory foam
– 345g weight
– Charging Cable Length: 2m
Driver Unit
– Measured Frequency response: 20 ~ 20000Hz
– Drive diameter: 50mm
– Driver unit material: Neodymium magnet
Compatibility
– System requirements: USB 2.0 (or higher), Internet connection (for driver software)
– Windows® 7, 8, 10 & 11 (software support)
– PlayStation® 4* / PlayStation® 5*
*Master volume control not supported from the headset. To adjust, Press the PS button > select Sound > go to Headphones, and change the master volume from there.
– Nintendo Switch*
*Nintendo Switch wireless compatibility supported through USB connection while in docked mode only. Chat available for games that support in-game chat capability.
Packaging & First Look
Your new headset will arrive in a hefty cardboard box with a large picture of the item on the front. The thickness of the cardboard should do a grand job keeping your headset in good order while it wings its way to you.
On the reverse side you’ll be able to find out almost any detail you need to know. Everything is listed here, as well as alternative photographs for better angles.
Inside the box is a thin plastic shell that holds things in place.
Overall, for your hard earned money, you’ll get the headset, a Type-A to Type-C cable, a removable microphone and a USB dongle for wireless connectivity.
Closer Look
Available in black and white, the ROCCAT Elo 7.1 Air is designed as a one-size-fits-all with no adjustment required.
The metal headband around the top provides the clamping force while the soft, plushy grey/white band inside of the metal gives a cushioned support to take the weight of the headset.
The inside of each earcup is relatively deep, so your ears aren’t compressed against the drivers; which would cause discomfort very quickly. Each earcup measures as roughly the following:
Inside measurements are 42mm x 55mm
Outside measurements are 90m x 107mm
Memory foam is used to keep you super comfortable, with a clever dual-foam layout for those who use glasses; the area that intersects with the arms of your glasses feature a less dense foam which will deform easier and therefore provide less resistance and discomfort.
On the bottom edge of the right earcup are all of your functions and the USB Type-C charger port. Starting from the left, you have a power button, a microphone mute toggle, microphone volume wheel and headset volume wheel.
The tiny 2.4GHz USB adaptor matches the colour scheme of the headset, so it’s white if you buy the white one, and black for black. The small vertical section at the bottom houses the indicator LED.
Software
It’s a little over two years since we’ve tested anything from ROCCAT, but we still remember how lovely and simple their SWARM software is to use. The good news here is that they’ve not changed it much, if at all. No change for the sake of change, just a functional, easy-to-use, good looking piece of software.Opening the software for the first time, you’ll be asked to update the firmware of the headset and wireless adapter, but it’s all plain sailing and only takes a minute or two. After that, you’re good to go and can get stuck into your brand-new headset.
If you’re anything like myself, you’ll jump straight for the illumination tab to adjust the all-important shiny shiny. Getting those RGB LEDs set up to match the rest of your machine is the top priority. We’re a big fan of ROCCAT’s AIMO Intelligent Lighting System, which adjusts and tweaks things over time, it tweaks and changes things to match the applications and devices that you use so you don’t need to spend ages faffing around. If, however, you do like to find the perfect colour or lighting effect, there’s plenty of options here.
On the settings tab, which is a chunk more in-depth than the RGB lighting, you’ll find every setting you need. There are no complex sub-menus or messing about here, it’s all laid out and easy to find. The only small complaint we have here is that it doesn’t fit onto a single screen when put into full-screen mode unless you have a 4K resolution or higher, so you will need to deploy the scroll wheel.
All things considered, the ROCCAT SWARM software is probably my favourite out there, I find it easiest to use, it looks nice and it’s very easy to navigate.
Performance Testing
And now it’s time to put the Elo 7.1 Air through its paces, to see if it’s worth the £89 pricetag.Thanks to the headset’s one-size-fits-most design, with the suspension style headband and metal straps over the top, the headset slides on and immediately fits. No messing about with clips or presets along the sides. Pulling the headset on for the first time was lovely, immediately greeted by comfort and a nice, roomy earcup.
However, things don’t quite carry on that smoothly; the clamping force was too much for my head, which brought on genuine discomfort within about 20-30 minutes, almost as though I was suffering from some pressure points being compressed or something like that. I did ask my girlfriend to test out the headset over the course of a weekend, and she found no issues with discomfort at all, so it may just be my large head (around 60cm above the brow).
The strange thing at this point is, despite the clamping force causing a headache, the headset would move around on your head without much effort at all. The leather used for the earcups is too smooth and slidey to hold the headset in place. If you have multiple monitors, as many people do these days, and find yourself turning your head a lot, you’ll soon notice what I’m talking about. Even if you don’t, you’ll still move your head at some point and the headset will shift, without doubt.
Build quality feels really good, the headband looks beefy, the retraction system is perfectly balanced but strong, the hinges are reassuringly stiff. Everything is produced to a good tolerance and feels great. The only issue with the build quality is a clicking noise as you move around, the only way to explain it is like something is releasing tension within the design. Whatever is causing the creaking/clicking doesn’t matter, it’s very annoying and ruins the headset for me.
Sound quality is a much happier story, they feel nicely balanced with a good, rounded sound stage. The software makes it easy to make small tweaks, if you like your sound a certain way, but the default settings are great for a headset in this price range. The bass was heavy and very noticeable, in a good way, not over-whelming at all with the mids and highs still being perfectly clear. Voices are easy to pick out, details in the music are all there; it all sounds great. Turtle Beach and ROCCAT have done a grand job here.
As is often the case with 7.1 surround headsets using only two drivers, software trickery needs to be employed to mimic the direction of the audio, this isn’t something I particularly like because it never feels natural, but the ROCCAT Elo does a fairly decent job of it, you can get a good sense of the placement of sounds within your games, which could give you a competitive edge. ROCCAT have also developed, thanks to Turtle Beach’s extensive research, the Superhuman Hearing which over-pronounces certain sounds within your game to help you survive up to 20% longer and improve your K/D ratio by up to 44%. Of course, your mileage will vary, but it did definitely change the way things sounded and subtly improved the way footsteps, gunfire, or any kind of movement could be heard. I’m not sure it would improve my K/D by 44%, but that’s more a reflection of my ability.
With this being a closed backed headset, you’d expect sound isolation to be strong, allowing the intended audio to be undisturbed and heard as it should be, but this headset really doesn’t do a good job at all; sounds leak in and out of the headset with ease, even with the volume turned up quite high I was still able to hear external noises. Those with kids or pets, or if you just prefer to have a better idea of what’s going on around you, will find this a helpful feature but I personally prefer to be absorbed by the audio in my headset and would use speakers otherwise.
Battery life, which is super important on today’s wide selection of wireless headsets, is definitely something that needs to be tested. ROCCAT claims the headset lasts for 24 hours, but this must be without the RGB lighting, we found it lasted closer to 18 hours, which is still plenty. Charging is nice and quick, and thankfully ROCCAT have equipped the Elo with a Type-C port so you get a robust charging connector if you do need to wear them while they charge.
The RGB lighting on our white unit looks fantastic, it’s crisp and vibrant and features all of the same customisability that you’d expect from their keyboards, mice or other peripherals. AIMO intelligent lighting is also an option here so your entire system can be paired together to put on a truly impressive light show. The software makes tweaking any lighting effects super easy as well.
Last but certainly not least is the microphone, the sound picked up is decently accurate for a wireless headset, nice and clear for your team mates, but any of the plosive sounds you’ll make while speaking can sound a bit poppy. We also found the microphone picked up the raspy sounds of air passing over the microphone a little too often, and external sounds in the room were detected easily as well. The recently widespread adoption of systems like Discord’s Krisp and NVIDIA’s Broadcast will help with this, but if you don’t have those features then your buddies will suffer.
Conclusion
ROCCAT and Turtle Beach have produced a very conflicting product here, with extremely strong performances in some sectors but the complete opposite in others.The sound quality from the cans is incredible, far better than the pricetag would suggest; bass is strong, mids and highs are crystal clear and voices can be heard without issue. Turtle Beaches Superhuman Hearing accentuates everything further and has been proven to provide a tangible competitive advantage. Everything on this front is great, job well done by ROCCAT.
The software is another strong point of this review. ROCCAT’s SWARM has always performed well, being easy to use, nicely laid out and looks good too. It could scale a little better to bigger screens but it’s no big issue.
The removeable microphone performs about as well as you’d expect for a headset in this price range, particularly a wireless headset. It’s not going to be up to scratch for professional streaming or any kind of content creation/narration, but for casual gaming with your friends, it’s perfectly good.
Comfort, arguably the most important attribute of any headset, was somewhere that I struggled to get along with the Elo 7.1 Air; it seemed to be pushing on pressure points on my head which brought on a headache each time that I tried to use it. Something I’ve always avoided doing is reading other reviews of a product, so my own opinion can’t be warped or adjusted in any way, but I was intrigued to see if anyone else had this same issue, but I couldn’t find anyone else complaining about the comfort of the headset, including my girlfriend who was perfectly happy with it. My experience of this headset seems to be an outlying opinion so your comfort will almost certainly be better.
Relating to the comfort was the grip of the headset, the headset gave me headaches from too much pressure around the ears, but moving your head a tiny bit too quickly would move it around. You certainly couldn’t use this for music while exercising or over the top of a VR headset.
Build quality, on the face of things, feels solid but there’s a weird creaking/popping sound that comes from inside both ear cups; even with the volume turned up quite high it’s still audible and quickly becomes annoying.
Overall, we feel as thought this is a poor show from Turtle Beach and ROCCAT,
ROCCAT, now under the Turtle Beach umbrella, should’ve done much better than this. The cons far outweigh the pros for us, which is a shame as it started off so promisingly.
Pros
+ Good, clear audio
+ Excellent software suite
+ Affordable price
+ Removeable microphone
+ Vivid and bright RGB lighting
Cons
– Discomfort caused a headache
– Clicking/popping sound from the earcups
– Headset doesn’t stay in place
– Poor sound isolation for a closed backed headset
+ Good, clear audio
+ Excellent software suite
+ Affordable price
+ Removeable microphone
+ Vivid and bright RGB lighting
Cons
– Discomfort caused a headache
– Clicking/popping sound from the earcups
– Headset doesn’t stay in place
– Poor sound isolation for a closed backed headset
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