Audio

ROCCAT Khan Pro Review

Tony Le Bourne
October 3, 2017 9 Min Read
3 0

ROCCAT present the first gaming headset certified for Hi-Res Audio that is built for ‘epic moments’, does it live up to the label?


Product on Review: ROCCAT Khan Pro
Manufacturer: ROCCAT
Street Price: UK: £89.99, US: $99.99

ROCCAT are back, this time we are looking at a lightweight gaming headset, the Khan Pro, which comes in at just 230g. It has been designed in a way to remain robust despite its mass, and features ergonomically positioned ear-cups that will naturally fit the line of your ears, when combined with some memory foam cushioning, we can expect long lasting comfort. Despite being lightweight, the Khan Pro has been made with high quality materials to ensure that it is robust, and the long braided cable goes without an in-line remote, instead moving the volume dial onto the left ear-cup, and the microphone boom will automatically mute when raised.

Inside the Khan Pro, you will find high-speed 50mm drivers that have a frequency response of 10Hz – 40KHz, entitling it to become the first gaming headset to be certified as ‘Hi-Res Audio’. In theory this should mean that these drivers are capable of reproducing clear tones throughout its entire range.

‘Hi-Res Audio’ is generally defined as something that is greater than CD quality, which sits at a bit depth and sample rate of 16 bit / 44.1KHz. Simply moving from 16 bit to 24 bit can have a dramatic effect on output quality, while the sample rate is the number of times a sample is taken per-second when converting the analogue source into digital; more samples results in higher accuracy. As mobile technology and wireless bandwidth increases, audio streaming services are shifting towards improving the audio quality of their services, moving from highly lossy 256kbps compression, to lossless codecs such as FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) or ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) or the mighty WAV. This too was true for movies and games, up until the Blu-Ray era at least, audio files are often subjected to a hefty compression, reducing their storage requirement to make way for the video and other essential information. Now we are reaching a point where we have the storage space available for higher quality audio. Soon we will likely see games AAA+ title games regularly pushing past that 200GB mark, of which a large proportion of that memory space will be from using Hi-Res Audio.

To take advantage of Hi-Res Audio however, there are various factors involved that need to be considered, including: the source data, the digital processing hardware (decode, DSP, and D/A conversion), and the output device (speakers/headphones). For audiophiles, none of this is new, however, to make the transition more understandable for the wider market, a licensed certification has been created by the Japanese Audio Society (JAS) and the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) to help consumers easily identify products capable of ‘Hi-Res Audio’, and for peace of mind, the ROCCAT Khan Pro fulfils that criteria.



Overview by ROCCAT
Designed for epic moments, the Khan Pro puts you in the esports zone. Imagine yourself on the competition stage surrounded by your teammates, pumped full of energy. You’re ready for battle as you sit face-to-face with your opponents. You can feel the passion as the crowd roars your name. You type “GL & HF” into chat and you’re in the zone, ready to go. The Khan Pro is built for this very moment. It’s the headset that makes you raise your level.

Technical Specifications

Weight (Headset only): 230g
Cable length: 2.45m
jack plug: dual plug 3.5mm (3-pin)

Drivers
Measured Frequency response: 10 – 40000Hz
Impedance: 25 Ohm
Diameter: 50mm
THD% @ 1kHz: 1%

MICROPHONE
Sensitivity at 1kHz: -40dB
Signal-to-noise ratio: 60dB
THD% @ 1kHz: 2%

Packaging & First Look



The Khan Pro sports packaging that is much less blue and noisy. There is a large image of the product which features a hand-written style labelling. In the bottom left corner you will find the High-Res certification. We love the sleek design of the packaging but feel that the ‘Raise your level’ statement simply does not need to be there.


At the back we get a list of all the key-features that is also written in various languages.


Inside the packaging, we find the standard paperwork, as well as 4pole adaptor which features braided cables.


The Khan Pro is a sleek headset with a boom microphone that has a long 2.45m braided cable attached with two 3.5mm jacks for stereo audio, and microphone.

Closer Look


The headband has a soft memory foam cushion which will help keep things comfortable on your head.


the adjustable strap is lined with metal to ensure durability, along side this, we see the pivot mounts for the ear-cups that provide the 95 degree swivel.


The base of the left ear-cup features a simple volume dial, while the boom microphone can rotate up to mute.


The ear-pads feature soft memory foam however the covering material is a plasticky leatherette. These ear-pads can be easily removed revealing a slight taper to create more space for your ears.


The boom microphone is long and flexible, allowing you to easily adjust the position as needed.

Performance Testing

Setup, Design & Observations
As this is an analogue headset, the Khan Pro will be compatible with any device with 3.5mm audio ports, or device that supports a 3.5mm 4pole jack via the included adaptor. The cable is 2.45m long (2.5m with adaptor) and has a high quality braiding on it. However it is completely hard-lined, and nothing is modular. We would prefer to see at least a semi-modular design at this price point, though we do like that ROCCAT has done away with an inline remote (a known weakness for cables) by including the volume dial and auto-mute function on the headset itself. The dial rotates smoothly without issue, and when you raise the microphone boom, there is a faint click sound that can be heard.

The headset itself is made from high quality plastics and some metal parts and the overall design is sleek and attractive. Thanks to the lightweight mass of 230g, the ergonomically angled, swivelling ear-cups, and the soft padding, the Khan Pro was very comfortable to wear over long periods, however the ear-pads are a little small and so those with larger ears may find that they struggle to fully encircle their ears, though with my average sized ears I had no problem. The ear-pads do a decent job of passive noise-cancelling, though we found that they aren’t very breathable. We also felt that the ear-pad material was a little too plasticky, and while not detrimental to the comfort, it did result in a relatively noticeable roughness. At this price point, we would have liked to have seen a higher quality material used.


Multimedia
Listening through various lossless audio tracks we found that the Khan Pro has a deep audio signature, focusing on the low-mids which gave a warm sound to everything. Deep bass tones felt a little lost, while the highs almost vanished completely. Overall, music listening was enjoyable, but was less than outstanding.

In various games, (including CS:GO, Tekken 7, Gears of War 4) we found that the Khan Pro gave a wide soundstage, allowing for clear pickup and detection of audio cues, footsteps and direction. The warm audio signature gave a clear focus on footsteps, while generally giving an exciting immersive experience.

Microphone
The microphone demo is a little quiet, though if you boost the sensitivity to maximum it suffers from a lot of static, this will also increase the amount of background noise. This demo has the microphone sensitivity set to 90% which gave a soft, natural sounding voice, without the background noise being too disruptive. The voice is warm and deep with a natural resonance, but is a little lacking in the upper register.

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

Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.

Tags:

ROCCAT

Share Article

Tony Le Bourne