Roccat have been building up their PC and gaming peripheral business for some time now but recently they’ve released a number of high profile products that have been picked up by eSports teams. Their latest headset is aimed squarely at the PC gaming market, but what advantage can it provide for the average gamer?

The German tech company’s latest PC headset is the Khan Pro (anyone else want to act like Captain Kirk when saying that out loud? No? Just me then) and it combines a design that focuses on comfort with a high quality sound output. The main feature banded around here is ‘Hi Res Audio’ which is a standard set by the music and digital audio industry to produce “Lossless audio that is capable of reproducing the full range of sound from recordings that have been mastered from better than CD quality music sources.” and has to meet a specific audio quality before that little yellow logo is stamped on a product.

For gamers, this means that their games are going to sound spectacularly clear and it will be easy to hear everything going on around you. Well, in theory. Roccat’s headphones are based on a 3.5″ audio jack and don’t have any special software to create a surround effect, so what you’re getting might certainly be hi-res, but it’s not surround.

Design-wise, the Khan pros look fine but nothing particularly special. The headphones twist 90 degrees on the thin headrest, which is nicely padded. The black set we tested is certainly shiny and the silver lettering (Roccat Khan on one side and the Roccat logo on the other) is the only break in the otherwise black-all-over design. The headphones are well padded, giving a high level of comfort, but the long rubber microphone feels a little out of place with nowhere to hide, sticking out of the left ear cup even when not in use.

Thankfully, comfort levels are very good, thanks to the nice padding on the cups and headrest plus the light overall design. This is a headset you’d be happy to sit wearing for long sessions of gaming or music listening, which is exactly what you need in a tournament. While it’s not wireless, the wires never got in the way and you can choose from separate mic and earphone plugs or an included adaptor can combine them when using mobile devices or other equipment that supports both audio in and out.

Sound quality lives up to the Hi-res claim, too. There are some great contrasts in bass and treble and games really come alive through this headset. Even music, where we tested rock, classical and pop, really impresses. The microphone voice is clear and accurate without any distortion. It also provides noise cancelling features which worked well, though weren’t the best I’ve ever heard. They’re useful for concentrating on the task at hand, though.

Overall the general quality of the sound and the comfort are top notch even if first impressions are not so good, thanks to the rather basic look of the headset. If you’re after something for media and gaming use and aren’t bothered about surround effects then these are certainly an easy recommendation.