I don’t necessarily classify myself as a gamer. More so a game enthusiast. Maybe that is the right term. I prefer average Joe really. I am “one of those” guys that enjoys it. I don’t care if I get killed 30 times and only take out 10. I don’t get upset that a bullet goes through a wall and kills me a full 10 seconds after I ducked behind cover. It just isn’t my nature. I have fun either way. I have learned that your gaming gear does make a difference in your playing habits and you enjoyment though. While this might not be the perfect place to talk about a PC gaming headset, I find it to be very useful in my daily Android life as well as my gaming life.
Whether you listen to a lot of music, watch a lot of movies or play a lot of games, there is no doubt that some of you spend a lot of time doing it. In my case, much of it is spent in front of my home computer in my bedroom. I am constantly reading my emails, feeds and articles along with responding and general browsing. While I sit here I tend to have a set of headphones on blasting tunes from Spotify or Google Play Music. The louder the better. It helps me drown out my random thoughts and keeps me focused. There is a pretty major downside though, I tend to miss a lot of calls, especially when gaming. Lets face it, when you are deep in battle the last thing you want to do is reach for your phone. Roccat has designed a rather unique solution with their Kave XTD 5.1 Digital gaming headset units that I found particularly helpful, Bluetooth pairing integration for your phone.
I wrote my full review of the Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 over on our all tech site, thesavvytechs, today, but the Bluetooth integration seemed worthy of mentioning in a separate post here. We do have a lot more followers here then over there still.
The Kave XTD’s have a heck of a lot going for them in-terms of sound, comfort and control. Especially in the realm of PC gaming. With the Bluetooth integration you can pair your phone to the control unit like you would any other Bluetooth device. Simply long press on the “phone” button until the Bluetooth light flashes. Then pair it to your device. Once paired the first time, it will auto pair when it is is in range.
Now, when a call comes in your games audio mutes. You can answer from your phone or by pressing the phone button on the controller unit. It is quite handy when you are in the middle of something a bit more important at the time of a call. It does get a little better too. If you have your phone set up for voice commands, via Google Now or Motorola’s Touchless Controls, a simple push on the phone button on the controller unit will initiate your voice actions and you can speak to it.
I found it to work really well in the middle of games and would allow me to concentrate on what I was doing more so than fumbling with the phone and tucking it under the earcup to talk. Don’t look surprised, I know you have done the same thing and it usually ended in a wreck or a death. There is a group of settings to change your out going voice through the Roccat software. You can change to a rubber duck, monster , man or woman. Unfortunately, as you hopefully read in the full review, I had a cat eat the cable. The mic still works, but the headphone aspect is shot. I never did get to test the voice changing function on mobile prior to the demise of the headset. Right now it doesn’t work, but I can’t confirm if it ever did. It did work out well on games and PC apps though.
While the call functionality and voice controls are nice, that is all you can get out of it. Don’t expect to sit down and connect to the Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 Digital and play some Angry Birds on your phone and have full audio blasting to your brain. I wouldn’t want that in 5.1 digital surround sound either. It is a good cross-platform, solution solving, side to the headset that might keep you from sleeping on the couch if you are an avid PC gamer though.
Head over to my full review about the headset for more details and pricing if you are interested.
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