Roccat Kulo 7.1

Stereo headsets are great for music, but surround sound is much better for games and films. Roccat’s Kulo headset might only have a single speaker driver in each ear cup, but it also includes a USB-powered sound card that can produce virtual 7.1 surround sound.

Continuing Roccat’s trademark design of black plastic, sharp angles and geometric patterns, the Kulo is well built but not particularly comfortable to wear. The faux leather ear cups are too small to cover your ears completely and the oddly designed cut-outs in their centre can cause unwanted rubbing. People with larger heads may find the compact headband uncomfortable to wear, but because it’s so rigid there’s a good chance it will slide off if you lean too far forward. Things don’t get any better on the in-line remote. The volume control rocker is practically useless; there’s hardly more than a centimetre worth of movement, which makes it impossible to fine tune volume with any degree of accuracy.

The headphones can be plugged straight into your motherboard, and also come with a USB sound card, which you'll need to use for the virtual surround. Audio was clear, using either the sound card or motherboard audio, but still slightly underwhelming. Mid-range notes often sounded muddy when our games got hectic and the bass was limited. The headphones have plenty of volume, but we would have preferred better sound quality.

Most Roccat products have a fantastic user interface, but the Kulo’s USB sound card has a very dull-looking UI that doesn’t offer much in the way of customisation. It didn’t detect if we were playing music or a game, so we had to switch between modes manually. Considering most motherboards are capable of 5.1 virtual surround sound, the bundled USB card won’t appeal to many people. You can buy the headset by itself, but it still suffers from the same problems with comfort and sound quality.

Bose Lifestyle 50 Home Theater System (Black) | Lovely Gadget

Electrohome ELE-HTB920E 5.1 Channel Surround Sound Home Theater Speaker System with HD 1080p Upconverting DVD Player & AM/FM Digital Radio

If you're looking for a complete and compact home theater system that does it all, then look no further than the Electrohome Home Theater System with 1080p DVD Player. 5.1 Channel Amplifier/Receiver with 5 Speakers and Subwoofer: The integrated amplifier/receiver ...

What does the average consumer expect when they pay [this much money] for audio equipment? To be impressed, no less. Most people will be in awe when they take note to the Bose Lifestyle 50. They expect no less from a company like Bose. I, but, expected more.

My first disappointment is with the speakers. I didn’t expect THX certification (a symbol of brilliant audio quality), but the Lifestyle50 packs the same speakers from the cheapest Lifestyle complex. 2.5″ paper drivers. Where does all the extra money go? The subwoofer is still passive instead of powered.

Then here’s surround sound. It has Dolby Digital 5.1 (DD5.1) and Bose’s proprietary Videostage5. DD5.1 is standard surround sound. It separates audio from front right, left, rear right, left, center, and subwoofer. The separation of channels provides a better movie-like experience and better sound quality. DD5.1 audio is the standard on DVDs. Videostage5 is odd in the sense that it divides the stereo signal into even more channels. The results are mixed, and often I wondered why it was here.

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