Roccat Vire Very light headset for mobile gamers

Author: Jouni 'Jipa' Vasama Published: 24.07.2009 Manufacturer: ROCCAT Product Group: Audio In English Suomeksi

In Use

So then, let's get into the business. Besides being designed to suit the needs of mobile gamers, the Vire is already supposed to work as a handsfree for Blackberries and iPhone. Unfortunately my Nokia N95 doesn't seem to use the same sort of connector/microphone/what ever and refuses to work with the Vire. Not only does the mic not work, but it also refuses to use the earphone without using one of the adapters. It's not really Roccat's fault, but of great annoyance nonetheless.

(tight curve on cable and portable use don't really mix too well)

To try out if the Vire are as pleasant to use as Roccat would like us believe, I used them for two eight-hour days at the office in a row. And yes, they indeed seem comfortable, as I never had the need to stop listening to music because my ears would have become sore, or the sound quality would make me bored. To be fair though, the only earphones that I have found seriously uncomfortable have been the free earphones they give out in airplanes, and which you then use for ten hours. Maybe my ears just are pretty close to the "normal" ear that the earphones are designed for.

As for the sound quality, the Vire really lack in bass. The sound is clear and crisp, but there's definitely something lacking. Previously I've used Koss Spark Plugs and Sennheiser HD-25SP headphones, which both have gone over the top with the bass response, and while I like the Roccat's approach more, it still isn't exactly perfect. Unfortunately I have little experience of dedicated earphones in the same price range, but would expect a bit more refined sound quality at this price range. Anyway if your mp3-player has an EQ of some sort, you can just nudge the bass response up a notch, and make the Vire sound that much better.

Conclusion PROS  Light weight, comfortable Compatible with some phones Two adapter with different lenghts CONS  What's with the connectors? Worryingly flimsy cables on adapters Silver Award! Could this be the thing for mobile gamers? Well, why not? It's definitely light weight, fits into small space, and provides sound quality that should please most consumers. For me personally it was a huge disappointment that my phone didn't recognise the Vire without the relatively bulky adapter, and I'm pretty sure someone else will get disappointed as well. Other than the compatibility issue, there aren't really any downsides that I could point out. The Vire comes with a price tag of about 40 €, which is more than the cheapest headsets, but about what I'd expect to buy from decent earphones. Overall though, I just can't really make up about who's the target audience for this product. It might make a good handsfree for people with suitable phones, but it's being sold primarily as (mobile) gaming headset. And if that's the main user, why tease them with the wrong connector. Also from personal experience, there's a reason why I tend to use closed headphones on LANs, it's usually more or less noisy, so some sort of noise reducing (be it physical blocking or electronical cancellation) comes in handy. With Vire you just can just crank up the volume until it blocks the ambient noise, which again isn't the best choice... Bottomline being, get if if you feel the need for it, but atleast for me the Vire just isn't something I'd find useful.

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