[section_title title=”Performance”]Â Performance
Coming from an audio background there is an expectancy about the KG-200 and, as it turns out, for good reason. Audio quality across games, music and video has been all positive for the most part.
I seemed to come across an audio dropout when I used the analog connectors compared to the USB connector. I’m not sure why this is, but the main downside to this is I didn’t get to sue the volume rocker as freely as intended. Perhaps this was just a fault with my sample or perhaps it’s down to the fairly entry level on-board audio chipset in my PC.
For the sake of the review I stuck with the intermittent problem to test out the voice and game audio functions and the accompanying controls on the KG-200 itself. The functions themselves are a bit cumbersome but I imagine with prolonged use it would become second nature. The buttons themselves aren’t that distinctive so you generally have the feel for the volume rocker then work from there which button you want to press; some buttons have double functions such as the mic which has a mute and an on/off option both of which are activated either by pressing or holding the respective button. I suppose my main issue here is if there is a real need to have an off function when there is a mute one. Perhaps the least elegant of the options is the EQ switch which has four settings which you cycle through – and assuming you can’t tell the difference very easily – you know you’re back at the ‘neutral’ setting when you hear a beep.
Small road bump aside, audio content sounds solid with the KG-200. Firstly, in-game quality for both game audio and chat was fine. League of Legends, Battlefield 4 and Team Fortress 2 all sounded distinctive enough with announcer voices, gunshots and ability noises sounding characteristic. I think whatever tuning profile was at play here from Klipsch was definitely beneficial rather than just a ‘turn up the bass EQ’ as the sound was never overwhelming when it came to loud noises or had a muffled forcefulness about it. You can pick out the streams, ambience and wildlife with the KG-200 given the right game just as easily as you can directions of significant  sounds like doors opening, enemy voice overs and the like. Sticking with voice, the included microphone is a solid addition to the KG-200 package. There are no complaints here about the microphones quality or the any extraneous pickup. As with all microphones I recorded a clip back through Audacity and the end result was indistinguishable from my dedicated desktop mic.  The microphone can be bent and twisted easily enough so if it gets in the way you don’t have the faff trying to remove it, you can just push it away without worrying about it breaking.
Moving onto video and House of Cards series 2 has been the test subject this time around. The series has a distinctive and original opening theme as well as a strong focus on conversations throughout the programme. Voices all sound clear and spatial in busy scenes such as discussions in the Oval Office with Kevin Spacey’s conversations with the viewer begin given extra weight to the slightly bassy KG-200 sound –Â sounded out by his character, Frank Underwood, and his trademark knock on table before a given scene ends and the credits roll.
Moving onto music and really, I think this has been the highlight of my experience with the KG-200. The bass thrown out by the KG-200 sounds extremely precise and dead-centre of each earcup and as a result it feels like a small person has been inserted into your ear canal and tapping away with just the right amount of force on your ear drum without everything else being drowned out. I mainly listened to a lot of electronic mixes during my time with the KG-200 but even moving onto lighter material from Tom Odell or traditional indie outlets like the Arctic Monkeys, the feeing of precision was there too across instruments, backing sounds and each channel sounded differently brilliant form the other.
