Hey everyone I am back with something I haven’t reviewed for a while. Roccat are very well known in the gaming world for creating quality peripherals with mostly gaming performance in mind. From keyboards and mice to what is currently tickling my ears headsets. The Roccat Renga Boost is a refined re-issue of an upper budget headset, let’s see what it’s got.
Roccat Renga Boost Specifications & Features
Driver Units
- Neodymium Drivers: 50mm
- Measured Frequency response: 20~20000Hz
- Impedance: 32Ω
- Max. SPL at 1kHz: 110dB
- THD: 5%(1kHz,2dB)
- Max Input Power: 50mW
- Attenuation: +/- 3dB
Microphone
- Sensitivity @ 1kHz: 42dB
- Impedence: 2.2kQ
- Omni-Directional
Dimensions
- Height: 20.0 cm
- Width: 21.0 cm
- Length: 10.0 cm
- Weight: 210 g (excl. Cable)
General
- Cable Length: 2.5m
- Jack Plugs 2x3pin to 1x4pin with adapter (included)
Roccat Renga Boost Closer Look
The Renga Boost headset arrives in a fairly pleasant box, a picture of the headset is the main feature, the box makes a bold statement about Acoustic Performance, and other features are added as notes in a handwritten style as if they are additions after the fact.
Around the back of the box there are further images with those handwritten annotations, underneath those are feature lists in a few select languages.
Bringing out the contents we are presented with a headset in plastic packaging, a bagged cable and a plastic wrapped manual. It would be nice to see more recyclable materials used in packaging.
Roccat have produced a handsome looking headset with the Renga Boost, no bulky parts around the headband gives it a functional yet minimalist design. They have used the separate headband under an arched frame which I have raved about in the past, it really is just about the most comfortable solution for me. The boom microphone is on a swing down arm, the arm itself is not very flexible. Finally we have a pair of over-ear pads which can move around in the sockets attached to the headband.
Viewing the embossed inner headband from the top, texturing had been added, but it is a rubbery material so no stitching. The two supporting arcs are plastic coated metal, quite strong and expand outwards rather than the usual parallel rails.
From the left hand side we have the adjustment slider which sits in the rubbery strap and the rails and is quite sturdy. We also see the microphone stretches out quite far, I hope it still picks up well with the stiff arm restricting placement.
The right hand side of Roccat’s Renga Boost headset is almost symmetrical apart from the microphone, you will notice there is no lighting or any controls, this headset keeps things simple hopefully letting the engineering costs go into sound quality and comfort. We shall see.
A closer examination of the ear cup shows some large open vents, I know a few people who prefer an open headset to avoid blocking out their surroundings.
Some way down the generous 2.5m cable is an in-line controller, we have microphone on/off along with a volume slider on the other side, the controller is made from fairly light materials and while fairly solid, I wouldn’t expect it to withstand too much punishment.
To add to the normal Phone/Line and Mic connectors there is a 4-pole adapter so you can use the headset with a compatible device such as a gaming laptop or mobile phone.
The Roccat Renga Boost Review: The Verdict
So I have been using the Roccat Renga Boost headset for a while and have found it to be very comfortable, again the double headband design is a favourite of mine so it would take a colossal cock-up for one to fail me.
Music Performance
Grabbing a bunch of my favourite tunes, I enjoy quite a range along with big ranges in frequencies. The headset performed much better than I expected considering it’s open setup, I had a strange sensation still being able to clearly hear my PC fans and other creaks in the house while still getting an earful of music. Bass is well handled which is where I would expect the drivers to lack most, mids and highs were clear and crisp so I have no complaints on audio performance for an open headset.
Gaming Performance
I will start with the microphone performance, I have a friend with the original version of the Renga and his mic has proved to be a little problematic over time and has never been the clearest. In Discord my friends had no issues with the audio performance, I sounded slightly more distant than usual but audio still came through clear after some adjustments.
Playing games I found I had to play around with the audio even more, separating chat audio from game audio I found I had to turn the games up much louder than normal. This could be down to the open nature of the driver units. Positional audio in CS:GO was spot on although I couldn’t seem to get the gun noises to be proportionate to footsteps and other sounds they seemed muted. Rocket league was just fine with no major tweaks needed.
Design and Build Quality
The Renga Boost seems to be quite well built using sensible materials, I don’t feel that any part would fail too easily. The design is very comfortable and understated, leaving flashing lights and earcup controls to other sets. The earcups themselves are quite comfortable, fitting over the ear with p-leather padding, a fair amount of cushioning and what I would class as medium clamping force on the head.
What’s hot:
- Very Comfortable
- Great Audio Range for an Open Headset
- A big improvement over the previous model
What’s not:
- Some games need quite a bit of EQ adjustment
- Priced a touch on the high side
- Plastic packaging needs a rethink
The Roccat Renga Boost is an upgraded re-release of the original Renga, many design features remain with most of the focus put into the speaker drivers and microphone. I really do like the improvements and aside from some adjustment frustrations for some games this is a great all round headset with excellent musical performance. The open earcups don’t spoil the music while letting outside sounds in. At the time of writing the Renga Boost is available for around £50, which is an extra £15 over the previous model. While an improvement the price tag does start to touch on some very tough albeit mostly closed cup competition. With the sturdy, comfortable build and pretty good performance I am happy to grant Roccat a Gold Award as it is difficult to find such a good open headset especially in this range.
Thanks to Roccat for sending a sample of the Renga Boost in for review.
