Sound Quality

The Thermaltake RIING Pro RGB 7.1 is equipped with a pair of 50-millimeter dynamic drivers. The official specifications claim that the headset uses the ESS 9018 DAC combined with the ESS SABRE 9601K headphone amplifier in order to achieve crystal-clean sound with plenty of volume and no distortion.

Unfortunately, sound quality is an area where things start to go south for the Thermaltake RIING Pro RGB 7.1. There are several issues to mention, starting with a constant electric buzzing noise in the headphones. Of course, you won't be able to hear it when anything remotely louder is playing, but you'll definitely pick it up during quieter parts of songs, games, or movies, or if you just have the headset on with nothing playing.

Sound performance is lacking even if I ignore the persistent buzzing noise, which is not easy. It sounds thin and shallow in the low-end and quite harsh in the upper part of the frequency spectrum. The middle frequencies have a decent presence, and that's one of only a few things I like about the sound of this headset as it helps with spatial positioning while gaming. The built-in speaker drivers can be pushed extremely loud, but that really isn't the kind of sound I'd want a lot of.


A huge contributor to all these issues is the aforementioned lackluster fit. When I press the headphones closer to my ears, which makes the ear cushions form a much better seal, sound quality improves massively. However, I can't play games and listen to music with my hands on the ear cups, so this isn't a viable solution to anything. Let's not forget about the buzzing noise, either—no change in fit makes it go away.

7.1 Virtual Surround Sound

The 7.1 virtual surround sound is provided by Xear's technology. Avoid it at all costs—it doesn't sound good at all. In 7.1 virtual surround sound mode, the sound becomes compressed and significantly less detailed than in stereo mode. It's almost like you're suddenly playing the audio signal at a very low resolution. For the proper virtual surround sound experience, you'll have to dig a bit deeper into your wallet.