The Thermaltake RIING Pro RGB 7.1 is a USB gaming headset that promises a lot, but ultimately fails to deliver in the most important areas: sound and microphone quality, as well as overall ergonomics. Some of its issues originate from its strange fit. Its ear pads are perfectly round, so they won't surround your ears properly, nor will they form a good seal with the sides of your head. Because of that, the sound is perceived as thin, unnatural, and oftentimes harsh. A constant buzzing noise can also be heard through the headphones at all times; the built-in audio chip is to blame here.

The microphone is muffled and quiet—people you're communicating with will have a hard time understanding you. It's build around a retractable design, which I usually like, but in this case, the accompanying mechanism feels unrefined. Using both hands to pull the microphone out and push it back in is mandatory, which usually is not the case with similar designs on other gaming headsets.

I could mention a couple of solid aspects of the Thermaltake RIING Pro RGB 7.1, such as its decent spatial positioning, but there's not much point to that as they don't change the final verdict that this one has to go back to the drawing board.