Thermaltake E1 RGB Gaming Headset Stand

As you surely noticed, many photos of the Tt eSPORTS Shock V2 headset in this review are taken on a headset stand. The headset stand in question is the Thermaltake E1 RGB Gaming Headset Stand.


It consists of a stable plastic base and an aluminium hanger. The upper side of the hanger is cleverly covered in rubber, which avoids it directly touching the headband and the metal part of the hanger. The stand is 25.5 centimeters tall, and the distance between the top of its base and the hanger is 22.5 centimeters. Headsets and headphones larger than that won't be a good fit for the Thermaltake E1 RGB Gaming Headset Stand.


The underside of the base is completely rubberized, which keeps it from slipping around.


The right side of the base has a pair of USB 3.0 ports and a single 3.5-mm 4-pole (TRRS) audio port. On the rear is an extra 3.5-mm 4-pole audio port and a USB 3.0 port. The rear ports are supposed to be used as upstream ports, so they need to be connected to your motherboard.


Thermaltake's headset stand doesn't have a built-in sound card—it simply functions as an audio pass-through. If you're connecting it to a desktop PC, you're most likely going to need a dual TRS-to-TRRS splitter as most integrated sound cards come with a separate audio output (headphones) and input (microphone). It's a shame that such a splitter isn't provided in the box; the only additions are a 1.8 m USB cable and an audio cable of the same length.


The base of the headset has a grand total of 24 fully-addressable LEDs built in—25 if we count the glowing TT logo on top of the base. The LEDs are covered in milky-white plastic which diffuses the light these emit. The colors look accurate and rich, and the transitions between different color gradients are smooth. If you're a fan of RGB effects, you won't be disappointed with Thermaltake's implementation of the RGB lighting system on the E1 RGB Gaming Headset Stand.


There are 8 RGB effects to choose from, all of which are selected and configured (brightness, color, speed, etc.) through the TT iTake Engine software: Static, Pulse, Spiral Rainbow, RGB Spectrum, Raindrops, Snake, Music Mode, and Temperature. The settings can be saved in 15 user profiles. The software itself is very rudimentary and not very nice to look at, but works without any issues. It offers two extra features you might not expect: Razer Chroma Lighting compatibility and Amazon Alexa support. Unfortunately, I could not try them out as I currently have no Razer peripherals at my disposal, and Alexa isn't supported in my country (Croatia). Bummer.

Overall, the Thermaltake E1 RGB strikes me as a good headset stand. Coming in at $50, it's one of the least expensive brand-name products of its kind. Its lower price was achieved by opting for an audio pass-through instead of implementing a USB sound card and using plastic on the base instead of metal, like we saw on the Corsair ST100 RGB Premium Headset Stand ($70, reviewed here) and some other models.