Roccat Syn Max Air earbud specifications
The Roccat Syn Max Air gaming headset delivers excellent and immersive spatial sound. It is also a particularly comfortable headset with strong insulation of negative noise and good communication. The only real weakness is battery life, which is much lower than competitors.
Key features
Heart to mute microphone: Syn Max Air features a smart heart to mute the detachable microphone as well.
Dual connection: This headset can also work via both Bluetooth and a 2.4GHz wireless USB receiver.
16-hour battery life: Roccat also evaluates Syn Max Air to last up to 16 hours against charging.
Introduction
Roccat's latest range of gaming peripherals seem to throw everything but the kitchen sink, and the new Roccat Syn Max Air is no different.
There's everything from the detachable microphone to the bundled charging base, dual coupling, and earplugs with cooling gel inside.
Don't make bones about it, you get a lot for your money, but at £209/$249, the Roccat Syn Max Air is one of the most expensive headphones I've ever looked at, trading hits with the likes of the Astro A30 wireless and the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 Max.
Design and features
Sleek and simple design
Durable build quality
Great padding and comfort
Roccat products have never been the most glamorous thing in the world, instead opting for more high-end aesthetics, and that seems to be the case with the Roccat Syn Max Air I got here. Every component of this headset, from earcups to headband, looks smooth and curved; there are no sharp edges in sight.
The build quality is generally good here, as soft plastic feels solid, although it probably gives this headset a slightly cheaper look when placed alongside similarly priced competitors. While the Syn Max Air is by no means a small headset, it doesn't look particularly bulky with that smoother finish – although it can become a den of fingerprints and grease, so you might want to keep a cloth close by.
The padding is excellent, with plush leather around the magnetically removable earcups and headband. You can also get a good stopper, deep earcups, decent clamping strength, combining excellent passive noise insulation and a comfortable fit. At 340 grams, these headphones are housed in a mid-range headphone stand, but they don't actually feel heavy since the clamping force isn't too tight on your skull.
The tuning here is very good, with a small range for it on the headband, while the earcups rotate horizontally. There is nothing they can rotate, which is a bit tricky. But in my experience, it was just a Syn Max Air running state, tuning a bit, and it felt great.
On-board media controls spread well across the earpieces, with two dials to control the volume, as well as a dedicated Bluetooth button, a power button, a USB-C port, and a magnetic bore to connect the Syn Max Air to the kit. Charging base. It's especially nice to see and feel the actual physical controls with haptic feedback, rather than dealing with the multifunctional joysticks you've used in headphones recently.
The connection here is completely wireless, either via Bluetooth or via the included wireless receiver with a frequency of 2.4 GHz. Syn Max Air worked with my PC and MacBook Pro as well. This is not a headset that will work with Xbox.
Roccat rated the Syn Max Air battery to last up to 16 hours – In testing, the Syn Max Air was able to match Roccat's claims perfectly. But I still find this stamina disappointing.
For comparison, Logitech's Astro A30 Wireless lasts for 27 hours, Sony Inzone H7 for 40 hours, and HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless for a ridiculous 300 hours. While you'll be able to get the equivalent of two working days of gameplay from Syn Max Air, it's still slightly below the competition. In testing, Syn Max Air was able to match Roccat's claims perfectly.
I like the Swarm plugin, which offers options to customize the 10-band EQ for the best possible sound and enable the Superhuman Hearing spatial audio function to immerse yourself stronger. You can also use the software to customize the RGB splash on the earbuds.
Sound and microphone
Great and balanced sound in general
Wide sound space provides great immersion
The face to mute the microphone is especially convenient
Roccat Syn Max Air's sound is excellent. Games and music come with a bit of a strong rhythm, but other than that they are balanced with a great deal of detail.
The acoustic theater is spacious with excellent separation, even without spatial sound. And while playing some CS: GO games and listening to everything from Rush to James Taylor and Earth Wind & Fire in my audition, I appropriately admired Syn Max Air.
Enabling Roccat's Superhuman Hearing functionality within the plugin took this class to another level, though, and made it one of the most immersive gaming experiences I've had in a while. Adding a certain mode to listen to footsteps and increase their voice was also a great help when I was playing CS: GO, as well as to play Sniper Elite V as well.
The arm microphone looks good, there is a decent amount of body and clarity in it. By default, some keyboard noise and the like appeared, but the noise portal in Swarm quickly got rid of most of the background noise. This is also a mutable microphone if you don't want to unplug it, and it clicks into place well, while a reassuring whistle lets you know that you're silent to the outside world.