review
Eksa W1 Review 7.1 RGB headset stand with 7.1 Surround pass through
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Simplifying accessories is a clever way to make a desktop setup look less cluttered and more organized and, you can achieve this with the Eksa W1, which is a neat headset stand that doubles as both a stand for headphones, as well as a surround sound system. The W1 stand is basically an external sound-card, USB hub and headphone stand, all rolled into one!
There are only two components to the Eksa 7.1 RGB headset stand - a base and an anodized black aluminium alloy flat bar that screws into the base via four tiny star head screws. The screws and a small screwdriver are included. The base is made of hard plastic and weighs 243 grams. It measures 13.3cm long, 11.5cm wide and 2.5cm tall. The aluminium alloy flat bar weighs 60 grams and measures 23.5cm tall and 3cm wide. Total weight is 303 grams.
headphones pictured: AirJoy Pro
Connectivity ports include a USB-C power port on the front, a USB-A port on top of the stand and four other connectivity ports on the rear of the stand, including a second USB-A port, a headset combo jack (headphones + mic), a headphone only port and a microphone jack.
There is a touch sensitive button on the side of the Eksa W1 stand for turning on and off the RGB led lighting. The USB-A ports on the stand are perfect for connecting peripherals without having to fumble under a desk or behind a computer to plug them in. Being able to connect the wireless dongle of a headset in the stand is pretty handy too because the headset range will be a lot further.
The base of the Eksa W1 stand has a thick layer of textured rubber, which is very grippy, as well as an 8-zone RGB strip surrounding the outer edge of the base. The RGB zones have a smooth and seamless transition all around.
The Eksa W1 7.1 RGB headset stand has a 7.1 surround sound USB adapter inside of it that is wired to the USB port and 3.5mm port on the rear of the stand so, you can get emulated surround sound via these ports. This is pretty cool because a standard 3.5mm audio jack would not be able to transmit surround sound on its own.
Since the surround sound is emulated, you can use a 3.5mm headset or USB headphones. If using 3.5mm headphones, you will need to download the Eksa driver software, which is also the same software you can use to tweak the virtual surround sound effect.
The Eksa 7.1 RGB headset stand only works with computers and it's plug-and-play just like a pair of headphones; hence the W1 stand is powered by the computer. Once connected to a computer, you simply have to make the headset stand the default sound device by going to the Sound settings of your computer.
The Eksa W1 stand will show as a 4-USB audio device; however, when you connect headphones into the stand, you will also see 5-USB audio device, which you have to select as the default audio device to allow audio to pass-through from the computer to the stand and into the headphones.
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