by Jayden Leggett, Editor

Kingston Technology. They’re those guys that do all sorts of hard drives and digital storage for PCs, right? Wrong! Well, technically right, they do in fact have a huge name for themselves for their enormous range of data storage hardware, but it seems that the professional gaming audio scene is now in their crosshairs as part of their HyperX gaming range. Hence, may I present to you the HyperX Cloud Pro Gaming Headset.

Upon first cracking open the box and preparing to feast on the gaming goodness within, I was rather impressed with the amount of attachments that were included. Cord extensions and connection adaptors, a detachable microphone, two sets of interchangeable ear cups (one pair velour, the other pair leather), even a slick carry bag, the team at HyperX have seemingly thought of everything. In fact, the thing that first greeted me when unboxing the HyperX Cloud wasn’t the headset itself, nor its contents, but rather a message from HyperX general manager Anders Willumsen. Apparently, the HyperX team are “passionate gamers” themselves, which definitely explains the attention to detail in terms of the included contents.

This attention to detail also extends to the overall look and feel of the HyperX Cloud’s design. Featuring a sturdy yet surprisingly lightweight frame, a soft-as-a-cloud leather headband and your choice of either soft leather or velour coverings for the enclosed ear cups, the HyperX Cloud is an incredibly comfortable piece of gear that is built for lengthy gaming sessions. It features an in-line audio control box to allow for quick volume adjustments and microphone muting on the fly, which is all well and good, but I found that this resided too far away from the headset. The only way to easily access the control box without reeling in the cord is to sit it on the desk next to the keyboard, and hey, this may very well have been the HyperX team’s intention, but I couldn’t help but feel that having it much closer to the headset would have been a better position for it. Thankfully, the detachable microphone is implemented wonderfully.

As far as voice quality is concerned, I was immensely impressed with just how good this removable mic was. Using just a crummy old iPhone 3GS as my “recording booth” via one of the included attachments to combine the separate headphone and microphone endings into the one input, the clarity was simply brilliant. Immensely crisp and clear, with very minimal popping, thanks to the built in wind sock. The microphone quality was so good that I would have no qualms about using the HyperX Cloud to record a podcast. Impressive stuff indeed.

Now, for the important part – how does the bloody thing sound? In a word: powerful. Yet another headset geared towards the low end of the sound scale, the HyperX Cloud Pro Gaming Headset absolutely smashes it in terms of bass and subwoofer effects. Machine gun fire rumbles heavily, explosions and rubble are intense and satisfying, and kicks and punches really feel like they are landed with an incredible amount of force. The subwoofer effects of this headset are easily amongst the most powerful I have heard so far. During my play tests with TMNT: Out Of The Shadows, the Devil May Cry remakeand the Rise Of The Triad remake, I found the HyperX Cloud to be very crisp and clear, and the enclosed ear cups do a tremendous job of cancelling out all background noises. You truly are in your own little world when wearing this little beauty.

As is standard when dealing with good quality gaming headsets, a genuine sense of atmosphere is created when wearing them. In game-ambience is brought to life immensely, and I relished the fact that I was now noticing details in the various soundtracks that I hadn’t been able to pick up on previously. Just minor effects, but these are the kinds of details that really help to further immerse a user into the game world. Oh, and soundtracks that previously sounded bland or uninspired started to rock when I was using this device. Bass-heavy techno beats from TMNT: Out Of The Shadows plus HyperX Cloud equals Jayden bopping in his office chair just a little too enthusiastically.

However, to achieve this glorious sound quality, the headset volume pretty much has to be pumped up to the maximum volume, as the HyperX Cloud does have the unfortunate ailment of its sound reproduction sounding somewhat murky or dull whilst being used on a lower volume. Thankfully, the maximum volume is apparently optimised so as to not be deafening to the user, even when things get mega frantic. Cheers HyperX team!

As mentioned before, the HyperX Cloud is more geared towards low end sounds. So when it comes to using it for music, I discovered a couple of things. Firstly, my tunes all seemed to feel a lot more powerful and dramatic, but at a cost: high end stuff like hi-hats and guitar solos were now slightly less audible, being drowned-out somewhat in the mix. So while my metal and punk songs were definitely not slouching on this headset, I have heard them in better conditions. However, the second thing I discovered is that hip-hoppers, dub-steppers and techno-treckers will love the HyperX Cloud, as it’s beefed-up bass reproduction and thumping kick drums packed some serious punch.

At the end of the day, the HyperX Cloud makes for a very good low to mid priced headset. While it does have one or two minor flaws, these can be pretty easily forgiven when looking at it as a whole. With its solid physical design, superb comfort and great overall sound quality, the HyperX Cloud Pro Gaming Headset is an ideal piece of gaming goodness for just about any type of gamer. Just remember to keep it nice and loud.

Rating:

ComicsOnline gives the HyperX Cloud Pro Gaming Headset 4 out of 5 subwoofer-infused sonic-booms to the eardrums.

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