Was deciding between this headset to replace my Cloud IIs, the Bose QuietComfort 35 II Gaming ($350 AUD) and the Sundra Closed ($209 but would require buying a mic). Managed to get these for $80 as it was hard to ignore the cost saving. As for why those 3, I need some noise isolation so open back wouldn’t work (my old Cloud II with replacement pads didn’t block anything and acted like open backs which was annoying). Despite the Alphas being rated pretty poorly for noise isolation for closed, it blocks a lot more than I was expecting and pretty much all the pink noise from my air purifier which I run at high settings. There may have been better wireless solutions however I absolutely didn’t want to deal with wireless (the Bose could run both).

As for the audio quality out of the box, I’m honestly a bit disappointed, not sure how this gets a 7.9 on neutrality, likely because treble only makes up 15% when I honestly feel like it should be weighted much higher considering it seems to make the most difference and the hardest for closed backs from my experience. On one hand it’s a tonne better than the Cloud IIs when it comes to sibilants which would be painful and I couldn’t entirely fix with EQ without completely ruining everything else. On the other hand, drums just sound… terrible… Especially the cymbal which is mostly noticeable in Eminem - Not Afraid. The bright side is it can be mostly fixed with EQ, though it can be tough with poor/low band EQs like Foobar’s. I’m currently using this: https://i.imgur.com/Ws7QTXX.png which is rather tame but could use some improvements if anyone can help. I know I could improve things by using Equalizer Apo but I’m worried about overhead/latency in gaming.

I’m currently using the USB soundcard that came with my Cloud II but ordered a Fosi Audio DS2 since my motherboard audio is gross and I don’t have anything else. I don’t know if that affects anything so I’ll have to wait and see.

The mic isn’t as good as the Cloud IIs but it isn’t bad, I was actually hoping to use the mic from the Cloud II as I read that it’s possible, however unless I cut a heap of the plastic (is it all plastic there?) off, it won’t fit due to the insertion angle….

EDIT: Fosi DS2 arrived and uggh, I don’t know why I though it would but it doesn’t also do mic like the HyperX dongle and using a splitter and plugging the mic into the motherboard isn’t possible as it produced noise on playback even not using the mic… Ended up using the old HyperX dongle and headset for just it’s mic when I need it, annoying for desk space but at least it has better mic quality.

As for the quality difference… Many reviews said this DAC/AMP was very neutral so it could be that the HyperX had a very unneutral profile as it seemed to increase the bass quite a bit and without EQ was rather muddy whereas previously I didn’t really have any issues with it. It also seemed to increase the treble further which improved drums but made it a little bright and certain sounds around 12khz-13.5kHz were very pronounced. I found this rather odd considering in your testing it showed a rather large dip in that range… It did, however seem to make it’s soundstage a bit better or at least it feels that way and it definitely handles volumes between L and R for the songs that have that sort of effect, much better. Overall, without EQ I’d say it actually sounds worse… With EQ it sounds better than had to be a bit more aggressive.

I also tried setting Windows to higher frequencies so it upsamples and it sounded a little better actually, bass felt like it was rumbling and shaking the headset but didn’t feel like it was overpowering at all. However it felt like air was constantly blowing in my ear and was extremely annoying so I had to change it back.

Dec 09, 2024 10:07 AM By  Duncan MacRae

other switches don’t have the same dual contact design that triggers the click detection when the contact plate separates from the top contact of the switch.

Ah I’m pretty clueless when it comes to switches, not sure what that would end up implying, to me it sounds like it might be possible to suffer double click issues?

Is it able to retain it’s performance when switching to silent switches? The default ones are way too loud for me.

Most Durable Budget Gaming Headset (HyperX Cloud III)

I have the Cloud II and while the mainframe is extremely sturdy and survived a lot of torture, the ear pads started degrading within a month, fully degraded after 6 months and refused to stick on to the cups after 9 months. The headband also fully degraded extremely quickly (though once it did it was more comfortable lol but tonnes of black parts all over the place was annoying). Did they improve in that area with the III’s? Otherwise I don’t think they really deserve that title…

Oct 15, 2024 11:17 AM By  Stephen Eldon Kerr

Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, we can’t really comment with any confidence on headphones we haven’t tested. Without being able to test, we’d guess similar models sound fairly similar but, of course, we can’t confirm that. If you’d like us to test any headphones, we encourage you to vote for them here: https://www.rtings.com/review-pipeline/headphones

It would get auto-rejected due to this rule: “2 - We’ve already reviewed a variant of this product” So frustrating that companies can change components and sell it with the same name…

Oct 08, 2024 11:53 AM By  Stephen Eldon Kerr

Thanks for your comment. It’s true that these two headphones have similar sound profiles. Their scores for neutral sound are extremely close. For most people, the difference will come down to preference: the HyperX have an overall darker sound, while the Beyerdynamic have more mid-treble, which lends presence to sounds but can also make sibilants and cymbals a bit piercing.

Thanks for the response, I thought the neutral score dictated what would be considered balanced.

Oct 08, 2024 11:50 AM By  Stephen Eldon Kerr

Thanks for your question. We agree that the HyperX Cloud Alpha are a solid choice, especially if you’re happy to use wired headphones. In general, they’re very comparable to the HyperX Cloud III Wireless, but we think many gamers would prefer the flexibility of the wireless connection the Cloud III Wireless provides. The Cloud III also come with a companion app that lets you customize their sound to your liking, which adds to their versatility. I hope this helps. Thanks!

Sorry, I was referring to best mid-range and bass which are both wired and perform worse in your results. I couldn’t care less about wireless but others may so I can understand that being a top pick.

Looks like there’s a new model being sold at many stores that are listing different specs similar to the non-S version e.g. https://www.msy.com.au/product/hyperx-cloud-alpha-s-gaming-headset-4p5l3aa-52760 (4P5L3AA). The store still sells (4P5L2AA) and (4P5L1AA) along with (HX-HSCA-RD/AS(4P5K7AA)). I’ve been against the Alpha S and leaning towards the non-S version which is still in stock but I was hoping maybe rtings could comment on the difference if they have access to them or at least speculation?

I’m currently using Cloud II and they’ve been pretty damn terrible as the treble is extremely piercing, bit confused on if I should blindly go for the 4P5L3AA hoping they are more like the non-S or go with the older 4P5L1AA.

“On the other hand, the Beyerdynamic have a better-balanced sound profile, though not by much.”

Comparison says that, yet the Alpha scores higher for Neutral Sound :/

Huh? Shouldn’t the Alpha Non-S be the best? Sure they don’t make them anymore but they aren’t too hard to find brand new still.

“The HyperX Cloud 2/Cloud II are slightly better gaming headphones than the Logitech G Pro X Gaming Headset.”

Doesn’t make much sense when the scores are lower or even on everything but “Phone Calls”

Especially when compared to Cloud Alpha they are regarded as even but then Cloud Alpha are described as better than Cloud II

“The HyperX Cloud 2/Cloud II are slightly better for wired gaming compared to the Cooler Master MH751” Conclusion is a bit weird considering they have the same score.

May 14, 2024 11:17 AM By  Gregory Vodden

many of them come with a USB cable, allowing you to use them wired.

Oh thanks, I assumed since you didn’t test Wired latency there wasn’t a way to use it that way (in regards to the MX Mechanical).

Ughh… Best office keyboards and they’re all wireless… Don’t want to have to deal with batteries, why are there no wired options?

Why is Keychron Q2 listed as 10 for Typing Noise??? The video sounds like it’s 10db louder than something like Logitech MX Keys S (which is ironically rated lower). The actual review doesn’t show a score or provide noise values.

Nov 18, 2023 06:23 AM By emir5kuru

10

Can you share best eq settings please?

I’d also like some help, mainly for Foobar2000 where the equalizer isn’t very in depth. I’m using this currently: https://i.imgur.com/Q8EuvGM.png I’d also like a better ffmoeg superequalizer preset for MPV. Not too comfortable using system-wide presets.