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- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Sound
- Isolation
- Microphone
- Active Features
- Connectivity
- Comments
HyperX Cloud Alpha vs SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
HyperX Cloud Alpha
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1
Tested using Methodology v1.6
Updated Mar 25, 2024 06:56 PM
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Amazon.comTested using Methodology v1.5
Updated Oct 01, 2024 06:12 PM
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Amazon.com
TypeOver-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessNo
TransducerDynamic
Noise CancellingNo
MicYes
TypeOver-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessNo
TransducerDynamic
Noise CancellingNo
MicYes
Variants
- Cloud Alpha (HX-HSCA-RD) (Black/Red)
- Arctis Nova 1 (Black)
- Arctis Nova 1X (Black)
- Arctis Nova 1P (Black)
- Arctis Nova 1 (White)
- Arctis Nova 1P (White)
Our Verdict
HyperX Cloud Alpha
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1
The HyperX Cloud Alpha have the edge over the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1 when it comes to wired gaming. The HyperX are more comfortable and have a significantly better build quality, and their sound profile is more neutral, which some users may prefer. That said, the SteelSeries have a better overall microphone performance.
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Black/Red
Cloud Alpha (HX-HSCA-RD)
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Amazon.comBlack
Arctis Nova 1
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Cloud Alpha (HX-HSCA-RD)
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Amazon.comBlack
Arctis Nova 1X
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Cloud Alpha (HX-HSCA-RD)
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Amazon.comBlack
Arctis Nova 1P
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Cloud Alpha (HX-HSCA-RD)
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Amazon.comWhite
Arctis Nova 1
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Arctis Nova 1P
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Finding storeMain Differences forNeutral Sound
Neutral Sound
Threshold
Neutral Sound
7.9
7.3
Treble Accuracy
6.5
4.6
Bass Accuracy
8.9
8.5
Mid Accuracy
9.1
8.7
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Over-ear
Over-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
No
No
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
8.0
7.5
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.7 lbs
0.52 lbs
Clamping Force
0.9 lbs
0.8 lbs
Controls
5.3
5.7
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Decent
Good
Feedback
Okay
Good
Call/Music Control
No
No
Volume Control
Yes
Yes
Microphone Control
Mute/Unmute
Mute/Unmute
Channel Mixing
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
No
No
Talk-Through
No
No
Additional Controls
No
No
Breathability
6.3
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
6.2 °C
Portability
5.7
5.9
Portability Picture
L
7.3" (18.5 cm)
9.3" (23.5 cm)
W
6.0" (15.2 cm)
8.0" (20.4 cm)
H
3.2" (8.1 cm)
1.7" (4.2 cm)
Volume
142.00 in³ (2,326.95 cm³)
122.87 in³ (2,013.50 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
5.5
0.0
Case Picture
Type
Pouch
No case
L
N/A
N/A
W
N/A
N/A
H
N/A
N/A
Volume
N/A
N/A
Build Quality
8.5
7.5
Build Quality Picture
Stability
6.5
7.0
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Sound
Sound Profile
Frequency Response
Bass Amount
0.22 dB
0.5 dB
Treble Amount
-2.4 dB
-3.34 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
5.8
5.4
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
1.03 dB
1.25 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Bass Accuracy
8.9
8.5
Std. Err.
1.61 dB
2.16 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
10 Hz
22.13 Hz
Low-Bass
-0.62 dB
-1.27 dB
Mid-Bass
0.39 dB
0.37 dB
High-Bass
2.79 dB
3.52 dB
Mid Accuracy
9.1
8.7
Std. Err.
1.25 dB
1.74 dB
Low-Mid
1.44 dB
-0.12 dB
Mid-Mid
-0.93 dB
-1.53 dB
High-Mid
0.43 dB
-0.12 dB
Treble Accuracy
6.5
4.6
Std. Err.
5.1 dB
7.56 dB
Low-Treble
-2.72 dB
-6.65 dB
Mid-Treble
-1.16 dB
-0.71 dB
High-Treble
-7.07 dB
-11.15 dB
Peaks/Dips
7.3
6.2
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
1.65 dB
2.41 dB
Dips
1.8 dB
2.58 dB
Imaging
8.9
8.1
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
0.18
0.2
Weighted Phase Mismatch
6.69
5.47
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.33
1.57
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1.18
2.07
Passive Soundstage
5.7
5.5
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
3.09 dB
5.05 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
3.79 dB
5.09 dB
PRTF Distance
12.45 dB
9.48 dB
Openness
6.5
6.2
Acoustic Space Excitation
2.6
3.0
Virtual Soundstage
0.0
2.0
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
No
Speaker Modeling
No
On/Off
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
No
No
Virtual Surround
No App
Windows Sonic Spatial Audio
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
8.0
7.4
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.263
0.405
WHD @ 100
0.094
0.159
Test Settings
Firmware
No Firmware
No Firmware
Power
Passive
Passive
Connection
Wired
Wired
Codec
PCM, 24-bit, 48kHz
PCM, 24-bit, 48kHz
EQ
No EQ
No EQ
ANC
No ANC
No ANC
Tip/Pad
Default
Default
Microphone
Boom
Boom
Isolation
Noise Isolation
3.6
3.8
Noise Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
-11.06 dB
-11.47 dB
Noise Cancelling
No
No
Bass
0.56 dB
0.74 dB
Mid
-5.15 dB
-5.8 dB
Treble
-28.86 dB
-29.73 dB
Leakage
7.7
7.4
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
35.21 dB
37.01 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
No
No
In-Line
No
No
Boom
Yes
Yes
Detachable Boom
Yes
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
7.6
8.7
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
359.19 Hz
20 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
3.04 dB
1.99 dB
HFE
10,540.06 Hz
8,487.33 Hz
Weighted THD
0.459
0.086
Gain
30.13 dB
22.86 dB
Noise Handling
7.7
7.2
SpNR
32.11 dB
34.12 dB
Noise Gate
No
Always On
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
7.5
7.0
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
8.0
7.5
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
0.0
0.0
Battery Type
No Battery
No Battery
Continuous Battery Life
N/A
N/A
Additional Charges
N/A
N/A
Total Battery Life
N/A
N/A
Charge Time
N/A
N/A
Power-Saving Feature
No
No
Audio While Charging
No
No
Passive Playback
Passive Headphone
Passive Headphone
Charging Port
None
None
App Support
0.0
0.0
App Picture
App Name
No App
No App
iOS
No
No
Android
No
No
macOS
No
No
Windows
No
No
Equalizer
No
No
ANC Control
No
No
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
No
No
Button Mapping
No
No
Surround Support
No
No
Connectivity
Wired Connection
9.9
9.5
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
Yes
Yes
USB Audio
No
No
Detachable
Yes
Yes
Length
4.40 ft (1.34 m)
4.13 ft (1.26 m)
Connector
1/8" TRRS
1/8" TRRS
Latency - Analog
0.2 ms
Latency - USB
N/A
0 ms
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Connection
Analog
Bluetooth Connection
0.0
0.0
Bluetooth Version
No Bluetooth
No Bluetooth
Multi-Device Pairing
No
No
NFC Pairing
No
Quick Pair (Android)
No
Quick Pair (iOS)
No
Line Of Sight Range
N/A
N/A
Latency - SBC
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
N/A
Latency - LDAC
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
Recorded Latency Codec
No Bluetooth Audio
AAC Support
No
PC Latency (aptX HD)
N/A
PC Latency (aptX-LL)
N/A
iOS Latency
N/A
Android Latency
N/A
Wireless Connection (Dongle)
0.0
0.0
Line Of Sight Range
N/A
N/A
Latency - Dongle
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
PC Compatibility
Analog
Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
Wired USB
No
No
Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PS5 Analog
Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
PS5 Wired USB
No
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Analog
Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Base/Dock
0.0
0.0
Type
No Base/Dock
No Base/Dock
USB Input
No
No
Line In
No
No
Line Out
No
No
Optical Input
No
No
RCA Input
No
No
Dock Charging
No
No
Power Supply
No Base/Dock
No Base/Dock
Check Price
Black/Red
Cloud Alpha (HX-HSCA-RD)
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Amazon.comBlack
Arctis Nova 1
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Finding storeBlack/Red
Cloud Alpha (HX-HSCA-RD)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comBlack
Arctis Nova 1X
Searching
Finding storeBlack/Red
Cloud Alpha (HX-HSCA-RD)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comBlack
Arctis Nova 1P
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Cloud Alpha (HX-HSCA-RD)
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Amazon.comWhite
Arctis Nova 1
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Arctis Nova 1P
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HyperX Cloud Alpha
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1
Comments
HyperX Cloud Alpha vs SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1: Main Discussion
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