HyperX Cloud or Astro A40 for sound quality?

U

U53r

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 5, 2013
Messages
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Wondering if anyone knows which of these headsets gets better sound quality?

I have the the oportunity to buy a a50 for a good price but being wireless it will some day fail and keeping it chaged is a pain but everyone I've read says the a40/a50 has the best sound quality.

However, a lot of people seem to think the Hyperx clous is really good too and on paper it should sound better with its 53mm drivers but does it?

What would sound better a40/50 or Hyperx Cloud + Astro Mixamp?
 
The A40 does not have "the best sound quality" in any way shape or form. They're about as anemic as it gets on bass. The midrange and highs are clear and you get a solid enough soundstage that you can hear directional cues well, but they sound kind of... empty. Hollow. They don't sound bad, they just don't sound anywhere near good enough to justify the insane price.

Audiotechnica, with the AD700X's, eats the A40's lunch for both overall sound quality and positional cues. They're light on bass, but it's at least still present and clean. But then of course you don't get a mic.

I've never heard the A50's or the Cloud personally, but a friend of mine does have both the A40's and the Cloud and he uses the Cloud. The only thing I can say other than that comparison wise is that the mic on the Cloud seems to work just as well as the one on the A40, as my friend sounds just as good over Steam and/or Skype :p
 
Thanks for the reply ThinJ,

The A40 and A50 are identical from what I can gather, same driver and more or less the same can design apart from the A50 having the mixamp controls and battery crammed in there. It's strange that you say they sound weak while every review out there (and I think I've read em all now) say they are "flawless" and sound amazing, perhaps their standards are lower.

I wish I could get a nice pair of headphones but right now they would sound worse then a cheap headset through my crappy onboard sound and I just don't have the money to get a better card or amp.

Right now I'm thinking either get the A50's (which I can get for $150) or buy a mixamp or SB Z + the Clouds, that's kind of where I'm at.

Oh that brings me to another question, which do you think is better the Sound Blaster Z or the Astro MixAmp? They are both around the same price, or something else?

Also is there any difference between the Cloud and Clou II as far as the headset is concerned or did they just add the usb sound card?
 
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As a former person who fell into the hype of "gaming headsets" I found out that most of them are not worth the money. I have heard really good things about the HyperX clouds and if i were forced to buy a gaming headset that would be easily at the top of that list.

With that being said if sounds quality is something you are after but dont want to drop a lot of money on audiophile headphones I have had a hard time finding a better combo for the price than the Philips SHP9500 with the V-MODA BoomPro mic.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-SHP95...1424014483&sr=8-7&keywords=philips+headphones

http://www.amazon.com/V-MODA-BoomPr...8&qid=1424014499&sr=8-1&keywords=boom+mic+pro

For roughly the same price as the cloud you will get a way better experience especially when paired with a sound card.

For sound cards I have not tested out the mixamp but I am pretty sure all the rave reviews are comparing it to other console audio equipment (which the bar is set pretty low). As for the soundblaster Z I actually own one and I have no regrets. It puts out great sound and I prefer SBX technology for my virtual surround over Dolby
 
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