Asus ROG Kithara evaluation: this Hello-Fi grade gaming headset leads a double life

Introduction

The Kithara unapologetically flies within the face of present gaming headset developments. It doesn’t wish to include you in your morning commute, has no companion app, and gained’t gentle up like a Christmas tree with RGB results. This can be a strictly wired stereo headset that’s function constructed for top-tier sound.

Asus partnered with sound specialist HiFiMan for its first audiophile-grade headset, tweaking the agency’s famend planar magnetic drivers to be a bit extra gaming-friendly and supplying two flavours of cable relying on should you’re in a musical temper or fancy a multiplayer deathmatch. The optionally available growth mic then units it aside from open-back studio headphones just like the Sennheiser HD 650, which might pressure you to purchase a desktop microphone to remain in contact together with your teammates.

At $299/£279 it’s one of many extra inexpensive planar pairs I’ve tried, undercutting the Audeze Maxwell 2. However sound high quality apart, the function listing appears a bit of sparse. Can it compete with higher geared up wi-fi rivals just like the Sony InZone H9 II and Logitech G Professional X 2?

Design & construct: take a look at your metallic

Silver ROG logos on the earcups and Republic of Avid gamers branding on the scarf apart, there’s little right here to mark the Kithara out as a gaming headset. The gunmetal body, skinny suspension-style headband and extra-plush ear cups all scream Hello-Fi. All of the supplies are suitably high-end, though they contribute to a considerable 420g weight.

Not that it feels that heavy in your bonce, although. The scarf has eight ranges of adjustment, with the suspension system and well-judged clamping pressure guaranteeing the outsized earpads don’t apply vice-like strain.

My evaluation unit arrived with the leatherette and mesh cushions put in: they had been breathable sufficient to put on for hours at a time with out feeling like I used to be cooking my ears. There’s additionally a velour pair which are little softer, and which heat up the sound signature a bit of bit. The ear pads themselves are enormous, so there’s no hazard of your ears not sitting snugly inside. They’re clipped in place and pop off with a little bit of pressure.

Construct high quality on the whole is stellar, with no rattles or free fittings. The ear cups have loads of tilt and pivot, and might twist to take a seat flush round your neck, however can’t be folded down for journey. Not that the open-back design would win you a lot followers should you tried to hearken to it in public.

This can be a passive headset with wired connectivity, so the dearth of buttons across the ear cup edges make for a refreshing change from the present wi-fi gaming headset norm.

Options: communicate up

A powerful number of bundled cables and connectors separate the Kithara from extra music-minded planar headphones. It’s a disgrace Asus doesn’t embody some form of pouch to maintain all of them in, given the retail field is a biggun.

The finely twisted Hello-Fi cable is the go-to for music. It’s not particularly lengthy – solely simply reaching from the streamer behind by workplace desk to my head – however terminates in a socket that may accommodate 3.5mm, 6.3mm or 4.4mm balanced analogue connectors. With a 16 ohms impedance, the headphones don’t take lots of energy to drive, so will likely be simply as at residence related to a laptop computer as a high-grade music streamer or amplifier.

PC players will gravitate to the material cable with a built-in growth microphone and ending in two 3.5mm jacks (one enter, one output to forestall sign crosstalk); console gamers will seemingly have to succeed in for the included USB-C dongle as nicely. Apart from Xbox {hardware}, which solely helps headphone audio, the combo lets the Kithara deal with comms for a PS5, Nintendo Change, PC-based handheld or smartphone.

Each cables click on firmly into the headset’s ear cups and produced little microphonic vibration when rubbing in opposition to my garments. I appreciated the in-line quantity and mic mute change on the growth mic cable too.

The mic itself makes use of a MEMS array with a wider frequency band and higher signal-to-noise ratio than the ECM mics present in cheaper gaming headsets. It’s obtained a focused pickup sample that rejects a superb quantity of out of doors noise, which means my mechanical keyboard clatter wasn’t continuously being broadcast to my teammates throughout on-line matches. And all with none software-based noise discount operating within the background.

There’s no software program to put in right here in anyway, with Asus’ typical Armory Crate utility having nothing so as to add by way of EQ, encompass sound upmixing or microphone ranges. The USB-C dongle is there purely for connecting to units with out 3.5mm ports, so for PC gaming you’ll have to regulate quantity utilizing the Home windows sound mixer.

That additionally means what you see right here actually is what you get. If RGB illumination, spatial audio, Bluetooth connectivity or energetic noise cancelling are vital, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

Sound high quality: room to breathe

With enormous open-back planar drivers, isolation will not be this headset’s energy. Exterior noises simply seep in and leakage is certainly a factor too. The trade-offs are a brilliantly spacious presentation and ranges sound separation you don’t get from closed-back dynamic headphones. These in flip ship an exceptional sense of positional accuracy.

There is probably not any encompass sound right here, both bodily or digital, however I by no means missed it: Counter Strike 2‘s audio cues let me clearly distinguish the route of approaching footsteps and gunshots. Asus hasn’t needed to ramp up the treble to realize it, both – one thing many dynamic driver gaming headsets are responsible of. The sound signature certificates included within the field (and tied to my evaluation unit’s serial quantity) confirms the frequency vary is actually flat proper the best way from 20Hz by means of to 1KHz, with the mildest of boosted highs within the 2-3KHz and 5-6KHz ranges.

Planar drivers additionally excel at transience, which means sound results don’t linger. Every thing sounds crisp, with a stage of precision hardly ever discovered on conventional gaming headsets. Excessive frequency results had been by no means harsh or disagreeable, whereas on the reverse finish bass is delivered with extra nuance. Somewhat than arrive in a single huge punch there are a number of layers, none of which intrude on the mid-range. Avid gamers used to huge boomy explosions would possibly really feel a bit of arduous finished by right here, however I’ll take refined variation over a sledgehammer of low-end.

The Kithara’s 100mm drivers are additionally giant even for planars, and will be pushed to oppressively loud ranges with none noticeable distortion.

All of the above additionally applies to music. There are layers of vinyl crackle and sub-bass on No Prayers by Zed’s Useless I can’t ever recall listening to on one other gaming headset. That low-end is impressively nicely managed, by no means as soon as sounding boomy or interfering with the vocal samples – that are given loads of room across the drum hits and percussion. There’s stability and neutrality right here that’ll please anybody wanting studio-grade sound.

ASUS ROG Kithara verdict

Do music and video games carry equal weight for you? Then the Kithara will likely be your white whale headset. Asus and HiFiMan have delivered one thing that basically will be one of the best of each worlds, with planar drivers that ship a reference-grade sound, a transparent microphone and an entire set of cables to make sure compatibility with all of your equipment. For a sure crowd it’ll be deserving of the total 5 stars.

I’m betting, nonetheless, that almost all of players will likely be postpone by the wired-only connection, lack of options like encompass sound or noise cancelling, and comparatively excessive worth. My rating right here displays that. Bass-heads may additionally crave extra low-end oomph (nonetheless imprecise it might be) and the open-back design isn’t ideally suited for taking part in in rooms shared with others. A Razer Blackshark V3 Professional would possibly subsequently be extra up their alley.

That mentioned, audiophiles with gaming PCs as high-end as their Hello-Fi tools ought to kind an orderly queue.

ASUS ROG Kithara technical specs