ASUS - Kithara Gaming Headset

I dont think gamers know what hifiman is.... Its hard enough already to convince most people to use an open back for gaming since most people don't know what wide even sounds like or why they need it.

They released a video today w/ quality control testing look a lot more intense than what i'd imaging hifiman is doing for their headphones. It's most likely a hifiman driver w/ asus manufacturing. I assume hifiman had some input in tuning as well. I suspect if you did have an issue youd prob need to hit up Asus though instead of hifiman who does have fairly solid customer service for a small company. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FuiY-1WWDc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FuiY-1WWDc)

$350 for a planar is about whats is expected. Its within ballpark of hifiman xv, but most likely better build quality than typical hifiman.

Just looking at it you can tell. if you've ever owned any Hifiman products you know how thin the materials are. Even in the manufacturing video you can see that everything from the headband to the hinge, yokes, even ear cup are all a lot beefier than the typical hifiman product. I dont think Asus would ever have let a product have their name on it w/ the typical Hifiman build quality....

Maybe it's time to try half a dozen and one then... I know it doesn't mean much coming from some rando online but I do happen to be in industrial design and it seems fairly obvious to me... If it isn't to you then you'll just have to wait and find out. Most early reviews seem to also seem to conclude similar opinion on non-typical hifiman like build quality. I mean for $299 it seems like it's going to be fairly popular, should be hard to find them here or there soon. Mic seems to be it's only real short coming, ironically sounds better off axis or reversed.

that doenst sound too bad tbh.

This is the alleged response from today's video, assuming they did their measurements correctly before printing/shipping it. It doesn't look too bad, def has a hifiman-like curve, w/ some weird stuff going on at the top end but, nothing too bad relative to most gaming headphones. The response looks pretty good imo. https://preview.redd.it/hchog9uwb3hg1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=3e3bb3fe2ce45caa549c934f09ec04a6bb5ac7a6

I'm pretty hype for it, i think when it was announced it made fairly substantial waves, but we're still waiting to see what it performs like, they just dropped this video a few hours ago as well. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FuiY-1WWDc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FuiY-1WWDc)

They are literally better built than all other EGG shaped Hifimans and other than a 6 khz peak the response in better in every way than any version of Arya other then the unveiled one and for a lot less money so just becuase it has a Gamer market advertisement doesnt mean shit when it comes to the actual product. Thank god someone made a hifiman without the same plastic toy design that we have gotten for the past 10 years like it actaully looks nice for once.

Really happy so far! Coming from a closed back like the mmx 300 like me it’s for sure something completely different. I usually need some time to adjust my hearing to new headphones. But we are definitely getting there :) They are also very comfortable, not clumsy at all. The mic however is just functional, nothing special.

So, at first I forgot to turn off my EQ, which I use for the mmx 300, and it actually sounded terrible haha - took me a couple of minutes to notice what’s going on. Coming from a closed gaming headset like the mmx 300, it's definitely something pretty different, no question, because the direct bass impact is simply less noticeable. But once you get used to it, it's fantastic - similar to a XS I’d say but also a bit different. I added a little bass and reduced the treble slightly. I think it'll be fine—I always need a few days to really get used to new headphones. The microphone is more functional than anything else, it has to be said, which is something to consider.

Coming myself from a mmx 300 switching to open make is very different for sure. I usually need some sessions to fully adjust my hearing. The Kithara performs really good though. But I agree the mic is a bit disappointing

I just purchased the ROG Kithara, which is a cooperation between Asus and Hifiman. Besides the audeze Maxwell it’s probably the only „HiFi“ gaming headset and imo very comfortable as well.

Deep bass, really? I'm not an audiophile expert at all, I've just tried many, many gaming headphones over the years and finally switched to an EPOS/Sennheiser headset. I've been given the Kithara to try out and review before it goes through to content creation reviewing, but my first thoughts were that the bass seems really, really bad. But I've not got the ears developed to really understand what exactly I'm listening to, I just know it sounds *off*. What do you think?

What's not to get? From the reviews it seems to land in between XS and XV sound/graph wise while being very susceptible to EQ. But they have the improved comforts/build of the XV, maybe even more so. + a mic and two different earpads included while costing less than XV. Seems like a "good" deal to me, depending on of course what you already have. But if you have nothing similar, or a basic wired headset there is no other similar upgrade with more bang for buck.

The rog does look good and will be close in sound to the maxwells but slightly more pricey

I listened to it at CES. It's resolving XV with a more-mainstream tuning. Think broader bass impact and a less-polarizing upper-register. [Some photos from the Asus CES booth](https://imgur.com/a/VUpF5yZ).