HyperX - Cloud Alpha (Wireless)

Hey guys, I'm gonna try to answer your questions in the best way possible, before that, I do work for the company that's why I got the units a few days ago and I tested myself the headset, my standard setup (Audiophile is a DAC + Shure 1540) and a Cloud Alpha 1 WL for Work&Games **Pros:** \+++ Comfort, no much to explain, most comfy headset I ever used (from any brand) actually, weight distribution on the head is fantastic, earpads are superb but a bit warm for me (stated on Cons below) \++ Exceptional detailed sound, I was totally impressed by the new drivers, Alpha's was already good, but these are getting close to Audiophile quality, I still need time to play with EQ (since Gaming headset are more bass driven) but prob playing around you can get a pretty flatish sound (which in my case is how I like to listen to music) \+ You get two playdevices on your PC (Wireless game & Wireless Voice) which allows you to setup i.e discord with Voice while the game with other one and use the dac to raise/low the volume of any of the devices independently (via DAC) \+ Both WL and BT connection work flawless, one switch on the headset to change from one to the other, range on BT is similar to Alpha 1, slightly better (mesured by going to the kitchen in my apartment, now I can play music 100%, alphas 1 were struggling there) **Cons** \- Earpads are on the warmer side, living a warm country and being summer is not the ideal, they are transpirable so no sweat so far :) \- DAC you need to get used to that, some people will end up using the basic functions (like mute) some other will profit from all the features it delivers **Question Mics:** I say mics because includes two, one on the headset itself (built-in), enough quality for phone calls but I would not recommend it for games, and the deattachable one which is a clear upgrade again vs Alpha Wireless, better quality and pick much less noise than Alpha's 1. VS Cloud 3s it's pretty similar **Europe Question:** Alpha Wireless will be available in the next few days (likely next week or the week after) in Europe (HP Stores and HyperX Stores) for standard retailer it will take a few more weeks (depends on your country) prob second half of September Do I recommend them? Yes Over Cloud 3s ? Yes, if you can afford the price different, absolutely Hope it helps!

Hyperx cloud alpha here - the battery life is INSANE.  It is also ridiculously comfortable. Hands down the best wireless headset I've had, ever. 

I've been using the cloud alpha wireless for a year. Feel like I get better audio cues when playing CS2. The better lasts a very long time as well. I've been happy with them.

HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless, i have these for a while and the best ones i used in my 20 years of gaming. battery last a loooong time and the headset doesn't get annoying after hours of wearing. Mic quality is the worst on the headset but thats on most headsets, better to buy a stand alone mic if you need mic quality. (which he already got)

Hell yea. I just got the wireless cloud alphas and they are awesome, I would very much recommend them if those ever fail you.

None at all. Only downside is they're a bit pricier than the wired ones, but the comfort, sound quality and everything else is top notch on them

Cloud alpha wireless sound awful, but no wireless headphones that function off of a USB dongle are going to sound good and Bluetooth headphones have too much input lag for gaming unless you're playing single player titles. Arctis Nova are the least bad imo, but I've just given up on wireless headphones for now. I used to call my wireless HyperX headset my tin cans because they sounded like tin cans and the mic quality was worse than my laptop webcam's

I would recommend the Hyperx cloud alpha wireless headset.  I’ve had mine for a month and very happy with them. I’ve tried many headsets wired and wireless and these are my favourite. I did look at the cloud 3 wireless but I read the alphas sound better and they have 300 hour battery life vs the cloud 3 which have 100 hour battery life. 

I've tested 10+ top rated headphones in the 100-350 range. If you want many features and good sound quality get Arctis Nova Pro. But I found the Hyperx Cloud Alpha wireless had the best immersive surround sound and overall better sound with their 50mm dual chamber drivers. In my opinion they even succeed some audiophile headphones. Unfortunately the Cloud Alpha has mid tier mic and not many features. But that's the headset I went with because I value sound and comfort, also the 300 hour battery life is great.

I’ve had these for about 2 years now and I still love them!!

** using on PC and PS5, no issue with discord calls, PS parties, or standard game chats.

Depends what you value more/how much you want to spend Alpha hyper x are very practical, 300 hours of battery is pretty awesome. Sound out of the box is a lil off, but with EQ adjustment it's a beast for the price. Your mic quality will be very average, more than fine for discord but not recording/streaming (mic quality is pretty rough with wireless headsets compared to corded) Arctis pro is also a really solid choice, I think the mic is a good improvement over alpha, and while the software is pretty bloated, it is better than hyperx. If you don't want to tweak with EQ and appreciate the mic quality, go with these. You can get a desk mic but that kinda contradicts the point of wireless. I like being able to talk to my mates while I'm doing shit, so I want the mic with me. But this is also an option if this isn't super relevant to you

The battery life on those is just crazy good.

I had arctis pro headset that eventually stopped working (more my fault though) And I have the hyperx cloud alpha wireless now and while they don't sound quite as good they are still good but what I really love about them is the massive battery life like 200+ hours

I've owned both headsets and I can say that the Alpha wireless are a much better option, not only because of their battery but also because they've got better comfort and sound quality. Mic is slightly better on the cloud IIIs though. Edit: On another note, the Alphas are much more capable for equalizing. I would recommend not to use the NGenuity app for equalizing purposes. Download PeaceAPO instead, much better app.

Not OC but I have a wireless hyperx set. Cloud alpha wireless. It has 200 hour battery life (not kidding either) and sounds fine! My headset had too much bass and had to adjust the audio in the equalizer on the PC software for hyperx. Took 30 seconds to find a good profile

"hyperx cloud alpha wireless" - it's been great for me and the battery life is really amazing. built in mic monitoring too, so you can hear yourself talk instead of being all muffled.

I used my cloud alpha headset for 3 months, light gaming a few days a week, before having to charge them for the first time. I kept waiting for the batteries to run out and they just kept going! 😆

I have hyperx cloud alpha wireless. I am extremely happy with them, very comfortable on my big head. Great battery life, great directional sound for games. I'm not sure about the rest of your needs

I got them for around 150 euros on a sale (I think around 220 euros full price), been a while since I got them. HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless is what I have and I'm very happy with it for gaming (Counterstrike, Rivals, Dota, Wow and similar stuff) and movies / tv series. I'm not an audiophile and I don't like my loud music (regardless of the genre it's always on low volume for me), so I would not testify on the quality for music enjoyers. I'm personally gonna struggle to swap out of the brand, I tried blackshark v2 pro and while the sound was good, it was a bit too tight for my head. This pair has so much more space / flexibility for my big head that sits comfortable. I would definitely recommend them for gaming.

I heard bad reviews about Ngenuity app but that’s from 2year old Reddit comments. Just got mine alpha wireless too, does Ngenuity work fine or does it have issues like audio delay

Hopefully you have a better time with them, I absolutely hate mine with a burning passion because of all the issues Ive had with them, audio quality was really good and they were great... when they were working properly

Lowest to highest: - Logitech G733 - SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7x - HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless - Astro A50 Gen5/A50x - Audeze Maxwell Wired: - Endorfy Viro - Sennheiser Game One - Sennheiser PC38x

To be fair Pulse Elite are decent, but Cloud Alpha Wireless are just better: Better audio quality, better mic + 300h battery

Cloud Alpha Wireless are the one that are better than every razer Headset rn exists and yet they are worth mentioning

# 1. SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 (or 7X / 7P) * price: often around $140–$150 on sale * pros: excellent soundstage for positional awareness, comfortable ski-band design, multi-platform (pc, ps, xbox depending on model), dual wireless + bluetooth. * cons: battery life is good but not best-in-class (\~38 hours). # 2. hyperx cloud alpha wireless * price: \~$130 * pros: outstanding battery life (up to 300 hours), clear directional audio, strong build, comfortable memory foam padding. * cons: no bluetooth, mostly pc/ps compatible. # 3. logitech g pro x 2 lightspeed (if you found on sale) * price: normally $250, but sales can drop it to $150 \~$170. * pros: fantastic positional sound with dts headphone:x, swappable earpads, low-latency lightspeed dongle. * cons: might stretch your budget unless discounted. # 4. corsair hs80 rgb wireless * price: \~$120 * pros: dolby atmos support, very good mic quality, comfortable floating headband, works on pc and ps5. * cons: battery life is shorter (\~20 hours). # 5. razer blackshark v2 pro (2023 ed) * price: \~$150 * pros: clear positional audio, lightweight, improved mic quality, 70-hour battery life. * cons: sound signature leans toward bass heavy if unadjusted. requirements: * under $150 * wireless/ a dongle not a headphone jack * good positional sounds * noise cancellation (not a MUST) let me break down your requirements real quick wireless will always have some latency even with low latency dongles so if you are aiming for competitive gaming you are already putting yourself at a disadvantage good positional sound usually comes from open back headphones but those do not block outside noise if by noise cancellation you mean active noise cancellation (ANC) it actually hurts positional accuracy because it alters the sound cues and is more useful for airplanes or travel closed back headphones already block some outside noise but not in a way that ruins positional sound for casual gaming you can spend less and still get solid wireless options for competitive gaming wired open back headphones are still the best since they give you a wider soundstage and make it feel like you have wall hacks.

Love the CLOUD 2S I've been rocking for prob 10 years... They still work just fine and comfy as hell but I wanted a wireless option for my ps5 with my current setup I have going on (ps5s across the room from where I play on my monitor)... So I grabbed the alpha wireless. they def sound MUCH deeper than my cloud 2s,my cloud 2s are actually louder on the ps5 and really harsh and kind of hurt my ears after switching between them and the alphas. I def prefer the deeper sound profile of thr alphas. My only problem with them is the sound level on ps5 is ridiculously low. I think this is def a problem with the Playstation and not the headset itself. I can def tell my ps5 is not letting them be used to their full potential. Even with everything maxed out volume they're just not that loud at all, if I turn the volume wheel on thd headset down at all then it's just way to queit to hear anything so I have to keep that wheel on high.... Idk what Sony did or why it's that way but the alpha wireless headset is def being held back by the ps5. I think if you're using them on pc they are amazing! I havnt taken the time to test them out myself my computer and eq settings etc... because I bought them just for ps5 and they're pretty disappointing if I'm being honest. They def sound "better" than my cloud 2s but my cloud 2s are able to go much louder on the ps5

I think it would be an amazing headset on pc being able to tweak it with eq. Hyper x has always been one of the better built/quality headsets available, I still love my cloud 2s after around 10 years and that's no different in the alpha wireless, still feel super solid and extremely comfy. I actually only paid like $105 for my Alpha wireless because they're on sale at best buy rn for like 145 and I had 40 bucks in certificates so I'll def be keeping mine even with the sound limit crap Sony has going on for the ps5, hoping they fix that some day or I'll just continue to use them on the pc down the road. We'll worth the money, especially since they always seem to be on sale for around 150

Enjoying my recent acquisition of cloud alpha wireless (I think that’s what it’s called? Lol). But what happened to your mic stalk and how can I avoid it, if that’s not an impolite question.

As someone who has a partner in the same room as me, when we game at the same time, it's very nice. So that way, we can mute each other in game and not be reverberated over each other's microphones but we can still hear each other just fine. Mic monitoring is peak for couples, in my opinion.

It basically captures all the audio your microphone catches and plays it back through your headset. So someone else is talking in the room loud enough for your mic to pick up(or your breathing into your mic lmao) you'll hear it though your headset.

I've been using the Cloud Alpha for about 6 months, normally 3-4 evenings a week, charged them twice. Very comfortable and sound quality is crisp where you need it to be, not had any complaints from friends with regards to mic quality either.

I've been using them for a 1 year now, if you want a headset exclusively for your desktop there is no better option in the market considering comfort, build quality and battery life. I've also tried for a month or so the logitech g pro and the razer blackshark. Sadly mine died out of nowhere yesterday, got in touch with warranty and they are solving everything really fast.

Dude you either buy the wireless hyper x or the logitech g pro X, NEVER I REPEAT NEVER buy Razer headphones. Mice and SOME keyboards are fine, specially mice. I've had 3 hyper X, the Cloud alpha, then after a few years I bough another Cloud alpha and then when the Alpha wireless came out with 300 hrs battery I bought them and they lasted many years too. Hyper X is probably your best option, they also have excellent customer service, I sent an email and they sent me new earcups.. for free, no expense at all. Now I don't know about steelseries I've never own one personally but I don't think it's gonna be worse than razer. If you want my sincere opinion... buy wireless, it's the only thing I would buy a gaming headset for. If you want quality just buy beyerdinamics or sennheiser headphones and be open to buy an arm-mic combo. Have a nice day

Well the battery is very very impressive. They last about 1 month - 2 months every charge. For charging I would just leave it over night and that's it. The sound quality is about the same as the Alpha, it's bassy, good mids and lows. Nothing impressive but in line with what you get in other cloud headsets. If battery is something you are after I would grab those, I don't know how much they are right now but when I bought them they were 200€, they lasted me 4 years until one day the battery just died I guess. They still work but only wired which defeats the whole purpose of having wireless headset. 4 years 200€.. with my use(I work from home and game after work so about 10 hrs-13 hrs of use every single day except vacations) I think it's a good deal, if they are close to 100€/$ it's a steal imo. Sure you can buy something that sounds a bit better or has charging station but they are usually over 200€. In my opinion you either buy a wireless gaming headset, audio interface with IEM and arm+mic combo or simply good quality headphones with a mic+arm combo which depending on what you grab you might aswell buy an AMP+DAC for that. It really sounds difficult if you know nothing about audio but I could give you some reccomendations based on what I have in my setup, if you want.

Have the cloud alpha wireless. The battery life is otherworldly.

Yup, I bought my [HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless](https://www.amazon.com/HyperX-Cloud-Alpha-Wireless-Noise-canceling/dp/B09TRW57WB/ref=sr_1_3?sr=8-3) 3 years ago, still going strong. I would never go back to wired headphones. These things last *300 hours* before needing a recharge. I don't even remember when I last recharged them. The sound quality and microphone are fine. There might be other headphones out there with better sound quality, but is that negligible difference worth the wireless functionality and battery life of these bad boys? I challenge anyone to do a blind "sound comparison" with these vs others which have sound quality as their selling point. They are currently 30% off on Amazon, so $140.

Cloud alpha in my opinion , I got the 2’s and the surround sound makes everything muddy, without it it sounds solid and clear , the alpha is a perfectly balanced sound (I have the wireless btw) and I’m honestly really happy , coming from astros A40 TR; although not as loud as the astros they are clear . Astros for immersive games like battlefield, single player games and what not …. The alphas for rainbow six which is my preferred and any game you need to listen for sound like footsteps , my brother has the steel series artic headphones and for the money they aren’t far off from each other either

I just bought hyperx cloud alpha wireless, just for the sake of experiencing Ark raiders. I hope it was the right choice of headphones wise .

I use hyper x wireless. I think it was 129. Super comfortable 300 hour battery life. I wear it 9 hours a day 5 days a week. https://hyperx.com/products/hyperx-bundle-cloud-alpha-wireless-headset-rubber-keycaps-blue This is the one I use and it's cheaper than I paid and includes a keyboard lol.

I edited this link in if you wanna check these out. https://hyperx.com/products/hyperx-bundle-cloud-alpha-wireless-headset-rubber-keycaps-blue I dont think they are the best of the best but greatest value and customers say I sound crystal clear.

I second this. HyperX has been by far the best pair I’ve owned. I think the ones I have were about $140usd last year. There are some headphones that are of course more expensive around $200, and I even used to own a pair that were $40 and worked amazing. I play counter strike and I rely on sound heavily, and my hyperX does the trick. Battery life is REALLY good as well. Can go like 2 weeks without charging. The bass/audio is great for listening to music too. Honestly, I find myself just keeping my headset on around the house cause they’re comfortable lol. Only downside I feel is the range isn’t that good, but hey it’s meant to be around your pc. I don’t normally glaze products cause 90% of things out the world suck in 2025, but I got to give credit to hyperX. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sku/6499569.p?skuId=6499569&sb_share_source=PDP

I have the HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless set, phenomenal audio quality and no RGB. They have an advertised "300 hours" of battery life - i don't know how true that is but I charge mine literally once a month despite playing at least a few hours almost daily.

The mic quality is just fine and does the job well (aggressively average, one might say). Nothing special, and it obviously can't compare to a full SM7B. That said, it's more clear than any Turtle Beach headset I've owned.

Same here. I thought swappable battery was insane until i got my alphas

I thought the same, until i got a pair of hyperx cloud alpha wireless. With insade 300 hours battery life. U basically forget that thing needs to be charged

I'm using the Steelseries Arctis Nova Pros and they're hands down one of my absolute favourites. I have the Blackshark V2s as well and I like them but they start to crush down on the ears just like every other Razer peripheral after continuous usage. If you're looking for an in-budget one, I'd recommend the HyperX Cloud Alphas, they're one of the top rated ones and I've had the Cloud IIs in the past and it was the most comfortable pair with really good sound quality, no complaints, I used them quite heavily, the Alpha is the wireless variant of the Cloud line.

I had a HyperX CloudS for 4 years, then I switched to the HyperX Cloud Alpha and it is a dream. 300 hour battery life means I can charge it once a month after using it for work and gaming every day.

I know I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, but hyper x cloud alpha wireless. Astro A50s are also exceptional.

My problem is the razer software is garbage. I had black shark v2 USB and the software caused so many issues. Meanwhile hyper X software just works

Late addition but still relevant. For anyone thinking of purchasing the Cloud Alpha Wireless, **stay far FAR away**. And from HyperX in general. My pair was a gift during Christmas of 2024 and the headphones have had issues since Day 1. I was able to get it to work for a while but as of today, they are fully dead. Last time they were on, battery was at 60%. I turned them off to head to dinner, and set them down to charge. There was no battery indicator light. and I assume it was not charging. First red flag. By the time I returned from dinner, they would not even POWER on, let alone charge. When I check NGENUITY, the headphones are not detected, yet the battery status on NGEUNITY says 0%. Firmware updates did not work as it is just stuck at 0% - "Updating...This can take a few minutes. Please do not disconnect the wireless adapter.". Extremely disappointing and frankly a horrendous pair of headphones. I will not be purchasing **any** HyperX products again.

Went from Cloud II's wired to these, best headset I've had to date. Everything is subjective, judge for yourself.

HyperX cloud alpha wireless has phenomenal sound and mic quality. I highly recommend

HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless is so damn good. 300 hour battery, forget it’s even on it’s so light. The built in mute button that lights up at the mic so you can see when it’s muted. The ability to unplug the mic and swap it if it ever goes bad. Honestly love it

It has surround sound, I also play CS2 constantly and it’s incredible for hearing footsteps. I’ve been playing CS for 20 years and am a DG. I’ve used HyperX for the past 8 years and both headsets I’ve had are amazing. I had the Cloud II before. My old headset still works beautifully too, my wife now uses it. I’ve had the Wireless model for almost 3 years now

HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless. 300+ hours of batterytime is just amazing. Great sound, comfortable, light. Just overall perfect.

I have not, since those i have are still in amazing condition. I have a fairly normalsized head and i have never experienced pressure at the top of my head. That was one reason why i also bought them, they are superlight and comfy, my Asus phones i had before was superheavy and exhausting for longer periods of time.

Hyper x cloud Alpha wireless around 110-150, it has 300 hours use time and has an included mic too

one thing, 300 hour BATTERY LIFE.. The Hyperx Alpha Wireless.. you like NEVER have to charge it. It works great and you never need to worry about it dying when you in the middle of a raid or something. My hubby and son each have a pair and they literally put their headphones on charge like once a month if they remember, for a couple hours. They have had theirs for about 2 years now and still in love with them. Good range too, my husband can walk into the garage from the gaming room still talking to people on discord. Once you try these you won't want another wireless headset that you have to remember to charge everyday.

I got a set a couple weeks ago, it's all about the equalizer settings. I use treble boost for gaming as it makes footsteps audible. Eventually I will get an equalizer and wade through all that. Nice headset so far, but it takes some tweaking to get the sound you want out of it.

If you google for the settings, a few internet forum posts will pop up with people sharing their own custom settings for a 3rd party equalizer app. I'm not an audiophile and have never messed with anything like that. If youre using them for gaming, pop open HyperX Ngenuity and set it to "treble boost", ive can hear footsteps really well in overwatch with that setting on.

I just got the Cloud Alpha as well and love it! I think it fits the bill as the best "gaming" headset easily.

I’ll say alpha wireless > cloud 3 wireless

I used to love the Alpha wireless, but when I used them yesterday, the volume sounded very quiet at 50%, I think the latest firmware somehow borked the volume on mine

U guys that has Cloud 3 S, how is the sound compared to Alpha 2? I bought ALpha 2, but will return it. I dont think the sound is much better than on the Alpha Wireless i have. And the software is buggy, so no go for me until the app is better, and i can save eqs, and not need to restart app every time i change devices. I am considering to buy cloud 3 s instead, so that is the reason i ask.

I've read people saying it sounds bad, personally I like it and it is very comfortable, last year I tried the alpha wireless and the battery last forever but comfort was worse and the 120h of the cloud 3 is already plenty

The Nova pro is honestly junk. Maxwell sounds amazing but lacks some of the features. Fractal Scape is great. So is the cloud III S wireless. (not the III wireless). The cloud alpha 2 wireless also is promising.

I had the wireless alphas to be fair, they are bad.

Just got my HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless 2 and can confirm, like some have said that the sound is a little base heavy/muffled. which I am not very comforted by... I came from a pair of Cloud IIs which were falling apart, and their sound is super crisp and clear, even today. I hope this will get addressed in an update. I also think the volume on wireless(even with their DAC) is very disappointing, very very low... When i plug these in to a real DAC(built in to my motherboard) to operate them passively, the volume goes 3x that of either Bluetooth or the wireless function. Also just plugging it in to any device with a 3.5mm jack sounded louder by a mile. I suspect this is a battery thing? This particularly sucks because I love watching movies from my NVidia Shield as my cinema when I want to be quiet. The sound was good, but I found the Shield sounded even quieter than the standard Bluetooth function. And when I mean quiet, if someone sat next to me and said something, I could hear them. I hope this will get addressed in an update as well.

Wireless with 300 hr battery is a game changer.

I love the alphas 300 hour battery I honestly forget it needs charged, However mine broke 2days ago and I'm still waiting for them to respond on the warranty.

There is also a wired version the wireless cost a bit more

Should be same quality but I only have wireless

I have a HyperX Alpha wireless headset. I love the sound the comfort, and generally the whole headset. I don’t know the mic quality cause I use an Auna mic, but I guess that’s good too. At least detachable 😃 Oh and the battery life is truly amazing!!

Yeppp. I game daily and charge it from 30% - 100% every 2 or so months. Only downside is the radio signal dies if I leave my room but doesn’t really matter

I'm voting HyperX. I have the Cloud Alpha and it is comfortable, the sound is really good, the mic is excellent and the battery lasts FOREVER. I used to have a logitech G930 and I had to recharge that almost every day, with my HyperX I can use it for WEEKS without having to charge it. Would definitely buy again.

Brother, 7.1 surround is a gimmick. It actually makes the sound worse imo, and funnily enough I can pinpoint directions better with it off (cloud alpha S). From what I know, the driver is slightly better on cloud alpha, but it's not a drastic difference. As long as you have any good sounding headphones you'll do just fine with directions. in fact I highly recommend forgetting about "Gaming" headsets and getting good "audiophile" headphones, more often than not it'll actually be better for music AND for games I used to get called out for having wallhacks even when I was using the free Samsung buds that came with my phone, what you use doesn't matter as much as you think

Brother, 7.1 surround is a gimmick. It actually makes the sound worse imo, and funnily enough I can pinpoint directions better with it off (cloud alpha S). From what I know, the driver is slightly better on cloud alpha, but it's not a drastic difference. As long as you have any good sounding headphones you'll do just fine with directions. in fact I highly recommend forgetting about "Gaming" headsets and getting good "audiophile" headphones, more often than not it'll actually be better for music AND for games I used to get called out for having wallhacks even when I was using the free Samsung buds that came with my phone, what you use doesn't matter as much as you think

The HyperX Cloud Alpha, I've had it for almost 3 years now, good mic and good sound

[HyperX Cloud 3](https://amzn.eu/d/aO8C6jV), the HyperX Cloud Alpha Sellers didn't look legit tbh my bad for not double checking, but the HyperX Cloud 3s are just newer versions of the one I have and it's actually sold by Amazon

Go with the Alpha S, not the old Alpha version

I would avoid Arctis Nova, as other people already said they don't last very long, go for HyperX-Cloud-Alpha, the metal beam is not going to break on you and they sound great!

If those are your only option I'd take either the Cloud Alpha or G Pro X, probably the Alpha as it is really comfortable. As other's have said though, none of these are particularly good. Unlike what others have said, there are good gamer brand headsets out there like the LucidSound LS50x, Logitech G Pro X 2, Astro A50, a few EPOS models. They're just generally overpriced. Like the G Pro X 2 is a really good $100 headphone with a $20 mic selling for $250. The LucidSounds are a bit pricy new but very cheap on the used market. The LS50x or the little brother LS35x can be found used for under $60 and $40 respectively and will beat anything on your list. Sennheiser Game One's can be found for under $60 and are another step higher, they're the headset version of the HD 598. In general, you can almost always buy a new headphone of equal or better quality + a desktop mic for a lot less money than a new headset. The main exception is the Audeze Maxwell which is frankly way better than standalone wireless headphones at its price. The PC38x is also competitively priced on sale, it's right between the HD 599 and HD 560S in quality.

It's all relative. Considering his restrictions, I'm guessing he's found a cheap thrift store and that's his selection. A HyperX Cloud Alpha or G Pro X may be bad products at $150, but at $20 they're both excellent headsets.

No problem. The G Pro X has better directional audio for shooters but the Alphas sound better overall and is extremely comfortable on my opinion. 

Hyperx cloud 2 or alpha, best quality price ratio.

Exclusively out of these options, I’d get the HyperX Cloud III wired and call it a day. Cloud Alpha is good if you want a lot of bass but I personally don’t like the bass drowning out the other frequencies, which it does from my years of using it.

Clamp in Cloud 3 is fine. The other commentor forgets that it's a new headset. Cloud 2 also had clamp pressure when I first bought it. So does every headset on the planet. You will need to loosen the headset by either using it for a few weeks or putting it over a headset holder or just some books. Overall the Cloud 3 comfort is way better than Cloud 2. Having said that, I prefer Cloud Alpha's comfort to these 2. The ear cups of the alpha are so thick and nice

I had a HyperX Cloud II Wired headset which I loved. Eventually I wanted to go wireless and swapped to another (more pricey!) brand. I had several problems with it and honestly it was much less comfortable for my head. I missed my HyperX, so I bought the Cloud Alpha hoping it was essentially a wireless Cloud II. It is exactly that. I absolutely love it. The only way I would not recommend the headset is if you have above average sized ears. They fit a little smaller than many other headsets.

I use hyperx clouds alphas they work fine for me as a casual ranked player

Hyper x cloud alpha, they range anywhere from 80 - 100 bucks but definitely the best headset I've ever had. Extremely durable (not made with just plastic that snaps from stress) and the sound is amazing you can pinpoint where sounds are coming from very easily. Plus I prefer wired for less input delay or audio delay and so I don't have to charge it.

For under 30k there is no match for hyper x alpha. Not alpha s or cloud 2 or anything. In terms of sound quality, alpha Triumph every other , razer, Corsair , steel series anything... Only I heard Philips x2hr and I think it was hugely better than alpha. For under 6k alpha is a beast. Listen to hans Zimmer mountain and on full volume ( 384khz) and you will notice the sound quality of alpha is insane. Not other headphones come close to it ( in under 30k)

Cloud Alpha is the only decent one here, the rest are meh and Razer audio products are actually awful. There are better options than these that cost far less.

Most gaming headphones are just cheap headphones sold at a higher price due to rgb or branding. Even cheap studio headphones would be far better. The old HyperX products like Cloud 2 and Alpha are based on studio headphones so they're not bad. Their new stuff is awful, though. And Razer in particular has the most overpriced headphones I've ever seen. SHP9500 would be far better than all of these and probably cheaper, too

That's just the truth. Same thing with keyboards, if someone has ever tried a good mechanical one and a membrane one, they'll know right away which is better. It's the same with headphones. This is coming from someone that has tried half the headphones on this list and only Cloud Alpha is decent, at most. A 20 dollar IEM will beat all of these, and I'm being completely serious here.

They're right. That's why I said all their new products are bad. But Cloud 2 and Alpha were made before the acquisition. Their newer iterations may be less durable and feel cheaper but they still retain the same sound. That is to say, decent overall, very good when compared to other gaming headphones. The Alpha especially.

I've had both. My usage is upwards of 15ish hours per day for work plus gaming on average. The joint for the cloud 2 where the band meets the metal doesn't last longer than 15 months. That warranty has been used too often. I just got the cloud alpha and it's much the same so far, except it's louder and I can hear a larger amount of sounds off rip without modification that helps in games where you need to hear everything like tarkov. Oh I forgot, the sound of the mic in cloud 2s seems to be better clarity if you care about that I'd still get cloud 2 if I'm needing to save cash but preferably in going to buy alphas from now on. The 300 hour battery is insane.

I hope a wired version comes out soon, I've got my Alphas currently hooked up to a mixamp pro, gives a much needed volume boost and would love to do the same with the 2s, I'd go wireless for convenience but I like things being too loud since I may be partially deaf

Tried the hyperx alphas for a few days, I like the audio quality. But I disliked the tightness on my ears and my buddy complained about the mic quality.

HyperX cloud Alpha. It's one of the best

who cares about sound quality for gaming.. i have audiphile headphone and i use it exclusivity for music. for gaming they are too big, unconfortable and the treble is fatigating. so its best to use hyperx alpha for gaming. it's lightweight, boomy bass is a plus to feel sound effects, i can wear them entire day, and its closed back so i dont hear gpu coil whine and the keyboard.

its bad cloud 2 and alphas are better (buy while u still can)

>Most of the praise seems to be for the older Kingston-made Cloud 2, but from what I can tell, only the HP-branded versions are available now. Are they the same quality? Or should I avoid the newer ones? I think they’re pretty much the same thing, but I’ve seen a lot of people in this sub trash-talking the HP-branded versions. Personally, I got a Cloud Alpha S from HP back in 2023, and I’ve had zero issues with it—so I’m not really sure what the hate’s about. As for the Cloud 3’s mic, yeah, it’s really good. But on PS5, the mic quality ends up sounding worse because you can’t adjust the hertz settings there. In my opinion, the Cloud 3 is the better choice overall—especially because of its improved mic and battery life. That said, the Cloud 2 might still have a slight edge in sound quality for FPS games, so if competitive gaming is your top priority, that’s worth considering. I dont think that the USB-A or USB-C will be a problem.

Maybe the Fifine H8? Its below 50. I had the Hyper X Cloud Alpha, until it broke from my dog chewing on the mic. Was going to buy that one, but opted-in for IEMs for convenience, since I wear glasses and for the particular sound design I preferred.

Same, but I have moved to HyperX Cloud Series and they sound fantastic.. I love it. Have Cloud II and Cloud Alpha.

Worst sounding headset I've ever owned. The Alpha's were just as bad. JBL, Sony, even Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 3 sound better.

I’ve had my HyperX Alpha headset for about 7ish months and boy do they feel nice and sound great! However they’re wired and I assume you aren’t really looking for wired. Why do you want to go wireless though?

Hyper x cloud alpha for 7k form techmathed or Corsair hs 60 pro for around the same price

Their open box basically their brand new but they don't have any official warranty from hyper x. The seller gives warranty like 1 week checking warranty

Talk to techmathed on Instagram they will tell all the details

It’s been over a month, before that I was using hyperx cloud alpha. Trust me the best lightweight and same excellent quality I got after alpha. And delay or stuff does not bother me in valo or any other game. It’s a good deal

I have these, but find the 3d audio straight up doesn't work

Thankyou for the advice.

Ordered cloud alpha s coz cloud alpha was not available.

Both of them are built really good. I think cloud alpha just sound abit better. Thankyou for the review

Hey thankyou for the review. I ordered cloud alpha s just waiting for delivery now.

I know my friend has that version and they sound so nice. I already ordered cloud alpha because they sound abit better than newer models.

Thankyou for the advice

I ordered cloud alpha coz i think its performs slightly better for fps games (rainbow six siege) specifically.

Thankyou for the review i ordered cloud alpha s.

I disagree, i bought hyperx stinger core in 2018/19 and i just broke 2 days ago. I ordered cloud alpha s now

I ordered cloud alpha s coz cloud alpha was not available.

Bravo, I ordered cloud alpha s.

Already ordered cloud alpha s. Thankyou for the review btw

Already ordered cloud alpha s. I tried cloud 2 btw didn’t really like them (rainbow six siege) player.

Its very hard to find Kingston version in my country. Thankyou for the review

Cloud 2 is a good headsets overall but i guess alpha performs better (rainbow six siege) specifically. Thankyou for the review.

Already ordered cloud alpha s. Thankyou for the review.

Already ordered cloud alpha. Thankyou for the advice

Thats true i ordered cloud alpha. Thankyou for the review

Didn’t really like them coz of bass i ordered cloud alpha.

Already ordered cloud alpha. Thankyou for the advice

My favorite is HyperX. The mic quality is good and so is the sound. It's comfy, durable, and both sets I own have lasted me for a really long time. I think my oldest of the two (Cloud) is from 2015 and my other one (Alpha) is about five years old now and it's used daily. I'm not a fan of Razer's headsets. A few of my friends use them and their mic quality seems to be pretty bad, especially for how much you pay for them. It would be more understandable if they were cheap. I've also heard they tend to break pretty easily. My only complaint about the Arctis is the two sets I've used (not sure of the models) made a creaking sound whenever I moved my head and it drove me nuts. One was brand new and the other was lightly used that I borrowed from someone. No idea if that was bad luck or if it's something it's known to do.

Go with the cloud Alpha for better Build quality and 3.5 jack cable or go with the cloud 2 for more features but less build quality and surround sound that’s kinda garbage

Gaming headsets need to be: -easy to drive even with controller DACs and mobile devices, both of which are very common devices when using them -durable enough to not fall apart if thrown (this happens) -inexpensive All of these requirements generally contradict absolute sound quality. There are better ones like the Audeze Maxwell but they're not cheap, though HyperX tends to have pretty good sound in my experience (if you ignore the mic quality, they're not great there).

I haven't really used a Steelseries, I've heard good thing about them but I don't use one. HyperX does sometimes do rebrands of existing headphones, like the Cloud 2 is a Takstar Pro 80 (very similar to the Beyernamic DT770 Pro) with a microphone and the Cloud Orbit is basically an Audeze Mobius without Bluetooth (the Orbit S also removes the head tracking) for less money. The Alpha and Cloud 3 are their own designs and generally also have pretty good sound quality without being expensive.

I agree with this. I use hyperx cloud alphas. They are normally 99 but can catch them on sale for about 75 most of the time and they last roughly 2 years. I always have a brand new pair sitting in my closet cause I just order an extra when I catch them on sale.

Eh it's not that crazy. The only issue is the wire connection starts to act up. They still work. But you can't buy just the wire either so you replace the whole thing. Honestly for good headphones that are comfortable and last 2 years I feel like 75 isn't really that bad.

Oh for sure. Find what's comfortable for you and go with it. It's just the cable that wears out on it though. I'm sure there are better ones out there but for me they do the job.

Better to get hyperx cloud alphas or clouds for better quality. My cloud 2s lasted 5 years of trashing around. Alphas just passed 5 year mark for me

The Hyper X cloud 3s or alpha have consistently been solid choices

This is the answer. After years of disappointment and breakdowns from steel series, JBLs, turtle beach, Logitech, I got a pair of hyperx cloud II as a gift and have never bought a different brand since. The sound, comfort and build quality is top notch, and the battery life on my newest cloud alphas is amazing. I'm not shit out of luck if I forget to charge them for a day.

I personally had the Corsair HS70, I went looking for a headset in the 100$ range because I was a dumbass and tried to replace the HS70 battery snapping one of the wires and just failing overall. I got the SteelSeries arctic 5 and just felt super let down for the price. They sounded worse, build quality just felt cheap. For 150 I was kinda like yea no thanks. I was going to entertain the one reviewed above but that’s $300!!!! I ended up choosing the hyper x cloud alpha purely for the runtime. I was tired of recharging my headset and loved the idea of such a long runtime without a charge. Maybe it’s just a phycological effect but I feel like they even sound better than the steelseries given they have more chamber space. Idk just my personal experience I got a cloud alpha for 100$ referb on amazon

Cloud alpha. Detachable cable + no unnecessary 7.1 gimmick. Isn't as bass bloated as the cloud 2

Out of those, Cloud Alpha should be the one to get

mainly because of comfort and build quality

Cloud alpha, especially when £50 on Amazon

What console? I have hyper x alpha for PC and love them

I’d say hyper x alpha

I’d look into a hyperx headset. Those usually are good quality and last quite a while. I haven’t found one I’m not a fan of but I’m also not an enthusiast although I currently bounce between the alpha and a Steelseries arctis headset.

I use the HyperX cloud Alpha. I've been happy with it, mic sound is clear. Sound quality is pretty good as well.

HyperX Cloud Alpha. Had a pair for like 6-7 years and just recently got a new pair. They are built like a tank

Dude late comment but i bought the hyper x cloud revolver s in 2018 when i built my pc and its the most durable amazing headset ive ever owned and they dont make it anymore and the new cloud alpha is fucking ASS.

The Alpha's feel better built than the 'newer' Cloud 2 but personally I think the Cloud 2 sounds slightly better due to the bass not bleeding into the mids as much. So I think it comes down to whether you want slightly better build quality (and more premium feel) or slightly better sound quality. The Alpha's still sound decent if you're not cranking up the volume but the cloud 2 just sound a little bit better. I will also say that even tho the cloud 2's don't feel as well built I haven't had a problem with mine.

The cloud alpha is very bass heavy, so if you want bass that is probably your best option. Otherwise, it's pretty comfortable and decently well built.

HyperX cloud 3s or wired cloud 2s are absolutely insane for an entry level headset. If you wanna go a bit more expensive, arctis 7 are alright, but I have always preferred the cloud II and then III. Extremely comfortable and last a long ass time. Cloud Alphas sound awful and I don't recommend them.

Just a quick warning though (I doubted this was true, but I just have tested it myself and sadly it is, though I haven't noticed for the 2 or 3 years I have it) - the HyperX Cloud Alpha headset is notorious for having slight crosstalk on their headphones - that basically means that the audio signal interferes with the mic's signal, which you'll experience as a slight "echo" on your mic input, except... it's not an echo in the traditional sense. You can turn the volume on your headphones all the way down (through the volume knob), but if your Xbox or computer is playing something at 100% volume, then yes, you won't hear it, but the mic will stick pick it up through signal interference and your friends will probably hear your audio unless there's some noise cancelation going on. On PC, you can get around this through AEC, probably not on Xbox though. If my explanation doesn't make much sense to you (it's... not very concise I know, English is not my main language), look up "hyperx cloud alpha crosstalk" on Google and you'll immediately see lots of complaints with much better explanations of the issue which, by the way, you won't find on headsets like the Blackshark V2 or HyperX Cloud Alpha S (I've checked). So, while I still think it's quite good for its price, it's not all sunshine and roses and this is one of the issues that reviews will often not mention or test for, sadly. btw. If you want better advice and have some more time to spend, take a look at a subreddit like r/HeadphoneAdvice , people there will probably be more knowledgeable than the people here (including me), and they'll help you choose between some great IEMs, popular options like the Blackshark V2s and Cloud Alphas (S) and other such options. Hope this helps. Have a nice day 👋

Another vote for the HyperX Cloud series. Good sound quality (for a non music aficionado like me) and actually amazing build quality compared to lots of expensive gamer headsets. No flimsy plastic but solid medal frame. My old HyperX lasted 8 years. Finally, consider going wireless. I resisted a long time but finally got the Cloud Alpha and it truly has 300 hours of battery life. I don’t need to charge it for months and I use it daily for multiple hours (also for work zoom calls so mic quality is actually good).

Another vote for the HyperX Cloud series. Good sound quality (for a non music aficionado like me) and actually amazing build quality compared to lots of expensive gamer headsets. No flimsy plastic but solid medal frame. My old HyperX lasted 8 years. Finally, consider going wireless. I resisted a long time but finally got the Cloud Alpha and it truly has 300 hours of battery life. I don’t need to charge it for months and I use it daily for multiple hours (also for work zoom calls so mic quality is actually good).

Cloud 2 is the jam, I tried the cloud alpha by them and didn’t like them. Cloud 3 wasn’t as comfortable but I didn’t try them while gaming. But fair enough if you just don’t like hyper x. Personally I liked the cloud 2s enough to already buy a back up pair for when my current years old pair dies finally. 

I had the Hyperx cloud alpha S and thei were actually quite good. They didn't lean heavily on bass and just relatively V shaped. That being said, every other gamer headphone I had when I was younger was hot shit

yeah those are two of the problems forsure

Battery life is insane. Audio is decent and not delayed. Is comfortable for people with big heads.

I launched the software once to make sure it works. Tweaked a few minor settings and never touched it again. Maybe a problem for computers with very low resources. Get the wired version if you don't want to deal with it.

Not buying one right now but looking to replace my alpha S which is starting to disintegrate literally. I am also interested if the 3.5mm jack also works on windows since it only stated that Xbox works with 3.5mm. I kinda hate wireless when I am gaming. I just want the best quality with no battery drain. Hopefully, no BS audio nerf like alpha S which gets like 30% quieter if you use the bundled USB sound card due to hearing safety regulations. 3.5mm is the only way to bypass that loudness nerf on alpha S on my PC

I've found myself with these same dilemma. I use open back headphones for music but for gaming I use a pair of hyperX cloud alphas.. for the past 4-5 years at least. I use them with a sound blaster Z soundcard. Tuning them has been a hell of a thing and even more when I upgraded the earmuds. Always wired since I rely on the surround audio from the soundcard and when I don't use headphones I do have physical 5.1. It's been a hell of a thing over the years to fine tune everything. I simply skipped on the whole "gaming" thing for years and I think I'll simply move on to open back headphones the moment the cooling noise" of my computer is fully removed from the equation.

Honestly, if you can get your hands on the pre HP Hyperx headsets you're good with most. I have the hyperx cloud revolver 7.1 and its great. Even after i think 8 years of use, the sound is better than the hyperx cloud alpha i bought recently. Only downside is that the earmuffs on the old one opened up but i saw you can buy them separate and replace them. Edit: As a person wearing glasses i do prefer Hyperx headsets because they don't press hard and have soft earmuffs. I used a logitech g423 and it does what its supposed to do but it really gives a headache with semi long sessions

I have the cloud alpha currently but it’s breaking apart but the problem with that was the microphone since it echoed but best sound quality I have ever tried.

I’ve used Cloud Alphas for 6+ years now. I replace the ear cups whenever they start to wear. I wouldn’t use any other headset they are perfect.

To this day more cs pro uses the 2 than the alpha, it doesn't matter for them as they aren't playing for millions of dollars so they cheap out on the headset

Cloud 2 for fps I have both, maybe the alpha edges the 2 in the mids but I would buy a beat up 2 used from the kingston era than this dogshit what hp sells

I just ordered the Cloud Alphas on sale at £45 on Amazon.

For the newer versions alpha’s 100%

HyperX cloud alpha with a Astro tr mixamp. I’ve been using the same headphones for about 6 years

I really liked the HyperX ones. UNTIL THEY BROKE!!! The plastic on the side shattered just by normal usage, now the right ear cup won't go back into the housing. Very unfortunate.

Steelseries is better than Corsair. In the wireless gaming headset space: Audeze Maxwell >>> Astro A50 > Fractal Design Scape > HyperX Cloud Alpha/Steelseries Nova Pro > Everything else Maybe I don't know or have overlooked some smaller brand though. Maxwell is huge and heavy and might not be that comfortable but it's just overall a very good headset. If you are willing to go wired with a mic, then after Maxwells you can squeeze in Sennheiser/EPOS pc38X and Beyerdynamic Tygr 300 R If you are willing to go no mic wired + separate mic if needed then a whole new conversation appears that outperforms any of the gaming headsets at actual gaming.

Stereo headphones are always better than Surround. Plus, Alpha are better than Cloud 2

I got a open box cloud alpha s for half the price, and thankfully it wasn't the HP varient!

My last two headsets have been Hyper X Cloud Alpha which have lasted me years. I've just needed to replace the ear pads because the plastic had started to disintegrate (after 3 years) but you can get them cheap off amazon They're about 45 quid atm

I went from HyperX Cloud Alphas to DT770 80ohms a couple of years ago and the difference was huge. The seperation of sounds and the ability to pinpoint locations of sounds is just on a different level. If you are buying new though, I would prob recommend the new DT770 Pro X (don't get the Limited Edition version, they are discontinued and tuned differently). The DT770 Pro X should sound very similar to the DT770 80ohm but are easier to drive, have a more comfortable headband, have a removeable cable, and are even easier to repair if something goes wrong in the future since the drivers are socketed in and not soldered. I will say I ended up putting Dekoni leather ear pads on my DT770's. Some people absolutely love the stock velour pads, they just weren't for me though. I have found almost any velour makes my face itch.

I like my hyperx pro alpha.

I got a hyperx cloud wireless. Thing has 300 hours of battery life! Practically never nees to recharge it

That’s what I have I think. Battery life is great. I don’t care about sound quality because I literally only use it for chat, and for that it’s fine.

loved my astros. especially with the fiber audio. had them for a very long time. i got a wireless pair of hyperx for around $200. those are great too. im never going back to wired. headsets are worth the money, i feel the cheap ones really dont last especially razer

Not with the hyper x’s or most other wireless headsets.

What’s considered a good headset for bf6 lol I thought I’d be ok with my hyperx wireless

Mmx Wireless 200. really can’t go wrong with that. The mic is amazing, sound quality good. Only downside is it’s pretty ugly but who cares Also had the hyperx wireless ones but sent it back because the audio quality is worse than with the mmx and also the hyperx didn’t have Bluetooth. So you couldn’t connect it to a phone or other devices without the dongle

Would go for hyper x cloud wireless, its good sound good mic and not over expensive, arround 100 a 120.

This is definitely the best choice for a 17 year old. I've had nicer headsets, but I come back to the clouds.

Hyperx cloud wireless. Battery lasts for, i kid you not, like 6-10 months. Mic is good. Its comfortable.

I think they're definitely 'good enough'. Especially for wireless.

I have a blackshark v2 pro and honestly i love it for music, but i am a bass freak, if u don't prefer bass>everything else, then i cannot reccomend blackshark v2 pro. Comfy: 8/10 Wireless distance: 1/10 Battery life: 1/10 Audio quality: 6/10 I have hyperx cloud wireless aswell and i mean, for the right price its a nice backup headset, its not that comfy tho and the sound is at very best meh. Comfy: 5/10 Wireless distance: 8/10 Battery life:10/10 Audio Quality: 4/10 I've not tried ARctis nova pro, but i had the predecessor and if thats anything to go by then it will have great battery life but everything else pretty avg. Never been a fan of Logitech headsets but thats a personal foul i guess. My current everyday headset is Audeze Maxwell followed by HyperX cloud wireless as a backup with blackshark for occasional music listening. It all depends on what you are looking for in a headset tbh, if sound quality & wireless is what you truely want, then there is nothing that beats the Maxwell, it has best sound you can get in any wireless headset/phones, but ofcourse that comes at a higher than avg price for a pair of "gaming headset". Comfy: 10/10 (with third party addons, stock is 1/10 Battery life: 9/10 Wireless distance: 9/10 Audio quality: 9/10 (Personal preference would be more bass) If you do decide to lookup the Maxwell, you NEED to buy third party ear cussions & headband because....yikes. Personal reccomendation would be WC freeze & "ZMF pilot pad headband".

But I think it's audio isn't great. Like good, but not great as you could get.

The wireless one can take any usb-c cable and that length can change on which you use for it and can be used while charging. the non-wireless hyperx 3 has about 4 feet without usb-c dongle cable. the dongle cable is a little over 4 ft and so if you use both the headset attached cable with the dongle cable it goes to around 8 ft or so.

I'll second this, but I also gladly trade a little bit of sound quality for a weeks worth of battery life. Its insane how many hours you can get out of a single charge.

yeah but it's wireless.

hyperx is what i use, never had an issue

no not cheap look at the hyperx cloud series of headsets

yup yup! just make sure it has the proper headphone jack an should be good

Maybe I am a bit late on this topic but from what I have heard, the HyperX Cloud series and Logitech Pros are quite good. Or am I wrong and those are not worth mentioning (I am really on the search for new headphones cause the padding on my Hyperx cloud mix are dying)

I've been using Hyper X for years, I love them

Love my hyper X headset. I recently purchased their gaming earbuds bc I can’t wear a headset for long, I have a scar on my head in the shape and size of a headset basically, and the earbuds are surprisingly awesome! Sure there isn’t a ton of low end but that’s expected. For $20 they’re worth it imo.

tl;dr: Hyper X headsets check the cheap and comfy boxes and have a mic attached to them, but I don’t think most headsets would be anywhere close to what you have now. Depending on what people are looking for in a headset. If someone is insistent on a headset instead of a dedicated headset instead of separate headphones and mic, then I usually steer them towards Sennheiser PC37x or PC38x for a flat sound and build quality. Hyper X for cost, comfort, and features. And Astro for a jack of all trades, master of none kinda headphone (Not really too familiar with their QC since they were acquired by Logitech though). None of these headsets sound exceptional, which is why most users try to steer people towards dedicated mic and headphones if they can. But headsets still have a place and some people just prefer them. The only gaming headset I’ve heard with good imaging is the Sennheiser PC37X and PC38X (also known as the EPOS Game Zero and Game One), but the 490 is still vastly superior in most ways. Imaging in headphones is hard. Whether we like it or not, headphones are stereo. So in the end, it entirely depends on the game engine and devs to determine whether or not they are going to emulate surround sound for headphone users. Some do, some do not. It’s a crapshoot. So most of the time, well imaging headphones are still only accurate on the stereo axis because games don’t simulate 360 audio. One more edit: Headsets that advertise 7.1 are using software emulation too. As I mentioned above, headphones only have stereo channels (L/R). I have NEVER heard an out of engine emulation that sounded good. They all sound bad (except ATMOS, but that’s a whole different can of worms that we won’t get into). Don’t use them.

My hyper x is amazing but I also have a cheap headset for noise canceling that’s almost as good . Gaming brand stuff is often a rip off

Wish i still had my kingston hyperx, they sadly died, but are still my favourite headset I've ever had

I like Kingston HyperX ive had mine for years and the sound is really crisp - not sure the price now but mine was $130 AUD

Yeah and Ive had comments from folk in game about my mic too, they thought I had a pro setup but was just these headphones. They’re really big so they don’t squish my glasses into my head either haha

Hyper x cloud

Just bought my son his 2nd pair and I have one too. Probably tried 10 others over the years and never been as happy as hyper x

I've had the Hyper Cloud X. The plastic part holding the earphone to the base has broken 2x. The first time they reluctantly replaced the headphones after a month of arguing. The second time they wouldn't. They don't sell the little plastic piece so you have to find a 3d printer to pay for them to be made. Total waste and won't buy their product again.