Blog

It’s a Headset. Yep.

So, recently My Lovely Bride™ and I each purchased a new HyperX Cloud Flight headset, to replace our older models. To be honest, we didn’t purchase them  recently, per se’, we actually did so many weeks ago. Amazon just took forever to deliver them, even though they were allegedly “Prime” 1-2 day shipping, which now means “One to two days after we actually ship them… Which will take a couple of weeks minimum to do, despite the item being in stock”.

But that’s a rant for another day.

Anyway, we went with this particular model for a couple of reasons.

  1. My brother Beoulus has been using a HyperX headset for years, with no issues.
  2. We wanted wireless headsets.
  3. They were very highly rated and well reviewed on Amazon and elsewhere.

So, eventually we got our hands on these headsets, and I have to say, I’m impressed overall. They are very comfortable, especially for a closed-back headset. I can wear them for hours without my ears overheating, getting sweaty, or my head/ears getting sore. That right there makes them an invaluable piece of equipment for my gaming/streaming/podcasting setup, but it gets better. Since they are 2.4ghz devices, which connect over a USB dongle, they can be used with all manner of computers and gaming consoles, even those that don’t have Bluetooth built-in.

Now then, of course there are some downsides to these headsets.

  • The mics come across on the tinny side. They don’t have a lot of bass at all, and clearly are not professional-grade microphones for podcasting.
  • The volume wheel is very loose, and easy to accidentally move up or down, when you move your head.
  • I have had the headset turn itself off for no reason at least once, even when it was freshly charged.

Anyway, the last two negative points, I can’t really say much about. the volume wheel issue is minor at best, and more of an occasional annoyance. The headset turning itself off was a much bigger problem, one that continues to vex me, as I want to know why it did that. I don’t think I have a defective model, it was probably an issue on my part causing it, but I have yet to figure that one out yet. But then we get to that first negative point…

It’s an issue.

The tinny sound from the mic, while not a problem during voice-comms during a gaming session (it’s just fine for use over Teamspeak or Discord and such programs), is a huge issue for a podcaster or livestreamer. It simply sounds unprofessional, and that vexes me to no end! Also, it picks up your breathing really, really well… and that is not good at all!

I have tried plugging in an equalizer into my recording software, and it just isn’t enough.

I’ve tried adding a foam pop-filter over the mic.

I’ve tried repositioning the mic multiple times.

Despite all of these measures, the sound it puts out is nowhere even close to professional-grade.

That said, I’m sticking with this microphone, despite all the issues. Why? Because it has a few bonus features, that I haven’t gotten to quite yet. First of all, it is a removable microphone. If I just want to use the headset as wireless or wired headphones, I can simply unplug the microphone, and go to it! That makes the HyperX Cloud Flight extremely handy during solo gaming, when I’m not needing voice communication with other, or I’m not podcasting or livestreaming. But more importantly, the HyperX Cloud Flight headset is the first and only headset thus far that we’ve tried… and we’ve tried many headsets… that achieves the Holy Grail of features in our book:

The noise-cancelling microphone allows My Lovely Bride™ and I to record or play together in the same room, without any echoes. Basically, these tinny mics allow us to sit side by side, in our living room, and talk normally to each other and our friends on Discord, without the other person being picked up on our mics!

Game-changer? For someone who has had to forego his comfy recliner in favor of sitting on a hard, wooden chair in the kitchen when we’d record “Knights of the Tabletop” podcast episodes the last month or two, it’s a life, and butt, saver!

Basically, when it comes right down to it, I will accept some tinny sound out of the microphone, if it means Ten and I can play D&D together online with our friends, from the comfort of our living room. I will apply every sound filter I can find, use any noise compensator I can scrounge up, whatever it takes to make this baby work! It looks like I will be able to suss the issues out, and make this at least an acceptable solution in the short term, until we are able to start gaming together in person again, and that makes me – and my ass – very glad!

So, in conclusion: Is the HyperX Cloud Flight a great headset? Depending upon how you plan to use it, possibly Yes. If you’re just using it to game, and chat with friends over voice-comms, absolutely. If you plan to use it for content creation, though? Probably not. then again, if you’re doing content creation, you shouldn’t be using a headset mic for voice recording, anyway. Go out and buy a real microphone, already!

Scormus
I'm the editor, publisher, and primary "talent" here at Scormey.com.
https://scormey.com

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.