Kingston HyperX Cloud II Pro Gaming Headset Review

TECHNOLOGY X BENCH

This Test Bench build was the result of some great relationships and purchase; our appreciation goes to those who jumped in specifically to help the cause.  Key contributors to this build are our friends at ASRock for the motherboard and CPU and be quiet! for the PSU and cooling fans. Also, a big thank you to Thermaltake for the case and Kingston for the RAM. We have detailed all components in the table below and they are all linked should you wish to make a duplicate of our system as so many seem to do, or check out the price of any single component.  As always, we appreciate your support in any purchase through our links!

Sean Webster Z97 Test Bench

SYSTEM COMPONENTS

PC CHASSIS: Thermaltake Urban T81
MOTHERBOARD: ASRock Z97 Extreme6
CPU: Intel Core i7-4670K
CPU COOLER: Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate
POWER SUPPLY: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850W
SYSTEM COOLING: be quiet! Silent Wings 2
GRAPHICS CARD: MSI GTX 660 Ti PE OC
MEMORY: Kingston HyperX Beast 2400Mhz
STORAGE: Samsung 850 Pro

TESTING METHODOLOGY

In order to test HyperX Cloud II the sound we played through a variety of action movies. We also listened to multiple genres of songs from hip-hop and pop to hard rock over both the USB connection on the PC as well as the 3.5mm jack to mobile devices including an iPhone 6 Plus, iPod Touch, and Nexus 7 tablet. We then finished off with the main use for this headset, which is gaming. For our gaming testing we played a few hours of Battlefield 4 and Borderlands on PC and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare on the Xbox One.

USING THE HYPERX CLOUD II

COMFORT

Overall the headset is very comfortable. The weight is 30 grams less than the original. There is enough pressure holding them on your head so they don’t fall off if you bend over to pick something up with them on. However, it isn’t too much to where it starts to bother you after you have been wearing it for extended periods of time. After extended use, 6-8 hours, the headset was still very comfortable. At times the headset felt as if it wasn’t even there.

When using the leatherette ear cushions, they block out the outside noise a bit better, but tends to not breath much as the velour ones. Therefore, one’s ears can start to warm up after extended periods of use. Our preference is to use the velour ear cushions, which also lets you hear your voice better when speaking.

SOUND

The performance of the speakers was quite rich and clear throughout our testing.

When used without the USB sound card, by default the audio output is weighted towards the midrange frequencies and the highs. While there is a bit of bass, it is nothing earth shattering.

The inline sound card boosts the power of the headset speakers a bit. It definitely helps with expanding the sound stage of the speakers, especially once 7.1 is enabled. The sounds is much more surrounding. When listening to our FLAC audio and movies, the 7.1 virtual surround sound tones down the treble and fills in the mid-tones and bass more. Overall, the listening experience is more immersive. Stereo just sounds hollow and cold in comparison.

When gaming, the sound came through pretty directional as it was without the 7.1 virtual surround sound, however once it was enabled, we were able to pinpoint sounds much better. Overall, it helped us track down quite a few more enemies via their footsteps and movements.

For us, we simply leave 7.1 enabled for all occasions for the best sound out of this headset on PC.

MICROPHONE

The mic has been changed to expand the frequency response from 50-18,000Hz, the original’s range was just 100-12000Hz. When in use, voice picked up clearly and no background noise passed through. It isn’t as good as a studio microphone, but it is still much better than some other mics we have used in the past. Even during phone calls the headset and microphone proved to work well. Plus, the flexible boom allowed us to move the mic completely out of the way when eating, no more getting pasta sauce smeared all over the pop filter!

REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS

When it comes to putting the HyperX Cloud II to the test it proved itself quite well. The comfort of this headset is up there with the best. The extra included velour cup cushions proved to be the best feeling and throughout testing we even felt as if it wasn’t on.

The sound quality proved to be crisp and clear, however the bass was lacking in our opinion, especially when listening to music and movies. However, for FPS gaming the sound output from them was great and very helpful with tracking enemies. The included microphone also was clear throughout our gaming session chats and on multiple occasions people asked what microphone we were using as it was so clear and had such little background noise.

Kingston Cloud II-10

The HyperX Cloud II is a very good gaming headset at a decent price point, especially considering the quality and features it provides. Just the fact that it includes an inline sound card with virtual 7.1 output should be enough for most laptop gamers. For those with no sound card or older audio chipsets this headset should prove to provide great sound when gaming. And for those who don’t just game on PC, this headset being cross platform is a big plus!

After reviewing this headset fell that it easily deserves our Gold Seal award!

Tech X Gold Seal Opt

It is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com and will be available on February 9th, 2015. So if you are in the market for a new headset and want something that will not only sound good, look good, but also last you quite some time, this headset may be the one you want to wait for!

Check out Amazon.com for the HyperX Cloud II!

Gaming headsets are a dime a dozen. You can go out and buy one for $20 or shell out a few hundred. What Kingston had done with their original HyperX Cloud last year was that they created a quality headset for a value price. Now, they have built upon its success and have released the HyperX Cloud II. It offers plenty of features such as a removable microphone, inline sound card with virtual 7.1 surround sound, and cross platform compatibility for a low price of $99.99! Today we have the gun metal color option to review, however, there are also…

Review Overview

Design and Comfort
Build Quality
Features
Sound Quality
Price

The HyperX Cloud II Rises to the top

Designed in Sweden, the HyperX Cloud II is a quality gaming headset that is sure to deliver not only in terms of sound, but also quality and comfort. If you are in the market for a new gaming headset, this one is well worth a look.

User Rating: 3.08 ( 73 votes)

11 comments

  1. So what in it is better than the first one ? Also will there be a white version ?

    • The microphone has a wider frequency range, the jack coming out of the headset is a single jack, not two, and it has an inline sound card when used over a USB connection. The pink accented model is in white, it will be a limited edition.

  2. Thanks for the great review! I was just planning to pick up the first hyperX cloud but might just opt for this. Quick question though..i’m currently using a Steelseries external USB sound card which already comes with virtual 7.1 surround, am I better off just using the HyperX’s usb or my sound card? Also if I opt to use my sound card will there be any issues with the mic or will I need a Y adapter? Thanks in advance for any input and keep up the great work!

    • The included airplane adapter may work to connect it, otherwise you will need a Y adapter for it to work with Cloud II. The Cloud II’s cable out is a single jack for both audio and mic, not independent. I can not say which would be better as I have no experience with the SteelSeries one.

  3. Do you have any idea what retail stores will carry these on release date?

    • Febuary 9th Seems to be the street date.

    • As far as I can tell, it will only be available online via Amazon, Newegg, Rakuten and Kingston’s own online store. However, if it is in fact available in actual retail outlets, we’ll let you know as soon as we find out.

  4. So without the usb 7.1 when playing on xbox one can you still pin point peoples footsteps?

  5. So i’ve lost the little plug for the microphone…can i find another one ? if you have an aswer contact me on Facebook : Gogo Mitrev. 🙂

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