INTRODUCTION

   It's no secret that the electronics industry is now currently overrun with countless "promoters" whose sole purpose is to steer consumers away from the main aspects that really matter in products. The only reason i point this out in today’s review (especially since this has been happening for years) is because last week i happened to stumble upon the channel of one such person who's headset "articles" only focused on brand name, looks, build quality and comfort levels (mainly however design) and left out just about everything in regards to audio performance. Now i have to admit that i just might be out of touch when it comes to what's "selling" online today but as I’ve said numerous times in past reviews when a headset arrives in our lab our primary concern is in fact audio performance. That's not to say that things like comfort, materials used, looks and system compatibility don't matter because they obviously do but if audio performance is subpar/mediocre or just doesn't live up to our expectations for that said product everything else matters not. HyperX is one of those manufacturers with a very good track record when it comes to gaming headsets and today, we'll be checking their latest Cloud Alpha S 7.1 Surround Sound model.

   HyperX is the gaming division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the world’s largest independent memory manufacturer, with the goal of providing gamers, PC builders, PC, console and mobile power users with high-performance components. For 16 years, the HyperX mission has been to develop gaming products for all types of gamers – high-speed memory, solid state drives, headsets, keyboards, mice, charging accessories for console players, USB flash drives, and mousepads – to the gaming community and beyond. The award-winning HyperX brand in known for consistently delivering products that deliver superior comfort, aesthetics, performance, and reliability. HyperX gear is the choice of celebrity ambassadors, pro gamers, tech enthusiasts, and over-clockers worldwide because it meets the most stringent product specifications and is built with best-in-class components. HyperX has shipped over 60 million memory modules and 7 million gaming headsets worldwide.

   As its name clearly states the latest Cloud Alpha S Gaming Headset belongs in the same family as the Cloud Alpha model (review here) so it's no wonder that they share almost the same design (the color theme however has changed from black and red for the Cloud Alpha Pro to black and metallic blue for the Cloud Alpha S). Inside the earcups of the Cloud Alpha S HyperX has placed 50mm dynamic stereo drivers which thanks to a dual-chamber design they feature a frequency range/response of 13Hz-27KHz with 65 Ohm impedance and SPL at 99dB (almost identical to the numbers of the Cloud Alpha Pro). Moving to the detachable noise-cancelling boom microphone it's discord certified, comes ready with a foam windscreen and sports a frequency response of 50Hz-18KHz with -38dB sensitivity. What really separates the Cloud Alpha S however from the Cloud Alpha Pro are the rear earcup bass reflex port sliders (adjustable bass levels) and the bundled audio mixer which is basically a 7.1 surround sound USB card that always according to HyperX drastically improves positioning audio.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Cloud Alpha S arrived inside a black, white and blue box the front of which is taken by a product picture, the main product features and the company logo.

Listed on the left side of the box are the teams sponsored by HyperX and the contents of the bundle.

At the rear of the box we find yet another product picture used to showcase the main product features which are printed in 9 languages.

Along with the Cloud Alpha S headset and its detachable 3.5mm braided cable inside the box you will also find a detachable boom microphone, 2 cloth earpads, USB audio control mixer (braided USB cable), cloth travel pouch, support paper, congratulations paper and the user manual.

THE CLOUD ALPHA S

The Cloud Alpha S gaming headset is made out of plastic, aluminum (frame) and faux leather (headpad/earpads) and weighs just 310g without the boom microphone attached.

Just like the Cloud Alpha Pro the Cloud Alpha S is a mid-sized gaming headset.

HyperX has once again placed their logo on the exterior of both earcups.

As pointed out earlier the main design difference between previous Cloud Alpha Pro model is the color since for the Alpha S HyperX decided to go with metallic-blue highlights.

The detachable boom microphone port (and the detachable 3.5mm cable port) are both placed on the base of the left earcup.

Just like with past models the boom microphone HyperX has used is quite flexible.

At the rear of both earcups HyperX has placed plastic sliders over two different sized holes (3 settings in total) which basically act as bass reflex ports.

By default, the Cloud Alpha S come ready with two medium sized faux leather dressed earpads.

In case you want something even softer however you can swap them for the two bundled ones which feature fabric covers.

Left and right markings are as usual placed just over the earcups.

The headpad is also dressed with faux leather and is quite comfortable.

HyperX has placed their logo on the textured exterior of the faux leather headband.

The headband can extend up to 39mm on each side (78mm total) via 10 increments (8 visible ones).

Both 3.5mm plugs of the 1 meter long braided cable are gold plated.

As you can see the 7.1 surround sound USB mixer is attached to a 2 meter long braided cable.

From this USB mixer you can enable 7.1 surround sound audio (center button), adjust audio levels between game and chat and mute the microphone (side button).

A convenient shirt clip is located at the rear of the USB mixer and as you can all see both the 7.1 surround sound and microphone mute buttons are illuminated when enabled.

Even though the Cloud Alpha S Gaming Headset doesn't require software you should head over to the HyperX product support page to download one of the two new firmware updates (depending on the use you want).

CONCLUSION

   To effectively test the latest Cloud Alpha S Gaming Headset by HyperX we used it for a total of 6 days with numerous game titles like Borderlands 3 (thank you Gearbox), the Outer Worlds, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Star Citizen. The reason we focused primarily on FPS games is because positioning audio tends to matter more here and even though at first, we weren't very impressed with the performance of the USB mixer after updating the firmware with the latest available version things improved considerably. Positioning audio became far more accurate, highs and mids crisper and bass levels deeper (3.5mm performance without the USB sound card is also identical to that of the Alpha Pro). Once again don’t expect miracles from the detachable boom microphone (it’s slightly more sensitive than the one found in the Cloud Alpha Pro however) but for online gaming it proved ok with no complaints from people on the other end. As for comfort the Cloud line by HyperX and the Arctis line by SteelSeries are clearly our favourite ones in that regard and the same applies for the Cloud Alpha S. The single drawback we did find with the Cloud Alpha S was with the cable of the USB mixer since due to its length (and also because it’s braided) not only does it tend to move around uncontrollably but it’s also not easy to route.

   Almost 2 months after it was officially released (first announced in Computex earlier this year) the Cloud Alpha S Gaming Headset by HyperX currently retails for around USD130 inside the USA (weren’t able to locate it online however) and for 129.90Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which is certainly balanced when compared to that of the Cloud Alpha Pro model and its direct competition, the Arctis 5 by SteelSeries. All said and done the latest Cloud Alpha S is certainly a worthy addition to the growing Cloud family of gaming headsets by HyperX and so if its color theme matches your taste then you should really put it on your Christmas to buy list (which is also why it deserves our Golden Award).

PROS

- Build Quality
- Comfort Levels (Large Earpads / Memory Foam Padding)
- Spare Fabric Earpads
- Crisp Mids & Highs
- Good Bass Levels (Sliders With 3 Levels)
- Accurate 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound
- Detachable Boom Microphone (Discord Certified & Easier To Replace)

CONS

- USB Mixer Cable (Inconvenient)
- Current USA Availability
- Price (For Some)