INTRODUCTION

   Roughly three days ago we thought about dedicating this entire week to only reviewing gaming peripherals mainly because it's been quite a long time since we last sat down and played games we really liked (Destiny being one of those games). For good or bad that would mean that we would ignore our reviews queue but that's not really how we do things so this will be the 2nd and last gaming peripheral review of this week (we have two more in store for you next week followed by two the week after that and the list goes on). Now as many of you know although Mionix is amongst the oldest gaming peripherals brands around they haven't really focused into the manufacture of gaming headsets so this was always something we just had to see from them (not to mention it would complete their product line). Well the wait is finally over since a few months back they released their first 2.0 gaming headset called the NASH 20.

   Mionix AB was founded in 2007 by Peter Nygren. The goal was to design and develop high-end computer peripherals made for gamers. The company stands for high quality, cool design and a touch of innovation. Mionix has received numerous of international prizes and awards for their products. Mionix has a global presence with a worldwide network of distributors, resellers and partners. For more information, visit www.mionix.net.

   Instead of using a virtual surround USB card with the NASH 20 to appeal more to gamers Mionix decided to go with the good old fashioned stereo configuration but since that wasn't enough they tuned it for even better results compared to similar solutions. So the NASH 20 is equipped with two 50mm neodymium magnet D.A.C.T technology drivers that have a frequency response of >-100Hz, impedance of 32 ohms at 20kHz, sound pressure level at 103dB and nominal input power at 40mW with a max of 80mW (THD is rated as less than 2% at 1KHz and less than 5% at 300kHz). Mionix has also placed a flip-down boom uni-directional microphone that has a resonance frequency of 15Hz-16KHz, sensitivity of -42dB and a frequency to noise ratio of 58dB. Overall these numbers (although differently listed from the ones we've used to seeing from similar products) point to an interesting 2.0 stereo headset and since it's by Mionix all the more reason for us to be way too curious to see how it performs.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The NASH 20 arrived inside a black box with a product image at the front right above the company logo.

At the bottom we see the features list printed in 12 languages and the bundle contents (just in English).

Turning the box around we see the features and specifications lists beneath a large product picture used to showcase the main product features.

Even the interior of the box is black but since it looks nice i wanted to show it to everyone.

Unfortunately i was just a tad disappointed to see that aside the NASH 20 there was nothing else in the box (on the box it says there's a get started guide included but on the website it doesn't).

THE NASH 20

The NASH 20 stereo headset is not the largest we've seen to date but it's certainly not small either since it weighs 398g and measures 215mm in height, 220mm in width and 121mm in length (thickness).

As always we used the Jabra REVO Wireless to showcase its size and although somewhat bulky it does look nice.

Mionix has carved their logo into the rubber coating found on the exterior of both earcups.

A small yet quite convenient volume control knob is placed at the rear of the left earcup.

The flip-down uni-directional microphone is quite flexible although it doesn't stay where you want it for long (it auto-mutes when you flip it upwards).

The leatherette covered earpads feature memory foam and are 22mm thick as you can see from the above picture (the earcups swivel to provide even better comfort).

The 18mm thick headpad also features memory foam.

Both ends of the headband extend a total of 37mm (74mm total) via 11 increments (not visible ones).

The company and product names are both placed on the exterior of the headband.

For good or bad the 2m braided cable of the NASH 20 only has two gold plated 3.5mm mini jacks so you will need to either connect it directly onto your sound card or at the front headphones and microphone ports of your tower (if these are connected to your mainboard and/or sound card).

CONCLUSION

   The NASH 20 is the very first gaming headset by Mionix but that doesn't mean we expected something mediocre since we are talking about a company that has a very good track record in the market thanks to their award winning and quite popular gaming mice. So in terms of quality the scratch-resistant rubber coating of the NASH 20 along with the metal frame should last for many years to come although some people may not really like the all-black color theme (a splash of red would be nice for example). Audio quality is also very good with crisp and detailed mids and highs although the bass levels are perhaps what really separates the NASH 20 from similar solutions since the 50mm neodymium DACT drivers do a very good job in that area. Volume levels are also very good but we did notice that noise isolation is not very good so if you're listening to music with the volume maxed chances are that you may annoy the person right next to you. On the other hand if you don't have the volume set quite high exterior noise will probably reach your ear so you may need to find the sweet spot between those two. That being said overall the NASH 20 is a very comfortable headset and that's something that we all liked very much.

   Mionix products combine high quality with very good performance and since the same applies for the NASH 20 Stereo Gaming Headset we didn't expect it to come cheap and it doesn't although it actually costs less than what we had expected originally. So you can currently find the NASH 20 for USD89.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 110Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) a price tag which lands it right next to yet another very good stereo gaming headset the HyperX Cloud Pro by Kingston. In the end the NASH 20 may not be the best stereo gaming headset we've ever used but it's very good at what it does and since thanks to its 50mm D.A.C.T drivers it manages to outperform most stereo gaming headsets at around the same price point (the HyperX Cloud Pro is equally good) it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design
- Detailed Mids & Highs
- Good Bass Levels
- Comfortable
- Flip-Down Uni-Directional Microphone
- Current Price (USA)

CONS

- Current Price (EU)
- Bundle?