Đánh giá card sound asus strix pro năm 2024

Our office is usually flooded with Asus products, from motherboards, to graphics card, and even monitors. And there’s a good reason for that - Asus produces some of the best PC components on the market, balancing performance and pricing under its well-established Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand. But those are not the only things that Asus make. The company has been toiling away at the PC accessories market for quite some time with its gaming headset lineup. And while they may not be as popular as Steelseries or TurtleBeach, they are a decent offering that champions the ROG brand.

The Asus Strix Pro that we are looking at today however, breaks away from the ROG fold. It’s a standalone product that is technically impressive on paper. The Strix Pro encases large 60mm drivers, which is an uncommon size among gaming headsets, and boasts high-grade noise cancellation for clear online chat. However, unlike the creature it’s named after (an owl for those of you who were wondering), the Strix Pro’s beastly form is only menacing from the outside.

Design

Gaming headsets usually becomes a playground for manufacturers to merge the line between practicality and eye catching looks. If you see any of the offerings from MadCatz or Tritton, you will know just how crazy some designs can get. And while the Asus Strix Pro is nowhere near as edgy as the Trittons, it does go for a rather goofy look. You see, the headset is named after a bird, so if you fold the ear cups flat, they form a pair of bird’s eyes to emphasize the precision and accuracy the headset offers, because you know, birds are ruthless preys or whatever.

The Strix Pro is also quite bulky - or maybe I have just been spoiled with the headsets I have been reviewing lately. These headset were sleek in design and offered minimal fuss in setting them up or connecting them with my preferred appliance. With the Strix Pro, you actually need to ‘set it up’ on your desk as it includes a heavy volume knob which also works as a USB-powered noise cancellation device for the mic. I am not knocking it down for that though, but it’s worth a consideration if you are looking for a lean solution.

As I said, the volume unit doubles as a noise cancellation device. Asus claims that the unit uses its built-in microphone to detect and counter 90% of environmental noises “such as mechanical keyboard tapping and speech” so your teammates can you hear you crystal clear during online games. This does work, but the effect is a little too heavy. With this on, you will need to have the mic practically stuck to your lips, otherwise you will sound robotic. You also will need to position the unit at an optimal place (like near your keyboard) for it to produce the intended results. Thankfully, you can turn off the environmental noise cancellation (ENC) with a switch found at the bottom of the unit.

The good thing about the Strix Pro is that it’s cross-platform. You can use the headset on the PC as well as on next-gen consoles and mobile platforms using the included 3.5mm audio/mic combined adapter. I tried the Strix Pro on the PlayStation 4 and it had no problems registering my voice. Strangely, Asus also includes an adapter for old mobile phones which has a slightly different audio jack. So if you are still rocking an ancient Nokia or Samsung “feature phone”, the Strix Pro has you covered.

Comfort

Getting the ergonomics and comfort right on a headset of this size and form can be a bit complicated. Unfortunately, I cannot say Asus has entirely succeeded in overcoming those hurdles as I found the Strix Pro to be an incredibly uncomfortable headset to wear.

In fact, I had a hard time reviewing the headset as I simply couldn't use it for more than 10-15mins at once, and forcing myself to wear them for longer periods would only induce strong headaches. It's not just the sheer size of the thing that is the problem, but the lack of proper design choices that makes the headset so punishing to use.

The Strix Pro's hard plastic body offers no flexibility whatsoever which dangerously increases the clamp force around your ears. Another area of problem is the headband, which while sufficiently padded and uses a spring-based mechanic to adjust to head size, takes no responsibility to ensure a secure fit. This leaves the ear cups to do all the work, which only increases the pressure even more.

The combination of these results in a headset that not only bores around your ears, but because they are so big, it has a slight choke-hold on your neck as well. And to make matters worse, your ears will regularly brush against the inner cloth of the ear cups which can get highly irritating.

Performance

In terms of sound quality, the Strix Pro’s 60mm drivers perform admiringly. I was expecting them to be eschewed towards more bassy sound but its flat frequency response characteristics truly surprised me. As a result, the audio is clean and uncluttered and delivers sound quite accurately.

However, there are a few things that hinders the headset from achieving true greatness. For one, it’s got a pretty weak bass support. In TitanFall, my attempts to encroach enemy territory with a hail of gunfire and missile launches lacked the fierceness and punch of what was happening on screen. The lack of bass is also quite noticeable during music playback as well, where pop or more bass-friendly tracks would simply sputter and die.

Another problem with the Strix Pro is its, for the lack of a better term, empty theater-effect. If you have ever tested a set of speakers in an empty room, then you will know exactly what I mean. While the effect isn’t as strong on the Strix Pro, it’s enough to be an issue. The sound, as a result, is thin and distanced, and while this poor virtual surround sound-esque effect fakes a large soundstage, it makes everything sound kind of unnatural.

Coming to the microphone, it is detachable meaning that you can simply unplug it from the headset when not in use and stash it away. This seems to be the preferred way for many gamers as it helps reduce bulk from the device and make it easier to carry around without worring over damaging the mic.

In terms of quality, the Strix Pro's mic is a mixed bag. It's certainly not top-notch but should be more than passable for online gaming. Below I have provided several samples of the mic's quality. I tested to see how much background noise the mic picks up without any noise cancellation by bashing away at my mechnical keyboard. I also tried with the ENC turned on, and have also included my failed recording where I sound like Wall-E due to a slight misplacement of the mic.

Mic test with ENC turned off + keyboard bashing:

Mic test with ENC turned on with keyboard bashing:

Mic test with ENC turned on where I sound like a robot:

Suffice to say, the ENC is better left turned off.

I am not a fan of the Asus Strix Pro, more so because the headset is simply unbearable to wear. The goofy design is stylish but not pragmatic, and the bulk and the punishing clamp force only adds to the pain. The sound is large, but also hollow and thin due to the applied empty theater-effect. This presents a sprawling soundstage that isn’t dynamic or natural in anyway.