Hyperx Cloud Alpha Vs Cloud 2

Headphone Showdown: HyperX Deject Alpha Vs HyperX Cloud 2

It's Dominicus, and it's time for the headphone showdown!

I'll be doing a few more manufactures about the recently-released Cloud Alpha, and I thought there was no better place to beginning than comparing it with it's equally-priced older brother.

OVERVIEW

Cloud Alpha

The Cloud Alpha is $99, and information technology's the direct follow-up to the Cloud II. Information technology takes a similar underlying design and adds a whole bunch of new and exciting things. New drivers, new ear cups, new pads, new visual touches, and a detachable cable.

It sounds exceptional and feels very practiced to wear.

Cloud 2

The Cloud II is one of gaming's most-famous headsets. It offers a ton of value for just $99. You lot get an extra set of ear pads, a virtual surroundings sound USB dongle, and a carrying handbag. There'due south also an Xbox branded model that includes a hard case.

The base headphone here underneath the HyperX tweaks is actually the Takstar Pro fourscore, an infrequent budget take on the Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro.

It used to exist the gold standard for a wired $99 headset.

You tin see through the cream to the driver in the Cloud Alpha so they must actually trust the tuning!

Audio QUALITY

The Deject Alpha sounds more neutral, dynamic, and clean than the Deject II. This is thanks to a new dual sleeping accommodation ear loving cup blueprint which…well here, this is HyperX's video almost it.

Basically, it has a much lower distortion and much flatter frequency response. It still has the fun bass and detailed highs of the Cloud Ii…merely without the slight midrange muddiness or grain in the high tones.

At present, I actually like the sound of the Cloud II…I simply like the audio of the Alphas that much more. Unless you were 100 percent in love with the exact sound of the Cloud II, it'd be difficult to deny that the Alpha'due south present a much cleaner feel overall.

Fifty-fifty the soundstage and imaging are a touch wider and more accurate.

WINNER: CLOUD Alpha. And that'south astonishing.

In spite of having a bigger overall design to fit a larger number of heads, the Cloud Alpha all the same gets pretty minor.

COMFORT

The 1 knock that'southward oftentimes levied against the Cloud Two is that it doesn't really work for the biggest heads. I know this from feel, every bit I had to wearable mine fully extended.

That's not a problem anymore with the Alpha. HyperX has increased the size of the headband and lengthened the adjustment forks. I now have three extra clicks of room. And it'll still work slap-up for smaller heads equally well.

Combine that with the incredibly soft new ear pad material, and the same great retentivity foam that HyperX uses in all their headsets, and the Blastoff is a total winner on condolement.

For years, the Cloud 2 was the most comfortable headset in gaming…and somehow the Alpha is better.

WINNER: CLOUD Blastoff

DESIGN

The designs of these two headphones are very similar.

The Cloud Alpha takes the aforementioned overall shape of the Cloud Ii…but cuts some chunks out of the metal forks. The logo on the pinnacle of the headband is no longer stitched into the material. The ear cups are slightly less rounded than they were in the older model.

All of this is rather subjective…but I call back I preferred the overall expect of the Cloud II. I miss the headband stitching, and while the holes in the forks help with weight (and comfort), I don't know that they really do a whole lot for me. This one is a narrow win for the Cloud Two thanks to some of its lilliputian details…but that's merely my stance!

WINNER: Deject II

BUILD QUALITY

Both of these headsets are congenital nigh-identically. They both have plenty of aluminum parts, and a durable and meaty frame that should concur upwardly tossed into a bag. The Cloud Alpha feels a touch lighter…merely I think they're both congenital really well.

WINNER: Tie

MICROPHONE

I tin't tell a large divergence between the mics here. That'south really a knock against the Alpha, in a style, since I was expecting a bigger leap in quality. But the rest of the headset is so much improved that I can alive with it but having a "off-white" microphone.

WINNER: TIE

The Cloud Alpha purse feels a lot nicer than the mesh 1 that comes with the Cloud II.

EXTRAS

This ane will vary person-to-person depending on what yous look for in your headset. Both headsets come with a carrying pocketbook. Both have detachable microphones. The Cloud Alpha has a detachable cablevision, and its pocketbook is fabricated from a nicer material.

On top of these basics, the Cloud Two includes a USB sound bill of fare, and an actress fix of velour ear pads with slightly stiffer cream.

At present, that sound card might be really useful to you lot. It provides decent false 7.1 surround sound.

But with the advent of Dolby Atmos/Windows Sonic, I don't have every bit much of a use for that on PC these days. And while the extra ear pads are actually nice to take…I don't call back they're quite equally comfy.

And so, thanks to its removable cablevision and the nicer bag, I'm going with the Blastoff. But you might totally want the other things the Cloud Two provides.

WINNER: Deject Blastoff

OVERALL WINNER: Cloud Blastoff

The HyperX Cloud Alpha is a better-sounding and better-feeling headset for the same cost as the onetime one. I'yard not even sure how much longer HyperX is going to sell the Deject II, and I wouldn't blame them if they discontinued information technology soon.

HyperX really has fix a new bar here…in spite of not changing upward the microphone all that much. You can't become wrong picking their new headset over the old model, and fortunately they oasis't charged customers a premium for it!

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