WAAOOOWW ! That was the very first expression that came out of my mouth when I unboxed this roman owl-like, Asus Strix DSP headphone set. The design — its is exhilarating, breathtaking and what not ! I’m actually falling short of adjectives to describe my feelings for this design. So, without taking much time, lets quickly show you some photos of the same, and let your dear heart take decisions.
YUUUPP ! Now you know what I meant ! Let’s get on with a quick review of these beauties above.
The Design — Again, That’s a Deadly Looking Roman Owl Folks
Prior to reviewing these headphones, we reviewed its other two siblings — the Asus Strix Gaming Keyboard and the Strix Claw gaming mouse. And while the former’s design was awe-inspiring, the latter failed to give us any sort of enticement.
The third one in the series though — these headphones, just brought back the excitement of that gaming keyboard and probably took that to newer levels.
The very first thing that I noticed while taking it out of the box is its size and design. If you take a look at the headphone, you will notice the big eyes-type structure which resembles the roman owl – the design philosophy of Asus for the Strix series.
The Build — LightWeight, But Might Not Be Those Portable Ones
As I said, the headphone is well designed and very well built. It is made up of plastic but is durable. Another advantage which Asus gets while opting for a plastic-like material, is that these headphones are extremely light in weight.
The ear cups, which are colored in matte black, can rotate. However, if you are thinking about portability, then you might be disappointed. Just the size of the headphones cuts down the possibility of carrying it around.
The ear pads at the inner side of the headphones are also large in size and very soft — cushioning around the cups helps. They are so large that they won’t even touch your ears, the pad will just wrap around your ears. So, there won’t be any type of pressure on the ears, thus, eliminating the question of discomfort even after long hours of rigorous gaming usage.
The Performance
The Strix DSP sounds as good as it looks. And as it is a gaming headset, it works better with games. After playing few games, I can say that the sound is really very good for any type of game. The audio station base unit deserves the credit for the sound. In Spectrum mode, you can choose between 4 different gaming profiles – Racing, RPG, Shooter footsteps and Shooter whole experience.
The mic that has been included with the headphones is detachable. While the mic looks stiff, it is made of flexible rubber, allowing you to to position it however you wish.
It comes with a strange triangular shaped box called “audio station” that looks really cool. It has all the major controls that you need. There is a large volume dial with LED indicators around the unit, four control buttons for surround, amp, mic and speakers, as well as a three-way toggle wheel at the front of the unit. The controls are pretty much self explanatory.
At the back of the audio station, there are two 3.5mm jacks – one for attaching the headphone and other for speakers. I liked the inclusion of speaker in the base unit itself, which saves me from the trouble of swapping wires behind the computer. At the other side, there is a USB port which will connect to your PC’s USB port.
There are two small switches at the back of the station. They are so small that before using it, you will fear about breaking them. They are used to toggle the environment noise cancellation feature and surround sound option.
The big knob on the audio station is used to control the volume for the headset. I liked the fact that you can also control the volume of mic, unlike many other headsets that only offer on-off switch for the mic. For noise cancellation, the company has also included a mic on the audio station.
While the headphones may not be for the music professionals, it is pretty great for casual music listeners. but then again, Asus, by the virtue of design, build and performance of this headset, has already stated that these are meant for gamers. The treble is nice and clear while the bass is deep and powerful. It worked well with the surround sound for me, but falls short when listening to slower tempo and quieter music in general.
ProRev Review
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ProRev ReviewThe Asus Strix DSP is a solid, well designed, and very comfortable headphones with punchy bass and clear treble and vocals. We give this beastly set an 8.2 out of 10 — meaning you can buy them without blinking an eye — if you’re a hardcore gamer.
The sound quality is pretty great for games. The plug-n-play system makes it very easy to use, without worrying about drivers and stuff.
Tell us your view, if you own one of these, in our newly encapsulated user reviewing system.
