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DPete27
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Headphone Help Corsair Void Pro vs HyperX Cloud Alpha

Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:09 am

Ok, I'm looking for some headphones in the <$100 budget range with a [preferably] removable microphone. Up until now, I had my sights set on the HyperX Cloud Alpha trying to get it for ~$80 that the Cloud II seemed to occasionally go on sale for. So far no luck with that, but Newegg's FantasTech sale has the Corsair Void Pro RGB on sale for $50. The Void Pro hadn't previously been on my radar, but the price is pretty attractive.

Purely spec-wise, the Cloud Alpha seems to be the better choice. But I'm wondering if its higher 65 ohm resistance will be too much for the onboard audio on my AsRock Z77 Pro4-M? The Void Pro has a more pedestrian 32 ohms of resistance. I see the Cloud Alpha currently comes with a free ($30 value) USB sound card, so the impedance of the cans is probably a non-issue if I get that.

The HyperX Cloud Alpha looks higher quality all around while the Void Pro seems to be victim of the RGB virus, sacrificing BoM from material quality for some RGBs.

Not sure what I should do. Pull the trigger on the Void Pro for $50 or keep waiting for the Cloud Alpha to go on sale?
Last edited by DPete27 on Tue Jul 17, 2018 11:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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tanker27
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Re: Headphone Help Corsair Void Pro vs HyperX Cloud Alpha

Tue Jul 17, 2018 11:26 am

/broken record

Buy the best audiophile cans you can afford and then drop ~15 bucks for the Zalman Zm-Mic1 clip-on.

/end broken record

(I have switched to the Mod Mic but it may be out of your price range)
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synthtel2
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Re: Headphone Help Corsair Void Pro vs HyperX Cloud Alpha

Tue Jul 17, 2018 2:54 pm

Exactly what tanker27 said, to the letter. I'd hazard an ill-informed guess you're right that the Cloud Alpha will sound a lot better than the Void Pro, but I'd also guess that an Audio-Technica M30x ($70 nominal) or Grado SR60e ($80 nominal) would blow them both out of the water. (I could ramble about either of those if you're interested in something along their lines.)

Impedance probably isn't worth worrying much about whichever way (as with most of any audio spec sheet so long as it doesn't have anything truly crazy on it), especially in this price range. 65 ohms is fine.
 
Waco
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Re: Headphone Help Corsair Void Pro vs HyperX Cloud Alpha

Tue Jul 17, 2018 5:21 pm

Another vote for tanker27's suggestion. Mod Mics are great, but pricey. Gaming headsets are almost universally trash if you care at all about faithful sound reproduction.
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demolition
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Re: Headphone Help Corsair Void Pro vs HyperX Cloud Alpha

Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:19 am

Regarding impedance, notice that 65 ohms is a lighter load than 16 ohms. Higher impedance means it draws less current for the same output voltage. The only problem with very high impedances is that it often translates to lower sensitivity as well and you may run out of voltage, i.e. you are unable to turn the volume up far enough. Generally I have never had this issue with PC sound cards. Using my 400 ohm beyer-dynamic cans with my mobile phone is getting close to the limit though. It is usable in quiet surroundings, but it cannot go really loud (perhaps good from a safety point-of-view anyway). When I am using headphones in a noisy environment, I'd much rather use closed headphones which keeps out the noise than simply turning up the volume to overpower the background noise. I am still (relatively) young and want to retain my hearing for many years to come.

With regards to the choice of brand, I'd also say stay clear of 'gaming' headsets which focus mostly on looks and 'coolness-factor' and go for some proper headphones and attach a mic like the proposed Zalman. I like beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro which brings a lot of performance for the money, however they are just above your $100 price limit. There were some other good suggestions in this thread though.
 
vonasi
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Re: Headphone Help Corsair Void Pro vs HyperX Cloud Alpha

Mon Aug 05, 2019 10:44 pm

demolition wrote:
Regarding impedance, notice that 65 ohms is a lighter load than 16 ohms. Higher impedance means it draws less current for the same output voltage. The only problem with very high impedances is that it often translates to lower sensitivity as well and you may run out of voltage, i.e. you are unable to turn the volume up far enough. Generally I have never had this issue with PC sound cards. Using my 400 ohm beyer-dynamic cans with my mobile phone is getting close to the limit though. It is usable in quiet surroundings, but it cannot go really loud (perhaps good from a safety point-of-view anyway). When I am using headphones in a noisy environment, I'd much rather use closed headphones which keeps out the noise than simply turning up the volume to overpower the background noise. I am still (relatively) young and want to retain my hearing for many years to come.

With regards to the choice of brand, I'd also say stay clear of 'gaming' headsets which focus mostly on looks and 'coolness-factor' and go for some proper headphones and attach a mic like the proposed Zalman. I like beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro which brings a lot of performance for the money, however they are just above your $100 price limit. There were some other good suggestions in this thread though.

Yeah, I'd agree with you on that. The perceptions concerning a gaming headsets are going in the direction of fancy designs and surround sound etc but for an headphonesaholic the focus should be the sound reproduction and performance rather than the LEDs.
Last edited by vonasi on Thu Aug 08, 2019 9:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
 
Gyromancer
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Re: Headphone Help Corsair Void Pro vs HyperX Cloud Alpha

Mon Aug 05, 2019 10:51 pm

I've reviewed a Void headset, multiple HyperX headsets, and a ModMic, and I recommend staying away from any of Corsair's Void headsets. If you're dead set on one or the other, definitely go HyperX. A ModMic plus a great set of cans is a fantastic duo.
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