Dual chambers FTW.
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The HyperX Cloud Alpha (See it on Amazon) is the new flagship model at the top of Kingston’s Cloud line of gaming headsets. The Cloud line sits below the "studio" quality Cloud Revolver line, but is still high-class enough to be marketed to pro gamers. Thankfully, it carries an affordable price to keep it within the reach of amateurs and weekend warriors. Like the HyperX Cloud II, the Cloud Alpha is a wired headset that costs $99.99 and offers supreme comfort and sound, and it's more of an upgrade to the original Cloud as opposed to the Cloud II as it doesn't offer 7.1 surround sound. Instead, the headlining feature of the Cloud Alpha is its new dual-chamber driver design that separates low bass frequencies from the highs and mids. In exchange for this new design you sacrifice some of the goodies that the similarly-priced Cloud II offers, namely virtual 7.1 surround sound, and a second set of ear cups. Got it? Good. Let's dive in:
Design and Features
Kingston didn’t stay too far from its tried-and-true HyperX Cloud design when it put together the new Cloud Alpha headset. Sure, there are a few minor design tweaks, but the major changes are mostly on the inside. The Cloud Alpha features the familiar red-and-black Cloud color scheme. The headset has a red aluminum headband frame with contrast stitching on its memory-foam padding. The aluminum frame has cutouts on the forks to which the ear cups connect, a departure from the solid aluminum frame of the Cloud II. Despite the cutouts, the Cloud Alpha weighs 10 grams more than the Cloud II at 502 grams. (That’s roughly 1.1 pounds.)
The ear cups feature soft, memory-foam padding and a red HyperX logo on the sides. There’s no padding on the inside walls of the ear cups, which the Cloud II has for added comfort. No matter, the Cloud Alpha is every bit as comfortable as the Cloud II. There’s also a small difference to the outside of the ear cups: the Cloud Alpha features a matte finish to the Cloud II’s glossy finish, a change I give a soft golf clap to for improving the look ever so slightly.
The big news with the Cloud Alpha is inside the ear cups. The headset features 50mm dual-chamber drivers where one chamber houses the lower, bass frequencies and the other chamber contains the mid and high frequencies. Separating the two, Kingston claims, allows for greater clarity of sound with less distortion. After testing the headset, I am a believer in the dual chambers, as I will explain in the Performance section below
The Cloud Alpha also offers a slightly wider frequency response than the Cloud II at 13Hz-27,000Hz compared with 15Hz-25,000Hz. I state these figures for those interested in speeds and feeds but I was unable to hear a difference in terms of having added frequencies available to me at the low and high ends, even when conducting side-by-side tests.
The Cloud Alpha is a wired headset but its audio cable is detachable (the Cloud II has a fixed cable). The detachable cable makes it a bit easier to throw the headset in the included bag and hit the road. One other change from the Cloud II: the Cloud Alpha’s bag is not padded but just a soft, cloth bag. A small change, to be sure, but still one moving in the wrong direction.
The detachable audio cable is braided and long. It measures 4 feet 8 inches, and the braiding lends a luxurious feel. It’s also less like to tear or rip than a rubber-coated cable. The cable features an inline audio control that has a volume dial and mute switch for the microphone. The Cloud II featured a USB sound card that delivered virtual 7.1 surround sound when connected to a PC. With the Cloud Alpha, you get stereo sound and only stereo sound.
The microphone is also detachable. It’s a noise cancelling microphone and sits at the end a flexible arm that makes it easy to position the microphone just so. The headset is Discord and TeamSpeak certified. The headset is plug-and-play. Plug the audio cable into the headset and the other end into pretty much any device with a 3.5mm audio jack, including PCs and Macs, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, phones and tablets, and VR systems.
Gaming
I connected the HyperX Cloud Alpha to a PC, an Xbox One, and an iPhone to get a sense of its capabilities. I started with Battlefield 1 on PC, and the game’s audio showed great clarity and balance. The lows of large explosions and the rumble of tanks were clear without knocking out the mids and highs of rifles popping and bullets whizzing by. The stereo sound let me know what was approaching from the left or right, but I missed the 7.1 surround sound of the Cloud II that expanded the sonic field, giving me a better sense of direction and distance. With 7.1 surround sound, objects directly behind me or out in front sounded as if they were directly behind me or in front. Despite this complaint, I will say that Battlefield 1 sounded insanely good and let me crank up the volume to 10 without hearing any evidence of distortion; the game’s audio remained crystal clear at max volume.
I also played Overwatch and was impressed with the game’s dynamic sound on the Cloud Alpha. Heavy weapons like the D.Va’s fusion cannons had concussive sound, and the high frequency sounds of weapons reloading remained clear.
Next, I tried the Cloud Alpha with XBox One by firing up Star Wars: Battlefront. The Death Star Battle Station mission sounded awesome, with the whine of the TIE fighters in the first part of the sequence sounding as clean and clear as the low hum of lightsabers in the interior scenes on the Death Star.
Throughout all of my gaming tests, the Cloud Alpha proved to be exceedingly comfortable. It felt neither too tight nor too loose on my head, the memory foam on the ear cups offered just the right amount of padding, and my ears never got overheated even after long stretches of intense gaming action.
After my gaming tests, I connected the Cloud Alpha to my iPhone to test out call quality and music playback. On Arcade Fire’s new single, “Creature Comfort,” the bass and drums thumped powerfully with the guitars and vocals remained clean and bright. I made a few calls to test the microphone and was told I sounded unusually clear.
Purchasing Guide
The Kingston HyperX Cloud Alpha Gaming Headset has an MSRP of $99.99, and since it is brand-new that's the same price it is currently listed for on Amazon.
• See the HyperX Cloud Alpha on Amazon
The Verdict
The HyperX Cloud Alpha offers a winning mix of affordability, comfort, and outstanding audio quality. The dual-chamber driver design produces superior sound, but I do wish Kingston didn’t do away with the 7.1 surround sound found on the Cloud II. Also on my wishlist is for Kingston to develop a wireless version of the headset. Still, you’d be hard pressed to find a better sounding, more comfortable headset than the Cloud Alpha for the price. Unless, of course, you opt for the HyperX Cloud II and its convincing 7.1 virtual surround sound.
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