: Fantastic sound, Well above average microphone, Great design and construction, Comfortable for long periods
: Short cable, 7.1 Surround sound not great, Leatherette pads congest the sound, 4-pole connector
The HyperX Cloud II comes in a nice, sturdy grey box emblazoned with the HyperX name across the front. Opening the front of the box reveals the contents securely enclosed in thick black foam. One nice thing is the inclusion of a thick mesh carry bag that feels pretty high quality and has a velcro sealed pouch for accessories.
This headset sports a sturdy brushed aluminum and hard plastic construction which feels strong, having a fair amount of heft. The design is unobtrusive but still clearly says "Gamer".
The headband is thin but quite comfortable. The headphones have a decent clamping force, keeping them firmly on your head. The metal headband has some nice flex to it so bigger heads (mine is pretty big as it is) should still be comfortable.
The default Leatherette pads are soft and comfy, but created a bit of a suction force on my ears that caused some discomfort. This could be due to coming from a pair of open headphones. The Velour pads were more stiff, so were less physically comfortable, but caused no discomfort to my ears. After about a day of breaking them in they have started to soften up a bit and have become more comfortable. Overall this headset is easy to wear for long sessions.
For the sound review, I'm using the included velour pads. The default leatherette pads causes the sound to become congested. The HyperX Cloud II's have absolutely fantastic sound for the price. The bass is tight and punchy, doesn't overpower the mids. The highs are crisp. Everything is overall really snappy. Mids are clear with fantastic vocal reproduction. Resolution is great and everything is easily distinguishable. Multiple bass sources hitting similar frequencies remained separate. I would put the soundstage at about 10ft or so. This really shines with Classical music which feels the most open, while Rock and Pop feels a bit closer, at about 7ft..
Sound in games is fantastic, guns in CS:GO sound impactful and footsteps are easy to tell where they are.
The included USB sound card, which adds significant length to the cable doesn't really change the sound at all. Having separate volume controls for the headphones and mic is nice, but not enough for the inconvenience of having to restart applications after plugging in a USB sound device. The analog plug is a 4-pole connection so you'll need a splitter to use it with standard analog ports. However, this works well if you like to use Skype or other voip software on a mobile device. The included splitter is fixed width and did not fit in anything that I had. I think it might be for airplanes...
The 7.1 surround sound is gimicky and adds little if anything to the package. The only thing worthwhile about the 7.1 surround sound is that is opens up the soundstage behind you so directional sound is a bit more pronounced, but this is minimal and outweighed by the fact that enabling 7.1 surround sound ruins the sound of the headphones. It diminishes the mids and muddies the bass. The highs stay fairly good though.
The microphone is well above average for headsets with good reproduction and great isolation. The microphone is easy to bend and stays exactly in place when you move it. The microphone is also detachable which is great as this is a pair of headphone that I could definitely see myself wearing during daily transit.
In conclusion, the Kingston HyperX Cloud II headset is a superb gaming headset in comparison against other gaming headsets, and even against dedicated headphones, in the price range. This headset has great sound for music and games and an above class microphone.
