Kingston’s new HyperX Cloud Revolver Pro Gaming Headset is being marketed toward professional gamers (and those who aspire to be) with its super-comfy and durably design and some impressive audio tech lurking behind the sexy exterior. After coming off reviews for Kingston’s previous two gaming headsets; the HyperX Cloud and the HyperX Cloud II, I was eager to see (and hear) what the Revolver was all about.
Out of the box the Revolver looks and feels like an imposing beast, mostly due to the metal suspension frame that spans the twin memory foam over-the-ear cups. I have to admit, I was a bit puzzled by this secondary metal exoskeleton that arcs a full inch above the padded band that actually rests on your head. I’ve owned/used/tested over 30 headsets in the past ten years and the headband has never been an area of concern for me, and sadly it is this very headband that totally ruined the entire Cloud Revolver experience for me and guarantees I will never use them beyond the scope of this review.
As I slipped on the headset I was in awe of just how comfortable the earpieces were. It was almost as if each cup was giving me a soothing massage, but as I was adjusting them my finger lightly grazed the metal band and I heard this ringing reverberating in my ears. And that was with just a light touch. So to make sure I was hearing what I thought I was hearing I tapped and even flicked my finger against the band and could easily produce a gong-like sound on demand. So you essentially have a tuning fork attached to your head ready to convert the slightest touch into an annoying ringing in your ears. And while you may say, “so don’t touch the headphones”, I did find that no matter how much I adjusted them the Revolver seemed to slip around a bit during use requiring random readjustments.
My second observation with the Cloud Revolver was that this wasn’t a USB headset. I’ve reviewed over a dozen headsets in the past year or so, and I can’t remember the last time one required to be plugged into the soundcard with the green and pink plugs. If they didn’t plug into the computer using USB they at least came with a USB cable adapter and perhaps a control box much like the HyperX Cloud II. At the time of this review I was still using the Cloud II for my nightly sessions of The Division so I was able to simply plug the 3.5mm headphone plug into my 7.1 Cloud II in-line control box without having to access the back of my machine for soundcard ports.
The detachable boom mic features noise cancelation and a somewhat flexible design so you can adjust as needed, but I found it not nearly as flexible as the mic from the HyperX Cloud II. The mic is easily removed when you want to use the Revolver as a pair of non-chat headphones; something you will likely want to do since this headset works with Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, Mac, and any mobile device with a standard headphone jack. The mic supports all the popular chat clients and is TeamSpeak certified, and while it does offer noise canceling tech, it doesn’t seem to block out all the background sounds, or at least as much as the foam mic of my Cloud II did.
During my initial testing I had the Revolver plugged into my Cloud II control box, so I was able to still get 7.1 virtual surround in many of my games and for the most part, these sounded no worse and only slightly better than the Cloud II. When I plugged the Revolver directly into the PC using the included control box I lost the virtual surround, but was still impressed on how well they could still do positional audio in stereo, but is was also noticeably less immersive in games like The Division, Battlefield 4, and Call of Duty where you need that exact location of sound to be competitive.
The Revolver headset has an attached 3-foot cable. This is a reasonable length for connecting to any of the numerous supported devices. The control box has a 6-foot cable with a cable management clip for your shirt if needed, so you effectively have a 9-foot reach, which is more than enough for most desktop and competitive gaming situations. It still comes up short for living room or broadcast studio scenarios so plan on adding an extension cable. In my case, I already had my Cloud II control box on a USB extension, but when I wanted to plug the Revolver directly into my PC using its own control box and audio connectors I didn’t have audio extensions, so I ended up sitting about six feet away from an 80” screen until I could obtain some.
The HyperX Cloud Revolver looks, sounds, and feels great, but there are enough issues, subjective as they may be, that really turned me off this latest product. First and foremost, the Revolver is mostly a lateral step in overall sound quality while definitely a step back in ease of connectivity. Honestly, if I hadn’t had the Cloud II control box available for use I wouldn’t have tested the Revolver for nearly as long as I did. And while I loved the memory foam cups that cradled my ears with superior comfort, whoever designed that metal support band needs to go back to design school. Unless you are head-butting the competition or throwing your headset in anger nobody needs a steel support on their headset, especially when its only function is to create an annoying ringing in your ears at the slightest touch.
I love Kingston’s HyperX Cloud series, but for me the $120 HyperX Cloud Revolver was a misstep in design and functionality, and I personally can’t recommend them. If targeting the “pro gamer” means giving up the ease of USB connectivity and 7.1 surround, then needlessly reinforcing your product in annoying steel, I’ll be happy to keep my amateur status and continue using my HyperX Cloud II headset, which is still available and still my top recommendation for a headset in the $100 price range.
