HyperX Cloud Mix Rose Gold Review

HyperX gaming headsets are known for a few things: They’re comfortable, they sound good, and often, they’re pretty stylish. With a white and rose gold color palette, the newest release of the HyperX Cloud Mix definitely brings the style.

Editor’s note: a critical software error on one of our testing stations led to publish of incorrect results. Our troubleshooting has uncovered the culprit, and the correct data has been added to the review on February 3, 2020.

Who is the HyperX Cloud Mix for?

  • Gamers who want a headset that works on PC and console, and like the idea of something with a little more style.
  • Twitch streamers looking to finish off a themed color aesthetic—you know the ones.
  • At-home workers who want something comfortable enough to wear for a whole day, and maybe want something a little less gamer-y.
  • Anyone looking for a switch hitter to go between gaming and on-the-go listening.

What’s in the box?

The HyperX Cloud Mix sits on a black surface with the various cords and attachments it comes with.

This headset really comes with a lot of bits and bobs.

The HyperX Cloud Mix comes with quite a few additional bits and bobs. In the box, there’s the headset, its detachable 3.5mm cord, a 3.5mm extension and splitter for PC use, a detachable boom microphone, a short USB charging cable, and a white carrying bag.

What is the HyperX Cloud Mix like?

Right away, you’ll notice the very different look of this model of the HyperX Cloud Mix. Yes, HyperX, like Razer and other gaming peripheral makers, has started targeting more than the edgy gamer aesthetic. By bringing rose gold to the party, HyperX is bringing more to offer gamers who aren’t fully on board the RGB bandwagon. But don’t let that fool you: inside there’s actually a pretty solidly constructed headset.

The HyperX Cloud Mix sits on a wooden table, resting on a Macbook Pro running Spotify.

This headset supports Bluetooth 4.2, and codecs like SBC, AAC, aptX and aptX Low Latency.

The HyperX Cloud Mix is a closed-back stereo gaming headset, constructed on a metal frame wrapped in thick cushions. The headphones feature 40mm dynamic drivers, and thick leatherette ear pads. Not only does the Cloud Mix feel very solidly constructed, but it’s also extremely comfortable—for long gaming sessions, it’s a dream to wear. The leatherette isn’t ideal for gamers with glasses, but the cushions are soft enough that it shouldn’t be too big of an issue.

This headset is compatible with just about every kind of device, to varying degrees. First and foremost, it’s a gaming headset that can connect to consoles and PC via 3.5mm. If you need to ditch the wires and connect via Bluetooth, you can fire up the wireless feature and choose between SBC, AAC, aptX, and aptX Low Latency codecs. We prefer AAC and aptX Low Latency around here, mostly because the latency from your game to your headset is the lowest with these codecs.

The HyperX Cloud Mix lies on its back, displaying its detachable mic.

When you’re using the headset via Bluetooth, the boom mic shuts off and you have to rely on the internal one just above it.

However, this isn’t a wireless gaming headset. Consoles across the board don’t support Bluetooth audio, and when you’re using the headset’s wireless functionality, the detachable boom mic doesn’t work, so you’re stuck with an inferior internal one.

When you’re using it wirelessly, this headset is really meant for connecting to a phone and maybe a laptop. Additionally, you can’t even use the two modes at the same time, something headsets like the SteelSeries Arctis Pro already offer. If you’re plugged into your PC via 3.5mm, the Bluetooth controls are completely unresponsive—you can’t even use the power button.

How good is the battery inside the HyperX Cloud Mix?

The HyperX Cloud Mix posed to show off its power and volume control buttons.

When in Bluetooth mode, the headset relies on the built-in buttons, rather than the in-line controls.

While in Bluetooth mode, HyperX claims the Cloud Mix can last up to 20 hours of playback time on a single charge—in our testing, it did even better. Often, when we test battery life, headphones come up a little short. We test at a slightly higher volume (-75dB) than many people use, and so power drain is a little higher. Despite, the HyperX Cloud Mix blew past the 20-hour mark, lasting a little over 26 hours on a single charge.

Gaming on the HyperX Cloud Mix

The HyperX Cloud Mix offers a totally passable gaming experience. The headset is really comfortable, so I had no issues wearing it for extra long gaming sessions. This is a stereo headset, which is totally fine, though it might irk Fortnite obsessives. In most situations, I had little difficulty picking up rough positional audio cues in games like Dauntless and Overwatch, and Overwatch‘s 7.1 conversion feature works quite well too.

A man wearing the HyperX Cloud Mix, seated at a computer.

It’s odd how many redundancies there are in this headset just to account for the separate wired and wireless functions.

Because the headset uses a 3.5mm connection when gaming, I never ran into any compatibility issues, especially given there’s a splitter included. It didn’t matter whether I was using Discord while playing League of Legends, or playing The Outer Worlds plugged into a PlayStation 4 controller—it all worked like a charm.

How does the HyperX Cloud Mix sound?

To be completely frank, I was really expecting the HyperX Cloud Mix to sound better. Coming from the same company with stellar sounding Cloud Alpha and Cloud Orbit—headsets on opposite ends of the price spectrum, no less. This seemed like it’d be a slam dunk. In fairness, this headset doesn’t sound bad—it’s merely just targeted for a specific set of games (first-person shooters).

A frequency response chart for the HyperX Cloud Mix

On the upside the slight de-emphasis in the highs can make firefights sound a little less grating.

The HyperX Cloud Mix offers pretty accurate sound in the bass and mid ranges, and slightly de-emphasized highs. This isn’t all that strange, as many headphones drop in the same range to avoid natural resonances in the ear.

This means you won’t have an issue with bass boosted to ear-shattering levels—something with which many gaming headsets struggle. However, if you’re using voice chat, you might not hear some parts of speech as clearly, like sibilant sounds, which can be subtle, but make a big difference in natural-sounding speech.

In music, this means the sounds of cymbals and some strings might sound a little quieter than intended, but you shouldn’t have any issue with bass lines drowning the rest of a song (at least when it isn’t supposed to). Antigua Supermarket by Engelwood is a good example of this. There’s a very faint rhythm guitar line running throughout, and despite the relative quiet of the whole song: it’s still a little too hard to hear.

An isolation chart for the HyperX Cloud Mix.

You shouldn’t have much trouble from the typical noises of the home or cafe with this headset.

The HyperX Cloud Mix offers pretty good isolation for a gaming headset. It doesn’t approach the levels of ANC, but the headphone pads are thick and getting a good seal is very easy. In the home, this should isolate you pretty well from most of the noises you’d run into, like a TV blaring in another room or the whirring of a fridge down the hall. When you’re walking around, this won’t block out the sounds of traffic (probably a good thing) but it won’t be drowned out by them either.

A microphone frequency response chart for the HyperX Cloud Mix.

This is pretty average performance for a gaming headset mic.

The Cloud Mix’s detachable microphone is pretty average for a gaming headset, with a notable de-emphasis on the low end of the audio spectrum and significant boosting of the highs. The boosted highs typically cover the rang of sound where sibilants occupy, making them louder to keep people’s voices sounding natural. However, the de-emphasis of the low end means people with very deep voices might sound a little distorted, and mic will struggle to accurately capture and output variations in low tones.

If you’re hoping for a more professional-sounding streaming experience, you may want to pick up an external mic like the HyperX Quadcast or another USB microphone to up your game a bit. While it’s an investment to be sure, if you want better audio quality: you need something other than the mic on the HyperX Cloud Mix.

Should you buy the HyperX Cloud Mix?

Probably not. You could do better, but you could do a lot worse too.

A photo of the HyperX Cloud Mix leaning on a Playstation 4 Dualshock controller, which is turned on.

The HyperX Cloud Mix has a lot going for it, but it’s just a little bit off in a few ways. It’s extremely comfortable, built on a nearly identical frame to the HyperX Cloud Alpha, yet it sounds comparatively worse. It’s got pretty fantastic battery life, but you can’t really use it wirelessly for gaming.

At just shy of $200, there are tons of great alternatives. The Beyerdynamic Custom Game offers better sound, customizable bass output, and much better mic. For $50 less, the SteelSeries Arctis 7 offers a slew of additional features, and consistent wireless functionality across a number of platforms. The Cloud Alpha sounds better, and it’s under $100.

The HyperX Cloud Mix is a good headset, but it seems like it’s being pulled in too many directions to perfectly cover any of its bases. If you want something that connects to your phone wirelessly and still works for gaming, and you don’t mind it being a little on the average side, have at it. But who wants to spend $200 for just average?

Disclosure: We may receive affiliate compensation in connection with your purchase of products via links on this page. Even though we may receive compensation, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on each product. See our ethics policy for more details.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *