ASUS ROG Delta S Headset Review

Conclusion

When we reviewed the Strix Go it had 40mm drivers with 20Hz – 40kHz response and sounded excellent. Seeing the 50mm drivers with the same response on the Delta S gave us high hopes that it would sound even better than the Strix Go. There is no denying at all that the ROG Delta S sounds excellent regardless of the audio source you’re using.

An awful lot of effort has gone in to providing you with the aural equivalent of honey in your ears. There is the ESS 9281 Quad-DAC with each one of the digital-analog converters dedicated to a section of the frequency range which is then combined to give you the sound in your head. Once you add that to the excellent 130dB SNR suddenly the fidelity of each sonic element becomes easy to distinguish. It’s like moving from 1080 to 4K. This doesn’t only benefit the quality of the sound in films, but breathes new life into your familiar music tracks. Those of you who mainly game will enjoy how it lets you identify what’s going on and where everyone is a little better. It’s not a big leap forwards if you already own a decent headset but if you’ve got a headset which just about ticks the ‘provides sound’ box on the spec sheet then you’ll be stunned at how much audio detail you were missing.

Out of the box the sound profile is excellent. ASUS have clearly carefully tuned the Delta S to maximise its impact without emphasising one area over another. Too often we find headsets that are biased towards the bass end of the spectrum in the foolish belief that bass will impress those who don’t understand the benefits a balanced profile can bring. Bass isn’t bassy because it rattles your fillings and dominates all other noises, it’s bassy because it contrasts to the well defined mid-range and crystal clear highs. All of which are terms which can be applied to the excellent audio you’ll get out of the Delta S.

Comfort is superb. The Delta S comes out of the box with protein leather ear covers wrapped around deep and soft foam and the design lets you wear them for very long sessions without either discomfort or the annoying sweaty ear problem. If you’re a particularly keen sufferer though there are alternate cloth ones in the box that take a moment to fit and go even further to cool your ears. The design of the hinges and ear cups also guarantee you’ll find a placement that fits your head, no matter how strangely shaped it might be. There is a lot of vertical adjustment, as well as angles and slopes to ensure a perfect fit.

The microphone uses ASUS AI noise-cancelling and this works surprisingly well. Your voice remains clear whilst nearly all background noise is filtered out, yet that filtering doesn’t turn your voice into GLaDOS, it just gets rid of the keyboard clacks and fan whirrs. Lastly the software gives you full control over the sound profile and built in features to ensure that the sound you get is exactly to your taste. The lighting is up to ASUS usual high standards with plenty of zones in the outside ring allowing you to build some fairly complex patterns if that is your bag.

With an MSRP of £189.99 the Delta S is in the space of high end gaming headsets just before you move into the hugely expensive dedicated HiFi headphones. With spectacular audio quality, high comfort levels and a lot of useful features it’s a headset that will make you appreciate every last nuance of the soundscape. You owe it to your ears to get one.

  

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