One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, or so it has been said. Personally, I think it’s just easier to say that taste is subjective and that values placed on items goes right along with that. I have seen very few areas that point this out more than in audio…..excepting maybe food. With audio, not only do you have to account for tastes, you also have to account for the differences in people’s hearing. What may sound far too bright for an individual with very good upper range hearing, may sound dead and muffled to someone whose upper range hearing is slightly degenerated. So, you have tastes and human differences to contend with. The next time your buddy tells you about these fantastic speakers he heard, and they don’t sound particularly good to you, keep in mind that he may not be hearing the same thing.
There are, however, factors that remain consistent between individuals that speaker engineers design toward. If you are designing an audiophile speaker, you naturally want a dead flat frequency response with a good balance between warmth and clarity. A speaker designed for larger areas like clubs and concerts will have more exaggerated highs and lows, with far more attention to clarity and warmth never entering the equation. Gaming has an entire set of addressable areas all its own. For the most part, you are essentially trying to reproduce sounds that are not real to begin with. Add to that the fact that location and clarity are high on the list, while exaggerated transient response and dynamic range are used to liven the sound to add psychoacoustic excitement to the game…you know, to get your blood pumping. You also need to make the environmentals and soundstage of the game world suck you in, so that you are immersed in this fictitious world, and outside distractions need to be blocked out. While audiophile fidelity may not be the end goal, designing a gaming headset is a very daunting task with far more twists and turns.
With the release of the new Vulcan Pro Gaming Headset, ASUS has taken the established Vulcan ANC and mated it with the outstanding Spitfire USB dongle. With the ASUS Vulcan Pro, you now get the top gaming headset coupled with a plug and play amp and effects processor to take your gaming sounds anywhere. The Vulcan ANC headset uses active noise cancellation to add to complete in game immersion, and is the first we have seen to do so with no loss in bass and fidelity, as well as outstanding passive noise cancellation of > 30 dB. 40mm drivers using neodymium magnets are engineered for extreme low end punch coupled with crystal clear highs for unparalleled in game experience coupled with precision placement. The Spitfire dongle ups the ante with built in amp for lower distortion, 7.1 virtual surround and ASUS’ unique FPS EQ. The Vulcan Pro can also be used with your favorite sound card without the Spitfire USB if desired. While the Vulcans are engineered to reproduce the important gaming frequencies exquisitely, the FPS EQ goes a step further in boosting frequencies associated with footsteps to let you know exactly where opponents are. For those extended gaming sessions, the Vulcan Pro has been designed for absolute comfort with full adjustability, floating ear cups and memory foam finished with Japanese protein leather. To keep fatigue down, the Vulcans weigh in at only 326g and clamping force never takes a toll, while staying secure. Two way communication is achieved using a detachable boom mic on a flexible and easily positioned arm so you come through loud and clear. A 2.5mm braided cable with inline volume control keeps the tangles down, and an included ROG cable organizer keeps your wiring from getting in the way. The Vulcan Pro folds up neatly for storage or transport and comes with a black carrying case with room for all of the accessories and the ROG logo right on the front.