ASUS ROG Delta S Review: Versatile Gaming Headset with Hi-Res Sound and Noise Cancellation
The ASUS ROG Delta S is one of the most attractive and versatile gaming headsets at the moment. It is compatible with all major modern gaming platforms, including computers, laptops, smartphones, consoles of past and present generations. However, the company decided to go even further and satisfy music fans. For this purpose, the headset is equipped with 4 ESS Sabre 9281 high-quality DACs and has native support for MQA codec.
The sound is really very good and suitable not only for games and movies but also for listening to music, no matter that the sound quality does not reach audiophile level. ASUS ROG Delta S is equipped with a good unidirectional microphone with a built-in noise cancellation system AI Mic based on machine learning. The design turned out to be comfortable, there is also RGB backlighting, of course, switchable. Among the minor complaints the cable is not removable, if it breaks, you have to send the headset to the service.
5 reasons to buy ASUS ROG Delta S:
- High-quality sound in games, movies and when listening to music;
- Compatible with all major gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and smartphones;
- A quality microphone with noise cancellation system AI Mic;
- comfortable design;
- Stylish appearance and RGB-lighting.
2 reasons not to buy the ASUS ROG Delta S:
- High cost;
- Non-removable cable.
What's included?
ASUS ROG Delta S packaging and kit is in typical ROG style. A big box with bright print in black and red colors. Inside there is the headset itself, a detachable microphone on a flexible leg, a pair of interchangeable ear cushions made of breathable material for summer, a one-meter USB Type-C to USB Type-A adapter cable, and a documentation set.
|
ASUS ROG Delta S Technical Specification |
|
|
Headset |
|
|
Speakers |
dynamic ASUS Essence, 50mm |
|
Frequency Range |
20-40 000 Hz |
|
Impedance |
32 Ω |
|
Cable |
1.5 m Type-C; 1 m Type-C to Type-A adapter |
|
Connection |
Wired, USB Type-C and Type-A |
|
Weight |
300 g |
|
Microphone |
|
|
Type |
detachable, unidirectional |
|
Frequency Range |
100-10000 Hz |
|
Microphone sensitivity |
-40bB |
|
Extras |
Noise cancellation system based on machine learning |
What does the ASUS ROG Delta S look like?
The ASUS ROG Delta S is virtually the same design as its forerunner, as well as the materials used. It's a large, full-size headset with a classic headband. But the color scheme has changed slightly. The body is almost completely made of plastic and black elements are used instead of silver. There is no gloss at all, only Soft-Touch and matte plastic are used.
The ear cups are large, D-shaped with RGB lighting around the edge and illuminated ROG logos. The outer covers have decorative diagonal stripes.
The headband has the usual retractable design to adjust the size. The frame is metal, and the underside is made of artificial leather with a soft filler. There is Republic of Gamers embossing on the exterior.
The ear cushions are also D-shaped. They are wrapped in leather, with decorative diagonal stripes around the edge. The inside has soft foam padding. The interchangeable ROG Hybrid ear cushions combine protein leather and breathable fabric mesh. They have worse soundproofing, but it won't be hot in summer.
The unidirectional microphone is a detachable unit with a flexible boom arm. It does not have any design features, it easily takes the desired shape.
The cable mount, as well as all of the available controls are located on the lower earpiece. There are only two of them: a three-position volume control (it also mutes the microphone when pressed) and a three-position slider to select the backlighting mode. It can be simply turned off, or you can use the usual RGB AURA, or turn on the "sound wave" effect. In the latter case, the backlight will flash synchronously with the user's voice.
The main cable is fixed, fabric sleeved. Its length is 5 feet (1.5 m). I did not have any complaints about its quality: soft, flexible and lightweight, even despite the rather impressive diameter. Ideally it would be nice if it was removable. And, accordingly, replaceable.
The Type-C to Type-A meter extension cord. It is already without the fabric sleeves, the standard insulation is used.
How comfortable is ASUS ROG Delta S?
Despite the visual similarity to the first generation model, the design is quite significantly different for the better. The same goes for the weight. It's shrunk quite dramatically, from 13.7 oz. to 10.6 oz. (or 300g). And the size. The matter is that the first generation model even in the minimal position of the headband was too big: the headphones were fixed on your head only thanks to the cups and clamping force while the headband didn't touch your head. This is not particularly comfortable, and can fly off. With ASUS ROG Delta S this feature seems to be taken into account, and there is no more such a problem. ASUS ROG Delta S is comfortable to use: you can easily wear it all day long without any discomfort - your ears won't get sweaty, there will be no pressure or noise. In addition, the artificial leather ear cushions provide very good sound insulation and even the rather loud keyboard is barely audible. The design of the headset allows you to turn the cups 90° if necessary and hang the headphones around your neck.
The headset is compatible with all current gaming platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch. In fact, all platforms with USB Type-C or Type-A. There is no problem with connection: we have the Type-C connector on the end of the cable, if there is no appropriate connector in the device, we use an adapter-extender.
Sound quality, microphone and software
The ASUS ROG Delta S has ASUS Essence 50mm dynamic speakers with sealed acoustic chambers and an ESS Sabre 9281 SoC with four DACs. Each is designed for a different section of the frequency range: bass, midrange, high and ultra-high. The signal-to-noise ratio is 130 dB. On the whole, the sound of the headset is very good, especially when it comes to games and movies. Despite the overall neutrality without significant kinks or failures in some parts of the range, all special effects sound very convincing, large-scale and rich. Sound sourse positioning is also quite accurate. You can also try virtual surround sound if you want. You can switch it on and set it up in the company's software. Yes, of course, it is not a full-fledged multichannel audio system or multidriver gaming headset, but it turns out quite realistic.
Now let's talk about Hi-Res, MQA, sound quality when playing music and all this stuff. The ASUS ROG Delta S complies with Hi-Res certification and is capable of decoding the MQA codec. In a nutshell, what is it? MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) is an audio codec that was developed in 2014 by Meridian Audio.The point is that MQA uses lossy compression, but after " unpacking" it produces material with no loss of quality. First of all, MQA is designed for streaming audio: the user gets high sound quality while reducing the amount of data needed. Unfortunately, at the moment only TIDAL, Nugs.net and Chinese Xiami offer MQA. The latter, by the way, is discontinued as of February 5. In file form, MQA is packaged in containers like FLAC. It is hard to say how important MQA support is in a gaming headset. It will be useful, but the real benefit will be if in addition to TIDAL, Nugs.net other platforms will begin to support the standard.
In any case, the ASUS ROG Delta S played a lot of material in different quality. Including FLAC packed MQA, and Deezer Hi-Fi as a streaming service was used. On the whole, it is worth noting that the headphones sound really very good, especially if you consider them as a gaming model in the first place. There is a dense, yet detailed and controlled bass, quite detailed and voluminous high frequencies. The imaginary soundstage is not the widest, but more than you would expect from such a model. The midrange is not failing, in terms of the amount of midrange it is enough. However, their accuracy of detail, unfortunately, does not reach the desired level, as a result, some instruments and (sometimes) vocals sound a little messy. You can hardly feel it when listening to electronic, hip-hop and other similar uncomplicated styles of music. Jazz, rock, metal and classical music sound a little worse than I would have liked. But this is the personal experience of the user, who regularly uses much more expensive in-canal headphones that focus directly on music. So, it seems to me, less picky music lovers would really go for the sound.
The headset features a removable one-way microphone, which keeps the noise out a bit on its own. In addition, there is an original AI Mic noise cancellation system based on machine learning, which ASUS actively uses in a number of its new devices. The mic itself is of pretty good quality: it's not striking and has a bit of a squeezed range. But this is a standard situation in almost all modern gamer headsets.
The noise cancellation system cuts off noises really well, but makes the voice more flat. Although the sound quality is of secondary importance when the main task is to clearly deliver the information.
The Armoury Crate software, common to all of the manufacturer's gaming peripherals, is used for customization. There are volume and EQ adjustments, virtual surround sound, noise modulation settings, compression, bass boost, voice boost, reverb, and backlighting settings. Plus there are presets for different usage scenarios (music, movies, games, etc.).
3 things to know about ASUS ROG Delta S:
- The gaming headset is compatible with all current gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and smartphones.
- The sound is provided by ASUS Essence 50mm dynamic speakers, 4xESS 9281 DAC, Hi-Res certification and MQA support.
- The headset supports the original AI Mic noise cancellation system.
You may also like:
Editor of gagadget.com since 2012, engaged in technology reviews. Specialization — smartphones, laptops, monitors, headphones, peripheral devices, games. During his work, he made more than 300 reviews. Connoisseur of quality sound, musician with 15+ years of experience. Gamer since Intel 486.
