HyperX Cloud Mav - Review

It is an odd thing to put a set of headphones on your head and for them to immediately feel right, there is usually some adjusting to be done, but the HyperX Cloud Mav headset was unlike anything I had used before.

The moment that I opened the box, I was impressed at the amount of options given, usually a headset comes with the standard 3.5mm connection, which is great for somethings, but not for dedicated PC gaming. In the box, you get the headphones, microphone, additional ear cup padding and a variety of cables, to help fit whatever type of connection you need. By default, the headphones have individual connects for the audio and the microphone, which allows for a much higher quality signal to pass, rather than when they are sharing the same lines. If you are using them on your PC, you will want to plug them in individually. What the makes the Mav different from the others in the Cloud range is that these come with custom artwork all over, from artists that HyperX found to be very creative and when I looked at all the designs the cover the headset, they were very nice.

Should you only have a single port, or you want to use them on your mobile phone, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U or any other device you can think of, they do come with an adaptor that allows you to do that. When I used them on my Surface Pro, there was only a single port, but the quality of the music I was listening too did not degrade to any levels where it was noticeable. Even when I connected it to my phone, the music quality was still excellent. The bonus with this headset is that you can use it on your console of choice, with no setup issues, simply plug them in and your set, playing through Rise of the Tomb Raider on Xbox One had me standing still and immersing myself in the vistas the game was showing, all the while just absorbing the sounds of nature that I was hearing through the headphones, they did a great job.

For my test on PlayStation 4, I played Call of Duty Black Ops 3, which is a game that bombards you with sound like nothing else and yet the headset was able to keep up with the audio being thrown at me by the game. The bass was a little lower than I expected, but there was enough that it was not an issue, in the end the sound was balanced and still enjoyable. Of course, with a game like Call of Duty, multiplayer is a big part of it, so I hooked up the included microphone, so I could see how that worked. Unlike some gaming headsets that have the mic bolted to the side of the headset, here you just need to add it when you need to use it and doing so is really simple, remove the cover and push the mic into place.  The mic is adjustable with the arm easily bending into the place you need, perhaps the only issue with the mic is when you remove the cover plug, it does not remain attached, which means if you lose it and take the mic out, you are leaving the space unprotected.

If you are someone who loves to read all the technical parts of a set of headphones, then you will be impressed at the 53mm audio drivers contained within. The connecting arms for the cups to the headband are made of aluminium, which means they are light to wear and speaking of the headband, it is padded, with so much padding you might never feel the band itself. Thankfully the hard plastic top is no present here, instead you will find a very nice leather band, emblazend with the Hyper X logo, but between that is another piece of aluminium, which provides a nice amount of flexibility to the headset. Now I would not recommend trying to twist them like a pretzel, but there is enough give that you won’t have to worry about breaking them when you put them in a bag. Speaking of, hidden at the bottom of the box is a travel pouch, should you be the type of person who needs that, then you are covered.

The HyperX Cloud Mav Headset is one amazing unit, the ear cups are soft and should you not like the leather on them, you can swap them out with other set of included pads. The splitting of the audio and mic lines is something not a lot of companies do these days, which is a shame as it provides a much clearer sound. If you are looking for a new set of cans for your gaming or music listening, no matter the platform, you won’t be disappointed here.

Thanks to HyperX for supplying the headset for review