In recent years, our editors have tested a large number of different headsets and headphones, many of which were wireless. Manufacturers have already learned how to transmit sound through the air without visible delays and a special loss of quality. However, cable gadgets are still very popular with sophisticated music lovers and hardcore gamers who need maximum reliability. It is for them that the company Asus created ROG Theta 7.1 – premium wired headset.
When it comes to expensive devices, ASUS specialists can make the right impression. A large black box with a red diagonal seam makes it clear that something valuable lies inside. Novelty is worth 23,990 rubles, and this is the case when the feed corresponds to the status of the device. The box can be effectively opened in two directions like a “tulip” case, immediately demonstrating a headset mounted on a special pedestal.
The kit includes: headphones, documentation, a removable microphone that is certified by Discord and Teamspeak, an extension cord adapter with USB Type-C on USB Type-A, as well as additional lightweight ear pads with perforated exterior trim.
Default to ASUS ROG Theta 7.1 there are overlays with elements from eco-leather. Replaceable perforated ear pads have simplified sound insulation, but the air circulation in them is much better, which makes them an obvious choice in the summer.
The headset is massive and rather heavy. Its weight is 650 grams, which is significantly higher than that of ASUS ROG Strix Fusion Wireless, TUF Gaming H3, Playstation platinum and other models that we tested.
Outside, the headband is made of matte plastic, and inside there is a steel arc as a frame. It can be seen if you increase the size of the rim. On the inside there is a soft pad, which is designed to soften the pressure on the head and makes the device more convenient.
The cups are large and able to tightly close even the largest ears, and thanks to the soft ear cushions there is no discomfort during prolonged use.
This size is explained by the internal structure. In familiar headsets, surround sound is created using two speakers – one for each ear. In turn, ASUS ROG Theta 7.1 in each bowl has four physical emitters located in the shape of a rhombus. This makes the sound more honest and clean.
The main speaker performs a function similar to the front speaker in home theater systems. It is slightly larger than the rest (40 mm) and is located in the lower part of the bowl. The dimensions of the rest are 30 mm each. They are located a little higher.
Resistance ROG Theta 7.1 – 32 Ohms, frequency range 20 ~ 40,000 Hz.
On the front side, each cup has a ROG logo with full color RGB backlight Aura. Color and effects, like other attributes, can be selected in special programs – ROG Armory II or Armory crate.
On the side of the left “ear” is the volume lever and a toggle switch that switches modes PC (7.1) and Phone (2.0). In the second option, when connected to the phone, the device starts playing louder.
On the right “ear” of the headset there is a recess for connecting the flexible microphone from the kit. ROG Theta 7.1 uses a unidirectional microphone (frequency range: 100 ~ 12000 Hz, sensitivity: -40 dB ± 3 dB) along with intelligent noise reduction technology, which is allocated a special processor. AI works great – during the game, partners will hear only your voice without any extraneous noise. This is especially useful if you play online in a noisy apartment.
If someone went into the room and started a conversation with you, then the friends in the chat will not hear him. The microphone picks up sound only at your mouth.
In order for teammates to hear something about the game, the person in your room should be almost close to the microphone (at a distance of up to 50 cm). Or you will need to turn the microphone in his direction, but even in this case, the person needs to be no further than 1.5 meters from you.
At the end of the microphone there is an indicator that should show the status of the device, but for some reason this did not happen with the firmware that we had.
In addition, due to the lack of a microphone mute button, you have to disconnect it through the chat menu, which is not always convenient.
The voice itself is transmitted cleanly, without distortion and noise on all devices.
It is important to note that during long sound chats, the outer part of the body of the left bowl, in which the main electronics and microphone are located, becomes warm. We see this for the first time. The right bowl never heats up. If you don’t talk with people, then both bowls are approximately equally cold.
Perhaps the whole thing is in the processor, which begins to work actively during chats, filtering noise using AI. This does not interfere with playing, since the heating is felt only on the outer part of the body of the left bowl during long conversations, if you touch it with your hand. It is because of this that the bowls have radiator grilles – in order to better cool the advanced filling.
Inside the ROG Theta 7.1 is a proprietary 7.1-channel digital-to-analog converter with audio codec SupremeFX S1220Awhich is connected to four amplifiers ESS 9601.
Thick wires extend from each bowl to the chest, which are connected to the chest inside a small plastic case with the ROG logo, and a more elegant and comfortable wire in a fabric braid with USB Type-C at the end comes out of it. This is how you can attach the device to smartphoneeither to Nintendo switch in portable mode.
To connect to PC, Ps4 and NS in the dock, the same extension cord adapter from USB Type-C to USB Type-A, which is included in the kit and does not have a fabric braid, is useful.
Since the cable that stretches from the device is rather thick, it can interfere, so a little cable management is required here.
As we wrote above, the ROG Theta 7.1 is quite heavy, and two thick wires drag the headphones down, which is not very comfortable – especially after wireless headsets (and even wired ones with one thin wire). In this regard, the device will have to get used to.
Before connecting to the system, you must select the mode on the left headphone cup. If you change the option, then you have to pull out and then re-insert the USB to the PC, or completely restart the console in the case of the PlayStation 4 (more on this below).
ASUS ROG Theta 7.1 delivers clear and transparent sound in games, allowing you to more deeply immerse yourself in the atmosphere of a project, but the emulation of spatial sound is very different depending on the game.
For example, in Red dead redemption ii on the PC the volume is felt, but the real wow effect does not occur. In this game, three-dimensional sound is felt in much the same way as in the version on the PS4 using the PlayStation Platinum.
When Arthur looks at the talking character, his speech is clearly positioned relative to the player. If you turn your back on the talking NPC, then the higher frequencies in the voice decrease, and it seems that you really hear it from behind.
In a busy area, the volume feels much better, since many objects that sound from different directions create the effect of presence. You can hear how the bird flies diagonally above the character’s head or how flies buzz from different directions.
At the same time, during the shootings, due to the muffled back sounds, although the volume is felt, it does not produce the desired effect.
IN The witcher 3 the surround sound is worse than in RDR2. During dialogs, the sound seems completely flat, but during walks in city locations you can hear a lot of sounds around you that create the same volume. For example, a blacksmith working with a hammer behind your back is felt for sure, although you do not see it in the frame.
IN Doom eternal sound volume is much worse than in previous projects. In general, there is an excellent stereo separation, but the sounds in the front and back are indistinguishable in terms of positioning.
The best manifestation of 3D sound in this collection turned out to be Shadow of the tomb raider. In the game settings you need to set “surround sound”, not “7.1”, and then the game will really sound really voluminous.
In the initial scene in the cave, you can hear the waterfall pouring from behind, and in the scene with the Mexican carnival, a large number of sounds, positioned around the heroine, creates the correct effect of presence.
At the same time, in cutscenes, the sound turns into stereo, and during the game returns to the correct positioning. This is obviously the decision of the developers.
With consoles, ROG Theta 7.1 has its own nuances. Nintendo switch it immediately picks up the device and sounds loud and in places even redundant, that the fingers automatically stretch to decrease the sound. Such a supply of volume is always pleasing.
Version The witcher 3 for hybrid console works with this headset in good clean stereo and with virtually no real volume effect.
Moreover, in Doom 2016 the situation is better. In addition to the stereo effect, some objects in space can sound evenly behind if they are behind the main character. This is somewhat reminiscent of technology Dolby surround. As a result, there is a frontal panorama from the right to the left, and what happens behind the character sounds like in the center.
In addition, we launched Bioshock infinite. It does not have the effect of full volume, but there is only a good stereo.
As for the PS4, when you select the “PC” mode, the console only recognizes the headset as a microphone (unlike the Nintendo Switch). To make it work, you need to completely turn off the console, switch the headset to “Phone” mode with the toggle switch on the left cup, and then launch the PS4.
The Sony console with surround sound has its own difficulties. Much depends on the game itself and the settings within the project. For example, in The Last of Us Part II The headset works in stereo. The sound is very good and high quality, but only two-channel. In the same game, if you turn on the PlayStation Platinum, you can notice how the “3D Audio” preset automatically turns on in the game’s sound settings, which cannot be set manually. In conjunction with the “Platinum”, I easily managed to determine the location of the nutcrackers by the sound, even when they creep up from behind, and when the ROG Theta 7.1 is connected, there is no full-volume effect.
IN Red dead redemption ii on the Ps4 the headset feels better than in the project from Naughty dog. Surround sound is even with settings specified as “headphones” inside the game. At this point, you can determine the sounds that come from behind. And if you set “surround sound” in the settings, then something like a panorama appears from the rear, when you can understand that the cow is mooing not just from behind, but, for example, to the left or right of the main character. Therefore, in games on consoles, it is better to experiment with the settings and try to set “surround sound” rather than “headphones”.
The rest of the Nintendo Switch and PS4 ROG Theta 7.1 pleases with a clear and transparent sound. In stereo mode, there is always a very good two-channel panorama and you can clearly hear which sounds are on the right and which are on the left, but without separation into “front” and “rear”.
In general, in most games and on all available platforms, the headphones perfectly divide the audio picture of the world into the right and left parts, but the back and front are not shown as brightly as expected from a device with eight speakers on board. Much here depends on the settings inside the game itself and the support of this type of device from developers. Some studios are limited only to stereo sound or advanced support for only native devices.
Gaming headsets have long delighted users with surround sound. However, due to the specifics requiring higher mid frequencies and a certain division of audio into separate sectors, music is perceived much worse. Last year, ASUS released the TUF Gaming H line, which was able to smooth out the difference between two practically incompatible audio content formats, but ROG Theta 7.1 does it even better.
The engineers did their best, as a result of which Theta transmits music much clearer and softer than all the gaming headsets that we tested earlier.
In our traditional audio benchmark – “Apocalypsis noctis”Of Final Fantasy XV – all instruments are clearly audible. Even at high volume, individual sounds can be distinguished.
The same goes for “A beautiful song / Simone”Of NieR: Automata, where the bells were able to open, which subtly play against the background of other instruments only at certain moments.
Playing different files in formats like Flac, the sound remains pleasant and clear with transparent tops and soft bass.
It should be noted that there is still an excess of medium and high frequencies, which is characteristic of devices of this type. However, it is not as pronounced as, for example, in the PlayStation Platinum headset.
Of course, music lovers will choose specialized devices for music, but ASUS ROG Theta 7.1 simply has no competitors in the gaming headset segment.
Additional tuning can be done in the ROG Armory II and more modern Armory Crate programs, adjusting the sound for yourself. There are also other options here, including ready-made presets for various application scenarios. But due to the lack of a similar program on the smartphone and consoles, you can not configure the headphones for each device.
When using a headset with a phone Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus the equalizer lacks the frequency sliders to make the sound more comfortable. Accordingly, you can use this headset 100% only in conjunction with a computer based on Windows 10.
ASUS ROG Theta 7.1 pleases with the cleanest and most transparent sound among gaming headsets and allows you to hear the smallest details in a rich audio stream. In addition, excellent noise reduction in the microphone allows you to comfortably play your favorite network games without annoying teammates with unnecessary sounds. But you should understand that the surround sound in most projects does not exceed the depth of the headset, like TUF Gaming H7 Wireless and Playstation platinumthat do not need wires and are much cheaper. Therefore, in our opinion, ROG Theta 7.1 is primarily intended for enthusiasts and collectors who want to get a unique gadget and are ready to pay huge amounts of money for it.
Authors – Azamat Tegaev (Azzy) and Mikhail Shaginyan (ACE),
Editing – Denis Korolev (Skyerist)
Photo: Mikhail Shaginyan (ACE) and Alexey Olkin.
See also: ASUS TUF Gaming H7 Wireless – an overview of the new wireless headset.
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