So heres a quick overview of the HXC II with photos and my thoughts on some of the changes. I won't gfo the whole hog on reviewing the sound as the headphones themselves haven't changed since Ryanr reviewed the HXC back in September
The box
Inside the Box
Accessories and the unit itself.
As I Said I don't need to go into much detail about the performance of the headphones themselves as they are as good as they were in the cloud one. The music sounds good and they are a light wearable headphone that provides reasonable performance in all areas for watching films and gaming.
The microphone is better by all standards it's perfect for its intended use of skype or gaming even answering calls on my mobile were loud and clear.
The Cable length is an interesting one and probably one of the only issues for me. It's a nice length it is the perfect length to plug into my DAC on my desk or into an XBOX One controller even for my phone it is long enough to allow my phone to be in my pocket. However there is no 4-pole extension and adapter to plug the HCX II into a normal sound card. I just feel like Kingston missed a trick hear. Sure the USB DAC is better than on board but some console gamers have PC's and nice sound cards and won't want to swap a 192/24 Premium sound card for a 48/16 USB DAC.
This brings me onto the USB DAC/Controller It's perfect for what its intended for and in my opinion it's a cleaner sound than on board. Plug and play in-line controls good sound considering it's only £10 more for the HXC II. The virtual surround works even if I personally don't use virtual surround, I could hear that it moved some of the sounds around accurately it did add a bit of bass to the sound which I'm not so keen on.
As you can see from the photos the experience and opening of the box itself sets the bar pretty high. Gives you a good feeling about the product just based on the effort put into presenting it all to you upon opening. It gives it a real premium impression which is what you want when you've just parted with £75 of your hard earned cash for a headset. Fortunately the product backs up the presentation nicely and you get a decent headset that is hard to be rivalled on price.
I've been using them for music at work for about a week now I can honestly say that for the money you'll struggle to go back to other similar priced products after using it. My colleague commented on how nasty it made his Siberia V2's sound after briefly using these.
So Pros
Same sound as the HXC they didn't change anything about that.
Improved microphone
Colours
Great value for money.
Compatibility It works with everything PC/Laptop/iPhone/Android/XBOX one/PS4
Cons
Lack of 4pole Jack extension/adapter for people who may want to use it with a sound card.
The box
Inside the Box
Accessories and the unit itself.
As I Said I don't need to go into much detail about the performance of the headphones themselves as they are as good as they were in the cloud one. The music sounds good and they are a light wearable headphone that provides reasonable performance in all areas for watching films and gaming.
The microphone is better by all standards it's perfect for its intended use of skype or gaming even answering calls on my mobile were loud and clear.
The Cable length is an interesting one and probably one of the only issues for me. It's a nice length it is the perfect length to plug into my DAC on my desk or into an XBOX One controller even for my phone it is long enough to allow my phone to be in my pocket. However there is no 4-pole extension and adapter to plug the HCX II into a normal sound card. I just feel like Kingston missed a trick hear. Sure the USB DAC is better than on board but some console gamers have PC's and nice sound cards and won't want to swap a 192/24 Premium sound card for a 48/16 USB DAC.
This brings me onto the USB DAC/Controller It's perfect for what its intended for and in my opinion it's a cleaner sound than on board. Plug and play in-line controls good sound considering it's only £10 more for the HXC II. The virtual surround works even if I personally don't use virtual surround, I could hear that it moved some of the sounds around accurately it did add a bit of bass to the sound which I'm not so keen on.
As you can see from the photos the experience and opening of the box itself sets the bar pretty high. Gives you a good feeling about the product just based on the effort put into presenting it all to you upon opening. It gives it a real premium impression which is what you want when you've just parted with £75 of your hard earned cash for a headset. Fortunately the product backs up the presentation nicely and you get a decent headset that is hard to be rivalled on price.
I've been using them for music at work for about a week now I can honestly say that for the money you'll struggle to go back to other similar priced products after using it. My colleague commented on how nasty it made his Siberia V2's sound after briefly using these.
So Pros
Same sound as the HXC they didn't change anything about that.
Improved microphone
Colours
Great value for money.
Compatibility It works with everything PC/Laptop/iPhone/Android/XBOX one/PS4
Cons
Lack of 4pole Jack extension/adapter for people who may want to use it with a sound card.
