The HyperX QuadCast S is a gaming microphone with RGB lighting, which may sound absurd on the surface. But QuadCast S provides more than just visuals – although HyperX may advertise it for gaming, it ends up being a great USB mic for anyone.
First of all, the label “Game” has no meaning here, it is just a normal USB microphone with RGB. However, although the microphone cannot provide any specific “gaming” functions other than fancy lighting, it still offers general functions such as a USB microphone.
Has physical controls to mute the microphone and adjust the gain (basically the microphone volume), popular built-in filters for clearer audio, and the ability to switch between four different directivity modes. Everything is fine and I have high expectations for a good quality USB microphone, which is good because the price of the QuadCast S is as high as $ 159.99.
This type of mic is very demanding, so let’s see if HyperX can really make it sound like it’s worth the money.
Premium Hardware with Convenient Controls
From the moment you use it out of the box, the QuadCast S ( Check Latest price at Amazon. ) can quickly win your favor. The appearance is excellent, as is the metal stand (it also comes with hardware to mount it to the microphone boom). After plugging in with the supplied USBA to USBC cable, the bright RGB lights will light up to complete the look.
But hardware is not limited to appearance; the mic feels very durable, and the built-in shock mount and pop filter should go a long way in improving audio quality. Most importantly, there are some physical controls on the microphone to make adjusting the audio easier.
QuadCast S has a “taptomute” pad on the top of the microphone; it is the softer part of the microphone, if you touch or swipe it with your finger, it will mute your audio. It is a good alternative to the standard mute button on most microphones and is very convenient to use. Because it is very sensitive, it may be activated accidentally, but where it is located, you don’t have to worry too much.
The most important thing is that it has a gain control dial at the bottom of the microphone. Due to its size, it is very easy to adjust as needed. Finally, there is a directional dial on the back to change the direction in which the microphone collects audio. There are four directivity modes: stereo, cardioid, omnidirectional and bidirectional, which we will explain in detail below. Below is a USBC port for connecting a microphone and a zero-latency headphone jack for audio monitoring.
Overall, the hardware is great, and there are no issues unless you dislike RGB lighting (but we’ll get back to that). But none of that matters if the QuadCast S can’t deliver in the audio department as well.
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The Audio Is Good, but It’s Still a USB Mic
Although the audio quality of USB microphones is limited compared to XLR microphones, there are definitely good and bad points. Fortunately, QuadCast S ( Check Latest price at Amazon. ) is on the bright side. The audio is clear and well defined, and the built-in pop-up filter helps keep it clean. There is also an out-of-the-box built-in microphone shock mount (which can be removed by unscrewing it), which does a good job of handling vibrations. Considering the price, I think this is pretty good; just don’t expect anything crazy.
Unfortunately, if you are already using a USB mid-range microphone, you will not experience a major jump in audio quality here. I normally use Blue Snowball as my main microphone, although its price is no different than the QuadCast S, its price is only $ 49.99. This is not a particular QuadCast S bug. For every USB mic with such a high cost, I would say pretty much the same thing, but you should definitely take that into account.
As I have said and mentioned before, you can use four different directivity modes in QuadCast S. All four affect the direction from which the microphone picks up audio. Nevertheless, I still hope that most people tend to use cardioid pointing, which is optimized for a person speaking in front of a microphone. Ideally, this helps eliminate background noise by restricting the direction in which the microphone picks up audio, but QuadCast S’s performance in this regard is rather mediocre. This is a problem that most USB microphones face, so it’s not surprising, but if there is a fan or something similar in the room, remember that it may be heard in the recording.
Ambient Lighting and Standard Software
It seems strange to dedicate half of the part to the RGB light of the microphone, but I think it is strange to include the light in the first place. This is not just an aesthetic issue, I have practical concerns about including it on the mic. The illuminated part of the QuadCast S is the part where you are speaking, which means you want it to be close to your mouth for best results. There is a bright and colorful light near your face that distracts me, how is it possible? Well this is at least my guess, but what HyperX managed to impress me was the level of integration of the light into the mic.
The real RGB lights from QuadCast S are not too bright, which prevents it from being too distracting. I suspect that the internal pop-up filter actually helps dim the light, but either way, it will follow the path that looks good without appearing on your face. The lighting is controlled by HyperX NGENUITY. There are some good options, such as different animations and brightness levels, but in the end, the lighting is not very customizable except for the color.
The only annoying thing about the lighting is that it is the only way to tell if the mic is muted when using taptomute. As long as the microphone is muted, the light will turn off and there will be no other way unless you turn on NGENUITY. This is useful, but if you turn the light off completely out of personal preference, there is no indication that the microphone is muted; I think this is a big oversight, including a separate mute flag will solve this problem.
In addition to lighting, NGenuity also allows you to adjust the volume of the QuadCast S, adjust the microphone monitoring volume, and change the directivity mode. Most of it can be done through the physical control of the microphone itself, as we have already introduced, but it is nice to put them here. However, if you provide some more detailed options in NGenuity to further fine-tune the audio, we would appreciate it. What is provided here is almost the standard of USB microphone software, so I cannot say that I am disappointed, but more choices will help QuadCast prove its high price.
Depth Beyond the Flash
As I have already mentioned, expensive USB microphones are in a weird place, because they usually cannot provide significantly better audio quality than other USB microphones at half the price. In any case, if your first consideration is a USB microphone, you may not mind having the best audio quality possible. The convenience provided by the USB microphone is above all else, so they really need to sell it to justify the high price. Fortunately, QuadCast S does a good job in this regard, and it also has cool RGB lights.
This makes the price tag the biggest and only major issue for this product. Even the standard QuadCast (which forgoes RGB for a pure red light) costs $ 139.99, while the S model I’ve been using costs up to $ 159.99. Considering that you can get most of the same Blue Yeti features and quality for just $ 109.99, you suddenly start wondering how much you paid for RGB.
QuadCast S provides premium audio and hardware that should not be overlooked. However, it has a lot of competition to overcome; To be fair, QuadCast S has done nothing wrong other than being expensive. But this will be a huge disadvantage for most people, so I just want to say: QuadCast S is an excellent microphone with clever tricks that can help you stand out. Even if you don’t outperform your competitors, you won’t be left behind. As long as you appreciate what it beats in terms of hardware (like durable build and RGB), it’s well worth the money.
However, if you just want a sturdy microphone that you can use to record or join calls, cooperating with one of their competitors, you can get the same audio quality, but at a much lower price. I’ll give the QuadCast S ( Check Latest price at Amazon. ) something unique, but also remove some price tags.
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