Of all the headsets I've had the privilege of using, the performance of the Kingston HyperX Cloud II Pro Gaming Headset exceeds its price point. The audio quality alone is nothing short of fantastic to experience during any gaming.

High quality design and materials; Fantastic audio quality; Very comfortable on the head

The original HyperX Cloud is one of the best headsets on the market (FACT), the question is with the HyperX Cloud II has HyperX made a great headset an amazing headset Unfortunately the answer to that is no…

Our favourite gaming headset just got better with 7.1 digital surroundbut it's also driven down the price of its predecessor, so choosing between Cloud models is a tough call.

Kingston was off to a great start on their first venture into the gaming headset segment when they unveiled the first HyperX Cloud . Needless to say, they're trying to ride the momentum with their second gaming headset – the Kingston HyperX Cloud II .

Utilitarian design; Aluminum build; Soft padding; Interchangeable ear pads; Durable braided cables; Useful bundled accessories; Large 53mm drivers; Outstanding audio quality for its price; Affordable for what it has to offer; Improved detachable microphone

Rubber cap on line-out port can easily get lost; 7.1 surround sound is good but still miles away from true 7.1 surround sound quality

Last year's Kingston HyperX Cloud despite being positioned as a gaming headset was well-rounded enough for all kinds of uses. We even recommended it over the more bombastic Asus Strix Pro . Kingston has already launched an upgrade and quite unsurprisingly it is called the Kingston HyperX Cloud II.

Great fit; Decent surround sound; Good value for money

Cable could have been detachable

I was a bit skeptical at first buying one of these headsets due to the poor sound quality of the first build edition Cloud headset.... I do have to admit tho I am very glad I chose to pickup the Cloud II....

After looking into countless headphones for gaming and media use, I finally decided on these. they are light weight, but well constructed and the braided cords look amazing. the 7.1 inline surround option works really well and is why you should buy the hyper x 2 over the hyper x 1.

Kingston's HyperX Cloud II is one of the best gaming headsets you can get. With strong audio specs, a solid design and excellent support options, this PC gaming headset is hard to beat. It's missing a few things, but there's no denying that the HyperX is the king of its price point.

The excellent headphones reproduce high-fidelity sound

The headphones don't fold down into a smaller size

Last year I called the HyperX Cloud "one of the best sub-$100 gaming headsets I've ever used." Apparently not content with that, Kingston went ahead and released the HyperX Cloud II this year--a little pricier, a little more refined. "Little" being the operative word here.

Important note: This review has had significant alterations made since I first posted it. Upon listening to them again post review and comparing them to the HD 600s (which I will use as my reference), I felt that parts of my review overstated traits/aspects of this headset and some impressions were...

Comfort; value for money; sound quality; build quality; customer service

Can highlight sibilance in particular tracks; I personally found the sound quality suffered when using the velour pads