HyperX Reveals Standalone Mic, and New 100mm Driver Cloud Orbit Headsets – CES 2019

Click:satellite platforms and sensors

HyperX revealed two new headsets at CES 2019: the Cloud Orbit and Cloud Orbit S, as well as the HyperX Quadcast microphone. The microphone is HyperX’s first standalone mic and features a built-in shock mount.

Both Cloud headsets feature 100mm planar magnetic drivers from Audeze, and Waves NX head tracking technology is part of the Cloud Orbit S.

The Audeze drivers use “extremely thin-film speakers and powerful custom magnets” to produce “realistic spatial audio,” according to HyperX.

Waves NX bring a “360-degree audio environment” to the Cloud Orbit S. In the real world, you might hear a distant sound and turn your head to better hear it, and Waves NX head tracking keeps sound sources where they should be in relation to your position. This makes it a good fit for VR applications, where traditional headphones lack the “movement” of sound.

To give you some context into the sound quality of the HyperX Cloud Orbit headsets’ new drivers, check out our Audeze Mobius headset review to see what we thought. Spoiler: they are fantastic.

The Hyper X Orbit have an MSRP of $299, and the Orbit S MSRP is $329, with a Q2 2019 scheduled availability. The HyperX Quadcast is scheduled to release in  Marchat with a $139 MSRP.

CES 2019 is underway all this week in Las Vegas, NV, with plenty of new tech being announced, like the RTX 2080 powered Acer Predator Triton 900 laptop computer.

Seth Macy is IGN’s tech and commerce editor. You can find him on Twitter @sethmacy.