Featuring three studio grade 14mm condenser capsules for absolute clarity, ASUS present game streamers with the first microphone specifically designed for them.
Product on Review: ASUS ROG STRIX Magnus
Manufacturer: ASUS ROG
Street Price: UK: £179.99 US: $189.99
Game streaming has well and truly become a thing, from hanging out with friends, sharing tips and secrets, or simply to share your experience of a game, there are many reasons why it is a popular thing to do. Though, as your fan base grows, so does the need to improve your equipment to allow others to have the best experience possible, and one of the most important parts of that experience is the microphone.
Gaming headset microphones can range from outright awful and tinny, to the respectable ClearCast microphone, though, the thing they all tend to have in common is, that the range is inconsistent, unreliable, and is entirely dependent on your audio setup. To give some examples, we test most of our headsets (unless they are USB only) through a flagship discrete soundcard and so our experience of the audio and microphone quality will be different to people using them through any integrated motherboard solutions. Moving on to the other extreme, pro-level audio equipment can cost the sky, and the products at a more mainstream consumer level is a minefield, which is why the streaming community tends to stick with the tried and tested products. This is where ASUS, as a highly respected brand, saw the opportunity to weigh in with a product specifically for them.
The Magnus is a USB microphone, meaning it doesn’t require any additional audio interfaces for high quality recording, and features 3x 14mm condenser capsules that are described as ‘studio grade’, along with various onboard controls, an additional USB port, as well as featuring customisable RGB lighting that is positioned in a way specifically to be seen by your viewers. ASUS also make the point that the Magnus is capable of free standing on your desk without the need for a stand, and at 130 x 50 x 95mm, it is half the height of the current leading competitors and significantly more compact. Despite that, should you want to mount the Magnus on a boom, it features a standard 1/4″ camera mount and is shipped with a 5/8″ mount adaptor.
Overview by ASUS
ROG Strix Magnus is the first microphone designed especially for game streamers. Featuring three individual studio-grade condenser capsules for pristine recording quality, environmental noise cancellation (ENC) technology, a compact form factor, and AURA RGB lighting, ROG Strix Magnus goes above and beyond traditional microphones to help you deliver the highest-quality content to your audience.
Technical Specifications
Pick-up Pattern:
Uni-directional
Bi-directional
Omni-directional
Frequency Response: 20 ~ 20000 Hz
Sensitivity : -35 dB ± 3 dB
Dimensions: (HxWxD mm) 130 x 95 x 50
Included in Package:
ROG Carry Case
1.5m USB 3.0 Braid Cable
QSG
Microphone Stand Adapter: 5/8-27 thread (standard microphone stand mount)
Note: the default Mount Thread on Magnus is standard camera mount (1/4″ diameter, 20 threads per inch)
Uni-directional
Bi-directional
Omni-directional
Frequency Response: 20 ~ 20000 Hz
Sensitivity : -35 dB ± 3 dB
Dimensions: (HxWxD mm) 130 x 95 x 50
Included in Package:
ROG Carry Case
1.5m USB 3.0 Braid Cable
QSG
Microphone Stand Adapter: 5/8-27 thread (standard microphone stand mount)
Note: the default Mount Thread on Magnus is standard camera mount (1/4″ diameter, 20 threads per inch)
Packaging & First Look
Very sleek, high quality product image with nothing but the various branding, and a description of what the product is.
The reverse gives a detailed diagram of the product and information about its feaatures including the microphone type, pick-up patterns, and a note about the Aura RGB lighting.
Inside the box comes two things, first up is the large multilingual manual.
Followed by a sleek black case in which the Magus and accessories are housed. Once opened up, we see the case is filled with protective foam, and has specific compartments for the accessories and the microphone itself.
Included with the Magnus is a 1.5m long USB 3.0 braided cable. It appears rather thick and has a strange shaped connector to plug into the magnus.
ASUS have included a standard 5/8″ – 1/4″ adaptor, which is a nice inclusion because if you didn’t have one of these lying around when you needed it, it could set you back about £5 to buy one.
This Magnus microphone features a stylised armoured body and is slightly reminiscent of a deodorant stick, or an electric shaver, only much bigger. This side is actually the ‘rear’ of the microphone, which would be facing towards your camera.
Closer Look
At the front left, there are buttons for microphone mute, LED on/off, the main USB port, along with a monitor headphone port/headphone volume dial.
Over on the right side, there is a pick-up pattern switch, which allows you to select between: Cardioid (literally ‘heart shape’) for solo void, stereo pick-up (suitable for multiple people talking), and the ENC mode (Environmental Noise Cancelling) to be used in noisy areas. There is also an AUX-in port, a microphone sensitivity dial, as well as an additional USB 2.0 port (you can use the microphone via a USB 2.0 port on your PC, though if you do, the USB 2.0 port on the microphone will not function).
The side view gives a better overall idea of how compact it is, at just 5cm thickness.
The condenser microphones are behind a steel mesh and foam, enabling some innate protection for the microphones.
At the base we find some rubber feet, as well as a 1/4 camera mount should you wish to use the Magnus on a boom mount.
The RGB lighting is vibrant and subtle so isn’t too distracting, but is adds an attractive touch of colour, creating a more interesting display for your viewers. There is a small tail-light at the base of the microphone too which is viewable from the ‘front side’ allowing you to see what colour is on display.
Performance Testing
Setup, Design & Observations
All you need to get going is a free USB 3.0 port, (or USB 2.0, but the additional USB hub on the microphone will not be available). It will automatically set itself as default input device, but you will want to check this anyway, and it will be ready to go.
For optimal setup, you will want to find the ideal microphone sensitivity depending on how near/far from it you are. The buttons are dials are easily accessible, though the buttons are rather stiff, so you will need a firm grasp on the microphone if you want to push any of them. The dials are silky smooth to rotate.
The headphone jack is purely for monitoring purposes and will play back any sounds being picked up via the microphone and the aux in. The Aux-in can be used to connect anything with an analogue output, including musical instruments or mobile phones. Having an additional USB port on the microphone is incredibly convenient, allowing you to use pretty much any other device you wish with it.
Performance Testing
In our test, we didn’t use a pop filter and so there was a fair level of breathy sounds, and we could have used a much higher sensitivity too. The microphone sounds significantly more detailed the closer it is to your mouth, and the closer it is, the lower the sensitivity you will need to use, and the lower the background noises that are picked up, however, considering the level of background noise there was, and how well it dealt with them in both ‘Cardioid’ and ‘Stereo’ modes, it is fair to say that the Magnus is very impressive.
The ENC mode is slightly disappointing, not that it doesn’t work well, but more in that ASUS didn’t create any audio software to support the Magnus, as it would have been nice to be able to control the level of the ENC. It sounds fairly muffled and softened the edge of words considerably, however, it did a great job of cutting out background noises so would be great for very noisy situations.
Conclusion
On first impressions, the Magnus looked like a rather futuristic personal hygiene product, but as the old saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover. The Magnus comes as a product that some people might not feel like they need, or others might be apprehensive based on their understanding of ‘gaming’ products. Well this is a ‘Republic of Gamers’ product, and ASUS have absolutely nailed it. It connects via USB for the ultimate ease of use, it is compact, and readily sits on your desk with no issue. In our actuation tests, we found that it picks up consonants with incredible accuracy, and if you wish to use it with a mount/boom and a pop-filter, the results can only get better.
The only real downside would be its pricing, at £179.99, it is rather pricy, and there are many popular choices that come in for less. Despite that, the ROG STRIX Magnus offers excellent performance in an attractive, compact body, and has a load of extras that you will not traditionally find on a dedicated microphone, including RGB lighting!
There are some things we felt were a missed opportunity however, firstly, we kinda felt that maybe this could have been wireless, or at least had a wireless mode. Then, we have to note that the included 1.5m cable is fine for desktop use, but should you wish to mount with a microphone boom/stand, you may begin to find yourself fighting with a rather chunky, short cable. Though as it is a USB cable, these are fairly common and there are places you can buy cables fairly cheap. Finally, we felt that the ENC mode was a little too good, and it would have been nice to be able to adjust and apply the ENC strength independently to the recording modes.
Despite being aimed at streamers, due to its features, it can easily perform well outside this role too, and though it is a little pricer than some other solutions, it sounds excellent and is feature rich. Ultimately, the target audience is likely to love this product as it will make their life easier, and will help them provide a more enjoyable experience.
The ROG STRIX Magnus has many convenient inclusions, but quite frankly there is nothing that should detract from the heart of this product, that is, it is a high-grade microphone that is compact, easy to use, and sounds great. What more does a streamer need?
Pros.
+ Solid build quality
+ Attractive, compact design
+ Various pick-up patterns including ENC mode for noisy environments
+ On-board controls
+ High-quality recording
+ Aux-in + Headphone monitoring ports
+ Additional USB port
+ Included carry case and mount adaptor
Neutral
+- Included cable is relatively short
+- ENC not adjustable
+- Could this not be wireless?
Cons.
– Price
+ Solid build quality
+ Attractive, compact design
+ Various pick-up patterns including ENC mode for noisy environments
+ On-board controls
+ High-quality recording
+ Aux-in + Headphone monitoring ports
+ Additional USB port
+ Included carry case and mount adaptor
Neutral
+- Included cable is relatively short
+- ENC not adjustable
+- Could this not be wireless?
Cons.
– Price
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
