One of the newest products ASUS ROG introduced at CES 2024 is the ROG Carnyx, a professional-grade cardioid USB microphone with a 25 mm condenser capsule. You can use it for gaming, streaming, creating content, or just plain online calls, but it has plenty of features to ensure you sound great. Read our thoughts below.
The ROG Carnyx doesn’t look like your typical condenser microphone. It’s like a professional microphone with gaming DNA but not weird-looking like the Strix Magnus that ROG released some years back.
The mic itself is circular columnar, which ASUS says helps minimize sound intrusion during sound recording and helps eliminate potential dead corners that may cause echoes and reflection interference.
It also has a built-in pop filter made of foam and mesh layers, which are then protected by the triangular pattern of the mic’s chassis. Behind it are RGB lights, which you can further personalize using the ASUS Aura Sync.
The mic is then mounted on an all-metal shock mount that includes elastic suspension cables to isolate the microphone from external vibrations like the keystroke from the keyboard or mouse clicks that often travel through the table. You can also adjust the angle of the mount or remove the mic from it if you want to attach it to a boom arm.
Found up top of the mic is the one-touch mute button that cuts off the microphone during recording. It works silently, so no sound is picked up when you activate it, while the LED will turn red to let you know you’re on mute.
On the front is the multi-functional control knob to adjust the volume of the microphone, the multimedia audio volume of the monitoring headset, or to turn on/off the high-pass filter function. At the back are the USB-C port and the 3.5mm jack for monitoring headsets.
Inside the microphone is a studio-grade 25mm condenser capsule, which is larger compared to standard microphones. Basically, what it does is improve the low-frequency performance for rich, natural, and warm vocal tones. It also boasts a 192 kHz / 24-bit sampling rate for lossless audio processing. Lastly, the cardioid polar pattern emphasizes sounds from the front and minimizes sound pick from the sides and rear. Lastly, a High-Pass Filter algorithm can eliminate unwanted low-frequency background noises below 80 Hz, like rumbles or hums. You can activate this by pressing and holding the knob for 2 seconds.
All these features mean that the ROG Carnyx effectively captures your voice, making it sound good for various purposes while eliminating unwanted background noise in the process. Should you want to have more control, you can use the ROG Armoury Crate software to tweak the settings or customize EQ profiles to make your voice brighter or deeper for that DJ-like voice.
In our experience, we were able to take advantage of the ROG Carnyx. We were loud and clear during game sessions and sounded more professional during Zoom calls. If given a chance to do a podcast, I’m sure the ROG Carnyx will also be able to get the job done.
To conclude, the ROG Carnyx is a great option for those looking for a microphone that can be used for work and play. It has the looks that will beautify any gaming setup yet has the features and performance to make you sound professional, gaming or otherwise. It is priced at PHP 9,350 and available in Black and White colors.
