在我们测试了ASUS Strix Pro 游戏耳机(gaming headset)后，我们设法拿到了他们的终极游戏耳机(gaming headset)- ASUS Strix 7.1 Surround。该产品通过其专用的音频站、令人印象深刻的规格和独特的设计吸引了您的注意力，但我们很想听到它的实际操作。我们已经掌握了它，经过一个多星期的测试，我们现在准备分享一些印象。继续阅读以了解华硕(ASUS)这款耳机是否正确(headset right)：
华硕 Strix 7.1(ASUS Strix 7.1) 环绕游戏耳机(Surround Gaming Headset)拆箱
耳机采用黑色硬纸盒包装(cardboard box)，上面全是Strix品牌，正面是产品图像。
盒子的背面提供了大量有关耳机技术规格的信息。
打开盒子是一种体验。拆箱是一款高级设备，它让您对即将使用的产品感到兴奋。
耳机本身配有一个可拆卸的单向麦克风、一个USB 音频(USB audio)站、一根HDMI转 3.5 毫米音频分配器电缆(splitter cable)以及将音频站连接到计算机的USB 电缆。(USB cable)
除此之外，您还可以找到快速入门指南(start guide)和保修。
硬件规格
该耳机使用具有 90% 环境噪声消除(noise cancellation)能力的钕磁铁驱动器，并且与 PC 和Mac(Macs)兼容。每个杯子中包含的驱动程序具有不同的尺寸：
- 前：40mm
- 低音炮：30mm
- 中心：30mm
- 后部：20mm
- 边：20mm
耳机电缆(headset cable)长 1.5 米（4.9 英尺） ，音频站电缆(station cable)长 1.5 米（4.9 英尺）。当您使用连接到 PC 的套件时，需要 3 米（9.84 英尺）的电缆。套件中包含的所有电缆都是编织的。扬声器的阻抗为 32 欧姆(Ohm impedance)，频率响应范围(frequency response range)在 20Hz 和 20KHz 之间。
不含线缆的耳机重 450 克（15.8 盎司），而且相当大。麦克风是可拆卸的，具有 50Hz-16KHz 的频率响应(frequency response rage)范围和 -40 +/- 3dB 的灵敏度水平(sensitivity level)。音频站由USB供电并提供 90% 的环境噪音消除(noise cancellation)。它提供多级音量控制(volume control)，例如主音量控制(master volume control)、独立环绕声道(surround channel)控制和麦克风音量控制(microphone volume control)。它还包含一个耳机放大器(headphone amplifier)以及多个游戏音频频谱(game audio spectrum)配置文件：脚步声、枪声、赛车(Footstep, Gunshot, Racing)和Action/RPG。
您还可以找到耳机上的灯光效果设置和用于外部扬声器的第二个HDMI 输出。(HDMI output)您可以在此处找到耳机的全套规格：Strix 7.1 - 规格(Strix 7.1 - Specifications)。
使用华硕 Strix Pro
该耳机在设计方面与我们前段时间测试的ASUS Strix Pro相似。(ASUS Strix Pro)唯一的设计差异(design difference)是杯子上的照明效果。就像(Just)华硕 Strix Pro(ASUS Strix Pro)一样，这款耳机感觉很大。杯子完全遮住了你的耳朵，它们可以很好地隔离背景噪音。(background noise)如果您将耳机戴在脖子上，猫头鹰的眼睛会背对您，因为罩杯会折叠。但是，将耳机戴在脖子上可能会令人失望，因为它们可能会导致窒息效应(choking effect)，因此我们不建议这样做。
佩戴耳机是一种愉快的体验，即使它很重。该设计使其佩戴舒适，并且罩杯在耳朵上柔软。我们在玩游戏、看电影（7.1 音频）和听音乐（7.1 音频）时使用了Strix 7.1 。声音在所有情况下都清晰而清脆，更重要的是，它非常平衡。音频站为耳机提供了足够多的控制。您可以启用或禁用 7.1 效果，打开或关闭(Off)放大器和麦克风，或者在耳机和扬声器之间切换（如果您通过专用HDMI 端口连接(HDMI port)）。问题是很少有扬声器可以从HDMI接收输入。幸运的是，还有一个包装中包含HDMI(HDMI)转 3.5 毫米扬声器分配器电缆，可用于连接扬声器。音频站中央的旋钮周围环绕着可以变成橙色或红色的LED 。(LEDs)还有一个侧面旋钮(side knob)，您可以使用它在要调整的通道之间切换。选择侧面旋钮(side knob)上的通道后，使用中央的大旋钮调节其电平。需要注意的一件事，也是华硕(ASUS)未能在任何地方指定的，是中央旋钮(center knob)也是一个可以按下的开关。按下它可以切换选定的频道/选项 On 或Off。例如，在照明时按下旋钮(Lighting)选择该选项将禁用耳机上的灯光效果。选择Spectrum时，您可以启用放大器的脚步声、枪声、赛车(Footstep, Gunshot, Racing)和Action/RPG等效果。使用中央旋钮(center knob)选择您想要使用的效果，然后按下它来启用或禁用它。为便于使用此功能，禁用某个选项时，每隔一个LED都会变为红色。
在游戏中，声音很清晰，空间效果很好，但我们发现 7.1 选项更像是一个噱头，因为我们没有太多麻烦估计敌人是（在右边还是左边，在前面或后面(front or behind)) 禁用 7.1 效果。我们在使用 7.1声音功能(sound feature)时注意到的唯一区别是某些声音效果的强度级别不同。不过，不要指望任何会让你大吃一惊的事情。体验更好，但也好不到哪里去。该耳机仅在专门设计用于使用定位音频和 7.1 输出的游戏中独树一帜。不幸的是，真正充分利用多声道音频(channel audio)的游戏很少。这部分是微软的结果(Microsoft)决定在Windows Vista之后停止使用旧的DirectSound 技术(DirectSound technology)。尽管较新的DirectX版本提供了现代DirectSound API，但此功能仅对Windows 运行时应用程序(Windows Runtime apps)和硬件接口公开(hardware interface)应该与声音驱动程序通信的当前未实现。换句话说，我们有硬件，但缺少合适的软件。一些游戏开发商在他们的游戏中加入了他们自己的 3D 音频技术，但数量并不多。为了给您一个想法，只需考虑与您在现代游戏中看到的声音设置相比的图形设置数量。几乎没有任何游戏可以在声音方面为您提供更多选择，而不仅仅是音乐的整体音量(volume level)或游戏内效果。在听音乐和看视频时，华硕 Strix 7.1(ASUS Strix 7.1)提供的音频体验不错，但不是很好。我们将它们与Sennheiser的两款耳机进行了比较，后者的成本低于ASUS Strix 7.1和那些声音质量(sound quality)更高。它们更响亮，我们享受更清晰的声音，更少强调低音（这会使声音失真），从而产生更自然的声音。华硕 Strix 7.1(ASUS Strix 7.1)的整体音量偏低。麦克风似乎与Strix Pro(Strix Pro)上的麦克风相同。Skype通话再次响亮、清晰、清脆，我们可以毫无问题地让对方听到自己的声音。
ENC（环境噪音消除(noise cancellation)）模块也可以工作，这意味着它确实可以很好地减少背景噪音，但它也会让你的声音更难听到，所以你要么提高音量要么大声说话。
我们没能找到的是音频站内的声卡类型。(sound card)除非耳机具有HDMI 输出(HDMI output)或您有HDMI转 3.5 毫米适配器，否则您无法将耳机插入其他声卡。(sound card)鉴于此产品的性质和用途(nature and purpose)，您应该将其与包装中捆绑的音频站一起使用，而不是与其他声卡(sound card)一起使用。值得一提的是该产品缺乏任何专用软件。一切都由软件包中包含的硬件自动完成，无需安装和配置驱动程序。
判决
虽然华硕 Strix 7.1(ASUS Strix 7.1) 环绕声游戏耳机(surround gaming headset)的设计效果非常好，但很难确定最适合它的目标受众(target audience)。首先(First)，这款耳机只适合游戏玩家。发烧友可以在价格不高的其他耳机上享受更好的音质。(sound quality)但是，如果你是一个在台式电脑上投入了相当多钱的游戏玩家，并且你有一个好的声卡(sound card)，那么你真的不需要华硕 Strix 7.1(ASUS Strix 7.1)。您可以找到不需要任何音频站的更便宜且质量好的耳机，将它们连接到声卡(sound card)并享受出色的空间效果。在我们看来，华硕 Strix 7.1(ASUS Strix 7.1)仅对于在台式电脑上使用板载声卡(sound card)的游戏玩家或拥有在音频方面表现不佳的游戏笔记本电脑的游戏玩家来说，这是一个不错的选择。在这些情况下，华硕 Strix 7.1(ASUS Strix 7.1)游戏耳机附带的音频站将在游戏、听音乐或看电影时提供更好的声音。
ASUS Strix 7.1 Surround Gaming Headset Review - Impressive Looks! What About The Sound?
After we tested the ASUS Strix Pro gaming headset we managed to get our hands on their ultimate gaming headset - ASUS Strix 7.1 Surround. This product grabs your attention through its dedicated audio station, impressive specifications, and uniquе design, but we were curious to hear it in aсtion. We've gotten our hands on it and aftеr more than a week of testing, we're now ready to shаre some impressіons. Read on to learn whethеr ASUЅ got this headset right:
Unboxing The ASUS Strix 7.1 Surround Gaming Headset
The headset is packaged in a black cardboard box with the Strix branding all over it and the image of the product on the front.
The back of the box offers quite a lot of information about the technical specifications of the headset.
Opening the box is quite an experience. The unboxing is worthy of a premium device and it makes you excited about the product you are about to use.
The headset itself is accompanied by a detachable unidirectional microphone, a USB audio station, an HDMI to 3.5mm audio splitter cable and the USB cable that connects the audio station to the computer.
Along with this, you'll find a quick start guide and the warranty.
Hardware Specifications
The headset uses neodymium-magnet drivers with 90% environmental noise cancellation capabilities and it is compatibles with both PCs and Macs. The drivers included in each cup have different sizes:
- Front: 40mm
- Sub-woofer: 30mm
- Center: 30mm
- Rear: 20mm
- Side: 20mm
The headset cable is 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) long and the audio station cable is another 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) long. That makes for 3 meters (9.84 feet) of cable for when you're using the kit connected to a PC. All the cables included in the set are braided. The speakers have a 32 Ohm impedance and a frequency response range between 20Hz and 20KHz.
The headphones weigh 450 grams (15.8 ounces) without cables and are quite big. The microphone is detachable and has a 50Hz - 16KHz frequency response rage with a -40 +/- 3dB sensitivity level. The audio station is USB powered and provides 90% environmental noise cancellation. It offers multiple levels of volume control, such as master volume control, individual surround channel controls and microphone volume control. It also incorporates a headphone amplifier as well as multiple game audio spectrum profiles: Footstep, Gunshot, Racing and Action/RPG.
You'll also find settings for the lighting effect on the headphones and a second HDMI output for external speakers. You can find the full set of specifications of the headset here: Strix 7.1 - Specifications.
Using The ASUS Strix Pro
The headset is similar in terms of design to the ASUS Strix Pro that we tested a while ago. The only design difference is the lighting effect on the cups. Just as with the ASUS Strix Pro, this headset feels big. The cups cover your ears entirely and they isolate the background noise quite well. The owl's eyes face away from you if you're wearing the headset around your neck, since the cups fold. However, keeping the headset around your neck may be a disappointing experience because they may cause a choking effect, so we don't recommend doing that.
Wearing the headset is an enjoyable experience even though it's quite heavy. The design makes it comfortable to wear and the cups are soft on the ears. We've used the Strix 7.1 while playing games, watching movies (with 7.1 audio) and listening to music (with 7.1 audio). The sound was clear and crisp in all situations and more important, it was well balanced. The audio station provides more than enough controls for the headset. You can enable or disable the 7.1 effects, toggle the amplifier and the microphone On or Off, or switch between the headphones and the speakers, if you have any connected through the dedicated HDMI port. The problem is that there are very few speakers that can take input from HDMI. Luckily, there's also an HDMI-to-3.5mm speaker splitter cable included in the package that you can use to connect your speakers. The knob in the center of the audio station is surrounded by LEDs that can turn orange or red. There's also a side knob, that you can use to switch between the channels that you want to adjust. After selecting a channel on the side knob, use the big knob on the center to adjust its level. One thing to pay attention to, and one that ASUS failed to specify anywhere, is that the center knob is also a switch that you can press. Pressing it toggles the selected channel/option On or Off. For instance, pressing the knob while the Lighting option is selected will disable the lighting effects on the headphones. When selecting Spectrum, you can enable the amplifier for effects like Footstep, Gunshot, Racing and Action/RPG. Use the center knob to select the effect that you want to work with and then press it to enable it or disable it. To facilitate the use of this feature, every other LED turns red when an option is disabled.
In games, the sound was clear with good spatial effects, but we found the 7.1 option to be more of a gimmick, since we didn't have too much trouble estimating whether the enemies were (to the right or to the left, in front or behind) with the 7.1 effects disabled. The only difference we noticed when using the 7.1 sound feature was a different level of intensity for certain sound effects. Don't expect anything that will blow your socks off, though. The experience is better but not a lot better. This headset come into its own only in games that are specifically designed to make use of positional audio and 7.1 output. Unfortunately there are very few games that actually make good use of multi channel audio. Part of this is a consequence of Microsoft's decision to discontinue the old DirectSound technology after Windows Vista. Even though the newer DirectX versions provide a modern DirectSound API, this functionality is only exposed to Windows Runtime apps, and the hardware interface that should communicate with sound drivers is not currently implemented. In other words, we have the hardware, but lacking the proper software. Some game developers have included their own 3D audio technologies in their games, but there are not that many. To give you an idea, just think about the number of graphics settings compared to sound settings that you see in modern games. There are hardly any games that offer you more options in terms of sound than just an overall volume level for music or in-game effects. When listening to music and watching videos, the audio experience offered by ASUS Strix 7.1 is good but not great. We compared them with two headsets from Sennheiser which cost less than the ASUS Strix 7.1 and the sound quality on those was higher. They were louder and we enjoyed clearer voices, less emphasis on the bass (which distorts the sound), leading to more natural sound. The overall volume on the ASUS Strix 7.1 was on the lower side of things. The microphone seems to be the same as the one found on the Strix Pro. Skype calls were again loud, clear and crisp and we had no problems making ourselves heard on the other end of the line.
The ENC (environmental noise cancellation) module works too, meaning that it does diminish the background noise well, but it also makes your voice more difficult to hear, so you'll either have to raise the volume or speak louder.
What we didn't manage to find out was what kind of sound card resides inside the audio station. You can't plug the headset into a different sound card unless it has an HDMI output or you have an HDMI to 3.5mm adapter. Given the nature and purpose of this product, you're supposed to use it with the audio station that's bundled in the package and not with another sound card. Something worth mentioning is the lack of any dedicated software for this product. Everything is done automatically by the hardware included in the package and there are no drivers to install and configure.
Verdict
While the ASUS Strix 7.1 surround gaming headset works very well for what it was designed to do, it is hard to identify the best target audience for it. First of all, this headset is a good option only for gamers. Audiophiles can enjoy better sound quality on other headsets that don't cost as much. However, if you are a gamer who has invested quite a bit of money in a desktop PC and you have a good sound card, then you don't really need the ASUS Strix 7.1. You can find cheaper and good quality headsets that don't need any audio station, connect them to the sound card and enjoy great spatial effects. In our view, the ASUS Strix 7.1 is a good choice only for gamers who use onboard sound cards on their desktop PCs or for those that have gaming laptops which don't perform very well on the audio side of things. In these scenarios, the audio station that comes with the ASUS Strix 7.1 gaming headset will provide better sound, both in games and while listening to music or when watching movies.
