Page 3 -Subjective Audio Analysis
As with all the audio products we review here at APH Networks, it takes quite a bit of experience and training of the ears before we can begin making a fair judgment. Even for the best of audiophiles, it can be hard to produce an exact and accurate evaluation of a product without a thoroughly familiar product to use as a simultaneous reference. I do not claim to be the reviewer of all reviewers for headphones and are still learning things myself. There are no true objective measurements for audio sound quality. As the reviewer, however, I will put the ASUS ROG Strix Go Core Moonlight White through a series of subjective tests to try to come up with the most objective rating as possible. The tests were conducted with the ROG Strix Go Core Moonlight White plugged into the headphone and microphone jack on my motherboard using the provided Y-split cable.
After over 50 hours of break-in time -- well above the typical required period -- we put the ASUS ROG Strix Go Core Moonlight White to the tests. All tracks are uncompressed or high bitrate audio files. Equalizer settings were manually set to flat for testing purposes. For gaming, I played VALORANT, Warframe, and Phasmophobia. First and third-person shooter games are probably the most crucial games to test these headphones, as gameplay can heavily rely on hearing additional sounds. Phasmophobia in particular is also a very sound-reliant game, as you need to clearly hear the sounds of subtle footsteps, doors creaking, and other ghostly noises to complete the objectives.
When it comes to gaming, it is often advantageous for a player to get a greater emphasis on the lower end of the frequency spectrum for situational awareness. This can translate to various sound effects like footsteps, heavy movement, or explosions. At the bottom, the ASUS ROG Strix Go Core Moonlight White offered good bass quality. The bass was very articulate, which was something I also noticed when playing games that required me to listen for subtle but noticeable noises such as footsteps. When listening to music, the bass drum kicks and bass guitar riffs were solid and smooth. Ultimately, the bass was punchy and defined, which will satisfy any uses whether it be gaming or listening to some EDM. Nothing about the bass was boomy, which is a positive aspect with sound quality at the lower frequencies. All of this can be attributed to the 40mm ASUS Essence drivers, which are designed to deliver optimized bass.
When it comes to the middle of the frequency spectrum, the midrange was about what I would expect, that being average. Vocalists sounded mostly natural with a fair amount of thickness in their voices. Wooden instruments, such as pianos and acoustic guitars were clear enough through these headphones. I should note that there is a bit of a drop within the midrange where one would expect to hear the vocals of a song, which is typical of gaming headphones. The midrange is not super important when it comes to gaming, but it still helps to be able to clearly hear your teammates or lighter sounding cues in-game.
At the very top of the frequency spectrum, the treble output continued to follow the V-shaped sound signature. Instruments like trumpets, violins, and electric guitars were energetic and sharp. Even when moving to instruments of higher sounding frequencies, the sounds were bright and clean. Treble is important with gaming as having good high-frequency responses can let users recognize sound effects like glass shattering.
The ASUS ROG Strix Go Core Moonlight White provided good depth and width when producing an image. The soundstaging was reasonably open and gave a clear picture of the situation, whether it be in the heat of battle or listening to live performance versions of songs. When gaming with this headset, I always had a clear sense of my surrounding. The over-ear nature of the headset along with the neodymium magnet drivers helped create an immersive experience with both gaming and music.
Moving on to layering, we got a solid amount of detail from the ASUS ROG Strix Go Core Moonlight White. Some detail was admittedly lost in complicated situations such as a song with multiple instruments and vocalists playing and singing at once. The frequency separation was adequate, with the detail at each frequency level being mostly distinct. There was no noticeable electronic distortion at maximum volume, which is always a good quality for headphones to have.
The ASUS ROG Strix Go Core Moonlight White could be much better when it comes to passive noise canceling, given these are closed-back headphones. I found myself taken out of the immersion due to outside noises entering very easily. Whether it was someone calling for me or even just the sounds of my PC fans, I was always able to hear my surroundings clearly enough unless I cranked the volume to max or somewhere near that. I understand that this is a positive in some senses, as you can be more aware of your actual surroundings. If you want to be completely immersed in your game though, then you might find yourself disappointed by the leakage of outside noise coming through when you are not at or close to full volume with this headset.
For sound leakage, the ASUS ROG Strix Go Core Moonlight White did a good job. The PU leather was good at preventing noise from leaking out to my external environment, meaning you do not have to worry about bothering anyone sitting by you if you plan to crank the volume up. This in part is thanks to its closed-back design, although it is important to note this will affect other acoustic properties. As such, you should have an idea of where you are likely going to be using these headphones before purchasing them.
With the microphone, the ASUS ROG Strix Go Core Moonlight White provided very clear audio. I decided to go with Audacity to record the above voice sample. From the recording above, we can hear that the microphone did a good job of picking up my voice. There was a slight muffle, but it was not too noticeable. This headset will work perfectly fine for voice communications. If you are looking to start a hobby in streaming though, we review a lot of dedicated microphones here at APH Networks.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
