Cougar today rolled out the Immersa Pro Prix gaming headset. A variant of the Immersa Pro from 2017, the Pro Prix features an upgraded C-Media sourced CMI6533X1 USB DAC with Xear3D 7.1-channel virtual surround, an upgraded pair of 50 mm drivers with a wider 10 Hz to 20 kHz frequency-response range (vs. 20 Hz to 20 kHz on the original), an upgraded headband design with better cushioning, an improved microphone muffler, and a slightly longer 2.5 m cable (vs. 2 m on the original). The headset is still driven by Cougar's UIX software that provides audio- and RGB lighting control. The headset's dimensions are otherwise unchanged. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Cougar finally got around to releasing the Phontum Pro gaming headset to the market, having unveiled it way back at the 2018 Computex, and announced it in December 2019. The Phontum Pro is an upscale variant of the Cougar Phontum, featuring a USB DAC in addition to the 4-pole 3.5 mm jack input. When plugged into USB, a single cable provides audio I/O and ARGB LED illumination around the cans.

The Cougar UIX software provides Azalia-USB class audio drivers, and a centralized application for audio- and lighting control for the headset. As a pair of cans, the Phontum Pro is stereo, with a pair of 53 mm drivers. A C-Media Xear3D DSP provides virtual 7.1 surround. The drivers provide 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response, 98 dB ± 3 dB sensitivity, and 32 Ω impedance. The mic features 9.7 mm of active noise cancellation, 100 Hz to 10 kHz frequency response, and -47 dB ± 3 dB sensitivity. The mic stock is detachable from the rest of the headset.

The brand new DS502 Gaming Headset features Enhanced Virtual 7.1 Surround Sound for the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Its 40mm High Quality Drivers provide crystal clear Hi-Fi sound quality. Additionally, the Cmedia Xear software offers an extensive array of presets, preferences and includes a 10-band equalizer. Vibration is added for an even more immersive experience, so you can actually feel loud explosions happening around you.

A noise-cancelling, adjustable and omnidirectional microphone with balanced natural sounding tones allows you to communicate clearly with your friends or teammates. The tough braided cable features an in-line remote which allows gamers to control volume, mute their microphone and turn vibration on or off with a single button. The DS502 headset offers premium build quality, lightweight and ergonomically designed with a self-adjusting headband which ensures a comfortable fit during extended gaming sessions. Next to an impressive sound quality and abundance of features, the DS502 completes its cool looks with an LED illuminated MSI GAMING dragon.

PowerColor rolled out the Devil HDX PCI-Express sound card. Designed with a strong focus on output quality, and targeted at PC enthusiasts with high-end headphones, the card is driven by a C-Media CMI8888 native-PCIe master processor, wired to Wolfson WM8741 primary DAC, with 124 dBA SNR, driving the headphones and front-out channels. Amplifying this, is a TI LM4562 OPAMP, which is swappable.

Nichicon Muse electrolytic, and metalized polypropylene caps man all channels, reducing signal loss. Only the electrical portion features solid-state capacitors. The card draws power from a 4-pin Molex input. The entire audio area is electrically isolated from the PCIe slot power input. The main PCB features a 6.3 mm headphones jack, supporting cans with up to 600Ω impedance, stereo RCA out, and 7.1-channel optical SPDIF (TOSLINK) outputs. A daughterboard gives out additional analog channels and inputs via 3.5 mm jacks. On the software side of things, you get C-Media's Xear3D software customized by PowerColor, with ASIO 2.2 support.

MSI, world leading in motherboard technology, is pleased to announce its unleashing of the Z97 GAMING 9 AC motherboard to the public. The Z97 GAMING 9 AC from MSI is a custom designed motherboard, decorated with luscious new heat-sinks and unique Dragon Armor that highlight an arsenal of new features found on the board. It's masterpiece being Xtreme Audio DAC, a premium dedicated onboard sound card with specially selected high quality audio components, set up and tuned by professionals delivering 120dB Signal-to-Noise-Ratio (SNR) 192kHz / 32-Bit of purest sound quality for studio-grade Hi-Fi solutions and gaming headgear. The MSI Z97 GAMING 9 AC also comes with an Intel Wi-Fi AC module with Bluetooth 4.0 and Intel WiDi support.

Having superior sound quality while gaming is the decisive factor between a kilI or be killed. The MSI Z97 GAMING 9 AC motherboard comes with a premium Hi-Fi sound card, delivering 192kHz / 32-Bit 120 dB SNR bit-perfect audio quality, onboard! Premium audio components like a C-Media HD Audio Processor, Wolfson WM8741 DAC and Texas Instruments TPA6120A2 amplifier are selected for the truly amazing sound quality. Enjoy pure sound quality and a breathtaking, never heard before, gaming sound experience that gives you the upper hand on your enemy.

Taiwanese PC audio hardware manufacturer Aim launched its flagship consumer sound card, the SC808. This full-height dual-slot (with daughterboard) sound card features PCI-Express x1 bus interface, and offers 7.1-channel analog and digital outputs. At its heart is C-Media's CMI8888, which is a native PCIe HDA controller, giving external DACs the task of handling analog outputs. The primary 2-channel headphones output is driven by a Wolfson WM8741 DAC, which offers a stellar SNR of 128 dBA. Other analog channels (center/sub, rear, sides), are handled by a C-Media CMI9882A CODEC, which offers a reasonable 100 dBA.

At the downstream of the WM8741 is the card's headphones amp circuit, featuring socketed Texas Instruments LM4562 OPAMP chips, metalized polypropylene capacitors, and a swappable pre-amp stage. The main PCB of the card holds a 6.3 mm stereo headphones jack, left and right RCA line-outs, 7.1-channel coaxial, and optical/TOSLINK SPDIF outputs. The other multi-channel analog outs are wired out by a header and ribbon cable to the daughterboard, which holds color-coded 3.5 mm jacks to all the channels. All audio portions of the card feature electrolytic capacitors (except the OPAMP stages, which feature MP caps), only the electrical/VRM portion of the card features conductive polymer (solid-state) capacitors. The card draws power from a 4-pin Molex power connector. On the software side of things, the driver provider is C-Media, with its reference Xear3D control panel. The card supports Windows 8. Slated for an April 24th launch in Japan, it's expected to be priced at 12,000¥ (US $112). Given its hardware, that's a reasonable price.

For various reasons, ASUS confined its Z77 Express-based Republic of Gamers (ROG) lineup to just the micro-ATX Maximus V Gene, and although we've got to see its ATX sibling, the Maximus V Formula on several occasions, ASUS didn't officially launch it. According to a new report by VR-Zone, ASUS will be offering two SKUs of the Maximus V Formula. The company is known to offer these tiny sub-variants with its ROG products. Sometimes the differences between such sub-variants are as major as inclusion/exclusion of a component (eg: Crosshair V Formula/ThunderBolt), and as minor as inclusion of a game (eg: Rampage IV Extreme/Battlefield 3). In this case, it's the inclusion/exclusion of a component called ThunderFX, which makes up the two variants.

ThunderFX is a USB sound card and headphones amplifier. Backed by the C-Media CMI6631 chipset, the device could be used for headphones amplification. The CMI6631 has been implemented on several other solutions for console headset noise-cancellation. It is possible that ThunderFX does the same, using an external microphone array. That aside, the motherboard has a headphones amplifier of its own. The motherboard's onboard audio is backed by a TI 6120A2 amplifier, the same kit found on high-end sound cards such as ASUS Xonar Essence ST/STX. Find other fine details about the Maximus V Formula in our previous article.

ASUS displayed its latest sound card, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Phoebus. This card is designed for multichannel gaming audio. While it might not pack any fancy DSP that doesn't already exist, its AMP circuitry is so designed to give the best positional audio that could come handy with competitive online gaming. With this card, ASUS also brought to the fore C-Media's latest audio chipset, the CMI 8788DH Oxygen Express, which packs native PCI Express support. All PCI Express sound cards launched by ASUS so far feature OxygenHD and ASUS-rebadged AV-100 chipsets, that use legacy PCI, and hence depend on PCIe-to-PCI bridge chips by PLX to function on PCI Express.

The primary DAC for headphone/front-out channel of the ROG Phoebus is TI-BB PCM1792A, with stellar signal-noise ratio (SNR) of 127 dBA. Other main channels are handled by Cirrus Logic, probably the CS5381, with SNR of 120 dBA. There's also a tertiary Realtek ALC889 (110 dBA) CODEC that probably handles an independent set of audio channels, or handles the digital outputs, since it's licensed with a few Dolby technologies. On the AMP side, we spy bleeding-edge OPAMPs, a Texas Instruments 6120A2(?) AMP chip (for the headphones channel), etc.