Sound Quality

The ASUS ROG Cetra II Core is equipped with a pair of ASUS Essence 9.4-mm liquid silicon rubber dynamic speaker drivers. Right off the bat, if you consider yourself a bass head, you should keep the ROG Cetra II Core on your shortlist. Its heavily boosted bass is by far the most prominent aspect of its overall sound performance. The bass is both deep and exceptionally thick, which works particularly well in rap and electronic music, as well as any modern or modernly produced music genre. It causes quite a bit of rumble, instantly making everything sound livelier and more entertaining—if you're into that sort of thing. I wouldn't call it particularly snappy or agile, but it's not overly sluggish or excessively muddy either, so it manages to do its thing without completely ruining the other parts of the frequency spectrum.

While the bass has some overhang into the mids, this is balanced out by a boosted midrange and upper midrange. Thanks to that, you still get a surprising amount of detail and vocal presence, scoping far beyond anything I'd ever expect after first hearing the amount of sheer bass the ROG Cetra II Core produces. It's almost like someone was tailor-making these headphones for rap music, and that's exactly where I found them most enjoyable, along with any genre containing a synthesized bass, which is where their low-end prowess shines.


In terms of gaming performance, the tuning of the ROG Cetra II Core is a mixed bag. The monstrous, visceral bass brings a lot of excitement to action-packed games regardless of their genre. Events like explosions and gunfire are delivered with such ferocity that it's impossible to keep a straight face. Even something as innocent as hitting the ball with your car in Rocket League sounds intense and unexplainably fun. Whether this is something you'll actually enjoy is mostly dependent on your personal preference (and age, more likely than not). I for one prefer a much more balanced sound with less emphasis on the low-end, so for me, it was all a bit too much. I oftentimes found myself lowering the volume to tame that outrageous tonality of the ROG Cetra II Core. On the other hand, younger audiences and bass heads are very likely to enjoy the over-the-top performance and entertainment-focused nature of the ASUS headset. Don't take this as a critique of the ROG Cetra II Core's sound performance. Considering what ASUS was going for, they have fully accomplished their mission.

In multiplayer shooters, such as Apex Legends and Warzone, the boosted mid-range kept me hyper-aware of my surroundings, so much so that sounds were actually further away than the audio cues led me to believe, which made me somewhat paranoid, sometimes even confused, especially when those sounds originated from above or below my current position. The ROG Cetra II Core is definitely better at horizontal than vertical spatial positioning. While there's no way your enemies will be able to creep up on you without being heard, you also won't have a very easy time pinpointing their exact location once they're very close, especially if there's more of them, and there's already gunfire incoming from all sides. With that in mind, while I can't recommend the ROG Cetra II Core for hardcore multiplayer FPS gaming, its dramatic, visceral performance should be liked by the younger audience, and bass heads.


In terms of passive noise isolation and potential sound leakage, things are as you might expect from a pair of in-ear headphones: You'll be completely isolated from your surroundings and those around you won't hear what you're listening to.

The headphone cable is somewhat noisy; you'll be able to hear it rubbing against your clothes and even when moving your head in any direction, especially if you're listening to something at a lower volume.

The ROG Cetra II Core is very easy to drive. Just about any smartphone or an integrated sound card should have enough power on tap to make it sufficiently loud.