Microphone Performance

The microphone of the Onikuma K5 was tested by connecting it to the ASUS ROG STRIX X99 Gaming motherboard and Creative Sound Blaster E1, a $50 external USB sound card. To review the microphone's sound and compare it to other similar headsets, I used the Adam A7X speakers and Shure SRH840 headphones, both being studio monitors, connected to Audiolab's M-DAC, a high-quality digital-to-analog converter that functions as an external sound card when connected to a PC. Testing was done in Discord, TeamSpeak, Skype, and Audacity, and I also used Audacity to record sound from the microphone. The sound was recorded with microphone sensitivity set to 100% and was not post-processed or edited in any way.

For reference, this voice recording has been made with the Rode NT-USB, a high-quality studio microphone:



This is the sound recorded by using the pivotable microphone the Onikuma K5 comes with:



In my experience, microphone quality is usually what will make you realize why your gaming headset was as cheap as it was. On many models in the sub-50$ price category, I found it next to useless. Their volumes were too low, they had excessive background and static noise, and they either sounded horribly tinny and telephonic, or unbearably boomy. I'm thrilled to report that this isn't the case with the Onikuma K5 at all. In fact, considering the price of this headset, its microphone is downright fantastic! My voice doesn't sound particularly warm, but isn't tinny in the slightest. It's loud and natural enough to be pleasant to the ear and doesn't distort or pop; in short, this microphone does its job without any issues at all. You'll appreciate it even more when you compare it to other microphones that come with various gaming headsets in the sub-$100 price category.