HyperX QuadCast S USB Microphone Review

Credit: Cody D. Campbell / HGG

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Cody has been a gamer ever since his family got a Sega Genesis when he was five-years-old. In addition to his love of narrative-focused RPGs and ho... Read more

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Good sound quality is essential for any kind of content creation. You can have one of the nicest, most expensive cameras in the world and a high-quality capture card, but it won’t matter if you sound like you’re talking in an echoey cave. For gamers, streamers, podcasters, and YouTubers, a good USB condenser mic can be a convenient and easy solution…but what if you want to add some RGB flair?

Then you want the HyperX QuadCast S, the company’s newest high-end USB microphone, featuring RGB lighting effects unlike anything else on the market. HyperX sent us one for a fair and unbiased review so we could let you know whether it deserves a place on our list of the 10 best microphones for gaming and streaming. Here’s what we found.

Design

The QuadCast S has an all-black design. It sports a rubberized tap-to-mute button at the top that disables the RGB so you know when it’s muted, and a gain dial at the bottom. The USB Type-C connection port is on the back of the microphone, just below a built-in headphone jack. It’s extremely light, which makes it feel cheap to hold, but might be helpful for mounting on a boom arm.

The mic comes with a pre-attached anti-vibration shock mount and a base stand, as well as a separate attachment for connecting it to a boom arm. Both connect to a joint outside the shock mount, giving the microphone the ability to stand vertically in either set-up.

What Kind of Recording is it Good for?

The QuadCast S is ideal for most voice-recording situations. It has four different polar pattern pickup settings that can be adjusted via a dial on the back of the microphone, making it ideal for all kinds of recording situations. You can record a one-on-one interview, a round-table discussion, or even just yourself in front of your computer.

It is an electret condenser microphone, which makes it ideal for recording streams, podcasts, voice-over, or just chatting with your friends on Discord. It’s less useful for music and its loud booms, which dynamic mics are better suited to.

Is the QuadCast S Overpriced?

The sound quality is worthy of a premium tier USB microphone, though not the best we’ve ever heard. One of the biggest things that separates the HyperX QuadCast S is its lighting options. In addition to volume control, the Ngenuity software has five lighting effects that can be layered on top of each other to create some truly unique visual patterns. This can be a major pro for streamers and YouTubers, who need a microphone as part of their visible setup.

Unfortunately, the $159.99 price point makes it significantly more expensive than most of the other USB mics on the market. The Blue Yeti offers many of these same features at a much lower price.