If you’re a serious gamer, I’m sure you will have heard of ROG, Asus’ top-tier gaming hardware line. The ROG lineup mostly revolves around hardware, keyboards, and mice, but it also includes microphones. The Carnyx microphone demonstrates the typical ROG ‘gamer aesthetic’, but styling alone isn’t enough to make it one of the best microphones for gaming.
At $179, the Carnyx isn’t a cheap microphone. You can get some starter mics for well under $100, and some of my favorite mics are under $150. The Carnyx has some decent features on paper: it boasts a muting touchpad, USB-C plug-and-play setup, and a built-in high-pass filter to minimize those clicky-clacky gaming sounds. However, I hate to burst your bubble, but that high-pass filter pales in comparison to other brands’ low-frequency filters, and while the muting touchpad is nice, it’s nothing I haven’t seen on cheaper mics.
Despite these qualms, the Carnyx isn’t a bad microphone. It looks cool and could slot easily into a streamer’s or content creator’s setup. It simply didn’t stand up to scrutiny when its audio quality was put through its paces.
