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.
ROG Carnyx review: Cheat sheet
- What is it? A condenser cardioid microphone with a cool RGB panel
- Who is it for? Made for gamers needing a mic for gaming chat, streaming, and content creation
- What does it cost? $179 / £169
- What do we like? The RGB panel is cool and it captures nuanced voices well
- What don’t we like? There are cheaper mics with better ambient noise reduction and clarity
ROG Carnyx review: Specs
ROG Carnyx review: Price & availability
The ROG Carnyx microphone is priced at $179 from Amazon U.S. and £169 from Amazon U.K.. This makes it one of the priciest mics I’ve ever tested. Shure’s entry-level microphone, the fantastic Shure MV6, is $149, while the Cherry Ngale R and Cherry Ngale X are $99 and $149 respectively, with mostly identical specs.
ROG Carnyx review: Design & controls
As the Carnyx is designed for gamers, the sci-fi LED panel peeking through geometric triangles will look right at home in an RGB-clad gaming setup. You can imagine its mechanical frame amongst the dials and switches of a spaceship cockpit, although for some that might be a step too far. This is not a subtle microphone. With its metal case, it feels well-built, and it’s pretty weighty, meaning it’s sturdy on your desk. The shock-proof mount means it’s not overly sensitive to vibrations.
The controls are very self-explanatory. There’s a USB-C port on the back of the mic for easy setup. On the front of the mic is a silver knob. You press it once to monitor input through headphones, mute the mic, or hold it down to switch between high-pass filter and normal. There’s also a large touchpad on the mic’s crown for instant muting and unmuting. It’s incredibly easy to use.
However, the mic has one major design issue. For whatever reason, the mic itself is suspended by fabric-covered elastic bands. While I know this is better for shockproofing, it means you can’t tilt the mic upwards to be closer to your mouth. It’s stuck in this stationary, static position, where it’s too low to be a comfortable distance from your mouth. There’s a knob on the back of the stand, but it’s just for aesthetics — it doesn’t move at all. With other mics, like the Cherry Ngale R and Cherry Ngale X, you could tilt the mic up towards your mouth despite the static desktop stand. With the Carnyx, you’re simply stuck with it at this angle. Unless you love leaning down, spending $$$ on boom arms, or making yourself louder in post (not exactly ideal for live streamers), this is a major design flaw.
ROG Carnyx review: Features & connectivity
As the Carnyx is a plug-and-play microphone, connection was super easy. The mic comes with a USB-C to USB-A cable, but any USB-C cable will work. I connected the mic to my MacBook Air M2 with a USB-C to USB-C cable.
Most mics now come loaded up with a built-in high-pass filter and pop filter. I found that the Carnyx’s high-pass filter performed particularly poorly in testing when compared to other examples.
When put up against Shure’s proprietary Digital Popper Stopper technology, the Carnyx’s high-pass filter was like sticking a Band-Aid on a burst pipe. I could hear the entire ambient cafe noise track as if there was no high-pass filter at all — check out the audio file in the ‘Audio quality’ section below to hear what I mean. I don’t know if this mic would hold up during gaming streams, unless you’re an ASMR gamer — but not great if you’re looking for something that can minimize your keyboard clacks.
ROG Carnyx review: Audio quality
Seeing as this mic would be ideal for a streamer with a sci-fi vibe, I wanted the audio quality to match the cool design (bar elastic bands). Listen to this clip I recorded with the ROG Carnyx mic. A ‘cafe white noise’ track is playing in the background and the high-pass filter is enabled, so it should be minimizing ambient noise — anything with a frequency below 80Hz.
For direct comparison, listen to the exact same clip recorded without the high-pass filter. Can you hear a difference?
Both clips are plagued by ambient noise. Considering this is a cardioid mic, which is supposed to be better at minimizing ambient sound, the Carnyx’s performance is poor. If you were gaming ferociously on stream, I don’t think this high-pass filter would be good enough to cut out keyboard and clicking sounds. Although if you or your audience enjoy ambient gaming sounds, this could be a plus. Shure’s real-time Denoiser technology is far better; it completely eradicated low-frequency ambient noise when I was testing the MV6.
Asus also claims that the Carnyx has a built-in pop filter. Because there’s no muff over the metal casing, I was skeptical of this mic’s ability to soften my harsh mouth sounds. Take a listen to the built-in pop filter with as many plosive sounds as I could muster in one sentence.
I think it’s pretty good, even without a muff. Now check out the fricative S sounds.
In general, the audio quality on this mic is fine. Other mics are better, but if you really vibe with the Carnyx’s aesthetic, the good-not-great recording quality could be a worthy sacrifice.
ROG Carnyx review: Verdict
The bottom line is this: the Carnyx is a good microphone, but there are far better options for cheaper out there. The high-pass filter isn’t as robust and thorough as most users might need — Cherry’s low-cut filter is superior. The pop filter is good, but Shure’s Digital Popper Stopper is better. Yeah, it looks cool, if geometric sci-fi RGB is your go-to aesthetic, but the bizarre suspended elastic bands mean you can’t tilt the mic closer to your mouth. The mic still captures your voice at a restricted angle, but it’s a bit quiet. You’d need a boom arm to use this properly, which adds an extra $100 to your setup overall cost. There are plenty of better mics out there — although none look quite like this one.
