ASUS ROG Delta II: flagship gaming headset with dual connectivity

Back in the summer of last year, ASUS announced the ASUS ROG Delta II gaming headset, which is the flagship in the already quite extensive Delta line. Finally, it has reached our editorial office. The manufacturer promises high-quality sound thanks to 50 mm drivers, a good microphone, as well as versatility thanks to three connection options and compatibility with all current platforms. Below we will tell you how interesting and successful the headset turned out to be in practice.

Specifications

Package contents

ASUS ROG Delta II comes in a characteristic and familiar large black and red box for the ROG line with an image of the headphones themselves and all the main features of the model.

The delivery set turned out to be interesting. In addition to the headphones themselves, the set includes additional ear pads with fabric upholstery, a removable microphone on a flexible stand, a 2.4 GHz wireless adapter with a USB Type-C connector, a USB Type-C to USB Type-A adapter, a 1.5 m USB Type-C - Type-A cable for charging, a 3.5 mm cable for wired connection, and documentation.

Design and usability

ASUS ROG Delta II is a closed, full-size headphone with a classic headband design and large ear cups. The headphones are made mostly of matte black plastic, with minimal metal parts. Despite this, the design feels quite sturdy.

The cups feature the line's signature delta-shaped outer cover design, which features RGB lighting around the perimeter and diagonal decorative stripes. The corner features an illuminated ROG logo.

The ear cushions are large, the ears fit completely inside. Out of the box, the ear cushions are used with artificial leather upholstery with decorative stripes along the side perimeter. The ear cushions are comfortable and provide good sound insulation. But even now they are already a little hot. The additional complete ones with fabric upholstery are more comfortable, but the sound insulation is a little worse.

The headband has a standard sliding design with clear cut-offs for size adjustment. The mount and frame inside are metal. The outer part of the headband is decorated with artificial leather with the Republic of Gamers inscription. Inside is a soft fabric insert with foam inside. The only small complaint about the ASUS ROG Delta II headband is the not very large size adjustment range: on my head, even in the smallest position, the headset sits too loosely. The same feature was in the first version of the Delta.

The cups are attached to the headband with standard metal hinges that allow them to be rotated 90°. This is convenient if the headset is not in use and simply hangs around the neck. On the bottom and back of each earbud there are many functional elements and controls, which we will discuss in more detail in the next section. On the left earbud there is a Type-C for charging and a 3.5 mm jack for a microphone. On the right - 3.5 mm for a wired connection.

The microphone is removable, on a flexible stand, which allows you to conveniently place it at the desired distance. The microphone has a foam windscreen and a red LED indicator that lights up when the microphone is turned off.

The headset looks interesting and is made with high quality. The weight of 318 g is quite comfortable for long gaming sessions. Of the minor complaints about ease of use, it can be noted that even on the smallest size of the ASUS ROG Delta II headband, it sits very freely on a small head.

Connection and control

Like most of the company's modern wireless headsets, ASUS ROG Delta II supports work with all current platforms. Namely: PC, Mac, Sony PlayStation 4/5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, smartphones on Android and iOS, Android. You can connect either via a 2.4 GHz radio channel using the included transmitter, via Bluetooth, or using a 3.5 mm cable. The latter option is the only one possible when used with Xbox consoles.

But among the interesting features, it is worth noting DualFlow Audio. You can connect two devices to the headset at the same time. For example, a PC and a smartphone and simultaneously listen to the content played on them. For this purpose, each of the headphones has a separate volume wheel and a separate multi-function button for controlling playback. The wheel on the left headphone is also responsible for turning off the microphone.

The main functions of the buttons are the same: one press is responsible for play and pause. Two and three — next and previous track, respectively. 5-second press on the left button turns off the RGB backlight. 15 seconds — reset to factory settings. The right multi-function button is also responsible for answering calls and turning off Bluetooth.

The controls are quite convenient and well-placed. But their number can be a little confusing at the beginning of using the ASUS ROG Delta II. But the wide range of connectivity options can be very useful. The stability of wireless communication is good. There were no problems with either Bluetooth or the 2.4 GHz radio channel, which uses the already well-known ROG SpeedNova technology, which should reduce signal latency and ensure low power consumption.

Functionality

All ASUS ROG Delta II settings are collected in the common Armoury Crate application, which was recently updated and slightly changed its appearance and started working a little faster. But the general logic and arrangement of functional elements is already familiar. All headset settings are collected in one section and divided into separate tabs. The first tab is responsible for sound settings. There are ready-made settings for different scenarios, equalizer, bass boost, compressor, virtual surround sound and reverb.

In the microphone section there is a Noise Gate function, which is responsible for reducing ambient noise below a certain threshold. The "Perfect Voice" enhancer and a separate echo and noise cancellation function.

The following section duplicates some of the Windows sound settings: headphone and microphone volume levels, bit rate, sample rate, etc.

In the RGB backlight section, there are a number of ready-made effects, color settings (with static backlighting) and brightness level:

The next one is responsible for powering the ASUS ROG Delta II: indicating the charge level, setting the global notification when the battery is low, and the time to go into sleep mode.

The last tab is responsible for firmware updates, and the penultimate one is Armoury Crate Gear. There should be a link to a simplified version of Armoury Crate exclusively for the headset. But it seems that it is not yet available for this model.

Sound and microphone quality

ASUS ROG Delta II is equipped with 50 mm dynamic drivers with titanium coating. There are ready-made settings for music, movies, games, etc. A separate point is virtual surround sound. Games with the appropriate preset and virtual surround sound sound great. Sound sources are well positioned, special effects, explosions, engine roar, gunshots are implemented perfectly. Movies and videos also sound good.

If we talk about music, then depending on your preferences you can get either a fairly neutral and detailed sound without significant dips or peaks in certain frequency ranges. If you want a more exciting sound, it is better to choose the Music preset. Additionally, you can play with the low frequencies and get a driving sound that will satisfy even bassheads.

ASUS ROG Delta II have really good sound quality, as for a gaming headset. Of course, this is not an audiophile level, but for music lovers there are other types of headphones. The headset can provide the user with a lot of massive low frequencies with a sufficient amount of sub-bass. Although they are not perfectly controlled. The high frequencies are enough, they are quite detailed, but at the same time not annoying. The midrange frequencies are not ideal and cannot boast of extremely high detail. But they are enough, there is no failure in this part of the range.

ASUS ROG Delta II uses a 10mm unidirectional microphone with a foam windscreen. The frequency range is from 100 Hz to 10 kHz, sensitivity -40 dB. Of course, the quality is slightly worse than that of specialized microphones for streams or podcasts. But for online games and communication during work calls, it will be enough. The voice is transmitted naturally and clearly. The microphone almost does not pick up ambient noise.

Battery life

ASUS ROG Delta II is equipped with a battery with a capacity of 1800 mAh. It is claimed that in 2.4 GHz mode the headset works up to 110 hours with RGB backlighting turned off and up to 24 hours with it on. When connected via Bluetooth, these figures should be 170 and 27 hours, respectively. The difference between autonomy with and without backlighting is very noticeable. I am not sure that RGB is a very necessary thing.

The headset was used mainly with a 2.4 GHz radio connection with RGB backlighting at 50% brightness and standard settings. In practice, it turned out a little over 22 hours. So we can say that the indicators correspond to the declared ones. They are not record-breaking, but you can significantly increase the operating time simply by turning off the backlight. Fast charging is supported: they promise 11 hours of operation after 15 minutes of charging.