Photo Session

As we saw, ASUS did a great job on the packaging.  Let’s take a closer look at the headset.

Handsome, isn’t it?  The grille on the back of the cans makes you think it is an open-back design, but it isn’t.  This is where the ‘noise cancellation’ comes from.  It doesn’t really isolate you from the world, just makes it sound like you’ve got two cans of Redbull over your ears.  The earcups may be well padded, but one thing they don't do is swivel.  

Changing size of headband is greeted with chunky detents that hold position like a Japanese soldier.

The microphone retracts into the cup and is very flexible.

See, it does look like Dr. Octopus's arm, doesn't it?  The microphone is bi-directional, which means in theory, it could be used to cancel out ambient sounds for better noise reduction.  In use, it doesn't work quite so well, but at least it captures your voice adequately. The earcups are very soft and plush plastic of some sort.  They are very comfortable, even though I prefer fabric over the plastic or foam.  The earpads are very difficult to detach from the cups, but removing them reveals the large 50mm driver.

And going even further, four very tiny screws later reveals the guts of the beast:

Same goes for the headband, very soft and plush. The Orion Pro are very well designed and put together.  I can see the effort that went into to it, quality materials and solid construction, and I can even see the value at $120USD before I've even put them on my head.  I would have liked to have opened the Spitfire to get a look at what is inside, but it would not budge with any of the prying tools I had without getting destroyed in the process.  The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating, so let's get to using them.