By Gaming headsets and real audiophile headphones have lived in separate worlds in the past. Gaming headsets chased bright RGB lights, wireless connections, and booming artificial bass, while audiophile gear went in a separate direction with planar magnetic drivers and more focus on audio quality. Republic of Gamers, ROG for short, is ASUS’s premium gaming brand that is now blurring that line with the Kithara. ROG built the Kithara around HIFIMAN 100-millimeter planar magnetic drivers. ASUS didn’t just stamp “audiophile” on a box, they brought in an actual specialist to make this a legit piece of audiophile equipment.
ROG’s headphones can sometimes be thought of as a typical high-quality gaming headset: flashy lights, an often wireless connection, and closed-back earcups. The ROG Kithara (buy at Amazon) is not that; this is a legitimate blend between audiophile gear and a gaming headset, and can easily be used for both. These are wired, open-back headphones that have a boom mic and planar magnetic drivers. They are comfortable, adjustable, and versatile, all while being offered at a fair price. How do these headphones stack up against competing gaming headsets and higher-quality headphones? That is what I am here to help with, me being a former professional video gamer as well as a Gen Z audiophile.
What makes the ROG Kithara Open-Back Wired Headphones So Special?
- “You Hear What Others Don’t” is the first thing you see when you open this box. Below that copy is a sound signature certificate that shows your individual unit’s actual measured frequency response, signed by someone at the manufacturing company. This is something you rarely see with gaming headphones and it makes these really feel like audiophile-grade gear right out of the gate. Once you open the box, you get proof of tested quality on the audio front, something you would never see with typical gaming headphones.
- The ROG Kithara delivers excellent sound quality right out of the box. Obviously, at $199.99, there are going to be higher-quality audiophile-grade headphones than these on the market. With that said, I have owned many gaming headsets over the years between $150 to $300, and these headphones are much better for listening to music compared to my past reference gaming headphones. In fact, the quality is not particularly close.
- The ROG Kithara is super-versatile. Outside of being versatile in use case, these headphones come with three different adapters for different headphone jacks, plus a USB-C converter, so they are basically able to work with any source. Additionally, they are incredibly adjustable on top of your head to ensure they fit any person.
- The ROG Kithara has very comfortable earcups. These headphones feel fantastic, especially around the ears. I have used many gaming headsets in my life, and these were my favorite fit around the ears by a wide margin. The cushions feel like pillows and make that region of the headset very comfortable.
- The ROG Kitharas are great headphones for gaming. For the millions of people who do play games, specifically first-person or third-person shooting games, the spatial audio is very vibrant and holds up to any gaming-specific headset.
- The boom microphone on the ROG Kithara is fantastic. The microphone sounds very clear. It is great for any use, from playing Fortnite with your friends to a Zoom meeting at work. The ROG Kithara boom mic sounds better than most previous headset mics that I have had, even if this is not a standard option on most audiophile headphones.
Why Should You Care About the ROG Kithara Open-Back Wired Headphones?
The ROG Kithara open-back wired headphones are not cheap by mainstream consumer electronics standards, but they certainly are not expensive as far as audiophile-level equipment goes. These are hybrid headphones that offer a very unique blend of gaming headset and audiophile sonics. Actually partnering with a renowned planar headphone innovator in HIFIMAN makes these headphones really stand out. With that said, they are still gaming headphones, so these are mostly meant for people who are seeking a hybrid between a gaming headset and audiophile-level sound. These are not for someone seeking a wireless, noise-canceling gaming headset, or somebody seeking a pure music headphone with no gaming compromise. However, it can be a special and unique blend for music-appreciating gamers. And there are millions of young, music-appreciating gamers out there, so this is a brilliant product to bring audiophile performance to a market segment that is both huge and somewhat ignored – until now.
Some Things You Might Not Like About the ROG Kithara Open-Back Wired Headphones
- You can actually feel the wires. Depending on your usage, this might not matter but, for gamers who are used to a wireless headset, there will definitely be an adjustment period with these wired hybrid audiophile headphones. The cords are high quality and do not feel like they are pulling you, but the wire in each side of the headset can make you feel tangled at times.
- There is some pressure at the top of the head. There are two overhead aspects of the ROG Kithara headset. The padding that rests on top of your head can feel a little bit heavy with time. The cups feel excellent on your ears, but I have definitely had softer fits on top of my head, regardless of how loose I made them. Over hours, they can wear on the top of your head.
- These are open-back headphones, which invite the outside world in a little bit. Sound leaks out of these headphones, and people around you can sometimes hear what you are listening to, which can be a deal-breaker for some in a quiet office space. They leak in both directions and are not noise-canceling at all. I don’t like noise-canceling headphones but, if that is what you are looking for, this is not it. I could hear things happening across my house if I left my door open.
Listening to the ROG Kithara Headphones
I spend most of my time with the ROG Kithara headphones with them connected to my PC. I use them to listen to music at night while I play games or do work, and they are fantastic. I was able to plug the headphones into my headphone jack with one wire and the microphone wire into my mic port, and they worked perfectly. I spend a lot of time on my computer. I watch sports on there. I also listen to music and play video games there, and this was a really solid all-round headset that provided quality audio for whatever I was doing, without sacrificing in one dimension for the other.
One song that I will always come back to is U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” from The Joshua Tree (buy at Amazon). The Edge’s guitar comes in slow at the start, and on the ROG Kithara, it just opened up and filled the space around my head instead of feeling boxed in, which is the advantage of planar magnetic drivers. When the rest of the band kicked in, the sound never got harsh. Everything had room to breathe, and the song built up the way it’s supposed to without anything getting lost. These headphones made it feel wide open and provided a very enjoyable listening experience.
In the spirit of combining gaming with music, I will always remember hearing “Warriors” by Imagine Dragons for the first time. This song from Smoke + Mirrors (Deluxe) (buy at Amazon) was written by the band for the 2014 League of Legends World Championship, which has now become a massive tradition in the world of gaming. The League of Legends World Championship is the Super Bowl of video games, and a new song is written annually to celebrate. This is by far the most popular tune and the one that started the tradition. This is another song that builds, and the lyrics sounded great with these headphones while building towards the thundering chorus. The pounding drums had real punch, but stayed tight and controlled. The ROG Kithara kept it all sorted out and was able to handle the energy.
An iconic game that I’ve picked back up is Fortnite: Battle Royale.
For Gen Z’ers, what game influenced our life more than this one? None. There are thousands of sound effects from this game that our entire generation can recognize, so there was no better game for testing a headset. These headphones were great for a shooting game like Fortnite, in which hearing what direction people are from can seriously affect your ability to win the game. This game was notorious in its time for having rough vertical audio, meaning it can be hard to tell if people were above or below you. I was worried that the Kithara might experience this problem, as it is not purely a gaming headset. That was simply a non-issue. These headphones are equal to every gaming headset I have ever had with regard to both horizontal and vertical audio while gaming, and I found that to be exciting due to their superior abilities elsewhere.
Will the ROG Kithara Headphones Hold Their Value?
Probably not. Headphones in this price range are going to lose most of their value throughout your use and will likely have some understandable wear and tear. These are the type of headphones that should last a few years until you wear them out but could be great to gift to somebody or hold as a backup years down the line. They seem to be made pretty sturdily and come from a reliable brand, so I’d bet they last a good while.
What is the Competition for the ROG Kithara Headphones?
Due to this product’s unique placement, there are not many direct competitors trying to fill the gaming/audiophile hybrid space, but there are several with similarities. I come from the Astro A50 (buy at Amazon), a closed-back wireless gaming headset. That is about as far from the Kithara’s open-back, wired approach as you can get. Most gaming headsets that I have become accustomed to mirror these closed-back, wireless features. That contrast is the entire point here: the Kithara is an audiophile headphone that also is able to game at a high level, so the true competitors are in the entry level of planar/open-back high-fidelity sound.
The closest thing to a direct rival is the Audeze Maxwell 2, out at $329 (buy at Crutchfield). This is another gaming headset built around planar magnetic drivers. On paper, that is a natural cross-shop, but it addresses the hybrid in a completely opposite direction. The Audeze Maxwell is a closed-back and wireless headset, which is the split that decides it for most people. If you need to block out a room or go wireless, go with the Maxwell. If you want the wide, open soundstage that the open-back design can deliver, then I’d go with the Kithara. That said, this is definitely your most true rival attempting to compete over this “hybrid” space.
If you don’t care as much, or not at all, about gaming, plenty of audiophile headsets come into play. The Sennheiser HD600 (buy at Crutchfield) offers a similar open-back, natural sound profile. They’re lightweight and deliver a level of quality that will satisfy many music fans and audiophiles alike. These are the 20-year reference standard, open-back audiophile headphones that are not meant for gaming and don’t come with a mic. Always a valid choice: it just depends what you need, want and desire from your headphones.
Final Thoughts on the ROG Kithara Headphones
The ROG Kithara headphones (buy at Amazon) are, simply put, awesome. They provide a unique blend of higher-level audio equipment that produces balanced sound, and also serve as a great gaming or video conferencing headset. I have always been a wireless headphone user, but you lose quality with that. These headphones really reminded me what a better-quality headset could sound like. If you fall into the targeted audience here, a gamer who wants a higher-quality music listening experience, these might just be the headphones for you. Even if you don’t play games, or don’t care too much about music, these exhibit quality in both sections. As a hybrid, they might be hard to beat.
