Testing Redragon Diomedes' Microphone
23 Jan 2024 - João Porto
A simple and amateur test of the Redragon Diomedes headset’s microphone.
Motivation
Recently I were wondering if I need buy a new microphone. Before buy, I have decided test my current microphone to understand if the buy is needed or not.
Test setup
Device: Redragon Diomedes Gaming Headset.
OS: Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS.
Audio recorder: online-voice-recorder.
Audio player: Google Chrome 121.0.6167.85.
Ubuntu’s Output Device: Headphones - Redragon H388 Gaming Headset.
Headphone Volume: 27%. A volume in which I listen well video and music, a balanced volume, not quite low, nor loud.
Grades: the grade range is from 1 to 6.
Tests
While testing the microphone, I discovered that there is a USB card adapter that cames with it. So I tested with and without the card adapter.
| Test | USB 7.1 Card Adapter | Mic Volume | Ubuntu’s Input Device | Grade | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | off | 50% | Headset Mono Microphone | 5 | The voice is clear. It is possible listen little noises in the background. |
| 2 | off | 100% | Headset Mono Microphone | 3 | The voice is clear and more loud, but there is a background noise that reduces the perception of quality. |
| 3 | off | 50% | Headphones Stereo Microphone | 1 | The voice is muffled and low, almost inaudible. Not could be used. |
| 4 | off | 100% | Headphones Stereo Microphone | 2 | The voice is muffled and low, almost inaudible. Not could be used. |
| 5 | on | 50% | Redragon H388 Gaming Headset | 2 | The voice is clear, but very low, almost inaudible. Not could be used. |
| 6 | on | 100% | Redragon H388 Gaming Headset | 3 | The voice is very clear, but low. Seems that theres is no background noise. Apparently there is some ‘glitches’. |
| 7 | on | 50% | Multichannel - Redragon H388 Gaming Headset | 1 | The voice is inaudible. Not could be used. |
| 8 | on | 100% | Multichannel - Redragon H388 Gaming Headset | 4 | The voice is clear, but very low in comparison with test 1. Seems not have background noise. Apparently some little ‘glitches’. |
Conclusion
The audios generated with the card adapter seems better, mainly because there is no loud background noise, therefore improving the general perception of quality.
Despite the better quality, the audios generated with card adapter are low.
However, I think that is possible to solve this problem setting the gain property of the microphone, which is different from the microphone volume, which was the property that I set in these tests.
Since the microphone’s audio using the card adapter has a good quality for me, I will keep the Diomedes headset’s microphone and not buy anything else.
References
TJ Gaming. “NOVO HEADSET GAMER 7.1 BARATINHO DA REDRAGON - DIOMEDES H388.” Www.youtube.com, 24 Feb. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=prkWKRZOT28&ab_channel=TJGaming. Accessed 23 Jan. 2024.
PipocaTech - Tech Reviews. “DIOMEDES H388: O Novo REI Do CUSTO-BENEFÍCIO! A REDRAGON Fez Um MILAGRE Com Esse HEADSET GAMER!” Www.youtube.com, 13 Jan. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF8gaMMH8YI&ab_channel=PipocaTech. Accessed 23 Jan. 2024.
Connaghan, Tyler. “What Is Gain & How It Differs from Volume.” Emastered.com, 22 Aug. 2021, emastered.com/blog/what-is-gain. Accessed 23 Jan. 2024.
Simmons, Greg. “Microphones: Levels & Gain.” AudioTechnology, 8 Feb. 2022, www.audiotechnology.com/tutorials/microphones-levels-gain. Accessed 29 Jan. 2024.