Mionix Nash 20 Gaming Headset Review

Introduction

Today I get to take a look at the latest headset from premium gaming peripheral manufacturer Mionix, the Nash 20. Mionix aren’t the biggest name in the industry for peripherals, but their reputation is incredible, anyone I know who has tried their products has been immediately converted to a fan of the brand, and that’s simply due to their attention to quality and performance, creating products suitable for the enthusiast PC user, without charging the kind of money often associated with that level of quality. Unfortunately for Mionix, their reputation is a tough one to live up to, with each new product I see from this brand I expect the same unwavering attention to detail, so I’m hoping to see something pretty special from the Nash 20 today.

The Nash 20 is priced at a little over £100, so it’s obviously a premium price product, and at this price range you’re obviously going to want to see a good return on your investment in terms of build quality, features and of course performance. As you can see from the quote below, Mionix takes their products pretty seriously so it will be interesting to see if it lives up to both their own standards and mine.

“The NASH 20 is circumaural analog stereo gaming headset, engineered with our three most important values: Design, Sound and Comfort. The fully adjustable ear cups and memory foam cushions are made for long comfortable gaming sessions. The flip-up-to-mute microphone and on-ear cup volume control allows you simply access the mute or volume functions. The NASH 20 is developed with a unique audio filtered semi closed back acoustic chamber which is optimized especially by Mionix for our own developed angled 50 mm DACT drivers to enable exceptional sound reproduction and precision. The sound is as the perfect mix of mid and high precise crystal clear audiophile tones for the most demanding music lover. High-lighted low, mid and high frequencies for accurate in-game positioning with a deep balanced bass for you to be able to experience the most out of your music, gaming or multimedia.”

I’m also a fan of this quote on the Mionix website of how the headset got its name, most often I find products have a made up name that just sounds cool, but it’s nice to see a brand putting a little more thought into the name rather than just a product number like NX20.

“The NASH is named after the third largest star in the Sagittarius zodiac constellation. The meaning of NASH, according to Arabic mythology is an Arrowhead, which is a suitable name for a top class gaming headset with superior precision and sharp sound.” reads the Mionix website.

The spec sheet for the Nash 20 headset is impressive, mixing powerful 32Ω 50mm drivers, thick leather and foam padding, a high quality microphone and more, so let’s get right to it and take a closer look at what the Nash 20 has to offer then put them to the test.

Headset Specifications

• Headset Type: Analog Stereo Headset
• Type of earcup: Semi-closed back circumaural
• Audio connection: 3.5mm gold plated connector
• Mic connection: 3.5mm gold plated connector
• Ear pads: 22mm Memory foam wrapped in leather
• Head band: 18mm Memory foam wrapped in leather
• Cable: 2 m braided cable
• Volume control: Scroll wheel on left ear cup

Driver Specifications

• Driver type: Dynamic, 50 mm, Nd magnet
• Impedance: 32Ω ± 15% at 20kHz
• Sound pressure level: 103dB
• Frequency response: 20Hz – 20KHz
• Resonance Frequency: ≥ 100Hz
• Input power: Nominal 40mW Max. 80mW
• THD: Less than 2%. at 1K Hz Less than 5%, at 300Hz to 3KHz

Microphone Specifications

• Microphone direction: Uni-direction
• Microphone mute: Flip up to mute
• Pick-up pattern: Uni-direction
• Sensitivity: (@1kHz, 1 V/Pa): -42 ±3db
• Frequency response: 50 – 16,000 Hz
• Signal to Noise: 58 dB
• Microphone dimensions: 6mm

I spoke with Mionix earlier this year at CES 2014 where they were keen to point out their own driver design. Unhappy with “off the shelve” components, they decided the only way to get the sound they were after was to do it the hard way. This extra development is likely reflected in the premium price tag, but I’m betting they didn’t go through all this trouble for nothing.

“Our own developed 50 mm neodymium DACT drivers with optimized frequency response ratio for gaming, music and multimedia usage” say Mionix on their product page.

The packaging is neat and tidy, a clean design with just the product name and a nice quality image on the front.

Around the back you’ll find the technical specifications (see above) as well as a labelled image which details some of the major features and function, but we’ll take a close look at those in a moment.

The headset is neatly packed with plenty of protection around it to keep it safe in transit.

In the box you’ll find a user guide, sticker and of course the headset; which comes hard-wired with a very long, high quality braided cable.