Xanova is a peripheral brand by Galax / KFA2 that made its debut at Computex 2018. Galax’s success with its first run of peripherals, namely the Galax HOF mechanical keyboard and Galax SNPR RGB mousepad paved the way for Xanova to be born. The word Xanova is taken from ZEN which revolves around meditation. Their tagline “Release your Xan” means that Xanova’s gaming gear is used to unleash their skill and enhances their capabilities. On the other hand, Xanova takes elements in the popular “Nova” Italian gaming brand that blends the Italian trendsetting culture and Galax’s long term experience in the gaming industry to provide gaming gears that look fantastic, comfortable and durable.
One of the products that manifest
Unboxing and First Impression
The packaging of the Juturna-U headset is a mix of both flashy and fancy. It’s a sleeve type packaging similar to other headsets such as HyperX and Corsair. The model name is printed in a holographic finish that shines a spectrum of RGB when light is flashed. Aside from the large image of the Juturna-U headset, the Virtual 7.1 sound card feature is printed on the lower left of the box with a logo of Galax on the other end.
Moving to the back, you have the same image of the headset but smaller with feature highlights such as the earcups, headband, and sound card. There’s also the detailed specification on the left side.
Sliding off the sleeve cover reveals the box with the Xanova logo printed in the same holographic finish as seen with the sleeve cover. Opening the box directly presents you the Juturna-U headset itself with the earcup rotated 90 degrees.
Underneath the plastic top is where the accessories are located. The accessories are stored in a velvet pouch together with the manual. The pouch contains a USB virtual 7.1 surround card, a 3.5mm cable with an in-line microphone and another 3.5mm cable without any microphone. Both cables can be used with the sound card.
Both 3.5mm cables have a built-in mic with a button for phone calls.
At first glance, the Xanova Juturna-U headset looks similar to the HyperX Cloud series headset. Looking closer, it looks identical to the Cooler Master MH752 gaming headset and that’s because they share the same OEM. The Juturna U gaming headset is a rebrand of the famous Takstar Pro 82 Monitor headset but of course, with a touch of gaming from Xanova.
The Juturna-U has a sandblasted all-plastic construction with a metal frame design. The joints of the earcups are metal while the headband is wrapped with PU leather. Its sturdy plastic construction allows the headset to be lightweight.
The only exposed metal part of the headset is just above the earcups with a printed Xanova logo. The headset has 5 levels of adjustment points to match various head shape and sizes.
The earcups have a tilt function to aide with the overall clamping force and comfortable fit. The earcups can also be rotated 90 degrees as seen with the unboxing. This allows the headset to rest in your neck without having to remove it altogether. Its lightweight nature makes it comfortable for long term use without experiencing any fatigue or stress.
To add to Xanova’s focus in comfort, the headband part is just the metal frame connecting both drivers wrapped in PU leather. This approach allows the headset to have a lighter weight and lower resistance with regards to the headset’s clamping force. The earcups are very soft but it tends to be hot depending on the room temperature. The tilt mechanism of the earcups paired with the earcups’ soft cushioning provide a good seal.
Xanova included a rare feature which is not commonly on monitor headphones, let alone gaming ones. Each side has an adjustable bass enhancement switch which can be adjusted to lessen or enhance the bass. There are 3 levels of bass enhancement that opens up holes as you toggle it down. These holes allow the driver to take in more air to generate a deeper bass.
Aside from the bass adjustment, the virtual 7.1 surround sound card has an FPS mode which can be accessed with the button of the sound card. Enabling this will make the Juturna-U go into low-frequency mode that eliminates some of the low-frequency sounds in the spectrum. This allows the user to better hear enemy footsteps and provide a more accurate location tracking.
One of the most appreciated features of the Xanova Juturna-U headset is its modularity with its detachable cables and microphone. Its approach, however, is not the same with other headsets such as the HyperX Cloud series. Other headsets have the mic completely detachable whereas the Juturna-U provides a different cable without the microphone.
Xanova Control Panel
The
The Effect tab lets the software simulate your desired environment to generate a realistic price on what you would here in real life.
The mic tab lets you adjust the Juturna-U’s mic without having to go through the sound settings in Windows to adjust it. It also has a boost and a mute button on the upper left. Personally, I’d prefer if the mic where to have a dedicated mute button on the headset or integrated to its cable.
This is where the magic happens with the
ENC basically reduces the gain of the Juturna-U’s mic to eliminate background noise such as sounds generated by an AC, mechanical keyboard or fans.
VM Effect lets you play with your voice output in real time. There’s no workaround needed in your Windows sound setting to make this work unlike other voice changing apps.
Microphone Test
Sample recordings are taken in a typical gamer bedroom with a liquid cooled PC setup runs in the background. We also tested the boost and voice magic features of the microphone.
The sound quality produced by the microphone is above average compared to most gaming headsets of this price range. Volume boost, however, did little to no effect on our tests. The boy, girl, monster and baby voice effects aren’t the things I would use on a daily basis as it just lowers or raises voice to produce the said effects, though it would be fun to troll some friends over at Discord.
User Experience and Conclusion
Performance. The Xanova Juturna-U gaming headset breathes new life in the gaming headset industry. While its marketed as a gaming headset, its sound signature coupled with its features make it an all rounder headset for daily use.
Build Quality. The build of the Juturna-U is mostly plastic to achieve its light profile. But as mentioned earlier, having a mostly plastic construction doesn’t tell the whole story when it comes to quality. The
Functionality. Essentially, you wont be losing a lot of features with the Juturna-U over other gaming headsets. Yes it doesn’t have the gamer-y RGB lighting and extra set of earcups. But aside from that, the Juturna-U offers the same set of features found on other gaming headsets with bit more such as the magic voice function and multi-device compatibility thanks to its 3.5mm jack.
Bundle. Aside from the core headset itself, the Juturna-U is bundled with some accessories like the velvet pouch, and an extra 3.5mm cable. This means that you are not limited in just PC gaming. The Juturna-U serves as a value alternative to expensive monitor headphones with the ability to divulge the user to gaming.
Value. While other gaming brands focus on the gaming aspect of headsets with giving the most bass as they can,
The Juturna-U gaming headset is a value alternative with lots of extras compared to mainstream gaming headsets found on the market. The Juturna-U specializes in comfort and a clean soundstage.
If you’re in the market for a gaming headset that not only provides accurate footstep positioning and immersive bass when gaming but also as a daily driver for binge watching and music, then the Xanova Juturna-U is a headset that you should consider. Priced at Php 4,895, we give the Xanova Juturna-U our Recommended Award!
