I’ve been eager to get my hands on the ROG Kithara ever since I first experienced it at CES. It was promised to me that ASUS is building something for people who actually care about audio as a competitive tool and as a hobby. I can tell you at the time, this planar driver headset felt too good to be true — their testing booth showcased ideal sound environment that blew me away and only solidified my eagerness to try this headset in a more practical gaming setup. Now that I’ve had real time with it at home, I can confidently say the Kithara isn’t just another premium headset launch — it’s one of the cleanest examples of what happens when an open-back planar headset is tuned with purpose.

Kithara doesn’t need to lean on software gimmicks to feel special — that’s what’s captivating me the most. The separation is immediate, the stage feels natural, and positional cues come through with the kind of clarity that makes you play smarter. Because of proper imaging and positional accuracy, everything just feels correct — your ability to localize sound direction and distance without guessing isn’t left with enhanced digital distortion — this time, it’s just present. That’s Kithara’s superpower, and it shows up in every genre, especially when I play Arc Raiders (and VERY soon, Marathon) where information wins fights.

Building Against Traditional Gaming Headset

The ROG Kithara looks and feels like ASUS wanted this to sit closer to the audiophile world than the traditional headset aisle. The metal frame and hinges give it a confident rigidity, and the overall presentation carries a premium restraint — sleek, understated, and surprisingly more traditionally designed in the Planar space vs having their ROG theme overwhelm its design. The adjustable headband also does a lot of heavy lifting for comfort, especially over longer sessions — not a single headache or pressure yet, and I’ve used this headset for dozens of hours at this point.

For the size, one would assume it would be heavy —to my shock, it’s damn near feather-like. It’s thanks to the way weight is distributed; once I got the fit dialed in, the Kithara settled into a “forget it’s there” rhythm that made long gaming nights easy. ASUS also makes a smart move by including interchangeable ear cushions. That’s not just a comfort feature—it’s also a practical tuning tool. The different materials subtly shift how the headset seals, breathes, and presents bass and treble, letting you tailor the feel and sound without touching software. When comparing to a more traditional gaming headset, like the Kraken V4 Pro which is a closed-back flagship designed around immersion, isolation, and feature-forward living — it’s easy to see the stark differences in design. Closed-back design naturally helps you lock in, keep outside noise out, and retain more low-end impact, it’s also the kind of headset that’s built for people who want a one-stop solution with maximum versatility, especially if they bounce between devices and want that sealed-off, “in the zone” experience — that’s coupled with other immersive gimmicks like its Haptics. Traditional gaming headsets seemingly trade-off audiophilic tuning with oversaturated digital compromises for convenience.

The Kithara takes the opposite route. Open-back means you trade isolation for stage, air, and a more natural spatial presentation. You’re going to get a more spacious soundscape and stronger separation in complex moments, which is exactly why open-back designs are loved for competitive play. The catch is obvious: sound leakage and room noise. If your environment is loud, closed-back will still be the practical choice. If your setup is controlled and you want the most accurate spatial read, the Kithara is built for that.

Specs:

Type: Wired 3.5mm headset
Driver type: Planar magnetic (ROG-tuned, co-developed with HIFIMAN)
Driver size: 100mm
Headphone frequency response: 8Hz–55kHz
Impedance: 16
Design: Open-back

Microphone Specs

Mic type: On-cable full-band MEMS boom mic
Mic frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz
Mic sensitivity: -36 dB

Connectivity / Included Plugs

Dual 3.5mm input (audio + mic separation)
Swappable terminations included: 4.4mm balanced, 3.5mm, 6.3mm
Adapter included: USB-C to dual 3.5mm

Platform Compatibility

PC, Mac, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, iOS/Android
Xbox: compatible via 3.5mm controller connection (audio)

Physical

Weight: 420 g (headset)

Expertly Tuned for Gamers and Audiophiles

The foundation of the Kithara is its “ROG-tuned” 100mm planar magnetic drivers. Planars have a distinct advantage when they’re implemented well: speed, control, and clarity that doesn’t collapse when a match gets chaotic. ASUS is also clearly aiming high with an ultra-wide frequency range and an open-back design that emphasizes space and separation.

In actual play, here’s what stood out to me immediately:

Spatial Performance That Feels Effortless

The Kithara delivers the kind of imaging that makes directional cues feel obvious — in shooters, that translates into positional accuracy — being able to pinpoint whether movement is above you, behind you, or cutting across a hallway without second-guessing. This is where some headsets rely on aggressive treble spikes or software-driven virtualization to simulate detail. The Kithara doesn’t need that. Its presentation is clean and naturally layered, so you get clarity without turning every match into a fatigue session.

Low-End Texture Without Mud

This is the part I want to phrase correctly because it’s important: open-back headsets don’t typically give you the same “sealed slam” that closed-back designs can. What the Kithara does extremely well is bass texture. You can hear the shape of the low end instead of just feeling it as a thump. Explosions have body, but they don’t smear into the mids. That matters for competitive play because it keeps the soundstage readable.

Mids That Stay Honest

The midrange is where so many gaming headsets fall apart. It’s where voices sit. It’s where reloads, armor movement, footsteps, and environmental detail live. The Kithara’s mids are the best I’ve heard in a gaming headset because they stay intact under pressure. I can’t count how my times I asked my teammate “was it you that just added an attachment to your gun?” during raids in Arc Raiders because it’s that good.

Highs That Support Precision

High frequencies are critical for clarity and microdetail, but they’re also where harshness can creep in. The Kithara’s highs feel purposeful — clean and articulate, with enough bite to highlight directional information, without becoming piercing or thin.

My streaming setup is built around BEACN gear, and it’s honestly the perfect environment for a headset like this. I’m running a BEACN Mic and a BEACN Mix in my chain, which gives me two huge advantages:

I can control my audio routing cleanly for stream, game, chat, and monitoring
I have the proper output and monitoring tools to power and manage the Kithara without needing extra mess on the desk — DAC and AMP included.

I used the Kithara the way a lot of creators actually will — plugged into my setup, monitoring my mix, balancing game audio against voice, and swapping between competitive sessions and general listening. The Kithara’s low impedance makes it easy to drive, but what matters more is quality control. With my BEACN setup, the Kithara stayed clean, loud when I needed it to be, and stable across long sessions.

This pairing also made me appreciate how the Kithara avoids the usual headset pitfalls. There’s no dependency on proprietary software, no weird profile switching, and no “only sounds right on one device” behavior. It just performs — consistently. Everything you’re reading here is based on out-of-box tuning. No EQ profiles, no artificial boosts, none. I wanted the Kithara to stand on its fundamentals, because that’s what separates a true premium headset from something that needs to be rescued. The only adjustment I treated as fair game was pad swapping, because that’s part of the headset’s intended experience and a legitimate way to personalize comfort and acoustic presentation.

REVIEW SCORE 10/10

The ROG Kithara earns a 10/10 from me because it’s the rare headset that feels like it was engineered for players who take audio seriously — a true one-of-a-kind headset currently. If you care about competitive advantage, what you’re really looking for is imaging, positional accuracy, separation, and stage. The Kithara delivers all of that while also offering what I genuinely consider the best low-end texture and midrange presentation I’ve heard in a gaming headset—plus highs that support precise localization without making the overall sound fatiguing.

And yes, I’ll say it with my chest: this is the greatest planar headset for gaming I’ve used, even with other planar better options out there. The open-back design, the planar speed, and the tuning work together in a way that makes your games feel more readable, more honest, and more controlled. It also comes with an attachable booming microphone that I partially used, sounds more than great but I already have a BEACN Mic, so I placed it back in the box for now.

The only potential caveat is the open-back nature. It’s not built for noisy rooms or for keeping your audio private. But if your desk setup is your arena, and you want the cleanest competitive presentation I’ve heard from a headset, the Kithara is a landmark release.

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