NZXT Switchmix and Relay Ecosystem Review

Introduction

It is amazing how far PC audio has come in recent years. When we first started gaming on ours you usually had a pair of very cheap, plastic, 1W if they were any at all, rubbish things that just about gave you some sound. Okay when I first started you just had beeps, but that's because I'm old.

However, recent years has not only seen a huge increase in the quality of speakers you can get, but the influx of streaming and online gaming has meant that the majority of us own headsets too. A microphone and speaker combination might work if you're not playing anything too loud, but all but the best cardioid microphones will still pick up audio from your desktop speakers. This means that a headset is almost key to anyone who regularly streams or regularly plays online.

If you are the type of person who swaps regularly between online sessions and private gaming, then what you really want is a good set of speakers for those times when you're alone, but a headset for those times you need to tell your teammates or enemies how much they suck. Similarly the moving of PCs from a beige box tucked away in a spare room or your bedroom, to a full RGB one that sits proudly in your living room, means that if you live with other people then you might need to keep your death sounds strictly confined to your own ears.

Moving between these two states - speaker audio and headset audio - can definitely be a faff. What we really need is a setup where picking up the headset moves the audio to them, and putting them back switches the audio back to the speakers. Enter NZXT and their new, aptly named, Switchmix headset stand and mixer box, that automatically switches between the two in that exact manner.

Technical Specifications

The primary focus of today's review is the new Switchmix headset stand and automatic swapping system, as well as the new Relay headset. We've also got the NZXT Relay Speakers and Relay Subwoofer on hand so we can have a full suite of NZXT audio options.