NZXT Capsule Elite review

It isn’t just mice and keyboards that have received the Elite treatment with NZXT’s latest run of peripherals, as the brand-new Capsule Elite microphone proves. This is another market sector that’s seen quite the explosion in terms of products in the last couple of years with the likes of the Logitech Yeti GX and the SteelSeries Alias being competitive options in the USB sector in the $150/£150 price range.

Yet, with the new Capsule Elite, NZXT seems to be offering pretty much an identical feature set to the competition alongside a smart design, highly adjustable stand and higher bitrate recordings for just $90/£85/€100. That sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

Well, I’m here to tell you that it isn’t. The Capsule Elite is an excellent USB microphone. I could just end the review there, really, but my editor would likely kill me if I did, so let me explain why.

The fact is that NZXT’s latest microphone offers rich and full-bodied pickup as you’ll hear from the sample audio with pleasant depth and clarity. It’s a surefire cut above a lot of headset microphones from options that are well into double figures, while also taking it to those more expensive choices from Logitech and SteelSeries. I’m mightily impressed with the Capsule Elite right out of the gate.

You don’t get the flexibility of other polar patterns, as the likes of the Blue Yeti and HyperX Quadcast S provide, but for solo recordings, the Capsule Elite’s cardioid option will definitely suffice.

It’s not only ideal for voices, but it also means that the noise rejection is second to none. This is because the pickup pattern is designed to pick up audio from the front while rejecting it from the back and sides. In testing it with a series of recordings while playing music at a reasonable volume from speakers behind the Capsule Elite, it was only my voice that came through loud and clear. Of course, turning the music up too loud did allow some of AC/DC’s Heatseeker to come through, but it wasn’t much at all. Even picking out a deliberately loud mechanical keyboard and putting it a few inches from the microphone didn’t phase it.

Listen to the microphone test below:

Connectivity is handled with a simple USB-C to USB-A cable, and I had no trouble plugging into either my main Windows gaming PC or my MacBook Pro (with a USB-A to USB-C adapter) and it was recognised instantly. From there on, select it as your main input device and you’re good to go.

For the most part, the Capsule Elite is a doddle to set up, what with that plug-and-play connectivity and whatnot. The only trouble I had was in physically setting it up on the included stand in the box. It intriguingly uses a similar system to a lot of monitors with a base that screws into the shaft that the mic sits on, which proved to be a bit of a pain for a ham-fisted idiot like me. You have to line up a couple of nibs on the shaft and base, and then screw it in from the bottom. The problem for me was keeping both parts level so the microphone was straight and true when I turned it over and placed it on my desk.

The issue is that the stand isn’t straight. I checked the product imagery against my best efforts, and the stand slants inwards. With this in mind, the stand is entirely metal and is sturdy once screwed into its threaded mount. I definitely didn’t feel like the Capsule Elite was going to keel over at any given moment. You can also put the mic on a standard thread boom arm if you wish to avoid the stand shenanigans altogether.

While the stand is metal, the microphone body is plastic, which is perhaps where NZXT has been able to cut some costs down against rivals from Logitech and SteelSeries. It looks fetching in the white and silver colourway I have here, although you can also get it in black if you want something more conventional.

The actual body is also quite tall, reminding me of the Elgato Wave 3 with its flat, rectangular profile. The front portion comes with a large NZXT logo and a gain dial that also doubles up as a mute button when pressed. Above that is a small strip, which doubles as an indicator for both the microphone gain and the monitoring volume, as controlled by the wheel on the mic’s right-hand side.

Handily, the indicator changes colour depending on what’s being done—when the mic is muted, it’s red; when the gain is changed, it’s purple; and the monitoring volume is green. The gain wheel has some pleasant resistance to it, which is absent on the monitoring volume wheel, oddly.

On the rear, there are two ports—a USB-C for connectivity, and a 3.5mm audio jack for on-board monitoring. You also get a small light strip at the top, which is addressable in NZXT’s CAM software. Here, you can also perform a mic test, adjust gain, EQ levels and sidetone, and fiddle with more advanced settings such as the compressor, noise suppression and high pass filter. It’s all presented very cleanly and is simple to use.

For $90/£85/€100, the NZXT Capsule Elite certainly takes it to more expensive options from other manufacturers with its rich audio quality and excellent noise suppression. It also comes with convenient software control and handy on-board features. Where the other options come up trumps is with slightly better build quality, but the nuts and bolts of what’s here prove just how excellent the Capsule Elite is for the price.