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Reddit Reviews
Honestly I love mine got them used on mercari for 145 and totally worth it. Ive had the A50X,arctis nova pro,Razer kraken v4 pro these are by far the best headsets Ive owned. The battery is so insane to charge last about 3 or 4 days.
I own artics nova pro wireless and kraken v4 pro and so far so happy about them except they are a lot less breathable and just saw the alpha 2 since I kinda liked the original alpha wireless with the ear cups material on the alpha2 I wonder how it will turn out whether I will be keeping it or returning it
Just go them haven’t eq them yet but so far works great sound alittle quieter than artics nova pro wireless(which is my other one) super comfy mic is amazing im still confused on why the virtual sound the ngenunity Spatial Audio doesn’t work maybe since its beta and the software is a little buggy but build seems amazing id put the kraken v4 pro the highest on the gaming headset i own in terms of build quality and this second and nova pro wireless third
Thanks for the first impressions! Have you used them for gaming? Music? Do they emulate Spatial Audio at all? Would you rank them better or worse than a pair of headphone/earbuds you might have?
Omg if I had an award I’d give it to you. You served and then some with that reply. Thanks man! The comfort and not having that “inside voice” is what I was hoping for. Sad to hear that they’re the worst sounding for you though, but maybe that makes sense given the type of earbuds they are. TBH I ordered them a week or so ago, they haven’t shipped though, so I was curious if I should still keep the order or cancel. I’m kind of a snob sound wise (not that things have to sound perfect, just that I have preferences), and have way too many headsets/headphones, but none like these, so I thought of giving them a try. Again, thanks!
I shall keep my order and wait for them to ship then! Also, gotta love Reddit. Someone gave me an award when your comment was the deserving one lol. Thanks anonymous redditor!
Hi there. I actually have! I’ve used them a few times for gaming, music and audiobooks. And amusingly enough I also saw on eBay a cheap open box offer for the Sony Inzone, so I bought them, and can share a few early thoughts: - they sound good. Maybe not great. For open ears, their “phantom bass” does magic in bringing some “thump” on the lower end, which is otherwise very lacking (though that’s expected). - they’re really comfortable to wear. But ymmv. My gf can’t tolerate them. It will depend on the size of your ears and how the earbuds sit over your ear canal due to it. - sound quality is highly dependent on how they align over your ear canal. Which again, makes sense for the type of buds they are. - for audiobooks they’re perfect. Being open also helps not feeling too isolated from your surroundings, which is helpful if you have pets or otherwise have to keep some awareness of your surroundings. - for music they’re surprisingly good for what they are. They’re not better than a good over-ear headphone, but they might be just as good as some other earbuds. I don’t necessarily miss my AirPods Pro. They fit differently, and feel different. But not necessarily worse or better. -for gaming is where I was a bit underwhelmed. Somehow the imaging was almost non-existent. Even on the integrated tool to test the left-right-center channels, the left and right channels sounded almost the same, but somehow the center was clearly distinct. I don’t know if something in my settings could’ve been messing it up, but it was certainly an initial disappointment. And now to compare them with the Sony Inzone buds. The Cetra Opens are overall much better. The Inzone is indeed really weird/bad for music, it just doesn’t sound great, even after equalizing. And for gaming, the Inzone app also lets you virtualize surround sound, which somehow magically does something, but it’s super inaccurate. As in, I do get cues that the audio is coming from a point, but the point is wrong. I don’t know how to explain it. It sounds really fun, but it’s actually just distracting and bad in the end, because you think you hear audio coming from behind you on the left, but in reality it was above you. Maybe it was also just the way it worked with Marathon (where I tested them) but I thought it’s worth mentioning. I notably did not have that problem with the Cetra, but then with the Cetra I also got almost no information in that regard. It wasn’t distracting, but it also wasn’t giving any cues. So, overall, I think the Inzone earbuds are a fine, cheaper pair of earbuds, that if you disable the surround virtualization are totally fine for gaming, but definitely not for music. The Cetra Open are pretty good, well rounded over-ear earbuds. They sound good, even maybe great, for music, are comfortable to wear, let you avoid that “isolated” feel of in-ear earbuds, while still having some noise-canceling when enabling that option (they’re good at reducing fan noise). For gaming they’re good, but I still have to figure out what’s going on with the sound imaging, and if it’s really a problem or not on them. Oh, and the mic on them is totally fine, but I haven’t tested them other than “it records my voice and it doesn’t sound bad”.
lol. I have a headphone problem. Over the years I had the Penrose, sold them, got the Maxwells. And also got the Sennheiser HD 800s, LCD-GX, the B&O Beoplay Portal, Razer Kraken v4 Pro (they’re silly and fun), and most recently bought these and the ZiiGaat Arcanis. Honestly, I mostly game with the LCD-GX, since I find myself more frequently playing in the living room instead of my office (where I use the HD 800s, or the Kraken V4 Pro for fun). The LCD-GX sound great and are super comfortable (if maybe they do get hot on the earpads). Otherwise I used to play with the Maxwells, but my friends always said the mic sounded bad. And yes, they’re heavy, but if you get a better headband/headband pad they can be really comfortable. I just don’t like that when I’m in the living room I can’t hear around me (but admittedly, that’s the point of them being closed back). For that reason I prefer the LCD-GX, plus, they sound better (to me) but they are stupid expensive (which is why I got them used), so maybe it’s a moot point. If you’re used to the Maxwells, the Cetra Open are going to sound very different, and objectively worse, but you should expect that, it’s a very different source. It’s a compromise. I can see myself traveling with the Cetra to have FaceTime calls and game with from a hotel room. All that said, if you’re used to the Maxwells, but want something lighter, the B&O Beoplay Portal sound really good with Dolby Atmos enabled, are incredibly lightweight, and you can find them for cheap if you look around. Their battery sucks, but if you use them plugged in with the USB cable that is a non issue.
The answer to the simplest question: my ears are average-to-large (not large, but maybe slightly larger than average). If ears came in sizes 1-4, I’d say a 3 lol. And on the topic of them being better for music than for gaming, perhaps is due to a matter of expectations. I had low expectations on these for music, but I had high expectations for gaming. So, I was surprised for how relatively good they sounded with music, but was disappointed by the sound imaging when gaming. That said, I wouldn’t pick these over other headphones or earbuds for music, just that they were perfectly serviceable for that, when I didn’t expect them to. As for gaming, maybe the problem, as I mentioned, could be in my settings (bad stereo imaging even on the ASUS software), or the specific game I’ve tried them on so far (Marathon, where I couldn’t tell sound direction at all [which is really good on my daily headset], but otherwise they sounded good and fun). I’ll play with them some more this week and see if I can figure out what could be going on, because that lack of stereo imaging was really strange and disappointing.
Yes, they can be used separately, so that should work for your use case :) Also, I just figured out my problem with the imaging. It was the toggle in Gear Link that activates Virtual Surround. That was completely muddling the separation across the channels. Deactivating that, and activating Dolby Atmos works as I'm used to and expect it (without Dolby Atmos the stereo imaging is as expected now as well). It's pretty great! I've tested it now with proper sources to see if I can distinguish between left/right and front/back and can confirm that it does work.
I got the razer kraken v4 pro, its a 3-400 dollar headset but dammit, between the thx modes and haptic feedback its the most immersive and soundstage accurate headset I've owned. Went from turtle beach stealth pros and the difference is very noticeable. I know razer has shitty build quality but these guys feel pretty solid and I have a replacement plan with them.
Kraken v4 pro probably has the best. If you want to shell out the money
Personally I love my v4 pro more than any previous headset I've used. I think it's worth it.. as far as other headsets go I don't really have much experience with other brands. I've always been happy with my Razer gear
Good stuff!! I'd say if you have the money you could at least pick up the v4 pro and test it out during the return window
I think you'll really like them. They exceeded my expectations
Kraken V4 Wireless. Headset is great, but the mic sounds very tinny/compressed - like you’re in a tunnel. Following for recommendations.
Razer Kraken V4 Wireless. They do wired usb-c, 2.4ghz, or BT. They are comfortable for hours with or without glasses and they sound amazing. I wear them every day for hours at a time. Also been told the mic is very clear.
I took care of my razor kraken v4 as best I could and they still broke exactly like this. I am Now a huge fan of Beyerdynamic. Seriously I’m not buy razor products again even the mouse scroll wheel doesn’t work after a year
Rankings by Use Case
Top recommendations from others in the same boat
Best for Competitive FPS footstep tracking

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Drop + EPOS / Sennheiser - PC38X
Best for Durable and repairable build

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HyperX - Cloud II Series
Best for Hybrid work and gaming

Top pick
Drop + EPOS / Sennheiser - PC38X
Best for Large heads and glasses

Top pick
SteelSeries - Arctis 7 Series
Best for Marathon gaming sessions

Top pick
SteelSeries - Arctis Nova Pro Series
Best for Mic isolation in shared rooms

Top pick
Astro (Logitech) - A50 Series





