SteelSeries - Arctis Pro Wired

Great read, thanks for the review. I'm not in the market for a new headset as I have the Maxwell and some old Hx Cloud 2s as fallback (unless Maxwell 2 IS coming...), but I have been keen to see some reviews on these from actual real-world users, not just websites who were gifted copies and who all seem to ignore the elephant in the room (price) and yet still slap 'editors choice' left and right so as not to be blacklisted from the next review opportunity. I had some of the Steelseries Pros (wired) in the model before the Nova Pro, and I did really like them on multiple fronts, so still keen to hear about their products. These Nova 'Elite' though are just a step to far with absolutely obnoxious pricing. What I'm getting from reviews I'm reading is: \- SQ is great, but not TOO dissimilar to the Nova Pro (already great) \- Microphone is not a huge step up, but still a bit better. \- The multi-device connection point is great - if your use case really relies on you to have so many devices connected. \- Wireless 'Certified HD Audio' is a nice feather in the cap for sure - but incredibly limited in terms of what content is actually output at that bitrate in an accessible manner. What I'm not getting from any single review that I've read is anything even remotely close to a justification on the price. If I were to look at the Nova Pros vs Elites on paper in a comparison list, I would expect the Elite to be more expensive, maybe £100-£120 more expensive based on the marketing aspect that the 'elites' are just a bit better/more feature rich, at which point I'd maybe say fair enough. They seem to have created and priced these in such a way that they are actively just targeting wealthy folk to ultimately take the piss out of them, and a quick look at their social media posts also kind of feels like that too.

For me I like Comtac VI, and Liberators. I use Steelseries Arctics Pro wired.

I share your pain. I still feel like I got the wind knocked out of me. Why on earth do the midrange devices get companion app support but the Pro and Pro Wireless don't? All I want is Sonar on Xbox

I use the wired version of the Arctis Pro and also the Nova Pro, and I'm a huge fan of being able to mix SPDIF, USB and analog line in (I use for mic monitoring on my Elgato Wave 3). I do like the DTS Headphone X over optical because I think it works better than the software spatial audio. I use an ifii SPDIF purifier 2 to reduce any toslink bitter. Lately I've been using the gamedac gen 2 out of convenience since I pay on PC and Xbox and need headset support when I play on Xbox. One thing I love about the Arctis Pro headset is the shareport because it's perfect for adding another source without messing with the noise floor of the DAC and works great for mic monitoring.

Steelseries Arctis Pro (Wired) with DAC.

Steelseries Arctis Pro is really good. From Denmark

they do, but only in their online shop. I've been using my old wired Arctis Pro since 2018 and have replaced the pads a couple times and the headband and the wire once. Headset itself still works like day 1

Id have to say go with any Steel series line up. They have amazing wired headsets. I'm currently using the Steel series Artic Nova 7x wireless and it's absolutely amazing. But my old headset was a Artic Nova pro wired and that was also absolutely amazing it's about 250 to 300$ CAD

from my research- i mostly used reviews sites like reddit vetted-these are a few safe bets: HyperX Cloud II/III just because they’re comfy and you don’t have to fight with software. nothing fancy, just works and the mic is serviceable. the AKG K612 or Sennheiser HD560S. super clean imaging, great for footsteps and they’re not hyped garbage. you’d just need a small dac/amp but even a cheap dongle drives them fine. also the Steelseries arctis wired models are still around and pretty chill. very comfy headband, decent sound and you don’t have to pray the drivers don’t explode

By that logic, the $379 Pro's which are inferior to these in both sound signature, microphone & build quality isn't worth the price. But they are rated as probably Top 3 in Gaming headphones. You have to look at it in the entire package. Software + build quality + feature set + sound performance + mic performance. The Pro's are already top 3 in this regard. There are other headphoens slightly cheaper that may deliver certain things better and vice versa. Many brands have better mics, worse sound signature. Some have better sound signature and worse mics. Some can't do crap for software and EQ control. Then you have Audiophile cans that you then need to buy seperate products to take advatange of and then overall can cost more than the gaming headset. Like it or not, sometimes spending a little bit of a premium for convenience and having a good experience in each category makes sense. I don't want 50 things on my desk just to hear 5% better. I don't want a microphone on my desk either, and want it attached to my mic. I also want a wireless headset. I also don't want to spend hours trying to EQ my games and want something that just sounds a bit more immersive out of the box by clicking a button. I also like to keep all of my software not so bloated with 50 different products. I also like higher build quality and decent mics. That's where the Nova Pro's came in, and they are easily top 3 in most categories outside of audiophile specific devices. Enters the Elites which is better than them by a good margin in each of those categories. With your logic, don't ever fly direct on an airplane... how dare you spend more money for convenience!

By that logic, the $379 Pro's which are inferior to these in both sound signature, microphone & build quality isn't worth the price. But they are rated as probably Top 3 in Gaming headphones. You have to look at it in the entire package. Software + build quality + feature set + sound performance + mic performance. The Pro's are already top 3 in this regard. There are other headphoens slightly cheaper that may deliver certain things better and vice versa. Many brands have better mics, worse sound signature. Some have better sound signature and worse mics. Some can't do crap for software and EQ control. Then you have Audiophile cans that you then need to buy seperate products to take advatange of and then overall can cost more than the gaming headset. Like it or not, sometimes spending a little bit of a premium for convenience and having a good experience in each category makes sense. I don't want 50 things on my desk just to hear 5% better. I don't want a microphone on my desk either, and want it attached to my mic. I also want a wireless headset. I also don't want to spend hours trying to EQ my games and want something that just sounds a bit more immersive out of the box by clicking a button. I also like to keep all of my software not so bloated with 50 different products. I also like higher build quality and decent mics. That's where the Nova Pro's came in, and they are easily top 3 in most categories outside of audiophile specific devices. Enters the Elites which is better than them by a good margin in each of those categories. With your logic, don't ever fly direct on an airplane... how dare you spend more money for convenience!

All these people mad that you bought an actual decept pair of headphones. Are there better out there, for better cost/performance. Yes, sure. And people buy NVIDA or AMD and fans based on aesthetics, and brand loyalty. They buy a certain vehicle, when there is a more fuel efficient car. Take a different airline because of how comfortable they may be for a few to several hours. Rather door dash vs pick up, because it's time vrs money. These are still one of the best 'gaming' headphones on the market, regardless of price. Do they have the audio quality? No. Do they have the build quality? Yes. We all have seen other headphoens from audiophiles that aren't worth the price, or well worth the price. The fact is, the dude says they're way better than his Pro's, and the Pro's are already costly. If they're better than that, then it's somewhat warranted just from the sound signature, let alone the build quality. So many jealous people here.

I think the issue here is that you play on pc, which desktop mics are going to be a lot easier to plug in. Gaming headsets provide a plug and play experience, especially on console where you have to go through several loops just to get a DAC working. I believe that OP is on console, so advice for a desktop mic while doable isn't the most convenient and most definitely will end up out of the budget given. The maxwells have a strong sound signature but are way too heavy to be practical if you're not a big head. In my own experience, I ran Beyerdynamics on console for a bit and actually prefered my artics 5x, as the beyerdynamics were way to quiet especially for siege and as forementioned, getting a dac working on console just doesn't feel worth it. The headset was 16 ohms as well, so it shouldn't have been underpowered. Personally, i'm currently selling both the dac and the beyerdynamic headphones and will be upgrading to the artics elite.

I run the steelseries artics 5x (5p would be the playstation version) I'll be upgrading to the artic elite pro

I find the older style of the arctis pro much more comfortable than the artist nova pro. With third party pads and the more adjustable strap it's nice even if you wear glasses.