I went with the maxwells after using arctis pro wireless for a few years. I am not entirely gentle with my peripherals. If you look into it, tons of people have had issues witht the arctic breaking... I have @ least 2000 hours on them and they still work great. I like beer, i drink, i game, i drop stuff. The Maxwell's sound quality is definitely a step up from the arctis for music hell yea. For positional awareness, the Maxwell works great for me as I am an FPS whore, valorant, csgo, apex... With dolby and audeze software running I have better awareness than the arctis with sonar. All that said in the US atm the first gen arctis pro wireless is 150bux from best buy, and the Maxwell is double that price. I have the flora edition, If i had to buy right this minute it would be the arctis. For the money savings and the DAC.
I had an arctis pro wireless for years and that thing was really well put together, no clue about the newer model. I loved the hot swappable battery - it was surprisingly clever and easy to work with
I only stopped using it because the charging station stopped charging and I like new and shiny
Your criteria need to be...
\- Dynamic drivers
\- No battery
\- Wired with a removable cable
\- Sturdy construction
\- No pleather
\- Designed for repairability, with easy disassembly
Maybe consider the Meze 99 Classics V2? Great headphone, affordable, should last forever if you take care of it. Only thing it's missing is that the headphone does use pleather, which does wear down over time. But I don't know of any in this price bracket that do use genuine leather and the pleather is replacable on the 99 classics.
If wireless is a must consider the Steelseries Arctis Pro Wireless. While they do not fit many of the criteria above, you can swap out the pads and headband as needed, and most importantly the battery is replacable, so you can make them last forever by swapping out the batteries if you ever experience any issues.
Just tried again with my Xm4 and Steelseries arctis wireless pro (the old one) and both of them have a significant drop-off in quality. Guess they can't use good bt codecs while connecting to two devices at the same time.
Way back in 2019, I ordered a pair of SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless headphones. At first, I didn't like the fit, but some ear pads from Wicked Cushions solved that problem. They have been my all-time favorite gaming headphones ever since.
Although I love the Arctis Pro Wireless, I'm always looking for ways to improve my gaming audio. When I heard about the Sennheiser HDB 630s with their low latency gaming mode, I knew I had to try them. Well, I've been using them for a week, and here are my thoughts in comparing them to the Arctis Pro Wireless.
**Sennheiser HDB 630 advantages:**
* Music is noticeably better.
* More bass and well-controlled bass.
* Gaming audio sounds a bit more natural.
* Active noise cancellation.
* Really long battery life (50-60 hours).
* Great iPhone app makes it easy to adjust sound while in a game.
* No software to install on the Mac or PC.
* USB-C connection.
**Arctis Pro Wireless advantages:**
* More spacious for big ears (using Wicked Cushions on both headsets).
* Less clamping force, and more comfortable for big heads.
* Not too hot around the ears. The HDB 630's were too hot for me.
* Not too hot under the headband. Once again, the HDB 630's made me sweat.
* Games sound more open and spacious.
* More precise for hearing fine details like enemy movement.
* Easier to determine the exact direction of a sound.
* Physical volume knob on the headset is better than the HDB 630 touch controls.
* The base station also has a volume knob for very precise control.
* Headset volume and PC volume can be controlled separately (they are additive).
* Swappable batteries are great for quick swaps mid-game. (Although the long battery life of the HDB 630's partly negates this advantage.)
* Low latency (22 ms). The HDB 630's feel less snappy.
* Much better microphone.
In summary, I think the Arctis Pro Wireless is still the better headset for gaming and comfort. The HDB 630s are still great headphones. You'll love them if your primary use is listening to music, but if gaming is your priority, stick with the Arctis Pro Wireless.
"Sounded like fucking shit" seems a bit hyperbolic. I just spent several hours comparing the Arctis Pro Wireless to the HDB 630's for gaming, and I was having a hard time deciding which I preferred. The 630's easily won the contest when listening to music. However, gaming was a completely different story. Here are some examples:
• While playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, I was standing 10 feet from a large fountain in a public square. While listening with the HDB 630's, the fountain sounded like it was 50 feet away and uninteresting. However, on the Arctis Pro Wireless it sounded like I was standing next to a fountain. It felt immersive...like there was a real fountain 10 feet to my left.
• While playing The Talos Principle Reawakened, there was an enemy robot right around the corner from me. I couldn't see it, but I could easily hear it when listening with the Arctis Pro Wireless. It was barely audible inthe HDB 630's.
• While playing Tomb Raider Underworld, I could hear birds and other ambient noises in the distance with the Arctis Pro Wireless. The sound had depth and spaciousness to it. When listening with the HDB 630's, the sound felt more closed in, like I was on a sound stage. I certainly didn't feel like Iwas in a jungle.
• Also while playing Tomb Raider, the sound of Lara's gun firing doesn't quite match up with the muzzle flash when using the HDB 630's. There is just a tiny bit of latency that is noticeable. I don't see that with the Arctis Pro Wireless.
[Rtings.com](http://Rtings.com) came to a similar conclusion. They give the Arctis Pro Wireless a score of 7.9 for wireless gaming, and only give the HDB 630's a score of 6.2.
I mostly like them, but ended up sending them back. I kept my Arctis Pro Wireless instead. I thought the ear cups on the HDB 630s were a little too cramped. I also felt like the Arctis Pro Wireless had a wider soundstage that I preferred for gaming.
3reezily
