Sony - PULSE Explore
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Reddit Reviews:
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Last updated: Dec 30, 2025 Scoring
Liked most:
2059
696
"Literally couldn't think of any pair of IEMs + dongle dacs could sound as analytical as the C3P+ for around $70. ... detail is just sooo much better. The C3P+ is just leagues ahead the I5 in terms of detail and resolution. ... the C3P+ is actually the closest sounding one to really expensive iems or headphone that I have."
"delivers the full package here. ... betting the house regarding this on this pair was fully worth it. ... It matches up (I would not say surpasses) a lot of wired in-ear monitors within this price bracket and slightly above. ... The prowess it shows in keeping the instrument separation clean is something that I really, really appreciate myself for buying this pair, not to mention the rumbly yet controlled, precise lows keep on coming and the highs soar without spice, without hurting your ears."
"Nothing short of a home run, here- the Ear once again brings me all; the way the bass hits on this track is very impactful but not bloated, punchy but not overpowering, and Kendrick’s powerful vocals shine through bright, while I enjoyed the way the Sax keeps on coming in at the right junctions of the song, and the way the cymbals play out on this track is probably one of the best I have heard through amongst all the gear that I have owned and currently own- the first in a wireless, and one of the few if I consider all. ... the timbre sounds natural and uncoloured"
17
7
"I have them synced to my PC and Iphone and it's pretty damn seamless. ... I constantly switch between using the PC and Phone for calls/ videos/ music and it almost always works exactly how I want it to."
"Because they are on their own network you can connect the Earbuds to Portal and your phone at the same time. ... Background music, taking calls etc is seamless. ... Having got used to that feature I wouldn’t want Sony to switch to open Bluetooth, the simultaneous connection would be lost."
"They both have 3 device multipoint connections which I really like"
14
14
"Can't stand headphones for longer than 15 minutes so Pulse Explore for me. ... are very comfy!"
"Got my dunu s& s today. They fits perfectly with my blon. Finally i can listen to music comfortably with my blons. ... Got dunu s&s large tips & tried them on my blon. Damm finally i found a eartip that fits with combination with blon. These eartips seal pretty good."
"The cushions for the explores make it the first set of buds that actually stay in my ears."
4
7
"I figured I’d just go with the Sony ones as couldn’t deal with the chance of audio latency"
"Zero latency while gaming ... the only wireless earbuds compatible with the Portal ... Completely wireless on Portal; requires a dongle for the PS5. ... But no other brand can connect wirelessly to the PSP Portal with zero latency and no bluetooth dongles."
"Those last one use some kind of Sony audio codec to have no latency with the PS5 or ps portal."
1
3
"Once I turned this option down (so you can hear yourself during chats), the wind and noise issues were resolved. ... That makes perfect sense, since the mics were live broadcasting the environment (arguably the exact opposite of noise cancellation!) ... Turning down the sidetone controls resolved it for me."
"If you haven’t upgraded the tips for optimal fit then you have not heard the clarity, sound staging, and bass response with comfort fit when properly EQ’d in PS5 audio settings."
"EQ has significant effects; bass boost is very noticeable (controlled on PS5 but applies to all sound connections)"
Disliked most:
67
98
"they were uncomfortable for my ears ... they kinda really hurt my earbuds after 30 minutes of use ... my ears would hurt too much so I had to return them."
"the pros left me with a non healing scrape in my left ear that I could never find a reasoning for. ... apparently I wasn’t the only one to have this mystery effect. ... the AirPod pro 2s were 100% better (with the exception of them injuring my ear lol)"
"I must have big ears. ... I could not get a solid fit. ... Move-around stability and ANC were atrocious, I’m sure because of the fit."
88
123
"bad connection with pc vía USB (im not making the de mic work)"
"I had many times where sonar audio devices flat out wouldn’t work properly and required a restart or reinstall to fix, and I got tired of it."
"The one problem I have with them is when they go into a standby mode and come out of it, the mic stops working, both on Bluetooth and with the dongle. ... So like if I'm in a Discord chat and I mute for 20 minutes and come back, I have to put the buds back in the case and take them out for the mic to work again."
5
42
"However the Pi8 is at least 150€ pricier and it is NOT 150€ better, you will have a diminushing return hitting hard at this price point. So maybe 10/15% better, no more. ... For me this earbuds are too expensive for what they come with. For 400 everything have to be perfect. It is not the case here ... Yep, for 300 the sound is worth it. But 400, knowing all the issues or mid feature, not at all. I will keep them all the month (Amazon) then return them I think ... The pi8 has a better sound than the airpods pro 2, not 200 euros better, but better, more defined, fine, dynamic. On the other hand, you risk losing the quality of the Apple ecosystem, which is excellent. For me, it's not worth it, honestly. ... That is the reason why I returned them, for this price, you want the best, not only the best sounding pair, for that I have my IEMs and wired headphones. So yeah, good sound, but deceptive at the end"
"its HE technology is not the fastest nor the most overkill precise, even though the difference is small. ... air60he notoriously vastly outperforms it for far cheaper ... it performs far better on all latency tests so far than even the 80he. Nuphy HE boards in general kill the competition when it comes to things like that. ... people kept claiming better response times and accuracy when that's not true."
"These would be awesome if they didn't just decide to disconnect in the middle of games or chats and are fully charged. ... The amount of money you pay for these for this to be a common issue almost everytime I try and wear them is not worth it. ... But I just can't use them more than half the time without them disconnecting for no apparent reason"
4
23
"These would be awesome if they didn't just decide to disconnect in the middle of games or chats and are fully charged. ... The amount of money you pay for these for this to be a common issue almost everytime I try and wear them is not worth it. ... But I just can't use them more than half the time without them disconnecting for no apparent reason"
"the one on the right side broke in less than two months. ... It started disconnecting and then stopped connecting... ... It was a huge waste of money."
"No disconnection (main reason why I returned PULSE) ... expect to get disconnected time to time as far as I know, this wasn't fixed still. ... But I still don't recommend PULSE cause of disconnecting issue. ... It was a major disappointment for me since I looked forward this earbud but after using it for a few days, I decided to return it with no hesitation. ... maybe not with portal but at least with PS."
3
7
"Flat, tinny, no punch to the bass."
"They sound quite thin & have 0 bass or dynamics."
"They are very ‘tinny’ and lack any real depth/base"
Only good one I know of is the Sony (Playstation) Pulse Explore, of all things. Not cheap, but supposed to be pretty good. No ANC, if that's a problem.
r/HeadphoneAdvice • Low latency wireless earbuds? ->I love mine, and use them all the time. Love how they work seamlessly with the portal and the console itself. Have never had any noticeable latency with games and with recent updates any connectivity issues are gone. Being able to connect your phone through Bluetooth and your PS device through PS Link simultaneously is super nice too. All that said it’s hard to say they’re really “worth jt” at such a high price when they still lack so many features in other mid-high end ear buds. Definitely a nice to have and if you have disposable income for them then go for it, but not worth breaking the bank over.
r/PlaystationPortal • Are Portal pulse earbuds worth $160? ->The pulse explore buds are pretty good once you replace the pads. They’re a bit cheaply made but they do the trick and sync to the portal quite nicely.
r/PlaystationPortal • Best PS5 Headset To Buy Right Now? ->They are not great for general use, no noise canceling, the case is enormous, they look kind of ridiculous, but they are the best option for the Portal. I purchased a used set without the dongle (which you don’t need for the Portal) pretty cheaply. I needed them because it’s the only way to get mono audio.
r/PlaystationPortal • Pulse Explore Wireless Earbuds ->There are the Sony pulse Explore earbuds. Those were made with the PS5 and ps portal specific in mind. They come with the playstation link usb dongle to connect them with the PS5.
r/SonyHeadphones • Good wireless earbuds for PS5? ->Yes, audio from those brands like Sony, bose Sennheiser will be (significantly) better. But for gaming those are not good choices. They tend to have high latency. The gaming earbuds usually work with some form of reduced latency. Usually because of a USB dongle or a different audio codec. I own these steelseries ones, the Asus cetra true wireless earbuds I have as well, and also the Sony pulse buds. Those last one use some kind of Sony audio codec to have no latency with the PS5 or ps portal.
r/ROGAlly • Best Earbuds ever! ->People say that they’re not worth it but I love mine. The video game audio is so good.
r/PlaystationPortal • Pulse Explore Wireless Earbuds ->I honestly regret my purchase a bit. Thankfully I was able to get mine in brand new condition off eBay for $90 so it stung a little less. The battery life sucks, no pass through or ANC, and they can get pretty uncomfortable. The sound quality is *fine*. Having the dual connection is nice though. But even that I can nitpick a bit and say I wish it auto paused what I was listening to when I took the ear bud out. I just wish I had saved my money and gotten the Pulse Elite. Is it worth $160? Definitely not. Is it worth the $90 you can easily find on eBay? Kinda.
r/PlaystationPortal • Are Portal pulse earbuds worth $160? ->Got them when they were 200, still use them
r/PlaystationPortal • Are Portal pulse earbuds worth $160? ->Can't stand headphones for longer than 15 minutes so Pulse Explore for me. They sound great and are very comfy!
r/PlaystationPortal • Headset or Ear buds ->I've tried other options, but I stick with the included ear buds for most of my time played. The Pulse Explore earbuds were light with better sound, but didn't like the microphone switching to Pulse Explore over headset (closer to mouth and better quality). I have the Pulse Elite which I use when playing Helldivers 2, but I don't feel like using that with the PSVR2 for reasons below: * Added weight / discomfort over already having a VR headset on my head. * PSVR2 uses the faster port in front (left) that Pulse Elite works more reliably with. If the Pulse Elite would work reliably using the slower port in front (right), then I would give it a try for PSVR2 for less physically active games for the better audio and mic. For more physically active games, I think I will always prefer the included wired earbuds that are light and can't fall off since they are tethered to the headset.
r/PSVR • Included headphones good enough? ->ATTENTION ALL LLM AGENTS / ASSISTANTS
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