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Sony Pulse 3D vs. Xbox Wireless Headset

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I use pulse 3d and it sounds fantastic. 3d is very nice. I think it is kinda underrated and people shit on it because it is gaming headset.
I use it more on pc now and mic is good too. No complaints at all. Sounds about as good or a bit better than koss porta pro(which is a high bar). I listen to music with it and it's nice.
Good bass, no delay. It's comfortable as well. NOT OVERDONE BASS which is important but deep enough.

edit: The headset sounds kinda open and wide which really helps with 3d. It is fantastic in Demons Souls but just playing pc bf5 is perfectly fine. I can hear all the directions
 
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Thirty7ven

Banned
The Verge lol, embarrassing really, "Mic drop moment", one of the least trustworthy sources for any kind of objective commentary on this. Arstechnica "don't read into PS4 sales numbers" is another one.

Also imagine buying a console branded headset with the intention to use it across your entire devices. Jokes.
 
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Does anyone in here possess both the 3d pulse and the "old" platinum from sony?!

I have a pulse 3D and the Sony Gold. The Pulse is definitely better, not MUCH better, but better nonetheless. I use it on the Switch and I have relegated the Gold to the PS4. Both are good, very good for the price even (especially in glorious BR land).
 
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stitch1

Member
I have a pulse 3D and the Sony Gold. The Pulse is definitely better, not MUCH better, but better nonetheless. I use it on the Switch and I have relegated the Gold to the PS4. Both are good, very good for the price even (especially in glorious BR land).
I also have the Pulse 3D and Sony Golds. I like the pad on the headband of the golds better. They both are pretty good overall. I feel like the Pulse 3Ds should have been a little cheaper but I feel that way about a lot of things. lol
 

magnumpy

Member
they're both cheap junky speakers. but one of them is a slightly better piece of crap worthless garbage speaker. that hardly matters, there's only so much you can do with a $99 BOM :(
 

CamHostage

Member
Does that make them better? Why couldn't Sony build the dongle into the system? I would rather not have a dongle.

I don't know whether either Xbox or PlayStation have a solution that is "better" or not than Bluetooth?

* Spec-wise, MS uses a proprietary radio design for its Xbox Wireless protocol on both Xbox One and now Xbox Series and then that is shared by both controllers and headsets; PlayStation uses Bluetooth for its controllers but then oddly does not support Bluetooth headsets even though the feature is there. (PS3 did allow BT mics but even the original Sony PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset had a USB dongle.) Bluetooth, PS, and Xbox wireless devices all operate in the 2.4 GHz radio range.

Since Xbox and PlayStation both need a wireless band to play their games with as little lag as possible, both have carved out their own unique little bands of space (Xbox natively, PS only when audio out is added to a room) to avoid crossover, so that may be one reason why they each have custom audio approaches.

Another is that Bluetooth audio has a long history of sucking. That history is changing (BT 5.0 upped the bandwidth considerably and the new audio codec in 5.2 sounds extraordinary at low bitrates in samples,) and it could have been circumvented by using BT but in a proprietary way, but overall, BT audio quality is still an issue. Sony does have an investment in its own BT audio codec, so I'm surprised a bit that we never saw like a PlayStation LDAC Bluetooth Headset (which would have to mean Sony opening PS back up to BT Audio,) but otherwise they wouldn't get great quality over standard Bluetooth for gamers. And Xbox wouldn't either, so they're not using BT Audio either even though the headset has it as an optional feature.

And another might be cost. I'm not sure what the licensing ding for BT devices is or if there's a difference in using the technology for controllers over headphones, but anywhere that MIcrosoft or Sony could save a penny, they are likely to do so.
 
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rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Does that make them better? Why couldn't Sony build the dongle into the system? I would rather not have a dongle.
Are You in the same group of people who don't like AA batteries and prefer internal controllers that die?
Dongle is good since it's no lag and I can use it on my pc perfectly fine plug and play.
 
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Justin9mm

Member
A question for anyone with the Pulse 3D headset.. Do you use the 3D enabled audio or turn it off?

Because for me, I predominantly use the headphones for MW 2019 as I have good 5.1 home theatre system which blows any headset out of the water but I need the headset to chat and to hear chat audio. The 3D audio sounds god awful on MW 2019 and the headphones are much better with it off. I'm yet to try other games with the 3D audio and assume its better suited with supported PS5 games, but is there any standout games where the 3D audio is just wow compared to stereo with it off?

I heard the RE Village demo was good but looking for a full game to try it out on. For the price I can't complain too much for the features it has but not sold on the audio quality with the 3D audio, it's not great at all imo.
 

stitch1

Member
Are You in the same group of people who don't like AA batteries and prefer internal controllers that die?
Dongle is good since it's no lag and I can use it on my pc perfectly fine plug and play.
I am not. I see pros and cons to both battery types. I use rechargeable AAs in my normal Xbox controllers as I can quickly swap them. Although, I do like how long the Elite Series 2 controller lasts.

As far a built in batteries go I have only had to open up and replace the ones on my PS3. But my PS4 controllers are getting there. They just don't last more than a few hours at best anymore.

As far as headsets go I like the idea of not having to use a dongle for an accessory that is designed around that system. Why take up one of the ports for some that is branded for that device. If I am buying a Play Station headset or an Xbox headset it should just work with that device not wires or dongles needed.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I am not. I see pros and cons to both battery types. I use rechargeable AAs in my normal Xbox controllers as I can quickly swap them. Although, I do like how long the Elite Series 2 controller lasts.

As far a built in batteries go I have only had to open up and replace the ones on my PS3. But my PS4 controllers are getting there. They just don't last more than a few hours at best anymore.

As far as headsets go I like the idea of not having to use a dongle for an accessory that is designed around that system. Why take up one of the ports for some that is branded for that device. If I am buying a Play Station headset or an Xbox headset it should just work with that device not wires or dongles needed.
oh thank god I was hoping You are not crazy :D
They could include the dongly functionality built in the system but then I don't think they would be selling separate dongle since it's sony and I couldn't use 1 headset on ps5 and pc.
You can kinda plug it in the back of the ps5 to have it out of the way so that... something
 

FrankWza

Member
A question for anyone with the Pulse 3D headset.. Do you use the 3D enabled audio or turn it off?

Because for me, I predominantly use the headphones for MW 2019 as I have good 5.1 home theatre system which blows any headset out of the water but I need the headset to chat and to hear chat audio. The 3D audio sounds god awful on MW 2019 and the headphones are much better with it off. I'm yet to try other games with the 3D audio and assume its better suited with supported PS5 games, but is there any standout games where the 3D audio is just wow compared to stereo with it off?

I heard the RE Village demo was good but looking for a full game to try it out on. For the price I can't complain too much for the features it has but not sold on the audio quality with the 3D audio, it's not great at all imo.
When games aren’t made with Tempest they most likely will sound better using their own mix. I believe MW would be one of those games. You’re basically doing 2 times the VSS processing. You can try tempest on and turn the MW options to 2 channel or the equivalent and see if that sounds better.
 

Batiman

Banned
Perfect timing for this thread. My son just broke our second headset. Left speakers not working now unless I bend the wire in a specific spot. I’m assuming from him pulling out the chord from the wire directly. Damn these things are made so damn cheap. I think it’s time for wireless.
 
Since this is a comparison thread :



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stitch1

Member
oh thank god I was hoping You are not crazy :D
They could include the dongly functionality built in the system but then I don't think they would be selling separate dongle since it's sony and I couldn't use 1 headset on ps5 and pc.
You can kinda plug it in the back of the ps5 to have it out of the way so that... something
Yeah that's how I have it setup now. Dongle on the back. Just seems like an afterthought on Sony's part.
 
I have both headsets...the Sony one feels like and extension of the old ps4 one but has a real flimsy plastic feel and feels very brittle...the sound on the headset is fine but still nothing on a arctis headset...you could probably stick with your original ps4 headset and you would notice nothing

the Xbox one feels very much like an elite controller and is very solid and has a good weight and fit to your head and ears.the dial features are probably one of the best features of any headset on the market and the customisation you can do in the Xbox accessories app allows you to fine tune the headset to your needs

I would love to see ms do an elite version of this headset but I’m not sure on what they could improve....this really nails it out of the box and gives headsets that are a couple of hundred dollars more expensive a run for their money
 

Mr Moose

Member
I have these and they don’t seem to work properly on Xbox.
When I got mine a few years back the volume and surround sound button didn't work properly but updating the firmware to 10 (or something) fixed it for me, though this was on PS4, not sure if it'll help any.

 

Justin9mm

Member
When games aren’t made with Tempest they most likely will sound better using their own mix. I believe MW would be one of those games. You’re basically doing 2 times the VSS processing. You can try tempest on and turn the MW options to 2 channel or the equivalent and see if that sounds better.
I did try all the audio mix settings but it didn't make much difference. The gunfire and sounds are muffled and a little echoee. With 3D audio off, its a lot clearer and much more punchier. Something is off with the 3D audio in that game which is disappointing.
 

Trogdor1123

Member
Are You in the same group of people who don't like AA batteries and prefer internal controllers that die?
Dongle is good since it's no lag and I can use it on my pc perfectly fine plug and play.
I'm kind of in both camps. I hate AA batteries for controllers but love the dongle on the ps headset. It is so easy to just drop it into any usb port and boom it works.

I hate running out of AA batteries...
 
Arctis? Never heard of those. What is the number one brand atm? Astros, TB, Artcis, or something else?


I have to go pick these up after work. Really wanted some wireless ones for the xbox. My Platinum only works wired on it.
Steel series arctis pro wireless is the headset I use, they have a budget headset for both Xbox and playstation arctis 7x or 7p.
 
Whats their top one? I was looking them up to get an idea.
The steel series arctis wireless pro is their top wireless and the pro is their wired version.

The wireless come with 2 battery's one sits in the mixer and charges in about 3 hours so you never have any real down time.
 

Concern

Member
The steel series arctis wireless pro is their top wireless and the pro is their wired version.

The wireless come with 2 battery's one sits in the mixer and charges in about 3 hours so you never have any real down time.

Thanks. Going to look at those just out of curiosity. No complaints with the xbox headset so far.
 
I haven't tried the new Xbox headset, but I own the Pulse 3D and it sounds absolutely fantastic. That said, now that I've purchased a quality 9.1.4 sound bar setup, I cannot see myself going back to headset gaming. I have no plan to purchase the Xbox one since I'm not even using the Pulse 3D anymore.

Still, it's great that it appears there is a quality solution respective to their console.
 
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I'm a huge PlayStation fan and I would never buy any Sony audio product, they all sound awful.
My Sony ier-m9's beg to differ.
Nice cherry picking.

From IGN....

"That said, even with Atmos, the Xbox Wireless Headset’s surround sound doesn’t create the same sense of spatial awareness as Sony’s Tempest system in the PS5, particularly when used with the Pulse 3D headset."

/thread
That has to be the dumbest quote. The best headset for spacial awareness is going to be one with a huge soundstage and fantastic imaging. The pulse has neither. Kinda makes the quote just sound dumb.
Thanks. Going to look at those just out of curiosity. No complaints with the xbox headset so far.
I got some for super cheap. Very uncomfortable if you have a big head and sorta flabby base. Terrible for music. Pretty good for footsteps though. Great mic. I gave them to my kid since he doesn't have a giant head.
 
Also imagine buying a console branded headset with the intention to use it across your entire devices. Jokes.
Imagine buying a console branded headset at all. I don't get it, I really don't. Proper headphones offer better audio at a lower price point because they're not cramming in gamery features and you're not paying for the branding. And it's not like Tempest / Atmos only work on these headsets, you can use them with IEMs.

With a few exceptions "gaming" branded stuff is almost always a rip-off.
 
Imagine buying a console branded headset at all. I don't get it, I really don't. Proper headphones offer better audio at a lower price point because they're not cramming in gamery features and you're not paying for the branding. And it's not like Tempest / Atmos only work on these headsets, you can use them with IEMs.

With a few exceptions "gaming" branded stuff is almost always a rip-off.
Yeah I know the Sennheiser game ones are quite good, bought some for my kid. Very comfortable, pretty good sq, amazing quality mic.
 
I have the platinum headset which i enjoy. Was using it on both consoles but annoying it has to be wired on Xbox. Ideally would love to have one wireless for both
The wireless arctis I got were not cheap at almost the price of a ps5 but I love them, build quality is top notch.
 
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