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Sony Pulse 3D vs. Xbox Wireless Headset

jaysius

Banned
You can try these. If the bass is too low, just bump the left two frequencies up a tick.
NbDocGv.jpg
Did you read anything that helped you figure out EQs they’ve always been a little annoying to me, and I’ve never found a great guide.
 

Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Did you read anything that helped you figure out EQs they’ve always been a little annoying to me, and I’ve never found a great guide.
There really isn't a one size fits all when it comes to EQs. Honestly, it would be nice if each game could have its own sound profile.

As for EQ, I am no expert, but you don't need to be for a simple EQ like this one. If you break it down, we are basically looking at the following.
  • 125Hz = Bass
  • 250Hz = Low Mid
  • 1KHz = Mid
  • 4KHz = Upper Mid
  • 8KHz = High
The EQ is either boosting or dropping the dB of each of these frequencies independently. The goal is to eliminate or reduce resonant and unwanted frequencies. Professionals have tools that help identify and isolate these, but a lot of it still comes down to ear.
 

stitch1

Member
After trying some different settings I landed on the Atmos Gaming Quality preset. Played a bunch in Hivebusters and it all sounded great. Also played a little Forza. I'm really liking the controls.
 
It seems the simultaneous feature isn't with multiple bluetooth devices at once, is that correct? I'm able to connect to my series X (xbox protocol) and my android phone (bluetooth) so I can use both. I am unable to connect to my PC and phone both via bluetooth though, each are able to connect individually when pairing but not simultaneously. Anybody get that sort of thing running reliably?

So far the battery life has been great and they're really comfortable to wear and walk around the house with. On that range is solid too. I did have to move a power adapter away from the back of my PC as it was causing some cut offs of sound, just interference and went back to being rock solid once I moved the power adapter away from the PC tower.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
It seems the simultaneous feature isn't with multiple bluetooth devices at once, is that correct? I'm able to connect to my series X (xbox protocol) and my android phone (bluetooth) so I can use both. I am unable to connect to my PC and phone both via bluetooth though, each are able to connect individually when pairing but not simultaneously. Anybody get that sort of thing running reliably?

So far the battery life has been great and they're really comfortable to wear and walk around the house with. On that range is solid too. I did have to move a power adapter away from the back of my PC as it was causing some cut offs of sound, just interference and went back to being rock solid once I moved the power adapter away from the PC tower.

I dont think it was meant to work with two simultaneous Bluetooth devices.
 
I dont think it was meant to work with two simultaneous Bluetooth devices.
You might be right there. I did read something about 4 bluetooth devices in the marketing material though, I guess just switching between. There are other headsets out there that do this though. Hopefully Xbox does a firmware update that enables that sort of feature, it would certainly be useful for my workday.
 

TLZ

Banned
Just got the Xbox headset...

Firm impressions? They sound... mediocre.
And please god let them release some foam ear pads. It was getting sticky after like 30 minutes.
Ooook that should do. Thanks for saving me money. I'll stick with the Pulse since it doesn't do that at least.
 

Soodanim

Member
Did I misunderstand, or is that a true double pair feature on the Xbox set? That sounds like a very nice quality of life feature
 

MetalSlug

Member
I really like the Pusle 3D headset, but sadly not long after using it my Tinnitus flared up and it's been much louder/noticed during the day :messenger_loudly_crying:

So I'm trying to avoid using any headsets from now on.
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
To me the pulse sound better but not by much.

The Xbox headset has great controls how the whole outter ear piece is a dial.

For the price both are great values.

If I had to stay with one that worked for both (just dreaming) it would be the Xbox set just because of the controls
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
Nickel and dime. At one then, platform holders would eat those licensing costs when they hocked a spec feature in marketing PR.
They never advertised it as free. You pay 14.99 USD to enable Dolby Atmos for headphones across ten devices on the Dolby Access app. Its been like that since 2017 on Xbox One. Everyone knew about the licensing fee.
Windows Sonic for Headphones and Dolby Atmos for Headphones both enable spatial sound for all headphones, earbuds, and audio headsets. Windows Sonic for Headphones is available out of the box, while Dolby Atmos for Headphones is $14.99 USD and provides additional support for Dolby Atmos movies. To enable either of these on your Xbox One, navigate to [Settings > All settings > Display & sound > Audio output > Headset format] and select either Windows Sonic for Headphones or Dolby Atmos for Headphones. If you select Dolby Atmos for Headphones, you will be prompted to install the Dolby Access app and either purchase Dolby Atmos for Headphones or start a free 30-day trial.
Four years later you are getting concerned because you learned of a reason to.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
They never advertised it as free. You pay 14.99 USD to enable Dolby Atmos for headphones across ten devices on the Dolby Access app. Its been like that since 2017 on Xbox One. Everyone knew about the licensing fee.

Four years later you are getting concerned because you learned of a reason to.
I'm not concerned, I'm criticizing. Sorry not sorry if that offends you.
 

v_iHuGi

Banned
I still have my Platinum headset, it´s basically new, battery still lasts good enough too.

Is Pulse any better? i doubt because the price is like half of what i pais back in the day.
 

Erec

Neo Member
Does the Pulse(PS5?) use the Tempest Engine? Can you already send in pictures of your ear to get amazing HRTF?
 

Jaysen

Banned
Headsets aside, the biggest audio difference for me between the consoles is chat quality. I skipped XB1 so it might have been the same, but holy shit are chats way more clearer on my XSX than on PS5. Also the party system on PS5 changed for the worse.
 

Murdoch

Member
Headsets aside, the biggest audio difference for me between the consoles is chat quality. I skipped XB1 so it might have been the same, but holy shit are chats way more clearer on my XSX than on PS5. Also the party system on PS5 changed for the worse.

It's odd this never gets mentioned actually but unless the party system and codec have improved on Ps5 it's not only a lot slower to setup but as you said, the quality is much, much poorer aside.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Not sure what's the comparison here, but with Pulse 3D on PC you can use the same dongle to have lossless 2.4GHz connection. Also you can use direct AUX to an amp/controller. 3D audio comes for free as well, no extra charge.

The dongle seems to work with the Switch as well.
 
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CamHostage

Member
Why would anyone want to use a wire with a wireless headset?

If the headset sounds good and the gear you're using it with doesn't have wireless functions (which is a LOT of audio gear,) better a wire than nothing.

Also, it's a USB Audio-to-Wireless device, so all the benefits of your USB Audio connection (which is a good amount of gear and also all PCs) are there, so versatility is all around.

...My question is, why would anyone want to use Bluetooth 4.2 with no AptX/AAC/equivalent to keep good sound sounding good?

(*The Dual Pair is a compelling use case, so there is that at least.)
(And as has been mentioned, it's hard to use one headset with the opposite console, so we can compare them for fun or to set expectations for 2.0 of either headset line, but ultimately there's no easy path to just buying the best headset between the two; get the one for the console you own and that's that.)
 
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THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
If the headset sounds good and the gear you're using it with doesn't have wireless functions (which is a LOT of audio gear,) better a wire than nothing.

Also, it's a USB Audio-to-Wireless device, so all the benefits of your USB Audio connection (which is a good amount of gear and also all PCs) are there, so versatility is all around.

...My question is, why would anyone want to use Bluetooth 4.2 with no AptX/AAC/equivalent to keep good sound sounding good?

(*The Dual Pair is a compelling use case, so there is that at least.)
(And as has been mentioned, it's hard to use one headset with the opposite console, so we can compare them for fun or to set expectations for 2.0 of either headset line, but ultimately there's no easy path to just buying the best headset between the two; get the one for the console you own and that's that.)

Except that if what you really want is a wired headset, there are much better sounding options for $100. 99% of use for both of these headsets will be wireless, the addition of Bluetooth is more valuable.
 
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
Yah. Sony has the best binaural audio.
 

CamHostage

Member
Except that if what you really want is a wired headset, there are much better sounding options for $100. 99% of use for both of these headsets will be wireless, the addition of Bluetooth is more valuable.

If you're buying a Pulse 3D, you don't really want a wired headset; you really want a wireless headset but also don't want to be shit-out-of-luck if you feel like tapping into another sound source or and the nearest good-sounding headphones that aren't earbuds are your gaming ones. I constantly have devices that I plug into for one reason or another (a 3.5" is still on almost everything that makes a squeak, except for phones,) whereas I can't think of a lot of cases where I've gone, "Oh thank god, it's got Bluetooth..."
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
I
If you're buying a Pulse 3D, you don't really want a wired headset; you really want a wireless headset but also don't want to be shit-out-of-luck if you feel like tapping into another sound source or and the nearest good-sounding headphones that aren't earbuds are your gaming ones. I constantly have devices that I plug into for one reason or another (a 3.5" is still on almost everything that makes a squeak, except for phones,) whereas I can't think of a lot of cases where I've gone, "Oh thank god, it's got Bluetooth..."

I would contend that this very rarely happens, and that 98% of buyers don't even take the wired cable out of the box or lose it far before this happens.
 
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STARSBarry

Gold Member
Why is that?



Because the verge don't hire tech experts who know what the fuck there talking about. This has been pretty much proven time and again, eclipsing in this video where when people pointed out the guy was doing things like installing the PSU backwards potentially choking it's airflow and presenting a fire hazard the guy went on to bad mouth the community as a bunch of angry nerds who hate him because he's black.

Everything in this video is pretty much wrong, but this was the best guy in the office for it apparently... do you trust the guy they hired to review headphones to know about them now? No...

Why is no one talking about the fact Dolby Atmos is a 6 month trial and requires a separate payment to use beyond that? I use Dolby Atmos on PC (which I paid for) its a hell of a diffrence even compared to other premium DAC's but you need to pay on top for this. Sony's tempest is the only thing iv heard that is superior for these false surround headphones and comes as standard which I use on my Wh-1000xm4's and is utterly fantastic even compared to Atmos, the issue with Tempest is it needs its own file type, which is not an issue for PS5 games as they support it, but means listening to an MP3 played on the console is going to sound better on the Atmos headset.
 
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Because the verge don't hire tech experts who know what the fuck there talking about. This has been pretty much proven time and again, eclipsing in this video where when people pointed out the guy was doing things like installing the PSU backwards potentially choking it's airflow and presenting a fire hazard the guy went on to bad mouth the community as a bunch of angry nerds who hate him because he's black.

Everything in this video is pretty much wrong, but this was the best guy in the office for it apparently... do you trust the guy they hired to review headphones to know about them now? No...

Why is no one talking about the fact Dolby Atmos is a 6 month trial and requires a separate payment to use beyond that? I use Dolby Atmos on PC (which I paid for) its a hell of a diffrence even compared to other premium DAC's but you need to pay on top for this. Sony's tempest is the only thing iv heard that is superior for these false surround headphones and comes as standard which I use on my Wh-1000xm4's and is utterly fantastic even compared to Atmos, the issue with Tempest is it needs its own file type, which is not an issue for PS5 games as they support it, but means listening to an MP3 played on the console is going to sound better on the Atmos headset.

How did you come to the conclusion it's better if there currently isn't an A B to compare?
A DAC is a digital to analog converter. In the case of these headphones It's a physical thing that sits between the receiver and the drivers. Using the pulses wired it then is in the device you plug into.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
How did you come to the conclusion it's better if there currently isn't an A B to compare?
A DAC is a digital to analog converter. In the case of these headphones It's a physical thing that sits between the receiver and the drivers. Using the pulses wired it then is in the device you plug into.
yep. Technically if You use them wired and wireless, the sound should change like You say.
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
How did you come to the conclusion it's better if there currently isn't an A B to compare?
A DAC is a digital to analog converter. In the case of these headphones It's a physical thing that sits between the receiver and the drivers. Using the pulses wired it then is in the device you plug into.

I mean sound is subjective but I have a seperate ESS DAC which I physically plug my headphones into, most motherboard's also have an onboard DAC depending on if its a High end premium one. However the Dolby Atmos software works miracles for audio on PC, iv started to use it almost exclusively especially for gaming as it just sounds better and despite essentially using stereo seems to give more accurate representation of gunshots on my 7.1 headset than an actual DAC that supports 7.1

As for my Sony Wh-1000xm4, as long as I'm using the correct file type for 3D audio it sounds the best, however for everything else even lossless formats its just.... ok, making it play through ATMOS first improves the experience for pretty much any music file type.

So what I'm saying is a headset that supports the same Atmos will be great... the issue is in Microsoft case you have to pay extra to access this after 6 months.

However since the pulse comes with the Tempest 3D audio as standard and the PS5 supports that format natively, unless your using your gaming headset to listen to none tempest music or movies I don't think The Microsoft sets going to sound best.... in my experience.
 
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I mean sound is subjective but I have a seperate ESS DAC which I physically plug my headphones into, most motherboard's also have an onboard DAC depending on if its a High end premium one. However the Dolby Atmos software works miracles for audio on PC, iv started to use it almost exclusively especially for gaming as it just sounds better and despite essentially using stereo seems to give more accurate representation of gunshots on my 7.1 headset than an actual DAC that supports 7.1

As for my Sony Wh-1000xm4, as long as I'm using the correct file type for 3D audio it sounds the best, however for everything else even lossless formats its just.... ok, making it play through ATMOS first improves the experience for pretty much any music file type.
Sorry I might not of been clear.
How could you come to the conclusion that Tempest is better if currently there is nothing to AB.
Currently there is no game that supports Tempest and something else. So how did anyone for that matter compare Tempest to Atmos or DTS or Sonic?
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
Sorry I might not of been clear.
How could you come to the conclusion that Tempest is better if currently there is nothing to AB.
Currently there is no game that supports Tempest and something else. So how did anyone for that matter compare Tempest to Atmos or DTS or Sonic?

Because hyperbole is a thing and people have ears... so if you need a 1 hour comparison showing graphs proving the range before you can make any conclusion based on how something sounds to you while using the product this ain't going to to work for you sorry. I can however play a game with Tempest on PS5, then take that same headset upstairs and plug it into a DAC, and then plug it into my PC and use Atmos and play the same game to compare, but thats not an exact science.

Hence the subjective part if your looking for a pie chart sorry I don't have that on me.
 
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Because hyperbole is a thing and people have ears... so if you need a 1 hour comparison showing graphs proving the range before you can make any conclusion based on how something sounds to you while using the product this ain't going to to work for you sorry. I can however play a game with Tempest on PS5, then take that same headset upstairs and plug it into a DAC, and then plug it into my PC and use Atmos and play the same game to compare, but thats not an exact science.

Hence the subjective part if your looking for a pie chart sorry I don't have that on me.
While not 100% sure, I'm quite confident there are no current games that support Tempest and one of the other options so a comparison can not be made.
 
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