Need your opinions about Arctis Nova pro wireless!

[kitnoman]

SO I've wanted  to get an arctis pro wireless last 2yrs, but could not justify the price, since it's either out of stock at msrp or way over msrp. But now that there's a new version, with the lack of reviews, should I just get one? (I'm in a country that does not allow return of purchase just because). And I think I found 2-3 reviews and from what I got, for overall device compatibility, the best one is the xbox version.

[Slottr]

They sound "Okay" with tuning, but the microphone is horrendous

 

Spend your money elsewhere

[OfficialTechSpace]

I'm about to blow your mind. Gaming headsets... suck for gaming  not just that, but general media consumption as well. Critical listening reveals a number of technical insufficiencies over similarly priced headphones. Here's another mindblower... ANY headphone can be used for gaming  and coming from an audio-specializing company, you have an infinitely better potential for receiving a quality end product. 

 

Just buy a decent headphone. If you need a mic, buy a mic too. "With a gaming headphone, you get sh*tty versions of both" - one of my favorite quotes from Uncle Crin.

 

If you give us a rough budget to work with, we can give you some better recommendations.

[191x7]

1 hour ago, kitnoman said:

SO I've wanted  to get an arctis pro wireless last 2yrs, but could not justify the price, since it's either out of stock at msrp or way over msrp. But now that there's a new version, with the lack of reviews, should I just get one? (I'm in a country that does not allow return of purchase just because). And I think I found 2-3 reviews and from what I got, for overall device compatibility, the best one is the xbox version.

Steelseries might have acceptable gaming audio quality (audio most people consider acceptable for gaming most people that like music or people that understand sound would call trash, poor audio), but the build quality is terrible, and Steelseries doesn't fix the known flaws in their designs.

 

Does it have to be wireless?

[kitnoman]

6 hours ago, 191x7 said:

Does it have to be wireless?

Yes, I really want it to be wireless.

 

7 hours ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

I'm about to blow your mind. Gaming headsets... suck for gaming  not just that, but general media consumption as well. Critical listening reveals a number of technical insufficiencies over similarly priced headphones. Here's another mindblower... ANY headphone can be used for gaming  and coming from an audio-specializing company, you have an infinitely better potential for receiving a quality end product. 

 

Just buy a decent headphone. If you need a mic, buy a mic too. "With a gaming headphone, you get sh*tty versions of both" - one of my favorite quotes from Uncle Crin.

 

If you give us a rough budget to work with, we can give you some better recommendations.

 

I don't really have a budget but I guess the max is around the price of the nova pro max. I actually have a headset, headphone and an earphone right now. Steelseries actis 9 for gaming headset, wireless audiotechnica ath-m50x and an Avantree earphone. Theses are actually the best headphones/headset I've ever gotten. Unless you count beats/apple earphones. I had a wired audiotechnica before I think it was great, but I really want wireless now. I really can't say I've used any high end headphones so I really can't imagine the difference. I also don't have the time and budget to learn about audiophile headphones, dac and amps right now. I also don't want a separate mic, I don't think I would like setting up a mic stand or arm. 

But I do understand what you mean about you don't need a "gaming" headset. Before the arctis 9, I've only been using headphones. It's just that I like the idea, that at home, I only have one headset for all of my devices.

[OfficialTechSpace]

4 hours ago, kitnoman said:

I really can't say I've used any high end headphones so I really can't imagine the difference. I also don't have the time and budget to learn about audiophile headphones, dac and amps right now. I also don't want a separate mic, I don't think I would like setting up a mic stand or arm. 

It's a night-and-day difference that requires less than you'd think. A $109 HiFiMan HE400SE would blow away everything in your inventory for virtually half the price. What you can do with a budget of ~$250 is immesurable to someone who hasn't experienced true HiFi yet. Also, solutions like the Antlion ModMic exist. There's no need for a silly desk-standing mic or one with a boom arm, the ModMic plops straight onto the side of your existing headphones.

 

I can refer you to other happy members I've recommended the same setup for reference.

4 hours ago, kitnoman said:

Yes, I really want it to be wireless.

Unfortunately, there is no perfect wireless headphone. That may change at some point, but as of now I can't think of a single wireless over-ear set worth having. TWS IEMs are a bit different, and at least they're tuned respectably. The Samsung/AKG Galaxy Buds Pro for one, are tuned exceptionally well.

[kitnoman]

12 hours ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

It's a night-and-day difference that requires less than you'd think. A $109 HiFiMan HE400SE would blow away everything in your inventory for virtually half the price. What you can do with a budget of ~$250 is immesurable to someone who hasn't experienced true HiFi yet. Also, solutions like the Antlion ModMic exist. There's no need for a silly desk-standing mic or one with a boom arm, the ModMic plops straight onto the side of your existing headphones.

 

I know that headphones/headsets are big, but when on a rush, I tend to forget that I have them and just stand/leave immediately and ruined expensive headphones before. That's why I actually loved my wired audiotechnica, as it has detachable wire and when I broke them I just get a new one. However, as I'm now used to wireless/bluetooth solutions, I'm normally walk around the house with my headphone/set. But do understand that wired is way better sounding solution, I just think I would rather give up some for the "convenience" of wireless.

However, I'm intrigue with your advice. Say I do get the HiFiMan HE400SE, what is the most affordable decent amp and dac? and does it need those for pc? I think I would only be using it mostly for listening to music and spotify as the source, will that be an issue? And what eq app, would you suggest for a layman like me? If you also have a video you can recommend on how to actually mix, would really help. One of the major appeal of the steelseries nova pro for me, is not only there's dedicated eq app, but steelseries themselves and other users could share sound profile, that I can just simply apply. I mean, I would love learning to cook a recipe, but I also wouldn't mind eating fastfood.

[OfficialTechSpace]

2 hours ago, kitnoman said:

Say I do get the HiFiMan HE400SE, what is the most affordable decent amp and dac? and does it need those for pc? I think I would only be using it mostly for listening to music and spotify as the source, will that be an issue? And what eq app, would you suggest for a layman like me? If you also have a video you can recommend on how to actually mix, would really help.

According to the last member I recommended these to, they've plaid back perfectly fine using their onboard audio. I could DM you their username if you'd like. I wouldn't expect anything less in your case, it really just depends on how far you'd like to push them in terms of loudness. They're probably my favorite headphone under $200, and dare I say $350. I'd chose them over almost everything up until the HiFiMan Sundara, which is the bigger brother to the HE400SE. Music playback should be absolutely no issue, as performance on a budget was the sole purpose for this models release. Spotify doesn't have the audio in the world, but you'll still notice a massive bump in sound quality. I push people towards lossless platforms such as Amazon Music HD, and Tidal HiFi, to avoid lossy compression.

 

When it comes to EQ, you can do it to anything. Equalizer APO with Peace UI is possibly the most comprehensive of the bunch. I use it myself, and there are plenty of good tutorials explaining how to use it properly. There's also a large database of pre-tuned profiles shared by the community, and a lot of Harmon-matching corrections (if you're into that). This is the one in particular I used to get started:

[kitnoman]

Got it. Thanks a lot for the info!

[HumdrumPenguin]

On 5/25/2022 at 6:24 AM, kitnoman said:

Yes, I really want it to be wireless.

 

 

I don't really have a budget but I guess the max is around the price of the nova pro max. I actually have a headset, headphone and an earphone right now. Steelseries actis 9 for gaming headset, wireless audiotechnica ath-m50x and an Avantree earphone. Theses are actually the best headphones/headset I've ever gotten. Unless you count beats/apple earphones. I had a wired audiotechnica before I think it was great, but I really want wireless now. I really can't say I've used any high end headphones so I really can't imagine the difference. I also don't have the time and budget to learn about audiophile headphones, dac and amps right now. I also don't want a separate mic, I don't think I would like setting up a mic stand or arm. 

But I do understand what you mean about you don't need a "gaming" headset. Before the arctis 9, I've only been using headphones. It's just that I like the idea, that at home, I only have one headset for all of my devices.

You don't need an arm for certain mics. I use a Blue Yeti Nano, and it sits on the table on its own stand, at a reasonable distance from me. It captures my voice really well anyway, and I use it daily while working (hardly ever when gaming ). With less than a thousand bucks, you can get a pretty decent setup for both sound input and output (not counting loudspeakers).