20 Best Headset Mic For Streaming (2023 Updated)

RAZER BLACKSHARK V2 😍 Pros : One of the Best Eq software in the industry Triforce titanium 50 mm drivers gives you a crisp sound quality. Surround sound : (THX SPATIAL SOUND) has pin point direction accuracy easy to know the enemy’s direction and environment sounds are out if the world.

Great Cross Platform Compatibility mobile, ps, Nintendo and pc PS5 users soundcard is pretty much useless thx spatial sound wont work in ps5 but you can use the 3d sound by sony it works absolutely perfect with BLACKSHARK’s surround sound.

Cons : Without the Soundcard or Razer Synapse it won’t work upto it’s potential. Direct 3. 5 jack output is above average performance and bass is muddy without usb soundcard and synapse. Verdict If you don’t want to eq the sounds and all you want is a factory setting headsets ready to plug and go i recommend HYPER X cloud 2 great gaming headset.

Bass is mussy and low. Sound quality is good Surround sound is not so well when compared with blackshark’s THX SPATIAL SOUND Direct aux performance is better than Blackshark. Or For the hardcore eSports gamers and multiplatform gamers who want great quality sound, supreme Spatial sound and bass and adjust sounds according to your taste go for razer blackshark v2 or (v2 Pro if you have the budget) With proper Eq you can use it for movies, music etc.

which cloud 2 doesn’t offer With provided usb soundcard, razer Synapse and thx spatial sound it takes Blackshark to another level. I wish if there could be a wireless variant for comfort but wired is best and cheap.

Alternative: Steel series Arctis 5 is awesome headsets but in my area after sales is bad and warranty claiming is a hassle.

This pair of headphones is very, very good. It has good sound quality, and it’s very sturdy. You don’t need the sound card or the mic, so it’s not too complicated. The only downfall is that at louder volumes, the people around you can start hearing your music.

That happens with most headphones anyways, so it’s not a big deal for me. With the volume knob on the headset and Spotify turned all the way up, I could faintly hear my music through my pillows at 30 volume (PC).

Maybe not so good if you like your privacy. Just don’t blast them and you’ll be fine. What I really like is the design of the headset. It’s comfortable on my head, and the adjustment rod things are cool.

If you want a cheap pair of headphones, these are not for you. But if you’re willing to spend a little more on them, then this is the pair you want. Sturdy, good-quality, and clean.

The sound quality is great, can hear directional noises in games. Mic works fine, it doesn’t pick up on background noises, but that being said, it needs to be quite close to my mouth for others to hear me properly and the mic cable doesn’t always stay close – it starts to move away as it slightly re-straightens itself, but honestly it’s not too much of a problem.

Comfort-wise the headset sits nicely on my head, it doesn’t compress the top of my head nor my sides at all, unlike my experience with more expensive headsets in the past. You can adjust the top band as well to fit if you have a smaller head.

Only con really is that I did start to feel a slight pain around the top of my ears after a long game sess, but nothing too crazy – however this might’ve be due to me wearing the band too loose at the time so the cups mostly ended up resting on top my ears, if I adjusted the band to have more support on the top of my head I think it should’ve been fine 🙂 Got it during boxing day sale so really happy with purchase overall, would def recommend to those looking for comfort and good sound quality while gaming.

I don’t want to sound like the grumpy ole fart who leaves reviews that doesn’t help anyone so I will be as honest as possible when reviewing this microphone in hopes that this messages spreads and reach more people.

Let me start off by saying I play a lot of FPS on PC anywhere from escape from Tarkov, apex legends, COD, and soon battlefield 2042. I can clock roughly 4-5 hours a day after work so I’m mostly on. I purchased this headphones the beginning of December 2020.

First impressions:Loved the headset. Audio wasn’t spectacular but It still got the job done with hearing footsteps in game and being in the moment. The chat/game mix is one of the easiest I have ever dealt with and I’ve had A50’s (gen 3) as well.

The replaceable batteries are really good as well. I never had to worry about my wireless headset dying which is really good if you game a lot or forget to charge one of the batteries. The software interface wasn’t bad, I had small issues with the display when enabling the discord features on the station.

8 MONTHS LATER “Premium Headset”:Please note the headliner for this section still pisses me off because for a $330 headset I would expect it to last a year maybe more? The base where it connects to the ear pieces are cheaply made, the ONE point of contact (which i wished I paid attention to before) causes this headset is easily degrade in durability.

Let me note, I have never been rough with this headset. It sits on a stand in my gaming room. The only time it is in use is if I’m playing the game. So for the headset to simply fall apart after 8 months in the way it did, is unacceptable for $330 headphones.

When trying to bring this issue to the manufacturers attention, as you can see, they simply gave me a generic answer. The crazy THING is I even OFFERED TO PAY for just the headset. They denied my request which led me to believe they would simply prefer to have you buy the whole thing again.

I personally believe this company doesn’t stand behind their product. I’ve spoken to audio headset engineers who have also expressed this could very well be a design flaw but they will not admit that.

(That’s how far and mad I’ve become to go that far). I’ve had A50’s, A40’s, Turtle Beaches, and have never been more upset. Furthermore, if you look at their other models, I believe I saw a artic 7 In Best Buy, sams design but different frame used for the connection where the ear pieces meet.

They look more stable and secure than its expensive counterpart. Suggestion: If you do buy an artic headset, specifically these ones, get it from Best Buy and get there 2 year warranty so WHEN this happens to you, you can return it for another one because the company will not help you what-so-ever.

I have officially became one of the negative comments on Google that looks fake as hell and dissatisfied with life. You’re all welcome.

I have been a long time customer of SteelSeries peripherals. I have owned many different models of there mouse and keyboards, mousepads, and even the old racing wheel they used to sell. I was looking into buying a headset around the time that these came out and was really excited to check them out.

I originally wanted the wireless version or the ones that comes with the gamedac, but they were constantly out of stock so i settled on these instead. For the price you pay though, they really are not worth it.

First the aluminum band sockets into a plastic housing which has been known for a long time to break convienently right after the warranty period ends, the audio quality really isnt that great for the amount that you pay.

The only positive that I can give this thing is that the mic is great, almost too good as it picks up basically everything around you. If you are like me and tend to buy really clicky and loud mechanical keyboards, I would definitely think about getting something else as your teammates will hear your every keystoke in game.

I am really kind of disappointed in this headset. I recently just picked up a pair of Corsair HS70 pros, they are wireless, far cheaper, and the overall sound and build quality are much better if you are in the market I would look into alternatives.

Astro is also another you may want to consider before these.

These headphones were the one of the coolest audio experiences I’ve had when I first plugged them in. Then the first update from SteelSeries’ GG software came. I installed it because it forced me to.

From that point on I had to pause the songs from my phone multiple times to get the audio to suddenly work right again. If I didn’t do it, the audio was harsh, overly bright and missing the lower frequencies entirely.

Then another update came, and forced me to update. This update didn’t appear to change anything until I went to play the following day. Now the headset doesn’t get any audio except for Bluetooth. The headset went from being amazing to unusable in under 72 hours seemingly from updates that SteelSeries forced.

Now the headset is sold out everywhere and backordered. I am not happy. For those wondering why I still gave it a 3 star, it’s because I would have given it a 5 star and a review that would have gushed about how amazing they were had this not happened.

The sound quality is quality is about on par with my Sony WH-1000XM4’s, though the soundstage is naturally wider even before using the SONAR system. The build quality of the headset and DAC are right where they should be for the price.

The fact that I can have my phone playing music through Bluetooth while the game audio from my computer is also playing is amazing and I’m not sure why nobody else is doing this with their headsets. I love that the headset makes it so the Bluetooth audio is stereo even when the game audio is using SONAR.

Speaking of SONAR, the software is really what makes this headset shine (before they ruined it) though. I usually avoid fake surround sound and just get really good stereo open back headphones because it usually makes everything sound echoey and fake, but SONAR has so much tuning ability at your fingertips that you can really make anything sound the way you want with these.

The detail is there for someone looking to use these for just competitive games, but you can slam the immersion slider and suddenly games like Red Dead 2 or Elden Ring sound like they are actually around you, expansive, open, amazing.

I am so disappointed that my headset is having issues, it was definitely going to be my new go to for gaming audio. I will be returning it if they do not fix this by the time my return period comes to an end.

I was looking for a wireless replacement for the wired Plantronics headsets my work issues but with better sound quality for listening to music between calls. Out of the box the audio and mic quality were awful.

Here’s my advice; disable THX completely unless you are playing games, stereo sources sound abysmal due to the simulated surround feature of THX. This takes a little while to get your head around, you should disable in the Razer control app and also change the sound source to the one that doesn’t have THX in the name, the driver installs a few.

Next, disable all the mic features (noise gate, clarity, etc), then use the EQ sliders to pump the thee low end bars all the way up to 100%, then ramp the sliders from the left to the center gradually down to the 50% mark, the second half of the sliders should stay at 50%.

With the above changes the audio quality is greatly improved, the mic is probably good enough for gaming, but doesn’t match the Plantronics for fidelity on VOIP calls. Having said that, from my research, these headsets have the best mic out of all the gaming headsets.

My mic mute button doesn’t interact with Teams, so you will still look as unmuted on your end which can take some getting used to. One good feature is that you can pause/play the last audio source by clicking the power button, useful for stopping music before accepting a call.

So, to be fair the older model Cloud Stinger Core Wireless the one without the terrible simulated 7. 1 surround sound was the best wireless gaming headset Id ever owned. Considering most Ive owned cost well over 100 and CSCW came in at 80, that was really an accomplishment.

It was super light and comfortable, had surprisingly GREAT audio and a fantastic mic to boot. Unfortunately, the mic died on me at just over a year from the purchase date. When I saw that there was a newer model with 7.

1 support and more comfortable ear and headband cushions, for the same 80, I ran straight to my local Best Buy to grab one. Okay, long story short. Yes, the new model is more comfortable than the old one, which is really saying something positive.

Unfortunately thats where the positives end. It still sounded good, but not nearly as good as the original model. Something changed there, and not for the better. Im talking standard stereo mode with no HyperX software.

But that alone wasnt enough to make me return it. What was The mic on the new 7. 1 model is absolute garbage. Period. It was so bad I thought I must have gotten a defective unit. So I returned it, and the brand new replacement was exactly the same.

With the old model I could keep the mic a few inches away from my face and just above the tip of my nose and be heard perfectly, even when talking in a hushed voice. With the new model I had to keep the mic, literally, right on my mouth, and was forced to always speak louder than normal to be heard.

Ive since returned the replacement and now use the old headset with an external mic. Its a shame because my first HyperX product ever really impressed me, and Im really hard guy to impress. Unfortunately, it seems like theyre going in the wrong direction when it comes to quality of components, and worse theyre masking downgrades as upgrades.

Thats unacceptable to me, and therefore I wont be purchasing HyperX again.

Perhaps I just haven’t used great headphones yet, but no matter which ones I use I always seem to tell myself: “My HyperX’s back home sound much better. ” For the price I couldn’t and still can’t believe they sound great! I know there are plenty of $200 headphones that would destroy these, but trust me.

These 50 bucks are gonna be really worth it. Considering how many times these things have met the floor they are in disgustingly good condition. They are quite durable. I see photos of people with absolutely trashed cords and I can’t imagine what they did to their pair to get that.

I’ve been using these for about 4-5 years, I can’t remember exactly when I bought them. Bottom line is they’ve held up and if they are taken care of, unlike mine, they’ll last for a very long while. I do in fact recommend these headphones and think they’re a great item to buy if you have the money.

I bought this as a replacement/upgrade from a ten year old wired Logitech headset whose cord had been tripped over so many times it had become painful to my Discord communities with frequent bursts of static, This HyperX – Cloud II Wireless 7.

1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset has to be the most comfortable headset I’ve ever worn. I can go for hours without any discomfort. The battery easily lasts the claimed 30 hours as I charge it like every third day.

Even should the battery run out the headset works just fine while it is charging, Wireless is a game changer. I can head to the kitchen or anywhere in the house and not miss the conversation. The price was a bit more than I intended to spend, but after a few weeks of use I am convinced it was well worth the price though I did purchase it on a sale for $129.

99, The normal MSRP is a bit more. I recommend it still though getting it on sale is a plus. My only complaint is that the black on black of the wired version of this product is unavailable in wireless.

The wireless version only comes in red/black, which while it looks fine would not be my preference were the original colors available.

I bought these as a present for my son to use with his Samsung phone, but with only a USB-C plug on his phone, he would have to use an adapter when taking work phone calls. They are also wireless, not bluetooth, so he wouldn’t be able to connect to other bluetooth-enabled devices.

These were show-stoppers, so I took them back. These are really meant for gamers and connecting directly to a computer or laptop. I had to give an overall rating and the 3 stars mean nothing other than I had to give them some rating in order to write this review.

I learned to be more careful with wireless vs. bluetooth. These might be very good for their intended use, I just can’t comment on that. The only reason I’m saying I don’t recommend them is, again, I had to pick something, and I don’t want to mislead others by saying they are either good or bad for gaming.

They were not good for what I needed but that is on me for not being more careful in understanding how to use these before I purchased them. I returned them and bought a pair of Bose QuietComfort 35 IIs.

I was very impressed with the quality and performance of this headset! It’s lightweight and so comfortable that I can wear it for hours at a time without any sort of discomfort. They seem to have very durable construction and I liked the aluminum frame.

The 30 hours of battery life is also incredible. The surround sound was great, and I was thrilled with the precision of the positional audio. The one thing that I am concerned about is the fact that the microphone is detachable.

I can see the possibility of the port getting worn over time. I’m also concerned about misplacing the microphone part and needing to replace it. The microphone also isn’t very adjustable when in use.

I found that it is always slightly in my field of vision, which is a little bit distracting. I would still definitely recommend these to anyone looking for a wireless gaming headset!.

I would like to begin this review with a disclaimer that I am not any sort of audiophile or headphone enthusiast – I am simply a gamer that works from home and is overall very enthusiastic about Corsair products.

I have owned, I believe, about three of these headsets since they have released, coming from the Void series. Each one, including the current, has been returned due to premature deaths that I don’t really think should be an issue with a headset of this price.

As a disclaimer, I am not rough with my headsets – they get used a lot as I do game a lot and I utilize the headset while working from home, but I charge appropriately and lay the headset on a hook when it is not in use.

They are not dropped or otherwise mishandled – the roughest they have ever been in was in my carry-on luggage during a flight, which had other expensive equipment in it, so it was handled very carefully.

The first two headsets ran into issues with battery and charging – the first quite abruptly would refuse to power on at all and would not charge, and the second one had a defective battery that only a couple months after use would “fully charge” only to be “battery critical” only after around a half hour of use, and would take multiple hours of charging regardless of what cord and input was used.

My latest headset has not had any battery issues, but the black outer cover of the ear cushions have completely become unglued, which leads to annoyance when putting on / removing the headset as well as during cleaning with appropriate sanitizing wipes.

Obviously I could likely rectify this issue myself, but this really shouldn’t be an issue after only a couple of months. On the plus side, the headset is very sleek and fits into the Corsair design motif, and while the RGB symbol isn’t really that important it does add a nice flair.

While a bit heavy, I wouldn’t call the headset uncomfortable by any means and I wear it for several hours a day without any issue. It’s really unfortunate as I’d love to give this a raving review, especially seeing as all my other Corsair products run wonderfully (K95, Scimitar, and several internal PC components).

It’s simply overpriced I feel for it’s build quality & there are better options out there for what you pay for.

I bought these headphones replace some HyperX Cloud Flight that I use for video conference calls but seem to be dying. There were several EXTREMELY concerning items and some annoyances. Concern: * Plugged into USB through a dock, the sound quality glitched and became highly broken up.

Had to unplug and re-plug. This was after a reboot after installation. I’m not living with that * Bluetooth lag is horrendous. After pairing, I tested bluetooth microphone lag, and it’s appalling. Maybe as high as 300 ms (connected to a beefy windows machine) Because 2 of the 4 connection modes are basically either unusable or likely to be unusable, I’ll be returning them quickly (already boxed back up).

Annoyances: * [MAJOR] system audio stops on bluetooth when on a conference call with microphone enabled. THIS SHOULD BE DISCLOSED IN THE SPECS * Bluetooth is a separate set of functions and circuits.

It has separate Bluetooth volume button from the volume dial for non-bluetooth * Fits VERY loosely. I have a medium size that tends towards small. These did not really seal very well against my head and ears * Microphone LED can’t be turned off in Bluetooth mode (you can turn off the LED if the microphone is not on mute) * Microphone LED shows up front facing in all modes.

It would be far better if it were only rear (wearer) facing * Microphone mute button is tiny – I can’t imagine trying to hit it accurately to mute an oncoming cough * Why didn’t they make the slipstream dongle a usb-c connection? I might well have kept them, if so * Suprisingly heavy.

I didn’t compare weight to any other headsets and might should have. I think this could get super annoying after my common 6 – 8 hours of video conference calls a day Redeeming qualities: * Decent sound quality for the small amount of time I used it.

Better than the Cloud Flight. Not as good as Sony MDR-7506 or WH-1000XM3. Better than AirPods gen 3. * Look decent, though bulky, for gamer headphones * Microphone IS good quality and detachable * Better wireless range than the Cloud Flight Shortcomings I knew going in * No gesture controls * At this price, should come with a hard case and not a soft case The Bluetooth functionality was SO disappointing I didn’t bother trying to test multi-point connection across a Windows laptop and iPhone.

Here’s a detailed summary of the headphones as used in Linux. Working: – Wired (USB) – Wired (Headphone Plug) – Wireless – Bluetooth – Mic passthrough on mic-button long press. – Mic enable/disable on mic-button short press.

– Better EQ Settings (through EasyEffects + Pipewire) – All hardware buttons and volume wheels/rockers. – Basic button feedback (bleeps and bloops to indicate I’ve pressed a thing) Not Working: – RGB – Mic still turns red when muted, though.

– Configurable sleep setting when using wireless. – Advanced Button feedback (in Windows there’s an ethereal voice that details what you just instructed the headset to do) – 8 channel mode (The wireless adapter somehow supports 8 audio channels in Windows in addition to stereo) Untested: – Using Bluetooth and the adapter at the same time.

Apparently this is possible and the use case is to chat with friends on discord over Bluetooth on your phone while the adapter is hooked into a gaming console. From what I understand, it performs a 50/50 mix at pretty good quality.

Caveats (Any OS) : – Wired (USB) is best for audio recording. It’s also the most consistent experience. – Wired (3. 5mm headset cable) is best for audio listening, depending on your systems DAC. — This also over-rides the out-of-the-box FPS EQ.

Which is awful for music. – Wireless Adapter is pretty darn good, but the sound quality does take a noticeable hit for the mic. Still clear, but notably compressed sounding. – Bluetooth is bluetooth – It supports AAC, AptX, AptX HD and mSBC, and I’m pretty certain only mSBC is used for calls as it is in my Sony WH1000-XM2 headphones.

Conclusion: These are ultimately pretty great for me. I don’t really care about the features I’m missing because the experience is quite nice regardless. My only criticism is that wireless technologies still have a way to go over a good old fashioned wire.

Because of that, it’s best to pair what your doing with the best connection method for that media – which can be annoying. I plan to keep this in USB or Wireless Adapter mode most of the time since I have better cans for dedicated music listening.

This will be my headset for work (and maybe some play) for the most part.

I have to preface this that I have owned this headset since 2018. It was worth aroundabout 100 to 120. The thing at the time was a beast. I was moving from a steelseries and I really enjoyed the sound that came out of the drivers.

That goes without saying though that it is pretty much all that they got going for them. The build quality is good (granted I had dropped the headset a couple times while standing up, unbeknownst to me I was stepping on the cord) but it really started to bust up on the second fall.

The plastic brackets that are between the headband and the driver arms started to crack, and now i have broken pieces in my headset. I’ll get some popping in my sound as well. It started to do this to me around a year ago, but I did some tests to see how the popping starts and as it turns out the drivers are getting old and arent able to keep the output that they were able to bust out with no problem.

I decided to see if i could do some DIY repair on the plastic part that was cracked and found that there were 2 tiny little plastic pieces that hold onto the drivers and keeps them aligned. Both of those were cracked.

There were also 3 pins to maintain proper alignment and noticed one of the pins were either missing or melted off! I know though that this is an old headset and that it might have been chipped or clipped off during the fall but the ideaology behind the drivers being held on by that bracket with two tiny pieces just baffles my mind.

I had recently purchased a newer headset from a brand that is well known for their sound quality but is much more expensive. I personally hope and pray that it will be a better quality control than this headset.

Overall, if you want to get into a good heaset that sounds decent and you dont mind the quality of what ive highlighted from this headset, then this would be a decent fit. I am giving this 4 stars given from it’s longevity for the price.

It is rare for a headset to last this long for me, even though I dont abuse my stuff. (Also must mention that the cups that you get the faux leather and the other material, just stick with the leather.

The other material sucks moisture from your ears and will give you a rash after a while).

I’ve had this headset for about a month now – I use it at work where I wear it every day for a full workday, and it’s very comfortable, even with my glasses. I was a little wary of going with a wireless headset, but I’ve gone into another room about 150′ from my desk and still remained connected with no dropouts – I don’t anticipating ever needing more than that.

The audio is clear and loud, and the headset does a very good job of blocking out other noise in the office. The volume wheel is a scroll wheel that controls the computer’s master volume, so no fiddling with computer and headset volume controls separately.

I really like the red LED mute indicator on the end of the mic boom. It’s not distracting, but if I look for it, it is visible in my peripheral vision – and the mute button is raised, while the power button is flush, which helps distinguish them by feel while wearing the headset.

I’ve not yet pushed past two days, but this will happily go two full workdays on a single charge, and recharging is quick. The headset will sleep after a period of time with no connection – such as when I shut my computer down for lunch, so there’s no concern of forgetting to turn it off.

I plug my dongle into a dock on my desktop where I can see it, and there is a clear, but not overly bright red LED glow when it’s connected, and it flashes when the headset is not connected, which can help quickly confirm that it’s paired.

Several other people in my office had this same headset already, and now I know why.

HyperX Cloud II Gaming Headset is a great headset, it provides an excellent audio quality especially for gaming. It gives enough noise cancelling for me to not get distracted while playing or for other purposes.

The sound card and speakers are great. The headset is really comfortable and durable as well. When I use it, it doesn’t hurt my ear at all and it fits perfectly for most people because it is adjustable.

I really like how the mic is detachable. Also, I like how there is a baggy provided because I can store the other parts when I’m not using it. I can use it mostly anywhere there is a usb cord or a headphone jack.

It is also easy to carry around since it’s not heavy and not too bulky. According to my friends who I talk to while using the headset, the microphone quality is crystal clear. The one thing I did encounter is that there weren’t too many color choices to pick from.

Sometimes the wire gets in the way, however that is only because it is a wired headset rather than a bluetooth headset. When it comes to pricing, I think that it was decently priced, not too much, not too cheap.

Although there is a problem I noticed, which was the microphone’s structure. I noticed that as I bend the mic, it causes these wrinkles. One thing that stood out to me, is that there is free technical support with a two year warranty which is always helpful if there were to have a problem with the product.

Overall I think that this product is really good and definitely worth the price.

Pros: – Microphone quality is significantly better than I ever imagined it would be (friends hear me loud and clear which carries over to any video recording I make) – Simple to use, just plug them in and you’re set.

I always found wireless headphones/sets very inconsistent but with these there is no crackling or dropped audio at any point in time. – Game audio is great. Much better than I was expecting. Footsteps are easy to hear, ambient sounds are just right, things like gunshots have strong bass but not overwhelming in my opinion – The headset itself is very comfortable and the earmuffs are nearly cancel out all external sound entirely There’s probably more I could say for positives but moving on.

Cons: – For this particular wired version the cord isn’t detachable so I’m obviously concerned I’ll yank it off by accident one day. – The built in mic is also attached but it’s decently flexible and the wind muff is removable – The attached wire tangle resistant but it’s a little on the short side.

Another foot in length would have been nice but it’s an acceptable length – Since there is no wireless connection you can’t listen to songs or watch a video on a separate device while wearing them or in a party chat with multiple people.

I play both single player and competitive multiplayer games and am very pleased with the performance for both, especially since I can hear everything around me when I need to but also be able to maintain clear communication with teammates/friends.

I owned a professional studio headset a long time ago and the Razer Blackshark V2 are the only headphones in years that I’ve personally used that haven’t caused buyers remorse. I absolutely recommend them.

They’re nice. They feel light on the head and cover my (smaller) ears comfortably. They have a good feel and when paired with the software on PC, they sound great! The ear cups insulate really well and there’s very little bleed out into the room.

I happen to really like the volume knob on the side of the headset – no searching for buttons or hitting the wrong one on accident. However. and this may just be a “me” problem, but when they’re plugged into my phone or tablet with the 3.

5mm connection they’re not the loudest. They’re pretty quiet for this price range. In fact, I just checked them on PC and phone playing the same Youtube video on both. The PC topped them out at 90 dB, while the phone was just 60 dB.

To verify just how much effect the phone was having, I tried the headset these are replacing and the other set I have. Those were 70 and 75 dB on the phone and high 80’s on PC. This tells me the software is giving these a significant boost – which is fine if all you will ever use them for is gaming.

Unfortunately for me, these are also meant to replace the headphones I wear at night watching movies – which is over a 3. 5mm jack. To be fair, these are marketed as gaming headphones – though I’m not sure how they sound on a console – my kids only left me the PS3.

I’m giving 4 stars for the comfort and the great sound on PC. If they weren’t as good as they are there, they’d go back. They just don’t sound quite good enough or get quite loud enough (for me) to use as an everyday headset for my phone.

For those who are unfamiliar with what a 10 dB difference sounds like, 60 is a loud electric toothbrush and 70 is freeway traffic. Also, listening to prolonged sounds above 70 dB is bad for your ears, kids!.

These headphones are a clear step-up from the Kraken X – more like the Caca X considering their pathetically weak plastic headphone bands. I’ve only used these for less than a few hours and I can already hear and feel a distinct superiority over the Kraken X.

Now whether they’re durable, especially with the dubiously looking bands which now appears to look like the Razer logo, is another question, but if you don’t see another review by me then rest assured they haven’t broke, least within 27 days like the Kraken X’s.

Onto actual features of the headphones, the 7. 1 surround system is neat but a gimmick and shouldn’t be a driving force towards buying these unless you’re into regular gaming which requires precise location identification – like multiplayer CS:GO for an example.

If you are like me and spend more time listening to music or browsing YouTube then doing competitive matches, the 7. 1 surround system is cool but is certainly not a selling point. Like the Kraken X’s, they have a splitter cable so if you have an older PC, you can still access the headphone’s microphone and audio fine.

They also come with a black Razer pouch, which though is cool, is ultimately useless. The overall design is pretty cool and the common praise of its comfortableness is founded – it is very comfy, even more so than the Kraken X’s, which itself is already quite comfortable.

It’s important to note that the Razer headphone bands are independent to one another, so you’ll have to try and balance them out yourself, which is an extremely minor inconvenience. One negative I have is its lack of transparency in regards to getting the serial code, which is the only way you can gain access to the 7.

1 surround system feature. There are little to no tutorials online or by Razer themselves, so I did it the hard way and solved everything by trial and error. They are surprisingly easy to remove – just gently lift the ear cushions up with a flathead screw-driver and then rotate it as you would with a tap and it’s out.

Putting it back on is a lot more difficult though – you have to slowly mend the plastic rubber found on the inside of the ear cushion and ease its way back into the small crevice. It’ll make a lot more sense when you actually do it, trust me, but it is a bit of a pain.

Overall, I am very happy with these headphones even if they’re a bit annoying and gimmicky. Just remember that they are NOT like the V2’s – I’ve made some minor but nonetheless annoying scratches on mine trying to hear the seven clicks by jamming the screwdriver in various different areas only to realize it was already loose, which was then when I realized the removal and implementation of the ear cushions are vastly different between the V2 and V2 X.

Luckily they’re minor, the black scheme covers it mostly and I’m not planning to sell it, but it’s notable enough to mention anyway.

The headset itself is exceedingly comfortable, the cross band being highly adjustable, and the earpiece covers being very plush. Wearing the headset for multiple hours was not uncomfortable, and did not cause chafing or undue sweating.

The headset remains secure when moving my head, and is neither slipping off, or squeezing too tightly. The microphone arm is sufficiently flexible and stable, and does not droop or twist on its own over time.

The headset also blocks out most external sounds, leaving very little interference. The battery, on full charge, lasted at least 4 hours of regular use without showing signs of weakening. Charging appears quick, and the plugs for the charging cable grip the plug firmly so they do not fall out unless intentionally removed.

The wireless signal was tested out to a range of 40ft, and worked even when I was on a different floor of the house or outside while the PC was inside. Signal remained very strong all the way to the edge of functional range.

The sound quality is excellent, and the microphone picks up very clearly, even with other nearby external sounds. Only complaint is that it might be slightly too sensitive, and picks up sound from several feet away, but not excessively so.

The buttons to adjust volume, microphone and sidetone are well textured, and easy to identify and operate without looking. Only complaint for the microphone was the light in the receiver. The light is on when the mic is muted, but off when the mic is live.

I felt that this would have made more sense to be reversed, and took some adjustment to get used to. It would be nice if there were some way to secure the wireless dongle to the headset when not in use, with either a snap-on location or a small pouch.

The dongle is very small, and darkly colored, making me fear losing it if I move the headset from one area to another. Other than that, a highly satisfactory product.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT, IT IS MISSING A KEY ARCTIS FEATURE, CHATMIX. The product pages on Best Buy for the Arctis 7+ and Arctis 7P are nearly identical, however the 7P model page fails to note that a standard feature in EVERY OTHER Arctis headset (ChatMix) is not present in the 7P.

I am extremely frustrated that I was duped into buying this product over the model that has all Arctis headset features. I wont be making the mistake of shopping at Best Buy again. To top it off, my 7P’s battery only seems to last ~8hrs, a far cry from the 24hrs stated on the product page, though to be fair to Best Buy this is on SteelSeries’ poor QC.

If ChatMix is not a feature you care about, and if the battery would actually last 24hrs, I might suggest this product, as it is otherwise an excellent headset with a rich and detailed audio profile and a great microphone.

I was looking for a replacement for my Sony headphones which sadly fell apart within an year. My primary requirement was listening to music/taking calls. I went with the reviews on this and thought would give a try.

At first I felt the quality of the sound was ok but no where near what my Sony/ my prior Bose headsets delivered. I also tried the USB amp but it simply boosted the volume and there wasn’t any improvement in Bass.

I was about to return these but thought would give a try with an equalizer. Macbooks do not come with a system wide equalizer (only on Apple Music), So I used the eqmac app and it made a night & day difference.

The sound quality improved tremendously with using an equalizer and though its not as deep as my Sony but I could say its 85-90% there. Given the price difference, I can say I am very pleased with it.

I bought these on sale and for the price the headphones are great. I have previously used Corsair and Logitech gaming headphones. The Razer Barracuda X has better quality high and mid sounds while the lows are not near as impressive as previously used gaming headsets.

I had to play around with the fit for these to be comfortable. I have a big head and big ears and the Barracuda X is not as comfortable as the other headsets I’ve used. The earcups are slightly on the small side it gets uncomfortable on my ears for long periods of time.

The earcups are soft breathable material and the headband is made with a metal band and has a nice pillow cushion. I do like that the volume control on the headphones is separate from the system volume control.

It makes it easy to raise or lower the volume when sound levels change. The USB C wireless dongle is slim, I often plug it into my cell phone to use the headphones while watching videos, or for handsfree calls.

The call clarity when using these for work meetings is great, I have no problem hearing everyone. Pros * Price * Build Quality * Clear high and mid tones * Volume control on headphones separate from system volume * Removable Mic * USB C wireless dongle is compact.

Cons * Ear cups are a little small * Low tones weak * No tone from mute button.

The Razer Barracuda X is an awesome value for a great quality, comfortable headset. It is advertised as a 4 in 1 wireless headset, and for the most part it delivers on that promise. The key to this headset is that it has a little USB-C dongle that allows you to use the headset with pretty much any device that supports a standard USB audio device.

It comes with a (fairly long) adapter cable that connects to USB-A ports as well, so it works with desktop PCs that don’t always have easily accessible USB-C ports. The design of the headset is really discrete and with the mic detached doesn’t scream “GAMER” if you want to use it for music listening on the go.

It’s also lightweight and the memory foam pads are comfortable to wear even with glasses. I also want to draw special attention to how premium the packaging felt – each cable and part comes in a small foam padded bag that really was a great touch.

One thing I found surprising is that the Barracuda X actually supports Razer’s two virtual 7. 1 surround apps for PC – both the free ‘basic’ 7. 1 surround sound app (you have to register the headset and then you get an activation code) and the THX spatial sound app which is about 20 bucks.

If you go to the webpage for their 7. 1 surround app, the Barracuda X is advertised there, but on the Barracuda X itself there isn’t any designation about this feature. I imagine this is because the 7.

1 surround is only possible on PC and not on Android, Switch, or PlayStation. Either way, it’s a welcome feature that adds a lot to the PC experience. Using with Android, Switch or PS4 is also pretty seamless.

You just connect the USB-C adapter either directly to the Switch in handheld mode (or Android device), or using the USB-A adapter cable with the dock or the PS4. The mic works as expected (and has great quality and noise reduction), even in phone calls on my Note 20.

Other than for Android gaming I don’t expect much use out of the Razer headset since it requires the dongle and doesn’t support bluetooth – this is a minor tradeoff as the dongle fixes issues with every other platform.

I really loved the Barracuda X with my Switch – being able to use them wirelessly is a lot more flexible, and you can always use the included 3. 5mm cable to plug them in if you need to charge at the same time.

Sound quality wise, the Barracuda X is not an audiophile grade headset and as such I didn’t expect it to sound like one. It sounds well balanced for gaming audio and some music listening – but there is a little distortion if you use bass-heavy EQ settings.

Honestly the bass is pretty good without being overdone by default so I don’t see the need to add bass boost to these. Otherwise I found the audio to be pleasant with a wide soundstage for a closed over the ear headset.

THX Spatial Audio (an optional $$ add on for PC) adds even more depth and directional audio to the soundstage so definitely check that out if you pick this up for PC use.

This is the WORST gaming headset I have ever used. I’ve been gaming on a pc since 2012 and have used all kinds of headsets. I only give it 2 stars because of the price and comfort. Other than that, it’s awful.

First of all there’s this random beeping sound that will randomly go off when I’m using them. It’s not because the mic is being muted since I don’t use the mic that came with it. Someone said that it may be because there’s a loose connection but that isn’t the case because it’s clearly secured into my PC.

I can see that it is. I’ve never had any sort of loose connection problem before. I’ve also put it into multiple USB outlets. When it beeps it’ll beep then mute all sound for a good 2-3 seconds which is extremely annoying.

Also the battery life is atrocious. It doesn’t even come close to competing with any other headset I’ve used it dies so fast. And as of recently it will randomly turn off… Which my god is so annoying.

The battery won’t even be dead it will just shut off. I stream so I need my sound so this is extremely annoying since powering it back on takes about 3-5 seconds. I streamed today and it did this about 7 times.

Also the knob that’s used to adjust the sound gets bumped very easily and I don’t know whether or not my sound is muted on my pc or the headset which is annoying as well. I should have expected something like this I guess since this is one of Razer’s cheaper products but I didn’t think I’d be this disappointed.