SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless

[Inle]

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is quite possibly the best wireless gaming headset money can buy. It's sleek, superbly comfortable, jam-packed with well-implemented features, and sounds great!

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[P4-630]

Hmmm... No 7.1 DTS:X for that price....

 

[Chaitanya]

Great to see easily replaceble batteries for wireless headset.

 

[Ravenas]

Thanks for the review. I absolutely love my headset. I bought this on launch day.

The noise cancelling is great, but could be a little bit better.

The GG software suite really puts the icing on the cake for this headset.

Microphone is very good.

I love the replaceable batteries.

I love the fact that this headset can be used basically on any system with USB. Windows, Linux, PS5.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Hmmm... No 7.1 DTS:X for that price....

It's wireless! You get that on the wired one.

 

[P4-630]

It's wireless!

So??
My wireless Logitech G533:

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

All well and good but SS own internal testing found that wireless caused too much loss for it to be worth it. Also you can't do highres and dolby or 7.1 at the same time, because both dolby and 7.1 nuke the resolution enough not to bullshit claim it's high res.

The other issue is most simply do not use these things. I have a Pro, wired, and I don't use them most of the time because both virtual 7.1 and dolby kinda suck! I don't use those on my wired one. Plus Steelseries uses Sonar which is their own same thing. Then you have games with built in atmos. It's really not an issue to get upset about a feature that matters.

 

[Punkenjoy]

I had a pair of the old version (the non nova one) that i still use at job and i bought this new pair. All the flaw of the previous version is gone in my opinion and they are so much higher quality than the previous one.

The sound quality and the comfort and the ease of use have drastically increase. But they aren't cheap. Once you get used to swapable battery, you don't want to get back to forgetting charging and having to plug it back. 4 second and you are back wireless. Even more with this version. On the previous one, you had to restart the headset on a battery swap but this one resume after you insert the battery.

They are expensive, but they are worth it. I barely use the Steelseries software but that is certainly a downside and it do not look they are going in the right direction. Probably the biggest downside.

 

[Tomorrow]

Still using Pro Wireless here for years now. I have ordered the "refresh" package of headband, batteries, ear cushions etc once and batteries separately once.
Mechanically it's still going strong. I like the hardware changes in Nova but im not a fan of the design change. I liked the older more rectangular matte design on both the headset and base station. As for software i never use it as i can configure everything from the base station.

 

[Dylan M]

Hmmm... No 7.1 DTS:X for that price....

All of the "surround" formats seen on headsets are fake, and not even remotely beneficial. They're just alterations made to the original digital input in attempt to counteract the physical limitations of the drivers themselves. I shouldn't have to point out that's impossible. You can't improve the stereo imaging capabilities of a 2-channel headphone, playing 2-channel audio, through a supposed "7.1" DSP. It's still only 2-channel audio, playing through 2 speakers. It's physically impossible to play 8-channels of information through 2 in any beneficial means.

 

[P4-630]

All of the "surround" formats seen on headsets are fake, and not even remotely beneficial. They're just alterations made to the original digital input in attempt to counteract the physical limitations of the drivers themselves. I shouldn't have to point out that's impossible. You can't improve the stereo imaging capabilities of a 2-channel headphone, playing 2-channel audio, through a supposed "7.1" DSP. It's still only 2-channel audio, playing through 2 speakers. It's physically impossible to play 8-channels of information through 2 in any beneficial means.

IMO it sounds great on my G533....

 

[Dylan M]

Gotta love seeing people in 2022 who still have no idea how to review an audio product. The manufacturer claimed frequency response spec is still read proudly as though it means anything at all, and the measurements were done wrong. Tests are commonly normalized to maybe ~85dB to get the most accurate results. This test was done at almost half. Not only that, but there's no point where any of these main concerns were touched on:

-Top & Low-end extension (How well does the set extend?)
-Tonality (Warm, Cold, Dark, Bright)
-Separation (How good is the separation between instruments?)
-Detail (How much detail is missing, or otherwise presented?)
-Resolution/Resolving ability (Is this more typical Lo-Fi garbage for gamers? Or is it actually any good?)
-Imaging (What does the sound localization performance look like on this set? How well are you able to track stereo images from left to right?)
-Soundstage (Well, it's a closed-back. So obviously not great, but how narrow is the soundstage?)
-Timbre (Does this set sound natural? Or is there some sort of artificial quality found in playback?)
-Candor (Do the drivers struggle in terms of speed? Do they experience much in terms of bloom/bloat/muddiness/distortion?)
-Dynamics (How compressed does everything sound? Are you still in for an accurate, and relatively dynamic listen? Or is everything crunched together?)

This is all very basic stuff. Without any of it touched on, it'd be a lie to call this a review. More of a confused overview at best.

 

[Dylan M]

IMO it sounds great on my G533....

Cool story. It's just a digital filter, and everything you're experiencing is placebo. Precisely why non-audiophiles shouldn't review audio products.

 

[P4-630]

Cool story. It's just a digital filter, and everything you're experiencing is placebo. Precisely why non-audiophiles shouldn't review audio products.

If that's the only thing you have to say and created an account here just for that?

I'm happy with my G533 and DTS:X , if you hate it or just don't like it, don't buy it.

 

[Dylan M]

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is quite possibly the best wireless gaming headset money can buy. It's sleek, superbly comfortable, jam-packed with well-implemented features, and sounds great!

Ah, yes. Because this is indicative of sounding great. Yeah, no. By comparison, the chart in red is how my headphones measure.

I'm happy with my G533 and DTS:X

Not saying you aren't. Although, you'd be much happier with a decent set sporting proper stereo imaging capabilities. Had you not've read some garbage review from a knowledgeless tech influencer (much like the writer of this review), and looked to the audiophiles, you might've made a better purchasing decision.

if you hate it or just don't like it, don't buy it.

However, that doesn't stop others from buying it, now does it? It takes someone speaking up through the noise to make change.

 

[Hyv]

Does the active noise cancel work using wireless Bluetooth say connected to a phone?

 

[Tomorrow]

Does the active noise cancel work using wireless Bluetooth say connected to a phone?

I have not tested it but it should regardless of the signal source.