Microphone Performance

The microphone of the SteelSeries Arctis 3 Bluetooth was tested by connecting it to the Creative Sound Blaster GC7 sound card and to an Android smartphone via Bluetooth. To review the microphone's sound and compare it to similar headsets, I used the Adam A7X speakers and Shure SRH840 headphones, both of which fall into the studio monitor category. I connected them to the Audiolab M-DAC, a high-quality digital-to-analog converter that functions as an external sound card when connected to a PC. Testing was done in Discord, Skype, and Audacity, and I also used Audacity to record the sound from the microphone. The sound was recorded with microphone sensitivity set to 100% and not post-processed or edited in any way.

For reference, this voice recording was made with the Rode NT-USB, a high-quality studio microphone:



This is the sound recorded by using the retractable bi-directional microphone of the SteelSeries Arctis 3 Bluetooth in wired and Bluetooth mode:




In both modes, microphone quality is very solid. While I wouldn't describe the tonality of my voice as deep and natural, it's still completely understandable, noise-free, and completely suitable for voice communication, be it through Discord or regular phone calls. It makes the most sense to compare this microphone to that of the Corsair HS70 Bluetooth (reviewed here), a gaming headset based around a similar concept, with Bluetooth and wired connectivity. Here are the microphone samples recorded with the Corsair HS70 Bluetooth.




While the microphone attached to the SteelSeries Arctis 3 Bluetooth has a more natural tonality, both are equally capable of getting their job done, and neither is good enough for more demanding tasks, such as live streaming or voiceovers.