SteelSeries - the Danish manufacturer of accessories for gaming enthusiasts and professional cyber sportsmen, has long established itself as one of the market leaders. Founded in 2001, the company quickly gained popularity thanks to stylish and high-quality keyboards, mice, game controllers and, of course, stereo headsets. Today I will tell you about the new product - a headset called SteelSeries Arctis Pro, which recently appeared on the shelves of Russian stores. Let's study the device with you and find out: did the SteelSeries engineers get their fans this time?
Within the author's rubric dedicated to video games and gaming accessories, I've already told you about two SteelSeries headsets. It was Siberia 100 and Siberia 840. The era of the line of Siberia came to its logical conclusion, and it was replaced by a new series of devices called Arctis. It all started with a low-cost Arctis 3, then it was supplemented by a more expensive Arctis 5 and wireless Arctis 7. It was not going to stop on the Danish company, so it was decided to continue the line by releasing premium headsets for the most demanding players. The first swallow of the premium segment was Arctis Pro, intended for those who really appreciate sound in video games and not only.
The box with the headset is made in light colors and slightly shimmers with sparkles, put on the orange decorative strip. In the lower part of the front surface of the box you can see small notes about the advantages of the model. For example, Arctis Pro uses the proprietary ClearCast microphone noise reduction technology and adjusts the sound balance between the game and the voice chat. Also from this information we learn that the headset uses high-quality Hi-Res dynamic radiators.
The back surface of the package continues to describe the advantages of the Arctis Pro model in three languages.
Inside the box, the headset is reliably protected from external influences by means of a plastic backing and a rigid transparent cover.
The device looks, in my opinion, extremely unusual. The materials that SteelSeries designers used to create Arctis Pro are immediately thrown in the eyes. At first, I was somewhat embarrassed, because I was used to the fact that the company had previously had artificial leather in its honor. At the same time, the choice was made in favor of breathable sports fabrics.
From the accompanying documentation in the box, I found an instruction manual, as well as a brochure with funny smileys on the cover, immediately setting up a good mood. The manufacturer is very important opinion of users, so he suggests, if the headset will have a buyer liking, write a review of it and tell your friends about your purchase. If the device does something to upset the user, you can always contact the company's support service, which will do everything possible to resolve any problems associated with the product. A trifle, but very pleasant and, I would even say, friendly.
At the very bottom of the box, I also found several wires and the so-called USB Chat Mix Dial - a remote console for mixing sound. But first a little more about the wires. The headset does not have a traditional cable that allows you to connect it to a computer using the jack-jack method, so the connection looks like this: you plug the supplied cable into the headset with a proprietary plug that then joins the mixing console, and it, in turn , clings to the USB port of the computer. There is also a small adapter, with which you can connect the headset to the 3.5-mm mini-jack-socket. However, such a solution looks more like a "crutch". This somewhat embarrassed me.
As for the console for sound mixing, it is designed to adjust the balance between the game sound and the sound of the voice chat. If you do not hear your teammates during the game, just turn the knob towards the Chat inscription, and their voices will become noticeably louder, while the background sound of the game itself will decrease. Convenient thing for those who do not see their life without daily network cuts in popular shooters and other Dota 2.
Arctis Pro is pleasant to hold in hands. In addition to plastic, high-quality metal alloys were used as materials, which not only makes the headset lighter, but also significantly prolongs its service life. In the case of gaming devices, this is extremely important. Often, in the heat of online battles, some particularly temperamental players can angrily throw the headset on the table, or even on the floor. I am firmly convinced that Arctis Pro will survive even such cruel treatment. But I did not have the slightest desire to check my own guesses.
The cups of the headset are covered with frosted plastic covers on the outside, behind which the LEDs are hidden. Yes, Arctis Pro is equipped with RGB-backlit with a palette of 16.8 million colors. But we'll talk about it a little later. Lids from cups can easily be removed by simply picking them up in a special place with the help of a nail. They are held on two powerful magnets, so they will never fall off, no matter how hard you shake your head.
Looking at the new SteelSeries headset, you involuntarily catch yourself thinking that even without knowing its value, you immediately understand that you are dealing with a premium device. So Arctis Pro is monolithic, solid, it is extremely difficult to find fault with it in terms of design or build quality.
It is very unusual to see the company's fundamentally new approach to the creation of the Headset Arctis series. This time, everything is based on an elastic belt made of fabric, which is most often used to create masks for skiers and snowboarders. The headband is now called "ski" - I read it in the instructions that came with the headset.
The belt gently supports the headset on the user's head from the inside, runs along the entire length of the headband from the outside and is fixed to the left with a Velcro. If you want to change the height of the landing - just paste the sticky stick a little higher or lower. All this is clearly visible in the photographs that I have prepared for you. But do you know what is most interesting? The company plans to sell replacement belts on its official website. You can choose for yourself one of dozens of different bright designs and turn your headset into a unique accessory from the visual point of view.
Arctis Pro ear pads are very pleasant to the touch and incredibly gently take your ears into your arms. The ears in them practically do not sweat even in a strong heat, although the device is tight enough around the head and isolates the user from the sounds of the surrounding world. In terms of sound insulation this model is very good. During the testing of the device, I sometimes did not notice that my phone is ringing just 30 centimeters from me or that my wife and daughter can not shout for five minutes in a row. In this case, I would not say that in those moments I listened to loud music or was carried away by a video game. Simply, the headset cuts the surroundings very qualitatively.
Advanced 40mm Hi-Res dynamic radiators use neodymium magnets, which are 50% larger than the company's old flagship models. This allowed us to significantly expand the frequency range. Now it's really impressive and is 10-40 000 Hz. The standard models of headsets, as a rule, are not chosen above the level of 22,000 Hz. The manufacturer is very proud that the speakers of this model are quite suitable even for audiophiles, but for this you need to connect the device to a high-quality DAC and output music to it in Hi-Res format. Running forward, I will say that I conducted such an experiment and I will certainly share with you my impressions.
All the necessary sound controls are located on the left side of the cup. The oblong corrugated button turns on and off the sound from the built-in microphone, and the rubberized wheel adjusts the volume.
Next to the volume control, you can see the connector for the proprietary cable already mentioned, as well as a 3.5mm mini-jack socket, where you can stick in the second headphones to share the sound with one more user, and the cable to connect the headset to the computer more traditional way. As I said, it struck me deeply that there is no such cable with Arctis Pro. After all, eliminating the complete adapter, you can achieve a better sound when listening to the same lossless music.
The built-in ClearCast microphone can not be detached from the headset, but it's deep enough in its case and does not interfere if you suddenly decided to walk around in the headset, connecting it to your smartphone or Hi-Res player.
A flexible leg allows you to pull it out and put it in the comfort of your face. The bi-directional microphone works in the frequency range of 100-10 000 Hz and is equipped with a programmable adjustable noise reduction system. It must be said that the sound he gives is simply amazing. No, of course, this is not studio equipment, but if you like to stream games or just chat with friends in online games - this option will suit you in every way and even exceed your expectations. The sound of the voice is very clear, clean, legible, so throughout the game your online buddies will hear you as if you are near them.
The cups of the headset rotate almost 100 degrees, which allows you to occasionally give your head a rest, outweigh Arctis Pro by the neck and turn the mechanism so that the device comfortably lies on your chest.
It's time to discuss how the headset demonstrated itself in games and when working with different gaming platforms. And here I am forced to upset the owners of Sony PlayStation 4 game consoles: the manufacturer immediately warns everyone: Arctis Pro reveals its full potential only when connected to gaming PCs. No, you can, of course, connect the headset to the DualShock 4 gamepad, and the sound will be output to it. However, in this case you will not be able to enjoy a full surround sound. Arctis Pro uses DTS Headphone technology: X 2.0 Surround Sound, a unique development of DTS engineers that works exclusively after installing the appropriate drivers. As you know, these drivers can not be delivered to the console at all desire.
Speaking about the DTS Headphone: X v2.0 technology, I would like to note that the engineers from the legendary American company really managed to create something absolutely amazing. The 12-channel binaural sound will not leave anyone indifferent. Using only two dynamic radiators, they managed to get rid of the so-called "tunnel effect", when instead of a full-scale surround sound player hears only an approximate direction of the source of sound. Now the scene around the user is significantly expanding and literally comes to life. It is difficult to describe in words, since you need to test this technology at least once. I tried the headset in the wonderful game Ori and the Blind Forest and was amazed at how fairytale the forest sounds otherwise using a binaural sound. It seemed that at the same time I could hear the rustling of every leaf and every blade of grass, the whiff of the wind and the gentle steps of the protagonist. Technology is not limited exclusively to video games. With it, you can also enjoy watching movies and videos with surround sound.
After playing a few evenings in the last games of the Battlefield and Call of Duty series, and also hacked into the incredibly popular Counter Strike: GO, I came to the conclusion that the positioning of sound sources is almost perfect for the headset. Opponents have not seen me yet, but I've already heard them. And it gave me an undeniable advantage on the battlefield, even though I'm far from a professional in online shooters. In short, Arctis Pro will be a discovery for those who have not previously used professional solutions of this level in video games. This feeling is akin to the fact that if you moved from the battered domestic Zhiguli immediately behind the wheel of an expensive foreign car of a representative class. Needless to say, Arctis Pro will be an ideal addition to the VR-headset, because binaural sound and virtual reality are inextricably linked and very important for a full immersion of players in the fantastic worlds.
Let's pass to the most interesting my experiment, namely - to the possibility of listening with Arctis Pro lossless music using audiophile equipment. Since the manufacturer insists that the device uses Hi-Res speakers, it would be foolish not to check this statement in practice. Therefore, I immediately contacted my friends, who are involved in setting up and selling expensive audio equipment. They kindly agreed to help me test the headset and express my professional opinion about it. As the source of sound was selected Korean amplifier SOtM sHP-100 with built-in DAC. The music was listened to long and carefully, first using a complete cable with an adapter (already sacrilegious by the standards of an audiophile), and then a better copper cable.
Now everything in order. If you are going to listen to music using a bundled cable - be prepared for the fact that it will tangibly squeeze the scene, make the high frequencies less expressive and not too transparent. In other words, the sound seems to be "sapping" and "rounding", although it sounds quite smooth, you can even say - it's comfortable. But if you change the complete cable to a normal 3.5-millimeter copper (or more expensive copper with silver deposition), then the picture immediately changes completely. The scene expands and is filled with air, the sound becomes more transparent, and the upper frequencies - crystal clear. According to the bass that the headset gives out, the experts did not have any questions - it's just excellent. The same can be said for medium frequencies. After a couple of hours of testing, we came to the conclusion that Arctis Pro is closer to the Japanese models of headphones from such manufacturers as Audio-Technica, Sony and Fostex. The headset reveals its full potential only when using a quality audio cable and a good DAC, so if you have such equipment, you will not only be able to play video games with pleasure, but also enjoy your favorite music in a lossless format without any compromises. We can safely say that Arctis Pro is the world's first gaming headset, capable of satisfying the needs of audiophile.
To configure the headset, use the official software of the SteelSeries Engine 3. In the application, you can individually adjust the color of the illumination of each of the cups, as well as the color of the microphone's backlighting when it is turned on and off. At the same time, there are several modes of lighting: smooth, movement of colors, colorful breath, or simply turning off the color. Personally for me, the backlighting in the headset never played a special role, so, after admiring it for a couple of evenings, I simply turned it off. Anyway, when the headset on the head - you do not see it.
Here, if you want, you can turn DTS Headphone: X on or off, if you do not like the "sound out of the box", activate the dynamic range compressor, level the sound and save it from sudden changes in volume, activate and adjust the noise canceling power of the microphone , and also to create several profiles with settings for all occasions. In principle, the software is understandable and easy to use, as it is always with SteelSeries.
Equipment:
- SteelSeries Arctis Pro Headset
- User's manual
- Chat Mix Dial
- Cable for connection to Chat Mix Dial
- 3.5 mm adapter
Headphone Specifications:
- Color: black / gray
- Headphone type: female, closed type
- Material: plastic, metal, fabric
- Operating mode: wired
- Emitters: dynamic, 40 mm
- Features of radiators: Hi-Res, neodymium magnets
- Frequency response: 10-40,000 Hz
- Impedance: 32 Ω
- Sensitivity: 102 dB
- The coefficient of nonlinear distortion: <1%
- Weight: 350g
Microphone Features:
- Directivity diagram: bi-directional
- Resistance: 2200 Ohm
- Frequency response: 100-10,000 Hz
- Sensitivity: -38 dB
- Noise reduction: yes
Pros:
- Sturdy construction, quality materials and impressive design.
- Unusual, but very nice sitting on the head of the "ski" headband.
- Backlight with several modes and a palette of 16.8 million colors.
- Excellent bi-directional microphone with noise reduction function.
- Steep Hi-Res dynamic radiators with a huge frequency range.
- This is the world's first headset, capable of satisfying even audiophile.
- Convenient software for adjusting sound, microphone and headset lighting.
- Technology DTS Headphone: X v2.0 makes the sound really large.
- Soft, breathable ear cushions, providing excellent sound insulation.
Minuses:
- In the complete set there is no normal 3,5-millimeter cable.
- The headset is incompatible with the Sony PlayStation 4 console.
- A high price can scare off someone.
Arctis Pro will be a real gift for any fan of video games, but for this joy, as you already know, you will have to pay a certain price. To date, the cost of a headset in Russian stores ranges from 14 to 16 thousand rubles. Учитывая впечатляющее количество продвинутых технологий, заложенных в данное устройство, а также тот факт, что оно, помимо всего прочего, является вполне себе Hi-Res-наушниками для аудиофилов, это не такая уж и большая цена. SteelSeries получается меня удивлять из года в год. Казалось бы, что дальше расти уже просто некуда, но инженеры из Дании продолжают брать всё новые и новые технологические высоты. Именно поэтому я искренне ими восхищаюсь. От себя рекомендую Arctis Pro всем тем, кто готов отдать приличные деньги за по-настоящему исключительное качество звука и позиционирование его источников в видеоиграх. По сути, вы купите удивительное универсальное устройство, в котором можно не только играть, но также смотреть фильмы и слушать lossless-музыку без каких-либо компромиссов. А это, согласитесь, удивительное сочетание, не встречающееся ни в одном из продуктов других компаний.
The article is based on materials .
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