Pulse 3D Headphones: Review from a 7 year long Producer/Audio Engineer
Hey everyone!
I've been browsing the sub for a very long time, probably since around 20k members or so, and have been extremely excited to receive a PS5 and everything that came with it. I was especially excited to try out the Pulse 3D headset, as i'm huge on audio and love everything about it. All my accessories just came in, and i've gotta say these are the most interesting headphones i've came across. Most of these comparisons will be side by side with Audio-Technica ATH-M50x over ear headphones, as those have been my main headphones for years now and what I primarily produce with. I have experience with Bose, Beats, Airpods, etc as well. Without further ado..
Comfort:
These are surprisingly much more comfortable than i thought they would be, especially for $100. Although there's not much room for adjustment (no hinges, or moving parts besides the top headrest), things rest pretty well. It feels a bit more loose than most over ear headphones, but not in a bad way. Where as the M50x tightens around your ears with cushions to really close the audio in, the Pulse 3D headphones gently rest on your head with ease. If i erratically move my head, the headphones do move around a bit, but it's not something i'd ever see being an issue.
Build Quality:
These feel very much like a premium set of headphones. The only semi-cheap feeling part of it are the actual speakers inside of the film- it's a pretty thin layer but i'm sure its by design. This in no way changes the way the headphones sound to a crazy degree, everything else is extremely sleek. There are many buttons on the left side of the headphone, including vocal monitoring, volume, game/chat mixing, and a mute button. Everything feels great. While I don't think it feels like it's worth $150, it does feel like it's worth $130 instead of $100, if that makes any sense.
Microphone:
A bit torn on this one, the vocal monitoring on the headphones itself sound great- but when used with an application like Discord/REAPER it didn't sound too hot at all. I assume the microphone is highly optimized for PlayStation parties, and there may be software updates specifically for that. The noise cancelling microphone feature does work very well though. For a PlayStation party usage only mic, I think you'll be in the clear- on your PC you may want to set up an external.
Sound:
I'm sure this is what everyone is wondering about, and honestly I can't believe how these turned out. So, I started with musical testing as that's what my ear is most attuned for, and I went through a bunch of different musical genres. To be completely blunt about it- the M50x's sound better, albeit not by much, for most music listening purposes. But, for my final test before I moved on to media, I put on The Last of Us PT II soundtrack. I have no clue how they did it, but it sounds WAY better than the M50x's. The OST sounds completely different now, almost like it's remastered to sound much clearer and alive. I haven't come across a pair of headphones that do this the way they do. Mixed with 3D audio, any sort of Score/Cinematic experience with the Pulse 3D headphones are comparable to a $250-$300 pair of headphones. I'd like to mention again though, with music they do not. If you think that trade off is worth it, which I 100% do, these are for you. I will be using these as my main Gaming/Media based headphones, and using the M50x's for casual listening.
Conclusion:
The Pulse 3D Headphones are a pleasant surprise from PlayStation and for a gaming headset, feel very premium. If you do not have a pair of studio quality over-ear headphones already, it's a no brainer to purchase these at their low price point. If you do, i'd try to value your headphones and decide if another $100 on top of what you already have for sound is worth it for the Cinematic experience. In my opinion as someone who has been audio engineering for almost a decade, they most certainly are.
tl;dr: yes they're very good.
Proof:
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