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Pulse Elites come out in a week, where are the reviews?

King Dazzar

Member
Did you get a delivery date? I saw some preorders were like a month out
Availability is good here in the UK at this moment in time. I even found a place selling them for fiver cheaper at £125. I'm just wondering if I really need them as I usually use my 5.1 AVR with SVS sub etc. Its just for the occasional time very late at night... I could instead just buy some better ear cups for my Pulse 3D. I think if these were in black though, I'd already have ordered them.

Decisions, decisions.
 

FrankWza

Member
Yeah. I'm a very prideful owner of my "things"... meaning, I'm anal about my stuff and take good care of them and put everything fully away when I'm done..etc So I can see these lasting a while. They're comfortable on my head. They sound great. They mount nicely on that charging hook etc
Love that they don't include a charge dock/stand. Nice touch
Availability is good here in the UK at this moment in time. I even found a place selling them for fiver cheaper at £125. I'm just wondering if I really need them as I usually use my 5.1 AVR with SVS sub etc. Its just for the occasional time very late at night... I could instead just buy some better ear cups for my Pulse 3D. I think if these were in black though, I'd already have ordered them.

Decisions, decisions.
They will probably release a black pair by fall.
 

Borowski_1

Member
So I’m using a pair of Sennhieser HD 598SR for gaming. Is it worth upgrading to the pulse E or even the sennheiser PC38x headphones?

No

Not in terms of comfort, build quality and sound quality

Only if you need a mic


An upgrade for you would probably be a HD 560s, or a Hifiman Deva Pro
 
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Duellist

Member
No

Not in terms of comfort, build quality and sound quality

Only if you need a mic


An upgrade for you would probably be a HD 560s, or a Hifiman Deva Pro
Ok thanks, I just run the built in mic on the 598 and it’s fine. Dont hear any complaints for people I game with.
 

Rac3r

Member
I ordered, comes tomorrow. I’m happy with my current audio setup (Sennheiser 560s and G6 DAC/AMP) but it’s not very elegant with multiple connections. Wireless headphones with planar magnetic drivers at $150 with Bluetooth/simultaneous listening was too hard to pass up. Until someone develops an open back wireless headset, I’m hoping these will be end-game for me.

The only thing I’m disappointed about are the earpads being adhesive-backed. Pad swaps probably won’t be possible for a while, if ever, but I guess that’s why they’re $150. Will follow up with more thoughts tomorrow when it gets delivered.
 

King Dazzar

Member
The only thing I’m disappointed about are the earpads being adhesive-backed. Pad swaps probably won’t be possible for a while, if ever, but I guess that’s why they’re $150. Will follow up with more thoughts tomorrow when it gets delivered.
Dont know, but the 3D's are held by 4 clips and can actually be replaced easily. Might be similar for the Elites.
This video shows how to swap them over for Wicked ones:
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
Just got mine... you know what I find insane? The fact they come with a charger you can drill into the wall and hang them on to charge... but no little clip accessory to attach that to the side of your PS5...

Such a weird thing to not include.
 

SRTtoZ

Member
Just got mine and its exactly what I wanted. I own the original Pulse 3D and I put that on the backburner after I bough tthe Razer Kraken V3 Pro and the PS5 Kaira Pro with hypersense and I have to say this one is easily better than those even though it's $50 cheaper. I love the feeling of this headset. Its much higher quality than the base 3D Pulse headset (and weightier) while also being super comfortable as well. The ear cups are SILKY smooth and while my only complaint would be I wish they were slightly bigger, I think most people will enjoy them. I have big ass ears and mine fit inside but I can see someone with maybe Dumbo ears having an issue. Once your ears are inside the noise cancellation is great. It blocks out so much noise just from the physical cups. It's also so easy to put on and work. The mic sliding out is super nice compared to my Razer counterparts where the mics are seperate and are so fussy to deal with b/c they get in the way of your mouth and stuff. The mic quality with the mic pulled out is 9/10 but if not pulled out is a 7/10. Overall I'm so per happy for $150.

I bought this for one feature only and that's the ability to have the PS5 sound and bluetooth sound working at the same exat time. That allows me to play youtube or netflix videos from my PC or phone while playing games that I'm trying to platinum say Lego Star Wars or whatever else. I can listen to a nice long ass podcast while still getting some of the audio from the game. It's a killer feature and why I've used the regular Xbox wireless headset for so long with Xbox even though the quality of it (for a $99 headset) is only meh. If you want to be able to have 2 sources of sound at the same time, this is your headset.
 
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Just got mine and its exactly what I wanted. I own the original Pulse 3D and I put that on the backburner after I bough tthe Razer Kraken V3 Pro and the PS5 Kaira Pro with hypersense and I have to say this one is easily better than those even though it's $50 cheaper. I love the feeling of this headset. Its much higher quality than the base 3D Pulse headset (and weightier) while also being super comfortable as well. The ear cups are SILKY smooth and while my only complaint would be I wish they were slightly bigger, I think most people will enjoy them. I have big ass ears and mine fit inside but I can see someone with maybe Dumbo ears having an issue. Once your ears are inside the noise cancellation is great. It blocks out so much noise just from the physical cups. It's also so easy to put on and work. The mic sliding out is super nice compared to my Razer counterparts where the mics are seperate and are so fussy to deal with b/c they get in the way of your mouth and stuff. The mic quality with the mic pulled out is 9/10 but if not pulled out is a 7/10. Overall I'm so per happy for $150.

I bought this for one feature only and that's the ability to have the PS5 sound and bluetooth sound working at the same exat time. That allows me to play youtube or netflix videos while playing games like games I'm trying to platinum say Lego Star Wars or whatever else. I can listen to a nice long ass podcast while still getting some of the audio from the game. It's a killer feature and why I've used the regular Xbox wireless headset for so long with Xbox even though the quality of it (for a $99 headset) is only meh. If you want to be able to have 2 sources of sound at the same time, this is your headset.

I thought you could only play one audio source at a time?

My main concern is if the cups will hold up over time.

My pulse 3D cups material started flaking off, but you can’t replace them on the elites like you can with the pulse 3Ds
 

Flabagast

Member
Just got mine and its exactly what I wanted. I own the original Pulse 3D and I put that on the backburner after I bough tthe Razer Kraken V3 Pro and the PS5 Kaira Pro with hypersense and I have to say this one is easily better than those even though it's $50 cheaper. I love the feeling of this headset. Its much higher quality than the base 3D Pulse headset (and weightier) while also being super comfortable as well. The ear cups are SILKY smooth and while my only complaint would be I wish they were slightly bigger, I think most people will enjoy them. I have big ass ears and mine fit inside but I can see someone with maybe Dumbo ears having an issue. Once your ears are inside the noise cancellation is great. It blocks out so much noise just from the physical cups. It's also so easy to put on and work. The mic sliding out is super nice compared to my Razer counterparts where the mics are seperate and are so fussy to deal with b/c they get in the way of your mouth and stuff. The mic quality with the mic pulled out is 9/10 but if not pulled out is a 7/10. Overall I'm so per happy for $150.

I bought this for one feature only and that's the ability to have the PS5 sound and bluetooth sound working at the same exat time. That allows me to play youtube or netflix videos from my PC or phone while playing games that I'm trying to platinum say Lego Star Wars or whatever else. I can listen to a nice long ass podcast while still getting some of the audio from the game. It's a killer feature and why I've used the regular Xbox wireless headset for so long with Xbox even though the quality of it (for a $99 headset) is only meh. If you want to be able to have 2 sources of sound at the same time, this is your headset.
What about sound quality though ?
 

SRTtoZ

Member
I thought you could only play one audio source at a time?

My main concern is if the cups will hold up over time.

My pulse 3D cups material started flaking off, but you can’t replace them on the elites like you can with the pulse 3Ds
Nope you can listen simultaneously to Bluetooth and your PS5. Sound quality so far mirrors what the reviews have said which is its nice and crystal clear but its weakest point is the bass which I'm being told is a known thing with these drivers. So far I've been playing HellDivers 2, Sonic Superstars and a few other various games and I'm still messing with the EQ. Just the base EQ levels are exactly what I expected and experienced with my other headsets like the Kraken V3 Pro. I think it sounds wonderful when it comes to dialogue and music. I've only had them for like an hour so I will definitely need more time to mess with them and see what I can do with the equalizer. My first impressions when taking it out of the box though is great, which is completely different than the Pulse 3D which feels like a cheap toy when you first get it out of the box.

Edit: I fucking love the rubber band adjustment. It's FIRM but also very springy so it fits your head perfectly. It also works nicely with PSVR2 btw.
 
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FrankWza

Member
The ear cups are SILKY smooth and while my only complaint would be I wish they were slightly bigger,
This was an issue for me with pulse 3d. That and the goggle strap which I don't like. How's the size going n this vs pulse 3d?How's the strap on this vs pulse 3d?
 
Nope you can listen simultaneously to Bluetooth and your PS5. Sound quality so far mirrors what the reviews have said which is its nice and crystal clear but its weakest point is the bass which I'm being told is a known thing with these drivers. So far I've been playing HellDivers 2, Sonic Superstars and a few other various games and I'm still messing with the EQ. Just the base EQ levels are exactly what I expected and experienced with my other headsets like the Kraken V3 Pro. I think it sounds wonderful when it comes to dialogue and music. I've only had them for like an hour so I will definitely need more time to mess with them and see what I can do with the equalizer. My first impressions when taking it out of the box though is great, which is completely different than the Pulse 3D which feels like a cheap toy when you first get it out of the box.

Edit: I fucking love the rubber band adjustment. It's FIRM but also very springy so it fits your head perfectly. It also works nicely with PSVR2 btw.

Does the Bass sound bad and worse than the Pulse 3D in games like Helldivers?
 

SRTtoZ

Member
This to me just checks all the boxes for a gaming headset.

Comfortable, good looking matches PS5, no interference like some of the other headsets ive tried (looking at you Razer Kaira Pro). Can be used both with Link and Bluetooth simultaneously which is a killer feature. Great mic quality. Sounds good, as good as you would need for gaming. If you want the best sounding headset and want to pay $300+ for it, sure go head but it's still not going to tick all the boxes.
All that for $150 which isn't cheap' but also isn't super expensive. To me its a great bang for buck gaming headset. I would absolutely buy this over the regular Pulse 3D headset which is a cheap POS compared tot his. I was very disappointed with that headset and sold it for $50 on eBay as fast as I could.
 

SRTtoZ

Member
This was an issue for me with pulse 3d. That and the goggle strap which I don't like. How's the size going n this vs pulse 3d?How's the strap on this vs pulse 3d?
Everything on this headset is better than the regular Pulse 3D. Not sure if it was their intention to make it better or if that's just how it happened. The quality from the materials to the size, to the strap is much better. Like I said above, the base Pulse 3D headset was a HUGE disappointment for me which is why I went out and bought some 3rd party headsets like the Kraken V3 Pro, the Kaira PS5 Pro and a few others just to see what would be better but I always had small issues with those headsets especially comfort. Most headsets hurt my temple b/c of my glasses but the Pulse 3D Pro always was comfortable, even though everything else on the headset sucked. So far, it feels to me that this has everything I want in a headset. I will test the bass more in HellDivers 2 when I get a chance. I'm currently charging it b/c it was low on battery. I will see if there's any noticeable distortion or anything like that. James Sawyer Ford James Sawyer Ford

Edit: and a really cool aside is it comes with a charging hook. That's pretty cool. I actually bought these little white hooks from the dollar tree that I use to hang my headsets on my wall and the side of my desk. This will go perfectly with those and will be super easy to just toss on the hook at the end of the night. I think I'll sell one of my headsets once I know this is my daily driver.
 
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SRTtoZ

Member
Servers are full in HD2 but just sitting at the intro screen listening to the intro music is *chefs kiss*. (Right now I'm running the SHOOTER profile).

This sounds SO good. For comparison I've been using the Kraken V3 Pro's for the last year for everything PS5 which is a $200 headset from Razer. This blows it out of the water clarity wise. I can't recommend this headset enough. It also works seemelessly with the PS5 which is nice. Being able to control everything right on your headset or with one touch of a button is so nice. I also can't even hear myself typing on my loud ass Black Widow mechanical keyboard right now just b/c of the sound nullification from the headsets earcups.
 
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Servers are full in HD2 but just sitting at the intro screen listening to the intro music is *chefs kiss*. (Right now I'm running the SHOOTER profile).

This sounds SO good. For comparison I've been using the Kraken V3 Pro's for the last year for everything PS5 which is a $200 headset from Razer. This blows it out of the water clarity wise. I can't recommend this headset enough. It also works seemelessly with the PS5 which is nice. Being able to control everything right on your headset or with one touch of a button is so nice. I also can't even hear myself typing on my loud ass Black Widow mechanical keyboard right now just b/c of the sound nullification from the headsets earcups.

Whats interesting to me is that HD2 sounds a little muffled to me on the Pulse 3Ds. I didnt know if that game just had low bitrate or something, but sounds like it may just be the Pulse 3Ds and this will sound greatly improved?
 

Rac3r

Member
Dont know, but the 3D's are held by 4 clips and can actually be replaced easily. Might be similar for the Elites.
This video shows how to swap them over for Wicked ones:

Sadly its been confirmed that the pads aren't a modular design, which is a step back from the Pulse 3D. See at 1:25 in the video below.




Whats interesting to me is that HD2 sounds a little muffled to me on the Pulse 3Ds. I didnt know if that game just had low bitrate or something, but sounds like it may just be the Pulse 3Ds and this will sound greatly improved?

HD2 has fantastic audio. The reason it sounds muffled for you is because the Pulse 3D have subpar treble response. There's a huge dip in the upper frequencies which results a muffled sound and lack of clarity. See the comparison between the Audeze Maxwell (green line), vs. the Pulse 3D (blue line).

ejb2FBb.png
 

SRTtoZ

Member
Whats interesting to me is that HD2 sounds a little muffled to me on the Pulse 3Ds. I didnt know if that game just had low bitrate or something, but sounds like it may just be the Pulse 3Ds and this will sound greatly improved?
I can't get into HD2. I did play a good 30 mins of suicide squad testing all of the sound profiles and I can't really choose which is my fav. It sounds great regardless tbh. I think I prefer just bog standard and the gun sounds, the dialogue, the sound effects all come in super crystal clear. The regular Pulse 3D's always had this hallow sound to them that I HATED.
 

Flabagast

Member
Sadly its been confirmed that the pads aren't a modular design, which is a step back from the Pulse 3D. See at 1:25 in the video below.






HD2 has fantastic audio. The reason it sounds muffled for you is because the Pulse 3D have subpar treble response. There's a huge dip in the upper frequencies which results a muffled sound and lack of clarity. See the comparison between the Audeze Maxwell (green line), vs. the Pulse 3D (blue line).

ejb2FBb.png

Which is the best on this graph ? the closest one to the mid line ?

Do we have the same comparison already for the Pulse Elite ?
 
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SRTtoZ

Member
Yea I'm gushing over this headset but that's because I really didn't expect for it to be that good. I expected it to be decent at best and I was going to use it soley for the simultaneous playback of BT and PlayStation Link for when I want to listen to 2 things at once during a platinum. Now it's looking to become my daily driver for PlayStation 5 period. My Kraken V3 Pro is going up on eBay in the near future.
 
Honestly I bought the original pulse headset at launch hoping for an improvement and what a disappointment it was. My platinum PS4 headset is infinitely better.
 

SRTtoZ

Member
I can't wait to try Death Stranding with this headset. Does anyone know if there's any custom profiles out yet from audiophiles who know better than a dummy like me?
 

Rac3r

Member
Which is the best on this graph ? the closest one to the mid line ?

Do we have the same comparison already for the Pulse Elite ?

Correct, the line that fits closer to the dashed middle line is the more accurate headphone (Maxwell in this case). The graph uses 90 decibels to volume match each pair of headphones, so it's easier to see discrepancies between them. I couldn't find the Pulse Elite's frequency response measurements yet, so I used the Audeze Maxwell instead, as they should have similar drivers. Here's the uncompensated frequency response of the Maxwells (green) vs. Pulse 3D (blue), against RTINGs modified Harman Curve (dashed line).

X0aqwwz.png
 
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Miyazaki’s Slave

Gold Member
My pair came in today. I updated the dongle and headset when I connected them to the PS5 and they sounded great. Tried them on pc with the dongle and they drop outs are almost constant. I am within 3 feet of the PC with the dongle, I tried moving it closer, tried other ports, constant drop outs.
Anyone else seeing this using them on PC with the dongle?
 
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SRTtoZ

Member
My pair came in today. I updated the dongle and headset when I connected them to the PS5 and they sounded great. Tried them on pc with the dongle and they drop outs are almost constant. I am within 3 feet of the PC with the dongle, I tried moving it closer, tried other ports, constant drop outs.
Anyone else seeing this using them on PC with the dongle?
I'll try it but did you try just using BT? If so, what's the result? So far using BT they sound great with no breakups on my PC. I will try the dongle later tonight.
 

Miyazaki’s Slave

Gold Member
I'll try it but did you try just using BT? If so, what's the result? So far using BT they sound great with no breakups on my PC. I will try the dongle later tonight.
Just came back to post that I tried BT and it worked great. I then moved the dongle to a USB port on the motherboard instead of one of the breakout ports on the top of my case and had no issues at all with the dongle performance after that.

Great sound pair of headphones, they feel extremely comfortable, and I don't miss the ANC from the other set they released last year!
 
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I have a pair of steelseries arctis 7P+ i bought a couple years ago now, would these be a worthy upgrade in sound quality ? Always found the arctis to be a little too quiet and i like how with the pulse you can adjust the settings through the console 😄
 

DiscoDave

Member
Very tempted to get these though the ear covers on my ps pulse seem to be peeling and the elite looks like it's made of the same material.
 

scydrex

Member
Wonder how these stack up against the Maxwell’s. I’m in dire need of a new pair of cans.
In youtube there are comparison. Look for them. The maxwell are better, have better bass but cost double. Are the maxwell a lot better? No. Are they 2x better? No. If you understand what i mean. Also the maxwell are more heavy. These pulse elite are lighter because of plastic, smaller drivers and more comfortable.
 
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FrankWza

Member
Just an FYI these and the pulse explore are the only wireless headsets on the market with true lossless wireless, hence the link connection.
Yeah people still don't get it. That and planar and simultaneous audio. I feel like Playstation might have been better off leaving the Pulse branding behind.
 

FrankWza

Member
Picking mine up later today. Already sold my Pulse 3D's, so one way ticket. Will do a comparison and thoughts.
I want to try them but after the scarcity of the Explore and Portal I didnt want to be a dick and take a pair someone would need. But if they're still readily available tomorrow I'm just going to pick them up.
 
Picked these up at lunch. I have the original pulse 3D, which was fine. The weird thing about these is how different they are. The high range is super clean and quite intense. I swapped between the pulse 3D and this on a few games. In cyberpunk, the crowd chatter was super clear with the elites, and just muddy background noise with the pulse3ds. Really interesting. I see what people mean about the bass. It’s not a boomy bass at all.
They just sound very different to what I expected. I think I was a little disappointed at first, but I’m not sure I am now, I might love them, not sure. I didn’t need to buy these as I have a ton of headphones. They sound great with the steam deck as well. There’s just a crazy clarity in the highs and dialog, a huge amount of separation in sounds.
 
Ah fuck it I'm gonna pick these up. They seem like the exact type of price/performance ratio I look for when buying things.

I've never owned anything even remotely resembling good headphones so this should be a nice treat.



edit: holy shit I placed my order exactly 4 hours ago and it has already shipped and it will be here tomorrow.
 
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King Dazzar

Member
These are quite good. It took quite a while to suss everything about pairing and switching devices, resetting connections etc. All of it is dependant on you pressing one button for set periods of time to access it all. The instructions could have been better and provided more depth. I got more info from the PlayStation site. Annoyingly the link usb dongle will always flash if the headphones aren't connected, so I moved it to one of the rear ports. The box it comes in is an origami test if you dont want to rip it. Best to go in from the bottom. But all that aside the rest is positive, very good, but not amazing. Compared to the 3D, the sound space, detail, comfort, ear cups, build materials, connection flexibility is all improved. Bass is there, but lacking a little. Detail is very good.

These are nice and I think decent for the money and a step up from the 3D. Just don't expect them to be the best headset ever.
 

scydrex

Member
Ah fuck it I'm gonna pick these up. They seem like the exact type of price/performance ratio I look for when buying things.

I've never owned anything even remotely resembling good headphones so this should be a nice treat.
Me too. I had the pulse 3d and sold them. Didn't like them a lot. Planning to get the elite because they improved everything. Don't want to spend more than $150 for a headset.
 

Eiknarf

Banned
These are quite good. It took quite a while to suss everything about pairing and switching devices, resetting connections etc. All of it is dependant on you pressing one button for set periods of time to access it all. The instructions could have been better and provided more depth. I got more info from the PlayStation site. Annoyingly the link usb dongle will always flash if the headphones aren't connected, so I moved it to one of the rear ports. The box it comes in is an origami test if you dont want to rip it. Best to go in from the bottom. But all that aside the rest is positive, very good, but not amazing. Compared to the 3D, the sound space, detail, comfort, ear cups, build materials, connection flexibility is all improved. Bass is there, but lacking a little. Detail is very good.

These are nice and I think decent for the money and a step up from the 3D. Just don't expect them to be the best headset ever.
Yeah I moved the dongle to the back too

This way I can charge the headphone and dualsense in the front without having to constantly take the dongle out
 
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Just got my Elites and the sound quality is spectacular.

Best showcase for them is Astros Playroom! Everything sounds so rich and crisp. Sounds AMAZING

Only complaint so far is that my oily ears are probably going to cause these things to peel :(

They also are a bit more comfortable than the 3D, but I still get this annoying ear ache from the constant pressure applied to my ears. I’ve found no way to prevent it either, i guess I have normally large ears
 
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Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
Just got my Elites and the sound quality is spectacular.

Best showcase for them is Astros Playroom! Everything sounds so rich and crisp. Sounds AMAZING

Only complaint so far is that my oily ears are probably going to cause these things to peel :(

They also are a bit more comfortable than the 3D, but I still get this annoying ear ache from the constant pressure applied to my ears. I’ve found no way to prevent it either, i guess I have normally large ears

Clean them off after use. The damage will happen largely when the moisture soaks into the cups and then dries rinse and repeat.
 
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