Turtle Beach has cloned a good headset from SteelSeries for $50 less

I truly I love SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wirelessso the company didn’t have to say much to get me excited about its successor. The $399 Nova Pro Omni that launched on May 5 has a similar design to the 2022 model, but with some new and improved features — support for high-resolution wireless audio (24-bit/96kHz audio over 2.4GHz), better microphone quality, and compatibility with all controllers in each model, to name a few. all $599 Nova Elite The Omni has better build materials and larger drivers.

But things got interesting, just a few weeks before announcing the Omni, Turtle Beach showed off the Stealth Pro 2. To say it was inspired by previous SteelSeries headsets is an understatement. It has swappable batteries, a wireless base station for charging the battery, a companion app to quickly change audio settings, and the ability to listen to 2.4GHz and Bluetooth audio simultaneously. Moreover, it provides high-resolution wireless audio support as well, and A slightly cheaper price tag is $349.

So, I did what was necessary: ​​I called up both to test them simultaneously to see which I thought was the better value. What I’ve realized is that SteelSeries’ $399 Arctis Nova Pro Omni and Turtle Beach’s $349 Stealth Pro 2 are both great for many reasons, but they’re not worth buying based on their high-resolution audio capabilities alone — a major selling point for both. I couldn’t notice the difference in high resolution compared to the default bitrate (24-bit, 48kHz) on my Windows 11 PC.

I sampled many of the lossless tunes on the albums in the Qubouz, and played many of them Marathonfull of little location-dependent sounds that could hint at my impending doom. I can’t consider myself an audiophile because I suffer from tinnitus, which prevents me from hearing some high-frequency sounds. Regardless, I’m in good company with many other people who can’t reliably detect the difference in high resolution. It seemed the same to me. Good, but not good enough to encourage you to buy a new headphone.

Functionally, the AirPods Max-inspired Stealth Pro 2 is the best option if you don’t have all your gaming hardware in a central location. Mine are sprinkled around my apartment, so I like that the Stealth Pro 2 has a button to switch between transmitters (all while maintaining a synchronized Bluetooth connection to my phone).

Both the Omni and Stealth Pro 2 let you make quick adjustments to equalizer and microphone settings through a mobile companion app via Bluetooth, so you don’t have to race to your computer to tweak settings. However, the Turtle Beach headset gives you more control options on the device. You can switch between equalizers using a button on the Stealth Pro 2, and there are three dials to independently adjust the USB source and Bluetooth volume and adjust game/chat mix levels. You can also customize what some of its additional inputs do in its app. SteelSeries delegates most of the controls to the GameHub.

The Arctis Nova Pro Omni is slightly different in implementation, but similar in function and design to the Nova Pro Wireless. Its dock serves as the audio brain for all your gaming gear, assuming they’re all located within 5 feet of access to the two included USB-C-to-USB-A cables. It can receive four wired audio sources (three USB-C, one 3.5mm audio), and mix three sources simultaneously, including Bluetooth. The microphone works cross-platform too. The Omni is the best choice if your USB audio source switching base station is always close at hand.

These headphones are able to deliver rich and balanced sound which made me feel immersed in gaming. Even without their good active noise cancellation effects turned on, their earpads block out a significant amount of outside sound. Both headphones’ software offers in-depth EQ customization through their PC apps, but I preferred how the Omni sounded even with identical EQ waveforms across the headphones. It has stronger mids and highs with warmth when the content calls for it, greater bass control, and better definition between frequencies. However, the Stealth Pro 2 comes close.

One area where SteelSeries is moving forward is microphone quality. The retractable microphone is superior to what Turtle Beach’s detachable mute microphone offers. My voice sounds warmer and has more detail (and doesn’t sound like I’m talking on the phone). However, neither sounds better than a dedicated desktop microphone.

Most people have probably already figured out the best types of headphones through their setup. The Stealth Pro 2 has a more attractive price tag that’s $50 less than the Omni, as well as many of the great features you’re used to seeing offered in SteelSeries headsets. Then again, it may not be suitable for everyone’s settings or audio preferences.

The Omni is a great headphone too, but if your budget is locked in under $300, the SteelSeries Nova Pro Wireless is still a great headphone that typically sells for around $270. Its lack of high-resolution wireless audio isn’t a downside for me, and there’s still a lot to like about the look, feel and performance of the last-gen model.

Photography by Cameron Faulkner/The Verge