Turtle Seashore Stealth Professional evaluation: A top-tier gaming headset

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turtle seashore stealth professional

msrp $330.00

“Turtle Seashore’s Stealth Professional gaming headset is loaded with helpful options that justify a excessive price ticket.”

professionals

  • discrete design

  • snug match

  • nice audio high quality

  • Revolutionary Battery Options

  • stuffed with options

Shortcoming

  • treasured

  • mic high quality is so

  • some complicated options

The extra “professional” a headset turns into, the extra hurdles its maker has to beat. Each added characteristic requires some further ingenuity to keep away from a headset lined in buttons. Every new tweak is certain to lift the worth a bit extra every time. There is a tough steadiness to land between ease of use, affordability, high quality, and options. You may see these tensions in Turtle Seashore’s glorious, however considerably difficult Stealth Professional headset.

There’s a lot occurring in Stealth Professional that it is onerous to sum all of it up in a nutshell. For a hefty $330, you are getting nice sound high quality by its 50mm drivers, highly effective energetic noise cancellation (ANC), two microphone choices, a replaceable battery, a wi-fi transmitter that may play when utilizing one other battery, One fees the included second battery, compatibility with each gaming machine on the market, and a big customization suite by way of Turtle Seashore’s app. Whereas this does not maintain all that a lot, there are some design quirks that enable Turtle Seashore to pack all of it in.

In case you can adapt to some finicky options and have greater than $300 to spend, the Turtle Seashore Stealth Professional is a top-tier gaming headset to put money into. It is shortly turning into my favourite audio machine, because of its snug design and progressive battery answer that solves one in all my largest gripes with wi-fi headsets. I simply want to show myself to cease messing with it in public.

design and luxury

The largest praise I can provide to the Stealth Professional is that it does not appear to be a gaming headset. There is a development taking place within the house for the time being the place producers are ditching the loud, colourful designs for discrete ones that make them extra viable as publicly accessible cans. Turtle Seashore follows that development with a easy black and silver design with only a few unobtrusive logos and no RGB accents.

Close-up of Turtle Beach's Stealth Pro headset.

It is also a fairly sturdy headset, with a metal-reinforced headband that feels prefer it’ll maintain up effectively over the lengthy haul. It may really feel a bit stiff, as there is a honest quantity of resistance when attempting to regulate it, but it surely’s a giant improve over the overly plasticky really feel of the bottom Stealth mannequin. I often really feel a bit self-conscious when testing gaming headsets on an NYC practice trip, however the premium feel and look right here put that concern to relaxation.

I am particularly pleased with the consolation issue thus far. At first, it felt a bit tight and I felt like it could squeeze my head a bit an excessive amount of. This discomfort by no means occurred throughout my testing, because of its extremely gentle reminiscence foam ear cushions and headband. I used to maintain it on for hours with out even excited about it. I am not solely positive the way it will match bigger heads, but it surely appears versatile sufficient that it ought to adapt simply whereas sustaining a comfortable match.

audio high quality

It is no shock that the Stealth Professional wins in audio high quality. Turtle Seashore is aware of find out how to make a headset that is correctly balanced for gaming at this level. The 50mm NanoClear drivers right here produce extremely clear sound the place no frequency vary feels misplaced. The bass, mid and highs all fall just about the place I might anticipate them to and Turtle Seashore presents a good quantity of customization to regulate the combo to my liking. Naturally, there’s the corporate’s signature Superhuman Listening to characteristic, which helps increase feels like footsteps. Then there’s the Audio Hub app which lets me simply tweak my EQ presets on the fly as effectively.

I am significantly impressed with the noise cancellation right here, which cuts out a ton of sound. Room tone is nearly eliminated once I’m taking part in a sport, serving to me focus my consideration fully on one thing octopath traveler 2Excellent rating. There is a mic monitor accessible if you wish to herald some exterior noise, however I might counsel fidgeting with it by the Audio Hub app first. At its default, the monitor is extremely noisy. When utilizing it on a practice, I used to be left with a harsh, tinny audio.

The Stealth Professional is total an excellent gaming headset that solves lots of the points I’ve with gadgets like this.

The microphone high quality is not too dangerous both, though I discover I am hardly ever fully happy with that facet of a gaming headset — and at $330, it isn’t elevating the bar as a lot as I might hope. I do respect, nevertheless, that the Stealth Professional consists of each an in-line microphone and a removable increase. The previous is not significantly better, with a hole, echo-filled tone that picks up plenty of room tone, but it surely’s good to have a built-in mic I can use in a pinch if I do not really feel like breaking out the attachment.

The increase produces a really clear sound which I really feel extra snug subjecting my mates to. It is a contact tinny, however my voice got here by clearly, with a relatively gentle layering of room tones. This may be muted by flipping the microphone over, which might make for a barely annoying microphone dealing with sound. I’ve additionally come throughout conditions the place the microphone randomly mutes itself for a number of seconds with out me even touching it. Regardless of this, the characteristic works effectively, contemplating I can simply carry it out of my face and get an audio cue confirming it is off.

A Turtle Beach Stealth Pro sits on a bookshelf.

The place of the microphone is the place I begin to run into among the “premium” quirks of the headset. In an effort to maintain the design as quiet as attainable, the microphone jack has been lined by a small plastic cap on the left ear cup. At any time when I wish to use the mic, I go away praying the little cowl does not get misplaced, leaving an ugly gap on the correct. That is one space the place the Stealth Professional feels a bit overdesigned, as an open port on the aspect appears unobtrusive sufficient. This is among the few odd jobs you may must get that skilled really feel.

Battery

It involves the fore once more with its progressive strategy to batteries. Turtle Seashore says the headset lasts about 12 hours on a cost, which appears roughly correct (although 10 could also be an in depth estimate). It’s kind of expensive contemplating the worth, however the neat factor is that the battery could be simply eliminated and changed with one other one which comes with the headset. Changing it is so simple as prying off the plastic cowl on the left earcup, inserting the brand new one into the slot, and snapping the cap again into place.

A Turtle Beach Stealth Pro and its battery are on a table.

OK, I am being a bit cheeky once I say “easy” right here. It is an excellent thought, but it surely’s brought on me some issues as a power fiddler. I had an embarrassing accident the place I managed to drop the duvet whereas on the practice, leaving me to scramble to get it again in place, one thing that is onerous to do from feeling alone. I will not criticize the Turtle Seashore for its incapability to sit down nonetheless, but it surely’s positively a headset you may wish to preserve your palms off as a lot as attainable.

There’s one other neat part to its battery answer. The Stealth Professional comes with a wi-fi transmitter that may be simply linked to a PC by way of USB. The spherical puck actually takes up extra space than the flash drive-sized dongle, however there is a good cause why: It doubles as a battery charger. I am charging my second battery whereas I am linked wirelessly to a tool. When my first one runs out, I simply swap it within the transmitter and pop it in totally charged. It is a genius answer that solves situations the place your headset dies and you’ll want to cease utilizing it to cost it. The trade-off is a bigger transmitter hanging round, but it surely appears worthwhile for the utility.

The Turtle Beach Stealth Pro Headset Wireless Transmitter sits on a wooden surface.

The one disappointment I discover right here is that there is no means to make use of the Stealth Professional with a wire. I at all times prefer to have that choice in a wi-fi headset so I can plug in every time I must. The swappable battery obviates the necessity for that situation, but it surely’s nonetheless one thing I might anticipate from a headset I am paying this a lot for.

Options and Controls

The actual “Professional” facet comes when digging into its options—although that is the place its quirks are most noticeable. On the constructive aspect, it’s suitable with each gaming system in a roundabout way or the opposite. Bluetooth lets me simply connect with my cellphone, whereas the transmitter could be plugged right into a docked Swap or Xbox Collection X. Connecting a headset like this to a number of gadgets can at all times be a bit tough, however I discovered that I used to be capable of change between the transmitter on the PC, my Swap by way of Bluetooth, and my cellphone with out a lot hassle.

A part of me needs elements of the Stealth Professional stayed nearer to the fundamentals.

The spectacular characteristic set can get a bit difficult from there. For instance, quantity is not managed by way of the usual dial wheel. As a substitute, the complete proper earcup is a rotating dial that controls quantity. It sounds a bit foolish contemplating what number of rotations are wanted to hit high quantity, however I obtained used to it.

The wheel’s a number of modes are a bit obscure. Utilizing the Audio Hub app, I can map a secondary operate to the wheel that’s activated by urgent a button at its heart. This permits me to regulate my mic monitor quantity, ANC ranges, bass increase and extra. This can be a neat addition, however just one could be assigned at a time. I can not regulate my bluetooth quantity or my sport/chat combine on the similar time. It is a compromise that is most likely essential to pack in as a lot performance with out 100 buttons, but it surely creates limitations.

A Turtle Beach Stealth Pro headset based on the Xbox Series S.

I can really feel the strain between loading the Stealth Professional with options and protecting its design easy. There are solely three buttons on the machine except for the mode toggle: an influence button, a Bluetooth toggle, and a Superhuman Listening to change. A few of these buttons have a number of capabilities, although, which could be onerous to maintain monitor of. For instance, to mute the in-line mic, I’ve to carry down the Superhuman Listening to button for a number of seconds. These three buttons are a bit onerous to press even whereas sporting the headset, often requiring me to take it off so I may even discover them (although among the texture on the Superhuman Listening to buttons helps).

A part of me needs elements of the Stealth Professional stayed nearer to the fundamentals. A standard mute button and a quantity wheel would have been ample, as would an open mic jack. Nonetheless, I really feel like I am nitpicking a bit once I’m wanting on the massive image. The Stealth Professional is total an excellent gaming headset that solves lots of the points I’ve with gadgets like this. A discrete design, nice audio high quality, replaceable battery – all these options give me a wi-fi headset that is shortly changing the wired headset I often favor as my go-to machine. The one deterrent is the $330 price ticket, but it surely’s onerous to argue that you simply’re not getting a really “professional” expertise for the cash.

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