[Ryoga85]

I only read negative comments

 

[atCodus]

I only read negative comments

That's the nature of the Internet. Those with no issues have no reason to come here and post.

 

[Combover Grover]

I just received my Penrose and tried them for the first time on PS5. I already can’t wait to return these things. The audio is SO bad. Music sounds nice but gameplay is horrible. Everything sounds so distant, like there’s a barrier between my ears and what I’m supposed to be hearing. There is no depth or richness to the sound. Everything sounds like it’s 10 feet away, not right over my ears.

Spatially they’re good for far distances (i.e. far away gunfire to my right) but for close up I can’t distinguish whether sounds are coming from in front of me, to the right, or to the left. It’s a jumbled mess. Not good for FPS when you need to hear footsteps. Also, the volume in the right ear up seems to be higher than the one in the left, and it’s a super-annoying sensation. I find myself adjusting the left ear up over and over to try to achieve the same isolation as the right ear cup.

Also, the game/chat wheel doesn’t work. When I hold it down and adjust the wheel, my game/chat balance doesn’t change. I even tried adjusting it in the computer program and it did nothing on the headset. My teammates chat was way louder than my game volume and I had no way of fixing it using the headset. I had to do it through the party chat options on PS5. Not ideal.

I’m coming from Astro A40s and I’m switching back immediately. It’s pretty sad when my Gen 1 Astro A40s from 2011 sound way better on my PS5 (which they’re not evenly designed for) than a brand new headset marketed specifically for PS5.

I wanted to love these things so bad, but I just can’t get past the terrible audio. To be fair it might also be an issue with PS5 audio in general as I did notice my A40s don’t sound as great on my PS5 as on PS4, but that’s likely because they’re only plugged into the controller rather than into a Mixamp that’s plugged via optical cable into my PS4.

At this point I’m just waiting for Astro to develop a new headset designed for PS5. Until then, my old A40s will do just fine.

Try turning the PS5’s tempest audio off.

 

[Fairchild670]

How do you switch on the fly between the EQ presets that are saved to the chip on the headphones?

 

[Combover Grover]

Quick Penrose X impressions on Xbox series X

They sound incredible. Coming from the Arctis 9x it is night and day. Impactful and detailed. Just great.

For me the fit is... fine. Arctis is better, but think I can live with it (and I have a pretty big head). Find having the headband a little forward on my head feels better.

My xbox is right next to my router and the Arctis 9x had horrible connection issues. Putting the Penrose dongle in the back of the xbox, had a couple little pops and “connected” messages. But it was much better than my arctis issues. Grabbed a USB extension cable I had laying around and ran the dongle to the other side of the tv and so far so good. Need to use it more to confirm the issue is totally gone.

So far I’m happy. Selling my arctis 9x. It’s such an upgrade in the sound department I could never go back. Also really love how the dongle on the penrose X has the “pc” switch. Can pretty much use it on anything. Hooked it up to my macbook pro and listened to some Qobuz. Sounded great.

Agree that the volume knob needs to be more granular. Glad they are going to fix it in a firmware update. Wish I could set the mic gain to auto and just have the mic gain wheel do game / voice balance. Can’t think of a situation where I want to manually adjust the mic gain.

 

[naveyarrum077]

But you can't use the chat mix as a reason for returning unique to Penrose surely

Nope I’m returning because audio sounds like crap and I’d rather get my $250 back and use my old Astros that sound better. I do agree that turning off 3D audio sounds better, however it dramatically reduces spatial awareness. It’s very left and right where’s it’s a little more round (3D) with 3D on obviously

 

[naveyarrum077]

Try turning the PS5’s tempest audio off.

I did and it sounds better, but then you lose 3D awareness which is important in games like Warzone.

 

[naveyarrum077]

This may be a dumb question, but are the L and R stickers on the inside ear cups supposed to be removed?

 

[WhiteHartMart]

Nope I’m returning because audio sounds like crap and I’d rather get my $250 back and use my old Astros that sound better. I do agree that turning off 3D audio sounds better, however it dramatically reduces spatial awareness. It’s very left and right where’s it’s a little more round (3D) with 3D on obviously

I’m going to go out in a limb and suggest the 3D audio/tempest engine does nothing for older games that haven’t been programmed for it.

The wording of Sony’s press release suggests not even some PS5 games will utilise it so I honestly don’t think it works as universally as Windows Sonic for example on Xbox.

Personally, I just think any perceived 3D effect on older titles is placebo. New releases programmed for it are a different matter though.

 

[Combover Grover]

I’m going to go out in a limb and suggest the 3D audio/tempest engine does nothing for older games that haven’t been programmed for it.

The wording of Sony’s press release suggests not even some PS5 games will utilise it so I honestly don’t think it works as universally as Windows Sonic for example on Xbox.

Personally, I just think any perceived 3D effect on older titles is placebo. New releases programmed for it are a different matter though.

Ya if you google Warzone and tempest audio a lot of people are having issues. That being said, using Penrose X on a series X with Atmos for headphones and sounds great.

 

[RedTail]

Any reviews on Penrose X + XSX + Warzone would be appreciated.

Warzone is natively compatible with Dolby Atmos. Get the app in xbox store. Should sound great.

 

[Ironforge]

I was using my old headset on the PS5 before the Penrose arrived, but because there’s no optical on the PS5 it doesn’t work as it did on the PS4 and I kept getting intermittent “clicking” when I used party chat, or can sometimes hear the same, but faint static click as audio starts playing (clicking between YouTube videos for example) just not as loud.

Unfortunately this continued when I started using the Penrose.

No issues using the same devices on PS4.

Any ideas?

 

[Petes67bird]

I just received my Penrose and tried them for the first time on PS5. I already can’t wait to return these things. The audio is SO bad. Music sounds nice but gameplay is horrible. Everything sounds so distant, like there’s a barrier between my ears and what I’m supposed to be hearing. There is no depth or richness to the sound. Everything sounds like it’s 10 feet away, not right over my ears.

Spatially they’re good for far distances (i.e. far away gunfire to my right) but for close up I can’t distinguish whether sounds are coming from in front of me, to the right, or to the left. It’s a jumbled mess. Not good for FPS when you need to hear footsteps. Also, the volume in the right ear up seems to be higher than the one in the left, and it’s a super-annoying sensation. I find myself adjusting the left ear up over and over to try to achieve the same isolation as the right ear cup.

Also, the game/chat wheel doesn’t work. When I hold it down and adjust the wheel, my game/chat balance doesn’t change. I even tried adjusting it in the computer program and it did nothing on the headset. My teammates chat was way louder than my game volume and I had no way of fixing it using the headset. I had to do it through the party chat options on PS5. Not ideal.

I’m coming from Astro A40s and I’m switching back immediately. It’s pretty sad when my Gen 1 Astro A40s from 2011 sound way better on my PS5 (which they’re not evenly designed for) than a brand new headset marketed specifically for PS5.

I wanted to love these things so bad, but I just can’t get past the terrible audio. To be fair it might also be an issue with PS5 audio in general as I did notice my A40s don’t sound as great on my PS5 as on PS4, but that’s likely because they’re only plugged into the controller rather than into a Mixamp that’s plugged via optical cable into my PS4.

At this point I’m just waiting for Astro to develop a new headset designed for PS5. Until then, my old A40s will do just fine.

Try to change audio output to linear pcm. It sounded way better to me and was easier to distinguish footsteps. I agree the mixamp plus any headphone blows these away.

 

[zachwagon]

Just as a sanity check...everyone just plugs their usb dongle into your PC and it automatically showed up right? Also, does the light on your dongle blink or just stay solid? Mine seems to
be stuck on solid.

I’m asking this because I am 98% certain my dongle is DOA. I’ve tried multiple computers, flipping the Pc/Xbox switch, re-pairing the dongle and headphones (the lady actually says connected in my ears), and I have even tried resetting the dongle multiple times per the manual instructions. Nothing works. I can’t find any evidence any of my 3 machines recognize the usb drive on any windows or Mac settings (sound, devices, etc). I even downloaded AudezeHQ and it can’t find my headphones either.

 

[ISUVetMed]

I apologize in advance for the beginner question. I just got my Penrose X- and I love it. I’ve got a big head (wear a 7 3/4-8 hat) and I haven’t had any issues with comfort. Sound on series X is great, I use primarily for Warzone and can hear a few things my Rig 600 didn’t allow me to hear. In warzone at least it’s not a HUGE sound difference.
When I first set up my heat set, it seems everything must be controlled on the headset and due to the nature of Xbox can’t be controlled in the audio menu.
Game volume works fine, but WHAT does the microphone gain wheel do? I’ve put it all the way down, and all the way up. My mic level in audio Xbox settings stays the same, and my party says it’s the same sound. They said I sound good, but everyone said I’m a little quiet compared to last mic.
Sorry in advance if that’s a noob question, I’m not sure if gain adjusts the sensitivity of mic, or volume of mjc