[Lambduh]

https://steelseries.com/blog/arctis-7p-wireless-headset-features-price-371

The 7p is lossless

Thanks, totally missed that they added the lossless dongle to that. It's also the nice one that has a cable to get it the **** away from your source. More room for the antenna and the ability to position it better is at the very least a huge reason as to why the range is so much better.

Pulse 3D is another story.

 

[Gunn3y]

Lol, I haven't been back in a while so I'll post my positive experience, sorry if it's a bit incoherent.

I have been enjoying my Penrose with almost daily use (since 11/31) in conjunction with work and play. 8 hours a day for work with the dongle in the back of an iMac (calls and chat) and simultaneous bluetooth to a Windows laptop (music/youtube for my sanity).

Glad you have been having a good experience with them. Out of interest why do you use this combo this way around, as it would seem to me that music and videos would be better suited to the higher quality & lower latency of the dongle, while calls/chat shouldn't suffer all that much on bluetooth?

 

[Petes67bird]

Before I return the Penrose, I would like to give it two more solid nights. Does anyone have any EQ settings for competitive Call of duty. Right now there is way too much bass. Explosions cause the earpads to rumble and block out critical sounds. If anyone has gamed competitively, you know that you want almost zero bass. Had anyone figured out an eq setting yet?



On a side note, I tested all three of my setups.
Best all around are the Sennheiser Game One with MixAmp. Only problem is that now they do not get loud enough for me, I play on max volume even on the Penrose. The comfort level of the Game One and spatial resolution is superb to position players on FPS shooters. Couple that with Velour pads, it's like heaven to your head.

The Penrose sound great but way too bass heavy right now. If I can get the sound EQ set correctly and buy earpads that are higher quality, these may work. Only issue is for 300 dollars, I shouldn't have to upgrade cheap pads. On the flip side I wish I could take the drivers in the Penrose and put them in the Arctis shell as they are way more comfy.

Arctis 7p great comfort from the first wear. Sound not on par with the other two setups. You can hear things and their direction, but it was difficult to judge distance. Maybe with more than two hours I could accustom my ears to know the sounds that match distance. I had these on Performance EQ setting. Just an overall sound downgrade from the setups I am used to using.

I used all three headphones through a rotation right before writing this. Not sure if I should just return everything and wait to see what is released q1. My budget is about 500 dollars as I want a high end competitive setup.

 

[atCodus]

Glad you have been having a good experience with them. Out of interest why do you use this combo this way around, as it would seem to me that music and videos would be better suited to the higher quality & lower latency of the dongle, while calls/chat shouldn't suffer all that much on bluetooth?

After reading reviews in this thread I've bought a bluetooth dongle to use it exactly this same way. Apparently bluetooth times out after 30mins of inactivity. I can easily go 30mins without a work call or chat, so didn't want connectivity issues there.

 

[MasterkillerX]

I think most of us understand that any wireless stability is very YMMV depending on how congested our 2.4ghz airspace is. However, many of us (including myself) have also spoken to Audeze that we are not having any similar issue with other 2.4ghz wireless headsets such as the Arctis 7p and Pulse 3D. I can’t imagine going back to those headphones after using the Penrose for the past ten days, but if wireless stability doesn’t improve to be competitive with other similar headsets, I won’t have a choice.

Audeze engineers said that the dongle does not stay on one channel, so I can’t simply manually set my mesh WiFi to a separate channel that doesn’t overlap. Restarting my router every time I want to use headphones is inconvenient and I’ve tested time and again that I don’t have any such issues with the Arctis 7p. Audeze has stated that their engineers are looking at this so I am hopeful it can be addressed. For everyone else with a stable connection, these headphones are awesome. I am no longer having comfort issues anymore either after stretching them out several nights in a row. It just makes it all the more annoying when I experience so many dropouts that I have to switch to the Arctis 7p (no dropouts but I just can’t stand the audio quality anymore after becoming so used to the Penrose, especially after some equalization).

I am rooting for Audeze and I hope the Penrose can be successful. I think they just need to iron out some issues that was probably missed in a more controlled testing environment and all signs point to that happening.

Will Audeze be fixing the popping/crackling? I don't use the mic at all, so that's not what I'm talking about. I mean just playing a game and you hear the little pops and crackling, which is very annoying. I'm currently trying a million different things to fix it, but it's really stressing me out and making me sad. I had this issue with my Astro A50 Gen 4's, but fixed it by connecting optical to TV. I know I can fall back on those, but they are buggy as hell, and the modkit makes my ears so hot and sweaty. Sound isn't amazing either -_-

 

[MasterkillerX]

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 the 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.

How did you run the dongle to the TV while keeping it connected to the Xbox? I'm having popping and crackling issues, and it's driving me crazy. I also find I have to connect it to front port of Xbox or else it keeps saying "connected". Does it stop eventually? Please let me know if and how you stopped the popping exactly.

 

[WhiteHartMart]

Must admit I'm now on the fence about returning these again - I've played around with both the EQ and also, in particular, angling the cups to avoid pressure points on certain parts of my jaw etc and been pleased with the impact so far.

Tested on CoD Cold War last night, turned 3d audio off and found this much better. Still do not like the headband pressure at all but the clamp is not an issue for me now.

Also flip flopped between these and some Hifiman Sundara plugged into a Creative G6. Yes, I preferred the Sundara/G6 combination for audio, but the Penrose still sounded superb and the convenience it offers is a big plus. Absolutely convinced there isn't a better sounding wireless gaming headset out there - just the headband and also my dislike of closed back in general blots my views.

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

@Oscar-HiFi whats the chances of getting penrose x headsets to customers before xmas?

I'm trying to get updates from our ops department to see if we have any sort of tracking so we can get an ETA. But from the looks of it, they haven't arrived yet with us so I'm not sure we'll be able to get them to people for Christmas.

 

[Celcos]

First impressions:

• They sound brilliant, especially for what they are. I'm no audiophile, but the sound is clear and punchy.
• Out of the box, they are very uncomfortable due to the clamping force. They're wrapped around a pillow at the moment, so we'll see in a day or two, but after testing them out for 30 minutes or so, putting on my QC25s felt like giving my head a hug. I literally have a mild headache from using them. My head circumference is ~58cm, if that helps anyone.
• The wireless connectivity is very good. It took about ~10m with a interior wall between myself and the PC before the audio got choppy. Loads of wireless devices around the house (including smart home devices) + my PC looks like some sort of snake's nest with all the USB cables coming off it.
• The left pad is definitely less isolating than the right. It was very noticeable when putting the headphones on at first. That said, I don't notice it affecting the sound when I'm playing music.
• Updated the firmware first thing: no wooshing sound.

I'll test the gaming aspects of it tonight or tomorrow evening to see how it holds up in a round of CSGO.

 

[Knees76]

Will Audeze be fixing the popping/crackling? I don't use the mic at all, so that's not what I'm talking about. I mean just playing a game and you hear the little pops and crackling, which is very annoying. I'm currently trying a million different things to fix it, but it's really stressing me out and making me sad. I had this issue with my Astro A50 Gen 4's, but fixed it by connecting optical to TV. I know I can fall back on those, but they are buggy as hell, and the modkit makes my ears so hot and sweaty. Sound isn't amazing either -_-

I'm getting popping/cracking when testing the mic. A full restart fixes the problem until I turn the Xbox off and back on again. I leave the dongle plugged in when doing the full restart and then just power on the headset. I'll have to test if I'm getting the popping/cracking sound while gaming beyond using the mic like you are. I'll test this tomorrow.

Do you know if your Xbox is set to Instant On or Energy Saver? I'm wondering if there is and issue with the dongle plugged in and the Xbox set to instant On.

 

[imac2much]

Thanks, totally missed that they added the lossless dongle to that. It's also the nice one that has a cable to get it the **** away from your source. More room for the antenna and the ability to position it better is at the very least a huge reason as to why the range is so much better.

Pulse 3D is another story.

I wasn’t aware the Pulse wasn’t lossless as I hated the audio and returned it immediately. I did know Arctis was advertised as lossless though.

The difference in wireless performance is definitely not due to the extension cable. I have tried multiple extension cables of varying lengths with the Penrose at varying lengths and they still can have issues when the Arctis does not. Even when plugged directly into the PS5, the Arctis will always have great wireless range for me.

All YMMV as I’ve said. Like last night after restarting my router I had very few dropouts with the Penrose. One dropout an hour or so is acceptable to me. But the night before it was disconnecting nearly every 5 minutes which is why I switched to Arctis.

 

[Combover Grover]

How did you run the dongle to the TV while keeping it connected to the Xbox? I'm having popping and crackling issues, and it's driving me crazy. I also find I have to connect it to front port of Xbox or else it keeps saying "connected". Does it stop eventually? Please let me know if and how you stopped the popping exactly.

Sorry if it wasn’t clear. I didn’t run it to the tv, but used a usb extension cable to move it farther away from the Xbox because it sits right next to my router. In the moment it seemed to help, but this weekend was kinda jammed and haven’t been able to use it that much.

 

[Deuch]

For information, COD Cold War is not great with 3D Audio enabled. Spider Man Miles Morales or Astro bot sound better.

I’ve got the Penrose for PS5 and i’m pretty happy with it. I’ve played twice with it during 2h gaming session.
The confort is OK. Not as good as a Sony Platinum or Meze Audio 99 Classics (the weight is not the same, passive vs active). But it still OK.
I’ve no pain, but my ears get warm So just let them breathe a little times to times.

Sound is very good, very large scene, very dynamic. For gaming it’s very good.

For audio, i’ve made some comparison with the Meze Audio 99 classics. The sound signature are different, but both have qualities. The Meze is more chill, and not so dynamic. It’s more audiophile with more delicatesse than the Penrose. But Penrose give a bigger soundstage and dynamic.
I have the same level of details with both, but the overall sound presentation is different.
Not too bad for a gaming heaset !
I can listen music with the Penrose with not problem at all.. Not with the Sony Platinum for eg because it is not playing in the same league that the 2 others.

 

[Petes67bird]

For information, COD Cold War is not great with 3D Audio enabled. Spider Man Miles Morales or Astro bot sound better.

I’ve got the Penrose for PS5 and i’m pretty happy with it. I’ve played twice with it during 2h gaming session.
The confort is OK. Not as good as a Sony Platinum or Meze Audio 99 Classics (the weight is not the same, passive vs active). But it still OK.
I’ve no pain, but my ears get warm So just let them breathe a little times to times.

Sound is very good, very large scene, very dynamic. For gaming it’s very good.

For audio, i’ve made some comparison with the Meze Audio 99 classics. The sound signature are different, but both have qualities. The Meze is more chill, and not so dynamic. It’s more audiophile with more delicatesse than the Penrose. But Penrose give a bigger soundstage and dynamic.
I have the same level of details with both, but the overall sound presentation is different.
Not too bad for a gaming heaset !
I can listen music with the Penrose with not problem at all.. Not with the Sony Platinum for eg because it is not playing in the same league that the 2 others.

How do you use them with cold war? Settings?

 

[WhiteHartMart]

How do you use them with cold war? Settings?

For me on Warzone or Cold War I simply disable 3d audio. I have a very slight eq change on my Penrose at present, but that is just to suit me individually. Compared the Penrose back to back with some Hifiman Sundara via a Creative G6 last night and the Penrose did very well. Preferred the wired sound overall, but the gap was a lot closer than I expected for gaming.