Turtle Beach Elite Pro Gaming Headset Review

Introduction Today is a very special day here at eTeknix, not just for us, but also for our friends at Turtle Beach, as they've sent us something pretty special. I am, of course, talking about their new Elite Pro Gaming Headset, and it's by quite a margin, one of the most expensive headset combos we've ever tested, but it promises some pretty epic performance and features to go with it, so we're eager to see if the saying "you get what you pay for" really does hold true today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2jwpmRznEA "To build the ultimate weapon for elite eSports pros like OpTic Gaming, Turtle Beach reimagined the gaming headset from the ground up. We asked top tournament gamers about the features and details that matter to them. The result is a new standard in gaming audio, the Turtle Beach Elite Pro®. From unparalleled comfort to unrivaled sound, the Elite Pro finally gives champion eSport competitors a headset that performs to their level." - Turtle Beach Equipped with a huge range of features, the Elite Pro Tournament Headset certainly has us excited to test it out, but the Elite Pro ecosystem is a little more complicated than just a headset in a box. In addition to the headset, you'll find a range of expensive and fancy looking extra hardware, such as the Elite Pro Tactical Audio Controller, and the Elite Pro Tournament Noise Cancelling Mic; we've got both of these to test with the headset today. Beyond that, there is also a Tactical Adapter for Xbox One, and the A.M.P. for PlayStation 4; all of these are sold separately of course. A Closer Look - Elite Pro Tournament Headset The headset is pretty big, but comes very well packaged with all the required accessories and the usual documentation. In the box, you'll find a simple 4-pole cable which is perfect for use on consoles or mobile devices, as well as a nice flexible boom microphone. The headset looks fairly unassuming, but fool not, this thing is packing a fair few features. The design is a welcome break from the often purposely gaudy gaming headsets we so often see, and while they're fine too, this looks a little more professional with its matte finishes and I guess sort of industrial look. The headband design is quite interesting, with several stages that allow for adjustment to the overall size and fit of the headset at the ear cup, the pivot joint, as well as the headband. The headband has a level of self-adjustment that helps cushion the weight on springs mounted into the side of the headband, but also features a durable adjustment system on each side, allowing you to tweak the range. There's a good range of movement to it, allowing a comfortable fit for a wide range of head sizes, but there are more options still to cover! The ear cups can be folded inward, which is great for wearing the headset around your neck between games, but it also allows you to adjust the fit on the side of your head, ensuring you get a nice clean fit over your ears. As if that wasn't enough, there's a second headband adjustment area directly above the earcups; here it is at its stock settings. Or you can slide it out to suit your needs; here it is fully extended. With this, the pivot and the headband adjustment, you should be able to get a perfect fit for any head shape or size, something that's rarely found on a single headset and a feature that cannot be underestimated. Comfort gets dialed to 11 when you see the ear pads too, which are easily the deepest cushions we've seen to date, with soft memory foam treated leather that fits around your ears with the brute force of a wispy cloud on a summer day; ok maybe not that light, but I'll be damned if it's not some of the most comfortable padding on the market today. The soft padding is very nice, but with the leather sides it helps ensure that each ear cup creates a clean fit around your ear, blocking out ambient noise and locking in the audio from the headset, giving you a much punchier bass response. And there's even more soft memory foam padding on the inner ear band; I'm sure you get it now, the headset is comfortable! Tucked into the left ear cup, you'll find a hard-wired short cable for hooking up your required connector cable, as well as a small jack for the detachable microphone. Plug in the included cable and the orange highlights of the cable show through the side, showing you that the cable is fully locked into place. The microphone plugs in easily enough and can be rotated 360-degree, and benefitting from a flexible boom. The in-line controller on the included cable is pretty simple, but with a volume control and microphone mute, you're unlikely to need much else mid game. A Closer Look - Elite Pro Tactical Audio Controller In the box for the audio controller, you'll find the controller, obviously, as well as an optical cable, USB cables, and 4-pole 3.5mm cable; everything you need to get setup and rocking in no time. The controller looks pretty awesome, with a chunky base and a weighted design that makes it idea for sitting on your desktop. Connectivity is huge here, with dedicated headphone and microphone ports on the front, as well as a controller connector for console use. Around the back, you'll find aux in/out for streaming audio, USB input, optical input and passthrough, RJ45 link ports to daisy chain multiple units, and a mode control switch. On the top, a large master volume control wheel with LED indicators around the outside, as well as a master microphone mute button. This is where things get really cool, with a preset button and surround mode button, each with four LED indicator lights, then four master control sliders. The first (from the left) is for mix level of the game and chat audio, background noise limiter level, mic boost, and monitor level; this is going to be awesome having these settings on hand mid-game. On the base of the unit, four durable rubber pads to help keep it locked firmly on your desk. A Closer Look - Elite Pro Tournament Noise Cancelling Microphone In the box for the microphone, you'll find a new audio cable, which comes with dual jacks, a 4-pole audio cable for backwards compatibility with mobile devices, consoles, etc, as well as a separate 3-pole microphone jack for standard desktop audio configurations. The microphone is noticeably chunkier than the stock one, with a very thick boom, but it's still perfectly flexible to suit your needs. The head of the mic is huge, with a large opening at one end and a thick layer of foam covering the mic. And it's the same on the other side, with another large opening and more foam. Side by side, you can really see just how much more industrial the new microphone really is. <strongPerformance This is the flagship product for turtle beach, so to expect anything less than perfection would be selling them short. We've tested some of their flagship headsets in the past, and certainly weren't disappointed, but this one is on another level. Using the headset on its own, plugged into a console such as the PS4, Xbox One, or a mobile device (we used the Nvidia Shield Tablet), and even PC, was an absolute blast. The noise suppression from the thick padded ear cups is mighty impressive, and when it comes to extended use, the versatile headband adjustments and padding means it is incredibly comfortable too. The snug fit, combined with big drivers equally a big sound, with thundering bass, detailed mids and soaring treble; you couldn't hope for a better sound! Of course, things get dialed up to 11 when you're rocking the amp, and while I must admit that basically doubling the price may put many off, those interested in eSports, or being more competitive in general, as well as streaming, will want to start getting their credit cards out of their wallets right now. The range of connectivity on offer here is simply stunning. You can have your game playing through the surround sound processing, which sounds flawless, then you can apply a range of custom EQ profiles to suit your tastes, you can dial up how much active noise cancellation you need, how loud your mic is for your listeners, and how much microphone monitoring you want and the end result is a sound mix that you'll be 100% happy with and so will your teammates and/or viewers. Let's dig into the details a little here, the sliders for the controls are really easy to use, they have a smooth but weighted movement to them, meaning minor and steady adjustments are easy to achieve while you're gaming. The noise cancellation is fantastic, with the microphone picking up a surprisingly amount of ambient noise so you can hear your surroundings, but dial up the ANC and slowly but surely, the world around you fades away. You can tune it just right so that it doesn't pick up the sound of your breathing, but start talking and the microphone gets all the sound it needs to through the amp. Combine this with the mic boost and the monitoring, and you're well on the way to ensuring your streaming/gaming gets the best sound levels to enjoy. With a huge amount of outputs on the back, connectivity isn't a problem. I love that you can daisy chain them using RJ45 too, and while expensive, you could invest in a set of these for each member of your eSports team, pair them together for lag free, high-quality audio that is not network dependent. Then you've got optical pass-through, which means you can keep the loop going through to your AV receiver and not need to swap around cables when you're done with one or the other, and with AUX in and Stream Out, you can plug in mobile devices, mp3 players and more to the mix, or have a dedicated out for any additional hardware you need to hook up to. The sound quality through the amp is certainly superior too, giving some serious punch to the headset, or any headset you plug into it for that matter. With dedicated microphone and headphones ports, you could easily use this with your own mic, your own headphones and get some great results. Of course, the Turtle Beach headset is some pretty serious hardware in its self, and as great as it sounds on its own, it works very well with the EQ and surround modes available. You couldn't ask for a better sounding headset without spending a lot more money, and given this is already costing north of $400 with the amp and mic add-ons, that's getting into dangerous territory for your wallet. The Tournament microphone is a big step up from the stock one. It's more durable, has a better dynamic range, better noise cancellation, a greatly superior and directional designed windbreaker and finally, I'm amazed this one isn't included as standard, because as good as the stock one is, it's nothing to write home about either. Final Thoughts Price This is a flagship product for Turtle Beach, packed full of high-end features for the enthusiast and professional gaming market, so as you might expect, it doesn't come cheap. The headset on its own is $199.95, which is on par with high-end offerings from the likes of Razer and Astro. The Elite Pro Tactical Audio Controller is another $199.95, and the tournament Noise-Cancelling Microphone is another $29.95. That brings the total to $429.85... ouch! Overview I'm very impressed with this headset, the amp, and the add-on microphone. I was a little cautious given the hefty retail prices involved, as it's clearly way above the usual spending range of your average consumer, but this isn't your average headset, and it isn't made for your average stay-at-home gamer either. This is designed for pro gamers, the eSports scene, professional game streamers on services like Twitch; basically anyone with a need for high-end performance and features, but also likely having the bankroll to afford it and benefit from the investment. The performance is as good as it gets, the drivers on the headset pack one heck of a punch and with the powerful EQ on offer from the amp, it gets even better. From playing a few FPS games where you want to scout the footsteps of your enemies, to watching a Michael Bay movie with all the surround sound and seemingly endless explosions and bass notes ringing true, it's certainly got you covered. However, the real winner is the connectivity, and compared to rival headsets such as the Astro A40, the latest from Turtle Beach has them top trumped in terms of I/O. With on-the-fly volume mixing for your audio, aux, microphone, monitoring and more, you can ensure that you get to hear what you want to hear, while also making sure that your Twitch viewers or in-game teammates (or both) get to hear what they need to hear from you the most too, and that's a big advantage for anyone using this headset. Build quality is 10/10 throughout, everything looks, feels and basically is very well made, with a lovely aesthetic design as a welcome bonus. Obviously, style is subjective, but I think this is a great looking headset and with all that thick padding, it may be one of the most comfortable headsets out there too, which is surprisingly given its fairly large size. Pros Powerful drivers Durable build quality Stylish design Huge range of connectivity options Noise cancelling features Comprehensive EQ and mixing options Audio pass-through Daisy chaining for team play Thick earcup and headband padding Interchangeable microphones Headset, amp and mic can be purchased separately Cons Quite expensive "The latest from Turtle Beach is as good as it gets. Flawless audio performance, a huge range of features for gamers and streamers, exceptional comfort and build quality, all of which go a long way to justifying the sizable investment; highly recommended!"