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This is the comparison between the gaming headsets of Razer Nari Ultimate and Steelseries Arctis Pro. Both are the advanced gaming headsets. Both headphones has some pros and cons.
Introduction
Razer Nari Ultimate
Razer is really trying something different in Razer Nari Ultimate by integrating haptic technology within these headsets. So basically, it’s based on audio cues from a game engine, so whether that’s firing gunshots or blowing up stuff within the game-play you’re gonna feel a little bit of that vibration on your ears and I think that’s gonna be certainly interesting.
Steelseries Arctis Pro
This is the SteelSeries Arctis Pro with game dac until these were released there really wasn’t a high fidelity option for you when you were looking for a gaming headset. This is the first gaming headset to be high res-audio certified now. It means, you can have playback at 96 kilohertz or higher that’s one thing. It also means that these headphones can produce at or above 40 kilohertz in the high end which is well above what a lot of other headphones offer, a lot of times especially gaming headsets will be 20 Hertz to 20 kilohertz approximately. In this, they produce high res audio.
Design & Build Quality
Razer Nari Ultimate
The first thing that sticks out to me the most is the size of the Nari Ultimate, I mean it is huge. This type of design has been embedded within Razer Nari series of headsets, so it’s not like it’s a revolutionary step in terms of design. They almost look very much identical to the other Nari headsets that Razer’s offering. It’s also been on the heavier side, it’s just about 400 grams which is a lot and you will definitely start to notice the heaviness once you start wearing it for longer periods of time.
Being honest, you’re not gonna wear this in public transit, just casually moving around here and there because it’s just not practical. I do like the gunmetal gray finish on this headset, it does add a nice stealth appeal. The body is mostly constructed out of hard plastic materials but it is put together really well. There are no signs of creaking which should be expected considering the cost of this headphone.
As the metal frame above the headband can cause reverberations when it gets in contact with anything and it is very much noticeable with the Nari ultimate. It’s not a deal breaker but it’s something worth noting.
In terms of buttons on the left ear cup, there is a mic mute button, also Game Chat Balance dial that can either increase the in-game volume and decrease the voice chat or vice versa and I like this inclusion. Then you have your power button, a micro-USB port to charge the headset, there’s also an analog connector to use headset in Wired mode. In the right ear cup, you’ll notice the volume dial and do note that it actually doesn’t sync up with the main volley mixer on Windows 10, so max out the volume within Windows and then use the dial to adjust the volume on the headset.
Steelseries Arctis Pro
SteelSeries has kind of become known for with these Arctis headphones which has elastic band that serves as a way to suspend the headphones over your head. This one particularly wraps around and then you have velcro that you can use. Now, the fit on these things is not that much great. I have not found a more comfortable fitting gaming headset. The clamping force is sufficient but it doesn’t really push in at all, everything feels great. we’ve got underneath that band and aluminum band across the top and also aluminum hinges, so there will be no breaking.
You’ve got mic mute button, volume rocker, USB. This is a proprietary USB cable but you can also use the 3.5 millimeter jack to use it with mobile. You’ve got the pullout mic, this windscreen comes with it as well. It also has the RGB coloring around, inside the game DAC you can select rainbow and all kinds of different colors.
Comfort
Razer Nari Ultimate
Razer has also implemented a few other cool add-on to this headset to make it a bit more appealing.
They feature cooling gel infused cushions to reduce heat buildup over intense gaming sessions. So for instance, if you wear this headset during the day and if you plan on using it for multiple hours, you’re gonna notice that cooling factor for around 10 to 15 minutes around your ears and it’s actually pretty cool but as hours pass by that’s gonna fade out eventually because heats obviously gonna start building up and it doesn’t stay consistent but it absorb the heat well.
The Nari Ultimate can be comfortably placed around your neck with the ear cuffs rotated 90 degrees. So, you can easily maneuver your head around if you’re taking constant breaks here and there which is pretty nice.
Steelseries Arctis Pro
They can be wear in flat side on the neck because the ear-cups are can be flip. It’s got nice thick cloth ear pads. They’re thicker than the Arctis series preceded model, they feel really good. It’s probably among the best feeling headsets that I’ve tried. The headband is would be nice because it can be adjusted way down. If you’ve big heat still though it will give some suspension, it does still feel pretty good.
Features
Razer Nari Ultimate
The good thing is that the cooling gel cushions actually absorbed the heat really well, so you can actually wear this for longer periods. It’s nowhere closer to the active thermoelectric cooling solution but that’s nothing’s powered by USB and you can adjust how active the cooling should be through software which is a pretty amazing cool tech.
This is a wireless gaming headset and it communicates with your PC via this included 2.4 gigahertz USB receiver. We should appreciate Razer for making it low-profile unlike some other wireless headsets. Also, there’s a built-in storage compartment within the headset to safely store it which is awesome. Now, you can also use the Nari Ultimate in Wired mode and that can be done by connecting the included 3.5 mm audio cable to an Xbox one or ps4 controller or even your smartphone provided that it has a headphone jack to expand usability. But, the haptic feedback does work in Wired mode, you have to make sure that there’s actual power on the headset because that technology is powered by the battery cells built inside the headset. So, if you run out of battery you’re definitely gonna miss haptics.
I should also mention that when you’re using the Nari ultimate in Wired mode, it is going to disable RGB lighting permanently which is a good thing but do note that you can’t adjust the intensity of the haptics in this mode since it requires synapse 4. However, if you fine-tune that in software and then switch the wired mode the settings will carry along automatically.
The key selling feature of the Nari Ultimate is Razer’s hypersense technology. So, essentially they’ve implemented two advanced LP haptic drivers developed by Lowe felt that converts sound signals into dynamic touch sensory feedback in real-time. In other words, you experience haptic feedback on your face or vibrations. In fact, these drivers are fine-tuned to cover a wider frequency range unlike some other haptic drivers that just cover a narrower range and on top of that, they provide a stereo feedback. It means, you can physically feel the vibrations of instruments which you’re listening.
There is one issue though if the music you listen to has a large bass track, the haptic feedback will be pretty constant. The haptic feedback really adds that extra layer of immersion in gaming. When you’re firing gunshots or when you even hear explosions the background, the haptic feedback feels powerful and in some cases it will be real. On top of that, it’s balanced on both your left and right channels as well, so if something blows up on the left and if you shift towards that side the feedback transitions easily onto your right channel giving it a great sense of positional awareness and those haptic drivers are dynamic.
Now on the downside, this technology is more dependent on the volume as well. So, if you increase the volume, it’s gonna be more powerful but as you decrease it, it’s just gonna fade away very fast, so that’s something to be noted.
The last things to cover in features is Razer synapse software. Overall, it’s a pretty good experience with controls for things like 3d spatial audio and all the other features you’d expect. Another nice addition is the ability to control the haptic feedback intensity which I ended up setting to 60% in games and 20% for music. Setting it to 100% at times did feel a little bit too powerful but I’m glad that it’s at least customizable.
Steelseries Arctis Pro
You will also get a game dac with the headphones. Now, the game dac is a very interesting little module, it’s similar to something like the Astro mix amps. However, this is a much smaller and much more understated, a nice looking version of that.
It has three settings, you have PC, ps4, and high res. Now, the ps4 works through optical, the PC works through USB, and if you have plugged into your PC, you can select a 96 kilohertz sample rate in your system, it works in this way. You could definitely hear fuller, better, more crisp and detailed sound when listening with high res audio. The microphone does not work when you’re using high res audio. So, high res audio that setting is only for listening to music and the ps4 and PC settings which can’t go up to 96 K they are for the gaming.
Mic Performance
Razer Nari Ultimate
I’m really impressed with the quality coming out of the Nari Ultimate. It will do a really great job by isolating the the wanted sound. Now, I will mention that there is a little bit digital compression, so it doesn’t sound as boomy or there’s a lack of bass, so it doesn’t sound full but that’s the nature of all the background noise compression.
This is also Wireless so the another factor to consider, the microphone is non removable but it is retractable, so it goes back to the headset. There’s a little LED indicator around the tip, so when you mute the microphone when you activate the mute button it turns red which is a good visual indication.
Steelseries Arctis Pro
This mic while it may be a little bit rolled off on the bottom end, it sounds really clear. I almost might be willing to use this mic if I were gaming as my streaming mic, it just sounds that good. I’m sort of surprised how much cleaner it sounds than the Sennheiser, so if you’re looking for great mic quality then this SteelSeries Arctis Pro is doing something special, so it’s really worth checking out.
Sound Performance
Razer Nari Ultimate
It’s really hard to describe that especially when you’re You have great audio quality but also, this haptics is just a sort of fuse together giving you the really interesting immersion effect.
These headphones are more bass heavy and they don’t necessarily crush at the high frequencies but the mids could do some work because if Razer could tune it a little bit to give it a little more body to the sound that would have been nice but overall, they sound pretty good, it’s not like revolutionary. But, I think the main important feature of Razer Nari is the hypersense technology.
Steelseries Arctis Pro
It has the high res audio, the ps4 and the PC compatibility. These headphones because they’re high res audio capable they got 50 millimeter drivers that are capable higher and lower frequencies more so than the majority of gaming headsets or even headphones that are out there. So, they are really awesome.
Another thing that I love is side-tone. The side-tone means if you’re talking into the mic and it feeds back into your headset, so you know how loud you’re talking that’s especially useful with these closed back kind of headphones.
One way that these things achieve their super high sound quality is they have an ess saber dac. Now, if you’re familiar with audiophile digital audio converters and those kinds of things, ESS saber dac are among the best that you can get in terms of digital to audio conversion. So, this is something that has never existed on a gaming headset before.
If you’re using your ps4, the controller has a plug for the 3.5 millimeter jack and that has a dac, your phone also has a dac unless you’ve got the LG v series. Those dac are just kind of run-of-the-mill off-the-shelf parts, they aren’t something that was purposefully built for high quality audio whereas the ess saber that are in these and also in other products are built for fantastic sound. Inside the game dac, you can EQ to your heart’s content and also you can control your audio, illumination, side tone, and the mic level. It has an oled monochrome screen when you’re playing and when you’re just using the dac, it shows you volume and chat mix and you can bounce back and forth between those, it was really intuitive really easy to use.
Battery
Razer Nari Ultimate
The included USB cable can only be used to charge the headset and while you can still use the headset while charging. The cable by itself is not long enough. So, it was a little bit uncomfortable, so you have to make sure that you charge the headset on a regular basis.
The battery life is decent, so with the haptics and RGB lighting turned on expect up to 8 hours of battery life but with those 2 disabled, you can get a little bit over 20 hours which is still a little bit on the lower side. So, you have to make sure that you plug it in every night. I did wish if Razer included some sort of wireless charging method.
Steelseries Arctis Pro
The Arctis Steelseries wireless headphone can lasts up to 10 hours. You can also charge your headphone via micro-USB. Also, you have second battery, so you can swipe out.
Conclusion
Razer Nari Ultimate
The Nari Ultimate by Razer is certainly an interesting product because for one the main key selling feature of this headset is Razer’s hypersense technology that actually gives you a dynamic real-time haptic feedback when you’re gaming. This technology just awesome, it doesn’t feel as consistent it’s actually responds to different frequency ranges within a game-play and you really have to feel it for yourself in person.
For other content like listening to music, it’s again depends on the type of genre you’re listening to. In some cases, it gets a little annoying and in some cases, it’s actually pretty good. Razer isn’t the first brand to implement this sort of technology on a headset. The price is really very high but if you’re looking for something with a little bit more immersion when it comes to gaming then the Nari Ultimate is certainly worth trying out.
Steelseries Arctis Pro
SteelSeries Arctis Pro wired with the game dac, it had been a while since I really tried any of the newer headsets out and I was really intrigued by this just mostly because of the high res audio feature. The high res audio feature and the quality of these headphones overall in terms of sound is fantastic. There are a few things here and there that I might have liked to seem different and a little bit more slack on the headband.
You’ve got a super comfortable, great sounding, flexible headset that can double as something that you can get really high quality audio from in terms of listening to music. So,in this headphone price then I would really recommend going out getting these as a wired solution for really all of your audio needs if you’re on PlayStation 4 or PC.
