Hey, I thought I’d share some sort of a review of the Pulse Elite, now that I’ve had it for a week - I’m honestly really happy with the headset for the most part!
Background: I’m not an audiophile. I’ve had a Sony WH-1000XM3 as my sole headset for 4+ years (but it recently gave up on me, so I was looking for a replacement). I also briefly tried the Audeze Maxwell last year, and although sound quality was spectacular, comfort was abysmal, so I ended up getting rid of it.
Pros:
- Sound quality - obviously a step-down from the Maxwell, but otherwise nothing to complain about. Imaging is especially great.
- Comfort - entirely subjective, but as someone with (relatively) thick-framed glasses (~3mm temples), comfort is a non-issue. I can wear it for hours at a time without any fatigue or pressure. It might get a bit warm, if that’s a concern for you.
- Sound isolation - No ANC, which I was used to, but passive isolation is good.
- Multi-device use - I’ve been able to use it on PS5, Switch, PC via the PS Link adapter with no issues whatsoever (I’ve actually been using it mostly on Switch this past week) and mobile/tablet via Bluetooth (simultaneously). No hiccups or disconnections, latency is on-point with the adapter. As long as you have a 3.5mm TRRS cable, you can use it with any other device.
- Mic - Noise cancellation is incredible and sound quality is completely fine. I’ve used it for work and some gaming sessions, without any complaints.
Cons:
- Design - entirely subjective again, but my partner jokingly mentioned I looked like Lord Farquaad with it on and that’s pretty much on point, haha. I find the headset pretty ugly tbh.
- Build quality concerns - it feels pretty flimsy and I have some concerns with long-term durability. More importantly, the fact that earpads are glued on is a huge drawback repairability-wise (that’s what failed first on my WH-1000XM3s and I was glad to replace those instead of the whole headset…).
UPDATE: the earpads are removable, so that’s great news. - Potential firmware issues? - there’s a slight, but very noticeable, high-pitch noise whenever the headset is connected but idle, which could be a firmware issue. I’ve seen other reports of that issue, so it’s not isolated to my headset.
As I said in the beginning, I’m overall really happy with the headset, especially given its pricepoint of $150 USD / $200 CAD, but I’m not entirely convinced or sure I’ll keep it because of my concerns around build quality and repairability issues in the future.
Happy to answer any questions or provide more info!
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I had the XM4. How would you compare it to the XM line? And does it support LDAC?
It’s much less “bass-y” by default compared to the XMs and you’d have trouble EQ-ing it to get some of that bass back (watch this video for more info), if that’s something you’re after. Comfort wise, the XM line is better, but the Elite is really much better than I thought it’d be.
I would say XMs are better for music listening overall, but the Elite is much better for gaming (and the mic is infinitely better tbh).
The Elite does not support LDAC unfortunately, per screenshot, only SBC or AAC.
Oh is that android? For my Shure Aonic headphones, I have to enable LDAC in the main bluetooth settings.
Yep, it’s the developer options to be specific and all available codecs would show up there.
Here’s the main bluetooth settings page fwiw:
I have the previous pulse headset. If you do as well, how does the comfort compare? I always have trouble finding comfortable headsets and the previous pulse is too tight, can’t have them on for more than an hour.
I don’t anymore, but from memory the clamp force was quite a bit stronger with the first model than with this Pulse Elite one. I’ve kept it on for a 4hr gaming session the other day without any comfort issues whatsoever.
I had the pulse 3d audio headphones in white and they didn’t even last a year. The fabric on one of the cups came off, not ripped but unsealed somehow. Definitely not worth the £80 that they cost. The only saving grace about it was that I used a voucher so only had to pay a tenner in my own cash.
I completely forgot I bought those at launch as well, thank you for reminding me! I had the same exact issue happen to mine and I ended up reselling them for half-off iirc.
The glued-on design of the Elite earpads does not inspire confidence, even though the build quality is certainly a step-up from the Pulse 3D’s.What about in terms of the ability of the cans to adapt to skull shape?
I have a smallish head and the Pulse 3D tends to concentrate all the clamping force below my ears, catching a bit of the neck and a bit of the jaw which is not very comfortable.
I’m wondering if the Elite has fixed that. From pictures it looks about the same but it’s hard to judge on that alone.
A bit hard to tell from my side - I would say I have an average-ish head so it might not be representative for you.
I have no issues with neck pain / clamping force around my neck and jaw pressure is minimal (I have TMJ issues and that is a great concern of mine, but the Pulse Elite has not been putting pressure on my jaw so far).That being said, if you want to try for yourself, I’d make sure to get it from a retailer with a good return policy.