Turtle Beach Elite Pro Headset Review – Superb Sound For Serious Competition

Turtle Beach Elite Pro Tournament Gaming Headset and Audio Controller Review 

Some names carry a lot of weight, a certain level of expectation in the quality of their brand. In this, Turtle Beach has a reputation for excellent headsets designed with comfort and stellar sound quality in mind. Their latest product, the Elite Pro Tournament Gaming Headset, matched with the Elite Pro Audio Controller (controller optional, purchased separately), offer the kind of features one would expect from Turtle Beach: comfort and quality.

The headset itself feels sturdy and durable, if not a little heavy. The ear covers are designed with special foam meant to not only cover the area comfortably, but also accommodate glasses and stay cool. To its credit, the ear pieces are plenty comfortable even after extended hours of play and – while it does warm up after time – at no point did it feel sweaty or uncomfortable due to the ear pieces themselves. What I did find bothersome was the fit of the headset overall: even at the max size setting and loosest tension it was still a tight fit, applying pressure just below my ears and against the top of my jaw. I don’t have a large head so the tension was off putting until it started to break in several hours later. It seemed to sit a little more comfortably, but without constant use it seemed to tighten back up.

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“With sixteen preset modes on the audio controller, each one has a discernible difference in the levels of bass, treble, and selective audio boosting to a remarkable level.” 

Of course the most important part of the headset is the audio quality and for the most part, the Elite Pro Tournament delivers. With sixteen preset modes on the audio controller, each one has a discernible difference in the levels of bass, treble, and selective audio boosting to a remarkable level. The Stadium mode in particular is phenomenal, enhancing the bass and adding a minor echo to sounds at a greater distance. One mode I was particularly interested in which fell flat for me: Super Human Hearing. When activated, each individual sound is enhanced making everything in the game seem like its right behind you. Your own footsteps are easily thundering at the same intensity as every other sound in the game. While the concept seems cool, it gets heavily distracting and has a tendency to crack fairly often even at lower volumes. The audio as a whole is what you would expect from a high quality gaming headset: the surround sound is crisp and immersive with no loss of quality as the volume is cranked up on the audio controller, and no matter what mode you select you easily get a sense of your surroundings by the way they sound.

The mic was a great experience. I don’t use mic’s often but not only is it easy to position with a flexible yet rigid arm, the reception on it has the same quality as the headset. The audio controller has four sliders to adjust the overall volume/ game ratio, background noise, team volume, and the sound of your own voice through the mic. I personally didn’t feel a need to adjust these bars except for silencing my teammates every so often but this level of control can be essential for squad games when you need to silence those intense explosions and coordinate a counter offensive.

Although I enjoy using the audio controller for both PS4 and PC gaming (also compatible with Xbox One) the cords were unnecessarily messy. With five cords for various connection options, the PS4 connection requires two cords, one of which refuses to be organized and stored nicely. When I finished with the audio controller and was ready to tuck it away I discovered there is no off switch, the board will simply stay fully lit until disconnected from the USB port. The headset itself can be plugged into any standard audio port and used as regular headphones with its own volume control and mute option on the cord, however in the case of the PS4 you will need to change your settings back to default and unhook the audio controller first. Music is taken to a whole other level with this combination, giving you the chance to hear and distinguish instruments you would otherwise gloss over; however, I was unable to connect the headset through iTunes and listen to my own library of music.

With specialized comfort ear pieces, sixteen preset audio modes, customizable mic controls, and easy to use volume dial, this headset has fantastic surround sound quality, although a few modes have a tendency to crack. The headset seems tight even on maximum size settings and the audio controller, while a huge difference in the quality of the audio, can be a pain to store with long cords and bright illuminated display. At a $400 USD price tag ($200 headset and $200 controller both sold separately), this is a set of hardware best reserved for a serious gamer that demands the absolute best out of a gaming headset, and one I feel would not disappoint.

***The headset & controller was provided by Turtle Beach for the purpose of this review***