I've never really seen the point of gaming headphones.
To me, the gaming experience is about surrounding yourself with the noise blasting out of your TV, the complaints from your neighbours (and your own family) and the sheer pleasure of being immersed in the world around you.
Many modern gaming headphones are wireless, so this latest wired set does seem like a step back in some ways.
It makes sense for being at a stationary desktop and wearing them to game, but is less of an obvious winner for console gamers, the majority of whom want to kick back on comfy chairs, and game, rather than be constrained by a wire from near a TV to your head.
However, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Series 3 headphones (RRP $219.99) may make me think otherwise - apart from one notable feature issue that consistently got my goat during the time I've had with them.
The good
It's a simple package - the box comes with the headset, a 1.25m USB Type-C cable, a 2.5m USB Type-C to Type-A cable, and a 1.25m cable with a 3.5mm audio jack. There's also the quick start guide to make life very easy.
These are lightweight headphones that are no weightier than 253g, meaning they sit comfortably on the head and don't feel like you're being crushed.
With rotatable earcups that are made from AirWeave Memory Foam, they sit perfectly on the ears, and if like me you have a propensity for long gaming sessions to escape the worries of the world, they're not noticeable in terms of ear stress the longer you keep them on.
I managed a four hour session without any of the feeling that my ears had been compressed to the side of my head, and the moment I took them off, there was no release of pressure or feeling of blood rushing back to my Dumbo-like elephant flappers.
For a low end range of headphones, the sound is thrillingly enticing.
Part of my issue with headphones is that being partially deaf, the sound has to be massively high to enjoy any audio for any prolonged amount of time. You don't have to be a doctor to know that's not good long term with either tinnitus or general ringing in the ears.
Initially, I found the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Series 3 earphones a little quiet with some games, leading me to worry the sound would have to be up to maximum forever (and unsure what that meant for the lifespan of the set).
But playing a range of games on a PlayStation 5 gave a better sense of what was on offer.
Pac-Man 256 gave a sense of depth as I chased around the maze, sucking up Pacdots and terrorising ghosts.
The Last of Us Part 1 was where the headphones experience really started to fall into place for me and I began to understand why my boss looked at me incredulously when I told him I normally game using speakers instead.
Every sound of the post-apocalypse had me on edge. From trucks tracking left to right in the background to the crunching of the stones under Joel's feet to the horrendous clicking of the infected, the game came alive aurally. The levels were mid-range on the easily adjustable volume, which is located on the headset's left ear - and sonically, they were spot on.
Returnal's combat was crisp and its range of alien sounds was alluringly executed through the ears. Not once was it overwhelming.
Returnal was also where I used the game's retractable microphone (which sits in the left ear too) and game chat was crisp and clear as I chatted with a co-player in California. It was so clear I could hear his child playing with his dog in the background.
There's no drop-out in the sound either while chatting - and while I'm not a fan of massive multiplayer games and the ability to shout over 10 others, I get a sense the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Series 3 would cope easily with anything the gaming world's worst players would throw at me.
I'm not sure longterm how much pushing and pulling the retractable microphone could endure as you take it out of the earpiece and push it back in, but for now, it fits comfortably and doesn't look out of place.
Interestingly, the headphones blocked out the noise from a Saturday morning in suburbia where lawnmowers and chainsaws are in constant battle with nature for audio supremacy. The noise-cancelling on them is superlative.
Not once did I hear anything from outside from the irritants of neighbours - there was no trace of audio bleed and no indication there was a world outside me.
Also worthy of note is the fact that not once did my fingers mute my mic when I was trying to adjust the sound. The controls may be close together but that doesn't mean your own clumsiness will punish you.
The pointless
A set of decals with the words "For Glory" are included for the headphones in a move that utterly puzzled me.
I'm not 12 and have just gotten my first laptop, nor am I a flailing skateboarder / graffiti artist, and I've got no desire to stick something on an earpiece which would leave a residue or peel off with continual manhandling.
It's just madness to me.
Equally, for console gamers like myself, the fact the earphones have RGB flashing lights and colour patterns is just a waste of time. Sure, it looks pretty, but I'm wearing the headphones, not looking at myself wearing them in a mirror.
Maybe if you were at a silent disco, you could see others' colours going off and it'd look groovy, but to my mind, it's just a pointless addition, even though you can preset them to be reflected on whatever gaming rig you have set up.
The bad
I appreciate these are lower-end market headphones and I understand with that you have to sacrifice something, but my biggest bugbear with these impressive headphones is that they're wired.
Sure, the set comes with a USB-C to UBS-C Cable for extending reach, and adapters for both PlayStation, Switch and Xbox consoles as well as for computers and phones, a flex that's clearly about being multi-purpose and is truly applaudable.
But for me personally, the wiring wasn't long enough from the distance of my console to the comfort of my chair. It was taut and tightly pulled, meaning any cat that walked by while I was gaming had to either limbo under or fly over.
Equally, anyone walking through the house would have to negotiate an unexpected wire, giving me as a gamer a level of anxiety I don't really want. It's a shame because while I get you can't logistically include varying levels of cables, if I want to continue with these headphones, I would need to invest in a longer extension or upgrade to a more expensive wireless pair.
A lack of a headphones bag or any way to protect them from day-to-day use or for transporting them is also a glaringly obvious missed touch - it makes the package feel a little incomplete - and how many people keep boxes these days?
The verdict
They're easy to set up and work excellently for a wired headset.
With access to an app that lets you customise levels and allows access to a Sonar system that works to let you spot other players in games before you, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Series 3 has a lot of the basic bases covered - and covered well.
Comfortable, lightweight and clearly durable, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Series 3 has opened up my mind - and ears - to the possibilities of what headphones can offer.
Now if I could just literally cut the cord, I'd probably be invested in them for life.
Newshub was supplied a pair of SteelSeries Arctis Nova Series 3 headphones for this review.
