This is the latest version of DTS’s positional audio for headphones. The headsets also support DTS Headphone:X v2.0, which provides positional audio. You don’t have to be an audiophile to appreciate good sound, and although gaming doesn’t yet offer the Hi-Res audio, it likely won’t be long before some games start to support it. Playing back Hi-Res music on the GameDAC is a treat, with clean, sharp, tight sound, at any volume level it’s set at. A perfect graph would be a straight line, end to end, but that’s more or less impossible, especially with a single driver, but the Arctis Pro lineup does provide amazing response, with just a small dip around 4 KHz, and amazing low-level response. SteelSeries sent us a frequency response graph of the Arctis Pro, and the graph bears out what you hear when using these headphones.

Instead you get low, tight bass response. This is done with no audible distortion as well, unlike many other headsets I’ve tried, and there’s no large peak at 60-100 Hz or higher which some headsets use to offer a sound with more boominess. You can clearly hear deep, low, bass notes, and even more than hearing them, you can feel them. On the Arctis Pro, the 10 Hz response is actually higher than the 1 Khz response. It’s rated at 10 Hz to 40 KHz, and what most devices with ratings like that would not tell you is that their 10 Hz rating would be at -10 dB or less compared to 1 Khz. The frequency response of the Arctis Pro lineup is simply amazing. The response of the headset was tuned to ensure no booming base, or low-end cut off. The audio circuitry is designed for the lowest noise, and the best clarity. The 40 mm drivers they used are the best they’ve ever used in a headset before.

In our briefing with Brian Fallon, Audio Category Manager for SteelSeries, he emphasised that SteelSeries was going for audio quality here, practically above all other things. How do the Arctis Pro sound? In a word: excellent. So enough about how the look, feel, and operate.

Steelseries arctis pro gamedac