AudezePenrose X Wireless Gaming Headset for Xbox, Xbox Series X, Series S, Windows, Skype, and Zoom, with Low-Latency Wireless & Bluetooth

(Reviewed on Xbox Series X)I preface this by saying that I love quality audio; I’ve owned fancy THX-certified speaker systems for PC gaming and a variety of headsets, including brands such as Astro, Turtle Beach, and Sennheiser. I have never owned true “audiophile grade” headphones before. Therefore, the sound from these blows me away. Even coming from my Sennheiser PC 360 G4ME headset I’ve been using for almost a decade, there’s little comparison to the richness and detail of the sound I’m getting from the Penrose X, particularly with Dolby Atmos enabled (for the small fee through the Xbox digital storefront).Performance: With Atmos enabled (or the 3D positional audio format of your choice), you should not struggle to locate distinct sounds all around you. I tested this in Gears 5, Doom Eternal, and Battlefield V. Audio is detailed and explosions/gunfire boom with an impressive amount of bass for a pair of headphones. Mid and high range don’t get swamped and I can’t handle turning the volume up all the way...plenty of power, here.I also tested them out with the Bluetooth connection to my iPhone X to listen to music; again, I was amazed by the sound quality. I heard layers of songs I’d never heard before, songs I’ve listened to hundreds of times. Playing music games (Aaero, Fuser, Invector) was also a special treat.I have not watched any movie content yet, but given what I’ve heard so far, I have high expectations regarding sound fidelity.Connection: Others have complained of disconnecting issues or popping, buzzing, or audio cutting out. I’ve had none of these issues except when trying to record and instantly upload video using the Xbox controller’s “share” button. The additional processing may mess with the audio, but it’s momentary (less than 3 seconds) and manifests as a brief stuttering...nothing terrible. The wireless connection to the Xbox through the included USB dongle seems solid. I sit 10-15 feet away from my Xbox and haven’t had issues so far. If you prefer, you can connect to a controller through the included aux cord, but I’ve preferred going totally wireless.Build: Feels solid and weighty. I’m not a huge fan of the specific shade of green they chose as the accent on Penrose X, but I don’t have to worry about that while they’re on my head. They look plenty slick, otherwise. Feels appropriately “next-gen.” Comfort-wise, they were fine. Some of have complained about too much “clamping force,” but I haven’t experienced this myself. I’m a pretty large guy and the headband feels fine to me; the ear cups are squishy but seal nicely, keeping that sweet, sweet audio where I want it: pumping directly into my ear holes, not bleeding into my gaming environment.The App: it’s serviceable. I put it on my PC and connected the headset through USB to see if there was a firmware update; my headset appeared to already be updated, unless it did it automatically for me when I plugged in. I didn’t detect a new version of the firmware, but I’ll check every now and then just in case. You can download EQ settings from the Audeze website for a variety of purposes (an FPS-oriented profile, for instance) or mess with the EQ sliders yourself, but I’ve left the EQ at the default “flat” level and it’s been plenty good for my ears.Value: If you have $300 burning a hole in your pocket, desire a gaming splurge, and also value sound quality in your entertainment, these come highly recommended! I’ve never gone wireless for audio, but so far, I’m sold.

These are phenomenal.Usually I am very skeptical on anything headphone related when the word gaming is around it. Gaming headsets usually give up a lot of audiophile pros while giving into ease of use, low quality builds, or bad mics.These aren't just gaming headphones.These have the best sound I've found in over the ear headphones. Period. The planar magnetic drivers deliver sounds so crisp and locatable I was taken away. It's INSANELY loud because of the giant drivers too.Footsteps are easy to locate in ear, every sound has its own track so nothing is overlapping and blowing out your earphone. Not to mention the best music listening experience you could put on your head. The lows take on life of their own and don't become too shaky like other bassy headphones but are still so loud with the bass I still have a hard time understanding it. The mids all stay separated, and the highs allow all the crisp symbol sounds to be heard from one another even if it's at the same time. You can hear every instrument by itself and almost point to it. These are just as good sounding as some of those 800$+ wired headphones for audiophiles.Oh yeah it's wireless. Perfectly. Out of box, it connected to both my PC and Xbox series X with the switchable USB dongle. Range tested like 15ish feet going outside through two walls so not bad at all. Worked all inside my house.When I did first turn it on it had mic monitoring auto enabled, but once I used the cord to connect the headset to my PC and got the software audeze provides from their website. It had a firmware update and it corrected the mic monitoring, and was able to turn it on and off normally.The mic sounds great. It's no desk mic of course but for what this mic is, it blows my mind. Reminds me of a blue snowball or low quality yeti sitting there on your headset. It has great sound filtering and even when we tried putting three fans around the mic no one heard it in Xbox party chat, or discord.The comfort is pretty good. But. I have a larger head so it's not particularly easy for my to find headsets that fit well. These have enough give and adjustment that I can wear them for about and hour and then I realize the stress from them, but it could also be from how exceptionally loud these are.I did try a long gaming session of about 5 hours and again I noticed an hour in but after that if I kept wearing it I found the headset took shape to my head and stopped pressing so hard.Awesome headphones. The sound is worth the price. Hard to find a combo of all these features at this price point. Including the planar magnetic drivers.Didn't test bluetooth