Review Of The Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro: “A New First-Choice Headset In The Wired Market”
Faisal Ghaffar 
Overview
The release of Steelseries’ first wave of Arctis headsets in 2016 was a watershed moment for gaming audiophiles, ranking alongside TIdal’s first public alpha and the reveal of a Brian Eno album you’d never heard before. For years, the Arctis line has been the big dog of gaming audio, winning ‘best gaming headset’ awards every time it renews its lineup. There is therefore a lot riding on this new $250/£250 flagship model, adequately dubbed the Arctis Nova Pro.
Design & Features
Previous Arctis models were distinguished by an unique elastic band band that wrapped around the upper portion of the headband frame and then back under it to create a taut surface that got to sit on your head, keeping the metal frame at bay. That has all changed, and in its place is a relatively small necklace insert that attaches to the inner surface of the headband frame via a set of adjustable press studs. The principle seems to be the same – the fabric holds the suspense and keeps your head away from the tougher bandana surface – but the feel and look are noticeably different.
Given that it’s a flagship Arctis model running through a GameDAC, the sound quality is predictable. It keeps Steelseries’ signature EQ quality, pushing higher mids to the fore and keeping the rhythm section within those 40mm drivers under control. While many high-end headsets prior to 2016 went all-in on low-end and marketed the size of their cabbies as a major beat (remember the ‘Angry Birds’ Asus ROG cans?) the Arctis range every time kept the EQ reaction neutral, to the benefit of every game you hyped through people.
This is primarily due to the white leather material used around the earcups, which provides excellent noise isolation and creates small compartments around your ears where different frequencies can be heard.
You can easily restore more of a classic Arctis flat eq for games like CSGO, where positioning cues are critical, using the GameDAC, which is packed with other features like input selection, chat mix, mic gain, and even a pleasant onscreen tutorial. Giving the bass permission to let its hair down sounds fantastic for music and solitary games.
Is the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro headset worth your money?
This Nova Pro succeeds at almost everything it attempts. The only significant criticism we have is with the cabling arrangement. The headset to GameDAC 3.5mm cable is only 1.2m long. That’s not a big deal in a gaming PC desktop setup, and it’s one of the best PC headphones for gaming, but it requires some thought if you’re using it with a console. It just doesn’t feel like an elegant solution for a headset at this price point; stuff braided and prolonged would have been much more appropriate. Of course, if the concept really appeals to you, you can always opt for the cordless model.
