Best Of The Best

Audiophiles will tell you there’s no upper limit for how much you can spend on great sound; high-end headsets can let you broach into that arena of meticulously precise and impressive audio for a personal soundscape that won’t disturb the whole neighborhood. Good quality gaming sound is certainly available at more affordable price points, but if you’re interested in hearing the next step up, any one of these recommendations will impress. At this tier, you’re selecting for feature set, comfort, or aesthetics, and shouldn’t be too worried about whether they’ll sound good (they will).

While stopping short of the price point you enter for high-end music listening, the Nova Elite nonetheless requires an extreme uptick in budget before you even consider it. At a price that otherwise might let you add a new gaming console to your collection, it is quite simply one of the finest headsets you’re likely to experience.

Exceptionally crisp and clear audio sounds amazing when you crank the volume, but it’s how that quality persists even when you lower the intensity and listen at a lower decibel level that is the real trick. The dedicated base station lets you wirelessly connect to up to three systems at one time, making it easy for players who bounce between platforms to keep moving. A second battery is always charging in the station, so even if you run down the incredibly long battery life, a simple exchange gets you back into the action. Active noise cancellation keeps your focus on the screen, and the retractable mic delivers crystal-clear audio. The rich soundscapes of a game’s musical score or soundtrack, in particular, pop out and soar.