Surprisingly, there’s enough bass presence and accuracy on the low end to convey the weight needed with minimal fuzziness. I put the 3.5mm jack-enabled headset through its paces with Party Cannon’s Partied in Half EP and Pharmacist’s Flourishing Extremities On Unspoiled Mental Grounds album. Listening to music with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1 is a pleasant experience, but it doesn’t really wow either. It’s a similar story with EA UFC 4, the headset captures everything from checked leg kicks to knockout strikes with suitable weight, despite feeling a little flat and muddy at times when the audience piped up. I could accurately hear Isaac Clarke’s heavy footsteps, slamming doors behind me, and the screech of undead nasties bursting out of the vents. I wasn’t exactly blown away by the sound reproduction when playing Dead Space on PS5, but every key beat was present. For the asking price of $59.99 / £49.99 / AU$139, you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck here, as this model sounds better than it has any right to be. Considering the price tag, I was impressed by what the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1 was able to crank out both as a gaming headset and as a pair of wired headphones.

Arctis 5 white 2019 edition