The Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 gaming headset

Review: Turtle Beach Stealth 600  – The American Turtle Beach Corporation is one of the largest game headset developers at the moment. In recent years, the company has built a solid presence in the gaming industry with an extensive wired and wireless collection of headphones. The Stealth 600 Gen 2 is the latest model in this collection and is mainly aimed at Playstation 4 and PlayStation 5 users.

Before The Turtle Beach Company repositioned itself as a game headset developer in 2005, it was quite an innovative player in the music hardware market. In the late 1970s, the company – then called Turtle Beach Softworks – developed a graphics editing system for one of the first sampling synthesizers affordable for consumers: the Ensoniq Mirage. The graphic editing system was succeeded by a digital editing system for PCs. This system – the 56K Digital Recording System – came in a $ 4,000 dsp and was one of the few multimedia editing systems available in 1990. That Turtle Beach has subsequently emerged as one of the larger game headset developers is therefore not really surprising. Now Turtle Beach may no longer focus on studio use and multimedia editing, but with the Stealth Gen 2 it has a headset that focuses on Playstation users. The Gen 2 addition in the naming indicates compatibility with the upcoming Playstation 5. Nevertheless, this headset can also be connected to both Windows and Mac using the included 2.4Ghz Wireless dongle. Because the focus is mainly on console users, there is no comprehensive software, only a simple application for firmware updates.

Build quality

The Stealth Gen 2 is made entirely of plastic. Despite this, the headset feels amazingly solid and sturdy. The leather-covered headband is a bit stiff at first and it takes a few hours before it becomes a bit more forgivable. Fortunately, a fabric cover has been chosen for the ear cushions. This benefits the heat build-up, but ensures that this headset muffles less ambient noise than you might want. After several hours of wear – when the headset is a little less aggressive – the Stealth 600 Gen 2 can even be called comfortable. What is striking is that the ear cups are set tight. Because the cover and cushions of the shells are soft, it does not immediately cause uncomfortable situations. Still, chances are that the top of your ear will disappear under the pillow.

The left shell features a number of buttons and also houses an excellent-sounding flip-to-mute microphone. The Stealth 600 Gen 2 has four built-in equalizer presets that can be switched through with the mode button. You will also find two separate wheels for the game volume and the chat volume. Because these wheel buttons are positioned directly below each other, you sometimes reach for the wrong one in practice. As a result, you sometimes unintentionally screw up the chat volume, while you prefer to hear more in-game action.

 

In-game sound

Many game headsets tend to emphasize the action areas in the sound: the sub low and the absolute high are often exaggerated. Turtle Beach opts for a slightly different approach and that results in a headset that sounds incredibly quiet. The frequency response of the Stealth 600 Gen 2 is mainly characterized by balance. No exaggerated emphasis, but a sound that is open and knows how to translate both games and music in a natural way.

In-game, you won’t miss the extra emphasis on the sub-layer – if this is the case, you can test one of the four equalizer presets. The solid balance ensures a good in-game experience that does not tire quickly and where the localization is fine. However, a balanced sound experience does not directly equate to excellent definition. Although the headset sounds excellent, balanced and open, you occasionally miss a bit of sharpness in the mid-high range. Nevertheless, with this headset you feel like you are listening more to the choices of the game’s sound designers than the choices of the headset developer. It is a very welcome approach. As mentioned, the Stealth 600 Gen 2 translates music well, but the question is whether you want to use this headset in practice to listen to a new album at your leisure. The headset is certainly comfortable, but it remains a closed model, resulting in a little more pressure than is desirable for a relaxing listening session. Another factor here is that the 2.4Ghz dongle for the wireless connection between console or computer and headset has a fairly limited range. If you are four meters further and around the corner, it is best to get off and the connection starts to falter. For gaming this is of course absolutely no problem, but turning on a podcast or stream and walking to the kitchen for a drink is unfortunately not an option.

Superhuman Hearing

While the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 differs from other game headsets when it comes to tonal balance, they are in line when it comes to technology that manipulates in-game localization. According to Turtle Beach, Superhuman Hearing should ensure that in-game details are enhanced to such an extent that you gain an advantage over other players. Louder footsteps, weapon reloads and improved sound direction perception should contribute to this. Superhuman Hearing mainly sounds quite aggressive in practice and does not do the excellent sound balance of this headset any good. The sound of the headset in Superhuman Hearing mode can best be described as thin and pointed. A very unnatural sound that is nevertheless very effective when it comes to localization. This does not seem like an addition for the casual gamer, but really a tool for the serious competition player who uses game sound as a means of control.

In conclusion

The Turtle Beach 600 Gen 2 is an excellent gaming headset. The sound is balanced, which ensures that the translation of game sound appears balanced, precise and calm. Turtle Beach shows that it has thought from a pro audio perspective and does not go along with the exaggerated sound that is common in the gaming world. The design and build quality of the headset is also in good order with a good sounding microphone and a sturdy, leather-covered headband. There are a number of little things when it comes to wearing comfort, such as the small ear cups and the fairly sturdy clamps. In practice, these drawbacks do not turn out to be so great that the comfort of the headset falls completely into the water: you can safely wear the Turtle Beach for a few hours in a row.

 With Superhuman Hearing, Turtle Beach also offers a nice gimmick that seems mainly suitable for the serious competition gamer. The sound becomes thinner and more pointed when this technique is switched on, which makes localization easier, but the listening experience deteriorates. The comfort stuff is negligible and the sound of this headset is exceptionally good. With the Stealth 600 Gen 2, Turtle Beach provides an excellent, multi-purpose headset for both console and PC gamers.

Positives of Turtle Beach Stealth 600

• Excellent, neutral sound balance
• Multi-purpose, compatibility and an eye for gamers
• Smooth working compatibility
• Superhuman Hearing interesting addition for professional gamers

Negatives of Turtle Beach Stealth 600

• Ear cups on the small side