Steel series arctis 3 v 5

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I'm currently playing on a £15 headset for pubg and I envy both my friends who use 5's and can pin point people 2-3 houses away when i can't hear nada or very little in regards to location.

I wluld like 5's to match but I've read 3's are just the same. Would i get the same quality with 3's as 5's or does the usb make all the difference?
 
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Could be the same headset, just that 3 uses analogue connection; 5 uses USB.

If you don't have a sound card and have only onboard audio, then with the Arctis 3, you won't get any positional sound location. With any headset that has analogue connections, you'd need a sound card to provide the positional sound cues (7.1) as the vast majority of motherboards don't have that.

With USB, headsets have their own sound processing electronics and in most cases, 7.1 positional sound location, as the Arctis 5 does.

I'm not really sure what the point of the Arctis 3 is. These headsets are aimed at gamer's and for £20 extra, you can get 7.1 positional sound without having to use a sound card, as you would with the Arctis 3. Surely pretty much all gamer's would just go for the Arctis 5 if they were looking at these headsets.
 
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My board had onboard 7.1 but only Realtek ALC892 codec.

ISOLATED AUDIO DESIGN
Audio Boost operates like a dedicated soundcard by being physically isolated from the rest of the motherboard circuitry to ensure the purest audio signal possible

PREMIUM CONNECTORS FOR OPTIMAL 7.1 SOUND QUALITY
With premium audio connectors you get the best possible signal output with the least chance of distortion. Using gold also prevents any corrosion or oxidation in the long run, which could impact signal quality.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450-A-PRO

Would this not be good enough as if so i may as well buy the 5. Is this the best heafzet in this range do you know? Don't like the look of the hyperx cloud or the a10's amd the only other was corsair hs50's.

Might sound stupid but does pubg benefit ftom 7.1 or use stereo?
 
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Most motherboards have 7.1 output, which is what is being referred to in the specs. That is for connecting up to 7.1 speaker systems (which have disappeared now leaving mainly 5.1). That is not the same as providing 7.1 to headphones.

Save for a couple of headsets (Razer Tiamat for example), most are stereo (1 speaker/driver in each cup) and use an algorithm to provide cues which give the effect of positional surround sound. With USB headsets, this is often built in to the electronics, such as the Arctis 5, for example.

Headsets that have analogue connection (Arctis 3), rely on whatever they are connected to, to provide the positional surround sound cues. In most cases this will be a sound card, as these algorithms are rarely found on motherboards.

Such a sound card would be, Creative Sound blaster Z, which uses SBX prostudio to provide positional sound to headsets or headphones.

Might sound stupid but does pubg benefit ftom 7.1 or use stereo?

To be honest, I'm not sure if PUBG has options for 7.1 output. It's a game I don't play.

Some games don't have options for 5.1/7.1, just stereo.
 
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I've just ordered the 2019 version of the Arctis 5, which was actually cheaper than the 3.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this USB headet compares to my current Razer Carrachias that is connected to a cheap Asus internal soundcard.
 
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I've just ordered the 2019 version of the Arctis 5, which was actually cheaper than the 3.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this USB headet compares to my current Razer Carrachias that is connected to a cheap Asus internal soundcard.

How much did you pay?
 
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Took me a little time to find it but bought one myself at £83 cheers :)
NP. Look forward to hearing your thoughts; I'll report back with the differences over my current setup. I too play a lot of PUBG and will be interested to see whether it improves my ability to locate the origin of shots and foot steps.
 
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NP. Look forward to hearing your thoughts; I'll report back with the differences over my current setup. I too play a lot of PUBG and will be interested to see whether it improves my ability to locate the origin of shots and foot steps.

Im sure they will put a smile on my face compared to my current set.

Pretty excited. Last time i had a half decent headset was around cs 1.5 - 1.6 transition a medusa 5.1 usb i think it was. People used to say i wallhacked cause i could pin point peoples location through walls. Sure its only got better
 
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NP. Look forward to hearing your thoughts; I'll report back with the differences over my current setup. I too play a lot of PUBG and will be interested to see whether it improves my ability to locate the origin of shots and foot steps.

Wow, pretty amazing.

Surreal feeling being able to hear every footstep and pin point it. Seems like I was vastly disabled not having one of these headsets! I can hear every little footstep and where abouts it is! Game changing
 
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Surreal feeling being able to hear every footstep and pin point it. Seems like I was vastly disabled not having one of these headsets! I can hear every little footstep and where abouts it is! Game changing
I played my first games with them this evening. They are so very different to my previous. Possibly better for games, but much, much worse for music as they are very bass light. I'll keep testing them...
 
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I played my first games with them this evening. They are so very different to my previous. Possibly better for games, but much, much worse for music as they are very bass light. I'll keep testing them...

Yes, I found they are not the clearest for music. I also found the 7.1 is horrendous but the stereo is good
 
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I've been looking for a decent gaming headset for awhile and after reading this thread I took the plunge and bought the Steel Series Arctis 5 2019 editions which came with some nice extras and a sweet 10% discount.

What do you guys think now that you've all had some time and experience with these, reviews seems glowing over these?
 
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I can't really fault them. I have them hung up on the side of my desk constantly pluged in. I have a music profile set as default which has no illumination setting so they don't glow when I am not really using them - then have different colours depending on what game I'm playing so I can quickly look at the colour to ensure have the correct settings for that specific game. You can add games to whatever profile you like so it auto changes the profile when you boot a game up.

Pretty neat - the first time i put them on I felt like a god in terms of what I could hear reletive to my old, cheap headset. Comfortable for long periods and even when Iw ear my glasses.
 
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