Arctis 3 challenges everything you know about gaming headsets with completely overhauled audio, a new mic design with unmatched clarity, and improved comfort with materials inspired by athletic clothing. This gaming headset brings pure performance and style, featuring SteelSeries 7.1 Surround Sound.
I watched and read a few reviews of these headphones before buying, and it doesn't feel like I bought the same headset I was reading about. My previous headset was the base model Razer Kraken. The sound of the Arctis 3 was a noticeable step backwards. Mostly the bass notes were much flatter, but sound overall wasn't quite as good. Worse was directional awareness. The 'surround' just isn't good. I'd often hear sounds in-game and not be certain EXACTLY where they were coming from. That's not a problem I've had with previous headsets. And yes, I had the software running and setup, which is another knock on these. The Steelseries Engine 3 software didn't even recognize the headset until I had plugged, and unplugged them in two different jacks a few times. A week later, the software kept falling into a fatal error that I could not find a working fix for. I returned the headset after 2 weeks of use, mostly in Battlefield 1.
The positives of the headset are that it is a very comfortable headset. Much more comfortable than my Krakens were. The mic is also very good according to clan mates via Teamspeak.