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Sony Pulse 3D Wireless Headset (Midnight Black): Accessibility review

Disclaimer

The unit used in this review was provided at no cost to the reviewer.

Introduction

Those who know me and my previous reviews will know that I've covered a large number of headsets over the years. Some meant for PC, others meant for Xbox and some that can be used with both.

What I've never reviewed though is a headset specifically for the PlayStation side of things. Thanks to the launch of the Pulse 3d Wireless Headset Midnight Black Edition, I can now do just that. But just how does this unit stack up to the competition?

Let's start where most physical reviews start, the Unboxing.

Unboxing

Find the hanger for stores, the side this is found on will be referred to as the top of the box. Look around the top of the box and you'll find the connection between the top and the longer side of the packaging, sealed in by a rectangular folded flap. There was an adhesive circle on this flap with my review unit, which I removed with a fingernail rather than cutting it.

Putting a finger and thumb carefully either side of the rectangle holding the top in place, pull the side of the fold closest to the side of the box away and down to release the top flap.

Extracting the contents

With a firm pull, the top flap should slide smoothly up and away from you to reveal the contents inside. Underneath is the cardboard that contained the hanger for store shelves, which pulls the opposite way to the main top flap of the box.

Inside you'll find two printed leaflets, with the large cardboard section behind this being able to be clamped together gently with one hand and lifted free of the box, pulling most if not all of the remaining contents with it.

In the top of this cardboard holder, you'll find a smaller more rounded receptacle which, once the folded cardboard at the end is opened up (by pulling with a thumb on first the top layer then the layer underneath the opposite way), reveals the USB C cable and a separate audio lead (both wrapped with cable ties) and a USB wireless dongle wrapped in plastic protective film.

Removing this protective film proved harder than I'd expected, but after a little gentle pulling I did manage to get part of it out of the way, which then made the rest easier to remove.

The headset itself is stored in between the cardboard clamp-style section that you lifted free earlier. Unfolding this holder allows you to simply pull the headset free.

Setting Up The Unit

The first thing I noticed about the very well-padded headset is that there are numerous buttons on the left-hand earcup. These buttons, some of which appear to be volume rockers, have little in the way of distinct markings, other than a dot on one of the aforementioned rockers. Not knowing what these were made me hesitant to even press any of them, given I'd only just opened this headset up.

Couple this lack of easy understanding with the fact that there is no official documentation as to what is positioned where, as Microsoft did with the Xbox Wireless Headset online resources and this makes for a frustrating beginning.

After looking around, I discovered some potential helpful advice (it turned out), as part of a different semi-related unboxing from a fellow accessibility consultant which detailed a switch on the bottom. Hoping what I'd seen and thought might be to do with the microphone might actually be the power switch, I flicked it forwards and sure enough, I heard a blip.

Hearing no sound, I connected the dongle to the PS5, while the headset was still charging, and heard a second confirmational tone, at which point the PS5's HDMI audio switched off completely and transferred to my headset.

The Sound

Out of the box, without knowing what any of the controls did, the sound was definitely solid. Not with quite as much bass as I'd expected, but a well-balanced audio experience. I did know that I could adjust the sound with various methods including through the PS5 itself, but trying to do that, as you'll soon see, was problematic as well.

Being unable to find an accessible step-by-step guide), When I tried to go into sound settings on my console, I discovered that the headset was picked up as a "USB headset, wireless headset" and various options were disabled. Curious to figure out why this was, I again turned to search engines and discovered that there are 3 extra customisable presets, in addition to the 3 that come with the headset by default. Selecting one of these customisable ones was all I had to do in order to adjust the options that had previously been disabled.

Once I'd created a preset called "dialogue" designed to boost the high end of the headset to make reverb and dialogue (obviously) stand out, it was time to take it for a spin and what better game to test that with than the most accessible game on the console?

The last Of Us Part II

Whether I was firing guns at enemies that absolutely towered over me, or shooting bows and arrows as I essentially cosplayed Aloy from Horizon: Zero Dawn, the audio was crisp and clear, giving a real sense of space. Though reverb isn't used much in TLOU2, it is definitely noticeable when it does appear and this headset brings it to life extremely well. Even turning the accessibility cues down as low as I could, the headset broadcast everything in brilliant, clear quality, making even the enemies' distant yells and confusion easily audible.

Mortal kombat X

Yes, I know it's an older game, but it's undeniable that the Mortal Kombat series is known for its impactful audio design. Personally, I've always felt that Mortal Kombat X had something that its sequel lacked, namely a greater emphasis on low end and a more fluid-feeling combat system.

Given it was recently a PlayStation Plus title as of the time of writing, I thought I'd dive back into the game's story mode after not having played the mode in general for a number of years.

Needless to say I was not disappointed. Coupled with the PS5's loading times, the transition between fights and cutscenes was near seamless and every punch, kick, uppercut and x-ray move felt gloriously brutal. The headset even brought out the movement audio a little more than I'd anticipated, which was a pleasant surprise and allowed me to better position myself during battle.

Other Audio Uses

My usual headset of choice, the Logitech G935 allow me to both use wireless connectivity with my PC and also have other devices, be they controllers, phones or smart devices plugged in at the same time, hearing audio from both. Given the Pulse 3d has the same connectivity options (wireless and 3.5mm), I was really interested to see if I could achieve the same results.

Unfortunately, the short answer is no, you can't. For whatever reason, when the 3.5mm connector is plugged in, the headset seems to only accept audio from that connection type. Once unplugged, the headset will power up wirelessly and connect to the PS5 (in my case) without issue, only disconnecting when the 3.5mm jack is reinserted.

Summary

Pros

Solid build quality
No pairing frustration required
Sounds good out of the box
Customising via the console is a breeze and fully narrated

Cons

No accessible documentation to allow gamers without sight to utilise the full feature set without assistance
Buttons are not distinct enough
Cannot use multiple connection options simultaneously

Conclusions

The Pulse 3d wireless headset is sleek, stylish and certainly fits in with the look and feel of the PS5 console. With great sound and a relatively inexpensive price tag, the ease of pairing and accessible sound editing capabilities right from the console itself all being great positives.

These positives are offset by a lack of accessible documentation and an inability to use the headset with multiple connection options simultaneously, something that I know gamers without sight like myself appreciate at times.

All that being said, If you're planning to go wireless on the PS5, this headset is definitely a solid way to get your game on, whether single or multiplayer.

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