Calling itself the "new king of ultra-premium wireless gaming audio," the Turtle Beach Stealth Pro is aiming for pole position in a crowded market. And while it has been successful enough with its articulate sound, there are a few things that keep it from greatness. Or even general mediocrity.

I've been using SteelSeries' premium wireless supremacy, the Nova Pro, for five months now. During this time, I've found only a few minor issues, such as the headband loosening quickly, glitchy noise when out of range, and mild pressure from the drivers occasionally touching my ears In designing the Stealth Pro, the Turtle Beach is comparable to its main competitors at a lower cost Not only is it inexpensive and comparable to the main competitor, but it has made a commendable effort to remedy some of the shortcomings that Nova Pro users have complained about.

But that's just on paper; things play out a little differently in practice.

Like the NovaPro, the Stealth Pro has two console-specific SKUs, one for Xbox and one for PlayStation. And in terms of comfort, the Turtle Beach design is okay; the Stealth Pro fits in the ear relatively comfortably, and the rotating ear cups make it easy to put them in the right position.

I appreciate that TurtleBeach is compatible with glasses. Even though I have to grip my head pretty tightly to keep them from falling off, I don't feel like my glasses are digging into the sides of my face. That said, the ear cups are spongy and gorgeous, but the headband is not comfortable for the price. [This is because the headset is very heavy at 422 grams, compared to the Nova Pro's 338 grams. The headband will never come loose and need to be replaced, but it does put a lot of pressure on the crown on a daily basis. Personally, I would prefer the headband solution because when it comes to gaming headsets, comfort is important and there is no need to move the headband back and forth every 5 minutes to distribute the weight. I find it very helpful in distinguishing between the various sounds in the game. The Bass Boost does a great job of improving the richness of the bass without distorting the sound, even at high volumes.

Admittedly, the options are not as extensive as the SteelSeries Sonar software, but the simplicity is appreciated. Download and installation is quick, but we did have a few issues with the software consuming system resources.

When the software is running properly, CPU usage is 1 to 2 percent. But when the audio program starts taking up 95.3 percent of the CPU usage and the PC is about to crash, it is clear that there is something seriously wrong. And that's without the fancy Superhuman Hearing turned on.

A quick reinstall solved the problem, but it hurt a bit that I had to reinstall it twice already this morning. In other words, it's a roller coaster ride software-wise. On one occasion, when I unplugged the transmitter, I got the blue screen of death. The company has since updated the software, so hopefully these problems will go away, but first impressions are not great.

There are also several remapping options, with different options for the headset wheel and side buttons in PC and console modes. The side buttons can be pressed and held to shift to a selected secondary function, similar to the G-shift function on Logitech mice. A bit clumsily implemented, but a cool little feature. You have to read the manual to understand what all the buttons do, but it is nice to have access to all the useful functions on the headset.

Unfortunately, the buttons themselves are not amazingly easy to use. The buttons are flat and hard to press, requiring repeated touching to find them. The wheel is also on the rickety side, and since all the buttons are on the right side, you have to take your primary hand off the mouse or controller to use them.

In general, the headset is well made, but as with many Turtle Beach products I have used, the physical interface detracts from the overall design.

Nevertheless, the wireless connection is not bad. Dropouts did not occur unless I was more than 15 meters away from the transmitter. However, with a filing cabinet or wall, dropouts began to occur; Bluetooth may not be up-to-date, but at least it is a little more responsive to obstacles.

The microphone also has issues. Close-up repellent sound is pretty bad, but it is generally clear away from the face. Sadly, it sounds quite blurry.

As for battery life, I have used it for 6 hours and have not had to replace the battery. It's nice that a spare battery is included, but even the combined rated life of both batteries (12 hours each) is not as good as the best wireless gaming headsets we've tested: the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless (open in new tab) is about 300 hours. So the competition is stiff.

As I said before, on paper, these specs may seem to back up the $330 price tag, but given the software issues, interface shortcomings, and discomfort, it doesn't ring a bell with me.

Throw into the mix something like the outstanding audiophile Audeze Maxwell (opens in new tab) with a $299/$319 price tag, and the Stealth Pro really doesn't stand a chance. Especially against the warmth of its 90mm planar magnetic drivers, its wide 10Hz-50,000Hz frequency response, and its whopping 80-hour battery life.

If you're asked to spend this much on a gaming headset, it needs to be a no-compromise device. And at only £50/$20 less than the Nova Pro, there is too much going on to recommend the Turtle Beach Stealth Pro.