It is not easy to find the ideal gaming headset, especially when owning more than one gaming device. Turtle Beach has been developing and selling gaming headsets since 2005 that promise great things. Even before that, as early as 1975, the company (then known as Octave Electronics) worked on audio related products – such as PC soundcards. In other words, when it comes to sound, Turtle Beach seems to know what they’re doing. Here, Cubed3 gets the chance to have a closer look at the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX Headset. How does it hold up?
The Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX Headset looks very promising at first glance. The set is made from plastic, in this case a beautiful pink, but is available for purchase in a variety of colours. It can’t be folded to save space or travel with, but this makes sense considering it wouldn’t work on the go anyway. Naturally, the sides can be extended to fit any size of head. The earpieces are covered with breathable fabric and can be moved in several directions to achieve ideal comfort. They completely cover the ears and are very noise cancelling, allowing for full submersion into a game, and stay comfortable even when wearing glasses which is a big relief. The microphone is automatically muted when flipped up, and can easily be flipped down to be activated, which is extremely handy.
As for controls, there is a wheel to control volume, and another to control chat volume (while in Xbox mode) or variable mic monitoring (when in USB mode). A mode button allows to cycle through 4 different EQ pre-sets, which is a nice add on. The power button is, of course, utilised to turn the headset on or off, but when pressed quickly once, it can activate or deactivate the Superhuman Hearing mode, which can help to enhance gameplay sounds, such as enemy footsteps approaching. This is a very cool feature and definitely worth a try!
The Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX Headset is wireless and can be charged via USB-C, and the set does come with a charging cable. Once fully charged, the set can provide its services for over 40 hours. This is plenty, but if one should happen to forget to recharge, there is no backup such as an emergency AUX connection.
The wireless connection comes about with the support of the included USB-A transmitter. This has the added bonus of having less interference when it comes to sound, as compared to simple Bluetooth, not to mention that setting up the headset is quick and easy. This type of connection also allows to chat without compromising game sound, and latency is also much less of an issue. In other words, this set is ideal for gaming while staying wireless – it is a shame though that it can’t be used to listen to music or play games on a phone.
The USB transmitter allows for two modes: Xbox or USB. The Xbox mode is exclusively for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One, while USB mode can be used for pretty much anything else; Nintendo Switch (when docked only), PlayStation 4 and 5, Mac or PC. Pairing is simple and quick, there is no complicated setup, and it works really well.
When it comes to sound, the set holds up to its promises. It’s crisp, clear and wonderfully directional – surround sound is a given. The voice coming through the microphone is slightly muffled due to it being a wireless connection, but still much clearer than it would be through Bluetooth. The flip-down microphone helps with this, as well, of course. As such, the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX Headset can easily be used not only for gaming and online gaming with voice chat, but also for online meetings, which is a big plus in today’s world.
