Home » Reviews » Turtle Beach Stealth 600 & 700 Reviews: Mind, literally blown
Reviews

Turtle Beach Stealth 600 & 700 Reviews: Mind, literally blown

Neither the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 nor 700 headset is much to look at. To be completely blunt, either looks like a pair of no-name headphones you might buy from a dodgy market stall at a swap meet. While these headphones may easily blend into the crowd — to the point of near-invisibility  — the sound they produce will blow your mind.

Connecting the Stealth 600 or 700 to your console of choice is relatively easy; the Xbox versions connect in the same manner as a controller, while the PS4 version pairs with a USB stick (and optical audio jack on the 700) that needs to be plugged into your console’s appropriate jack(s). While the PS4 version will work on an Xbox One for audio receivership, we were unable to get the mic working (at least, on the 700).

In matte and piano black with trim of either blue or green for the PS4 or Xbox versions respectively, there really is nothing visually special about the Stealth range. The ear cups and the crown feature breathable fabric wrapped padding to keep your head comfy(ish) and sweat-free, though after a good few hours the pressure of the padding both on top and on either side of the head became more and more noticeable over time. Best yet, the ear cups fit gigantic ears — and trust me (Steve, that is; Jay’s not an abnormally-eared man), that’s usually a big issue with gaming headphones.

We certainly wouldn’t go as far as saying the Stealth 600 or 700 is uncomfortable, but still, a wider self-adjusting headband to better disperse the weight across the top of the head wouldn’t have gone astray. This is a feature of many headsets in this price range so it’s surprising that it wasn’t included here.

Each ear cup is adjustable from the headband as you would expect however sliding the cups in and out of the band required way too much force. Extending the cups down just a few notches took enough effort to have us worried that we might break the thing in two. Thankfully the robust build remained in one piece even after being subject to the abuse of one eighteen month old toddler.

On the left cup is two buttons, the first turns the unit on which produces spoken word feedback in a cool dude-bro voice which we half expected to say, “Previously on AMC’s The Walking Dead” Pressing it again activates “super human hearing” which is an EQ setting intended to give you, that’s right: super human hearing. This setting seems to increase the volume of higher range noises such as footsteps with emphasis on sources coming from behind. Competitively this did nothing for us but it succeeded in ruining the amazing sound these headphones produce without silly-named EQ features switched on.

The second button cycles through four EQ settings which are varied enough to cover a broad range of preferences. Both buttons, being so close together and not feeling all that dissimilar from each other posed a problem for us in the early stages of using this headset in that every time we wanted to press one, it was the other that ended up under our fingers. Very frustrating to cycle to that god awful super human hearing when we actually wanted Bass Boost.

Two separate volume dials, one for game audio and one for chat, also sit on the left ear. Unlike the buttons these are exactly where you expect them to be which means no fumbling for the dial or accidentally blowing holes in your eardrums mid game.

Also on the left ear is a very short, and unobstructive boom mic which is easy to move into position (which also un-mutes it in the process) and is always out of your line of sight. Squad mates were able to hear our voices without any outside interference and only the most intentional of mouth-breathing was transmitted over the interwebs.

Now here’s the important bit.

Remember that scene in The Simpsons where the THX logo appears on a cinema screen and the noise makes some guy’s head explode? That’s what’s it’s like to wear the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 or 700. Yes, we understand that’s still figuratively, but whatever. Our minds have been blown nonetheless; let us be dramatic.

Over the years we’ve reviewed plenty of console dedicated headphones across all the major brands. Never, and we mean never, have we come across a pair with so much punch in the low range, while keeping control of distortion at high volumes. To further arouse your ear holes, the abundance of bass doesn’t drown out any of the mid and high ranges the slightest bit.

This perfect spectrum paired with 7.1 virtual surround sound on the 600 and 7.1 Surround Sound on the 700, games like Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrfice and even the P.T. demo will freak you the hell out. While some sounds intended to come from the rear actually sounded as though they were coming from above, the effect of different audio sources was still crystal clear. We didn’t realise that critical-shotting a Vex in Destiny 2 was accompanied by the sound of glass shattering until we played with the Stealths.

We’d recommend the Stealth 600 for those on a budget ($170 AUD) and the Stealth 700 who’ve a little more to spend ($270 AUD); both headsets produce sound that punch far above their price point. The only real drawback here is that these are headsets that are truly tied to a specific console — so if you bounce between PS4 and Xbox One, be warned.


The good

  • Ridiculously good sound.
  • Especially great sound considering the price points.
  • Relatively comfortable.

The bad

  • Lacking some customisation options.
  • Console-specific, so not 100% compatible between PS4 and Xbox One.

 
The Turtle Beach Stealth 600 (Jay Ball) and 700 (Steve Wright) headsets were reviewed using promotional stock on PS4 (with compatibility testing on Xbox One), as provided by the publisher.


This article may contain affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.

About the author

Jay Ball

I'm a big fan of older consoles and can flawlessly complete the first 2 levels of Donkey Kong Country with my eyes closed. These days I still play platformers but also love shooters, arcade racers and action adventure titles. I may or may not be in denial about the death of rhythm games.

About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.