I purchased this because the prececessor, the "Sony Wireless Stereo Headset" stopped working. Once you have good sound, it's very annoying to listen to bad TV audio again, so I paid extra for first class delivery. It arrived late and I was very frustrated, having called Amazon twice to complain. I ordered it on a Friday night and it was dispatched at 5pm on Saturday, so naturally I expected it Monday. It didn't arrive and it wasn't a bank holiday. It arrived Wednesday. This is absolutely appalling for first class delivery. I've never had a single first class item not arrive the next day from any retailer except Amazon, so i'm not quite sure what Amazon does differently, but what i've learnt is that Amazon's first class delivery doesn't arrive any faster than super saver, so save your money, and if you really want an item quick, you need to pay a lot of money for express delivery or buy elsewhere. I bought it here because of the nice £85 price tag.
I have to rate this product 5 stars because it really is good, so I have overlooked the bad delivery service in the rating. This product is better than the old model in every way but two. Charging and comfort.
The old headset is lighter and has better padding on the headband, as the headband on the old one is a big, thick strip of padding. The Pulse is heavier and has two thin strips of padding, sacrificing comfort for style. I could wear the old model all day, literally, without any discomfort, but the Pulse hurts the top of my head after a few hours.
The difference in charging is the position of the USB port. On the old model, it was on the back of the headset. On the Pulse, it's on the bottom. This means the cable digs into my shoulders if I use them whilst charging, which I pretty much always do. This isn't a problem with the old model and might not be a problem if you have small shoulders.
With this headset, you are pretty much paying a £15 or £20 premium over the old model for BassImpact, style and compatibility. As far as I can tell, the sound quality is no different to the old model. Style is something you need to decide on for yourself, if you really care about that when you're gaming.
This headset can be used wired unlike the old model. You can plug it into your phone or TV with a traditional audio cable, which is provided, so you don't always have to connect to the wireless adapter. Alternatively, you could plug the wireless adapter into any powered USB port, like one on your PS3, connect the audio cable from your phone to the adapter, and listen to music from your phone wirelessly. When the audio cable is plugged into the adapter, it will override the sound from whatever it is plugged into, in this case, it overrides the PS3 sound. I find this to be a very nice feature.
BassImpact probably isn't what you think. BassImpact sends "pulses" to your ears. It's like a vibrating function, and it has different modes. It comes pre-installed with gaming, music, movie, shooter, fighter and racing. These modes can be swapped out with others, like a mode specifically for The Last of Us and a Hip-Hop mode, and a selection of others, with an app on the PS3. However, this app is not on the EU PlayStation Store. If you want to change the modes, you need to download it from the US PlayStation Store, and to do that you need to create an American account. It will be called the Pulse Elite Manager (more on why it's called the Pulse Elite Manager at the end of the review).
These modes all work differently. They claim the shooter mode will allow you to feel footsteps of your enemies. I play a lot of Battlefield 3, and I find BassImpact doesn't do that at all. I find it makes it harder for me to determine what directions sounds are coming from, so I turn off BassImpact on BF3. However, I find it works very well in The Last of Us, with the specific mode for that game, and really intensifies the combat. It benefits some games, but not others. With movies and music, I find BassImpact to always be beneficial.
Sony did a really bad job of naming these headsets and caused a lot of confusion. In the EU, this is the Pulse. In the states, it is the Pulse Elite. They are 100% identical. The main problem with this is that we call this headset the Pulse, and in the states, they call the old model the Pulse, which we call "Wireless Stereo Headset"... so you can see how that can confuse people.
I think i've made this review long enough and more about this headset vs the old model than about this headset... so in summary, it is a good headset. If you want sound quality like this, you either pay this price, or something a decent bit more. It competes very well in its price range, and the virtual surround sound helps you to know what direction different sounds are coming from. There have been many occasions on BF3 where I have heard people trying to sneak up on me and managed to kill them, so these are good. They also don't interfere with any other wireless devices I use. Two phones, tablet, wireless keyboard and mouse right next to my PS3 with the adapter in it, and not so much as a hiccup. The compatibility is great.
I recommend this item to anyone looking for good sound for movies, music and games. Apologies for the bad layout, but it's 2am and this is a spontaneous review! ;)
This review is also available at Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R373KTU2ANRZ0F/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm.
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