Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware and Software
The design of the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3 is significantly different than the Stealth 600 Gen 2 and Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX , opting for something a little more modern. Our particular model is the white version, but it also comes in black. I personally prefer the white, as it has a little more contrast, rather than being a single color. The white variant uses white for the majority of the surfaces, and black for all the cushioning and partially for accenting the headband. Generally speaking, the Stealth 600 Gen 3 is very appealing.
Aside from the swing-out microphone, nothing about this headset screams gamer, and looks completely fine for day-to-day use. The white and black finish on the Turtle Beach Stealth Gen 3 looks quite clean, being quite smooth, leaving no noticeable fingerprints. Turtle Beach opts to use a black written logo on the white earcups rather than their typical logo, presenting a more sophisticated look to it. The line that shows where the ears pivot is still present with this model. The Stealth 600 Gen 3 is primarily made out of plastic. The earcups use fabric and memory foam cushioning, while the headband uses PU leather. Despite being entirely plastic, there is very little creaking or unwarranted noise made when under pressure, making the headset feel well-built and sturdy. The only creaking I found was on the headband where you can adjust the length.
Starting with the ears, the cups are wrapped in a mesh fabric with a good amount of foam, at least when it comes to thickness. The foam has a sufficient amount of give without being too flimsy. The ProSpecs feature allows users to wear their glasses comfortably while using these headphones. The idea is having softer foam or divots around where glasses would rest to provide space for them to sit comfortably. It might seem like a gimmick, but I can assure you that it works, and I had no issues with my glasses. Additionally, the earcups can rotate and adjust to sit flat or around your head comfortably. As for the drivers underneath, you can see these are 50mm Nanoclear drivers. These drivers have a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz. This is adequate, as it reaches both ends of the average human hearing frequency.
Looking at the headband of the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3, there are a few noteworthy features to point out. For one, each side of the headband has an exposed portion where you can see how far you have extended the headset. There actually are not any markings that represent how extended the headband is on each side. I personally really like having the markings as someone who likes to keep both sides even, but aesthetically, I always did find it to be ugly. At the top, we have a leather-covered foam pad that feels soft enough to cushion your head and alleviate any pressure you might feel if it were bare.
In terms of overall comfort, I found myself satisfied with the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3. There is a sufficient amount of foam on the ears and the headband to keep my head and ears comfortable, allowing me to keep this headset on for hours. In addition, the headset's clamping pressure is just right, not being too tight or too loose. I personally prefer the fabric material used on the earcups over PU leather, because they keep the ears a bit more breathable and less warm. In addition to all of this, the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3 is quite light at 318g. Considering it carries the batteries and wireless components to connect to the adapter, this is quite good.
On the left side of the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3, you will find all of the controls and inputs of the headset. From top to bottom, you have a dedicated volume wheel, microphone monitor volume wheel, Bluetooth button, QuickSwitch button, Mode button, USB Type-C port, and the power button. The dedicated volume wheel will adjust the volume as you would think. Interestingly enough, when using this headset with a PC, adjusting the volume will change the volume in increments of six. The mic monitoring wheel allows you to monitor your voice through the headset. I would like to comment the wheels have been spaced out more compared to the previous versions, with a physical nub to separate the two further. The wheels themselves have a good amount of resistance to adjust the levels at a fine level. We have a Bluetooth button next that works as a multi-function button. The QuickSwitch button is quite useful in switching between 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connection. Underneath it is the Mode button. This Mode button allows you to cycle through four different equalizer settings. This includes Signature Sound, Bass Boost, Treble and Bass Boost, and Vocal Boost. The headset will beep the corresponding numbers of times when you cycle through to tell you which mode you are in. Finally, we have the power button that turns on and off the headset, or turn on and off Superhuman Hearing.
When the headset is on, you can tap the power button to activate Superhuman Hearing, allowing you to better immerse yourself into the gaming experience. This will make hearing sounds like footsteps, gun reloads, and other important noises clearer by amplifying certain frequency ranges where these in-game noises are present. Near the power button, we have a USB Type-C input, which is used to charge the headset. Around to the front, we have a microphone that swings down from the left earcup. Since it sits integrated on the side, it automatically mutes the input when it is in this position. When you swing it out, there is a notch where swinging past this position will automatically unmute the microphone. You can then further position the mic closer to your face by folding it in, but it is barely adjustable. I find the distance quite nice as it is never in the way, but the caveat is that it may not pick up your voice in some instances.
Taking a look at the wireless USB transmitter, it is the same size as a typical USB flash drive, and comes in a matching white color. An LED can be found on the end that illuminates in a breathing green when connecting to the headset, and breathing red when connected and the mic is muted. The transmitter will not illuminate when the headset is active with the mic on. Otherwise, it is a standard male USB Type-A plug. You can find a switch to change from Xbox compatibility to regular USB. The USB option will work for all other devices besides the Xbox, like your PC, PlayStation, or Switch.
The Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3 has some additional support software in the form of Turtle Beach Swarm II. The download file is approximately 83.7MB in size. The functionality is quite comprehensive, offering a mini dashboard for all of the settings. These mini dashboards are Audio, Microphone, Equalizer, Assignment, Device Status, Hotkeys, Power Options, Transmitter, and Voice and Tone Prompts.
Audio will allow you to adjust the master volume, alongside the Superhuman Hearing settings. Microphone will allow the user to adjust the mic sensitivity, monitoring levels, and noise gate. Thankfully, Turtle Beach includes an equalizer to help better cater the headphones to individual users. As with many equalizers, you can simply adjust it as you please, use Turtle Beach’s presets, or even make your own presets. Assignment adjusts the functionality of the mic monitoring wheel and Mode button. The wheel can swap between mic monitoring, bass boost level, treble boost level, and noise gate volume. I personally would leave it on mic monitoring, as I do not find a purpose in adjusting any of the other options on the fly.
As for the Mode button, this button can cycle between presets or turn on and off the noise gate. Next, we have device status, which informs the user of the current status of the headset as you may assume. This information includes the battery status, if the headset is up to date, and connection method. Furthermore, it provides information about the status of the transmitter. Hotkeys allows you to bind Volume Mute, Superhuman Hearing, Noise Gate, Mic Mute, Mic Monitoring toggles to whatever key you want. Power options allow you to adjust when the headset automatically turns off and whether or not you want notifications regarding the battery. Transmitter gives you the option to adjust the LED brightness on the transmitter. Personally, I find this to be one of the most random features, especially because the difference from 0 to 100 is so subtle. Voice and Tone Prompts adjust the notification voice and tone prompt volume. I actually find this to be a random but nice feature, as it is something I did not know I wanted to adjust.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
