Sony - Sony Playstation Gold Wireless (2018)

Sony

Sony Playstation Gold Wireless: a wireless gaming headset cut for the PS4

Aprox. 99€ - see price -

The Sony Playstation Gold Wireless gaming headset returns in a second 2018 version with even more promised. Does it have everything it takes to win the hearts of PS4 players? The answer now!

Our review

Presentation

Sony and its Playstation subsidiary renewed their flagship wireless gaming headset a year ago: the Gold Wireless. Above all designed to work together with the PS4 and PS VR, this model promises mountains and wonders ("ultra-comfortable design", "exceptional sound quality", microphone sound "exceptional clarity", "give life to your games 7.1" virtual surround sound) for any player looking for a wireless listening and communication companion. This model was launched at the start of 2018 at a price of € 100.


Presentation

Microphone

The 2018 version of Gold Wireless is based on the original version of 2014 with a reworked design and design. The helmet thus gains in compactness, discretion and lightness. The long arch is thinner and is now fully covered with imitation leather. This material, also used on the pads of over-ear atria, conceals a relatively fine and flexible foam. The ear cups are made of plastic. Overall, the manufacturing and finishing of the helmet is quite successful. The assembly is relatively neat and robust, we did not detect any particular defect during our test period. The 2018 Wireless Gold is arguably the lightest wireless headset on the market today. However, it is not the most flexible. What is more, the earpieces hardly rotate on the horizontal axis. Wearing around the neck is therefore not the most pleasant there is.

The extreme lightness of the helmet plays in its favor in terms of feelings of comfort. The helmet is easily placed on the head and you hardly feel the weight of the helmet and the contact with the headband, even if the foam used is far from being thick. The set holds very well in place and the earpieces correctly fit the pavilion of the ears. The extremely generous deployment of the headband (approximately 34 cm to 45 cm by measuring from ear to ear through the top of the skull) allows small and large heads to put on the helmet.

Unfortunately, that is not all. In fact, the user quickly finds himself confronted with two points which limit the time of use: a more or less marked pincer effect (but always present) according to the morphologies and, above all, a particularly marked point of contact at the level of Headsets. The latter do not offer much space and the pavilions almost always touch the grids and the plastic chassis that protect the speakers. A break will be necessary after half an hour / one hour of use.

Gold Wireless is very easy to connect wirelessly via the USB dongle provided. Everything is above all made to be used on PS4, but it also works on PC (some features and commands are disabled in this case). The wireless connection is stable and the range very correct. The list of available commands is very complete: general volume control, balance between game and chat sound, microphone on / off, virtual surround on / off, headphone on / off and choice between the two equalization modes. On the other hand, their positioning is frankly not ideal because all the buttons are gathered on the left atrium. Even after many sessions of use, it sometimes happens that we are still looking for certain buttons or that we accidentally activate them. It would certainly have been wiser to place them on the back of each headset. To quibble a little more, we would have seen a dial system at least for volume control for faster and more precise management.

The headphones are switched on / off and switched between the two equalization modes via the same switch in 3 positions (OFF, ON EQ 1, ON EQ 2). The rocker being particularly sensitive, a certain skill is necessary to change position and especially to avoid switching off the helmet by mistake. An LED as well as audible indications are there to guide the user. Unfortunately there are no voice alerts, we can only trust the “beeps” emitted by the headphones at each action. The buttons generate a little “click” far from being discreet and pleasant each time they are pressed. We feel the plastic side of the key.

The Gold Wireless 2018 promises a small autonomy of only 8 hours, even in the absence of backlight or additional energy-consuming features. Unfortunately, we were not even able to exceed 7:30 in practice, which is a particularly low value compared to what the competition offers (24 hours for a RIG 800 and even 30 hours without backlight for a Cloud Flight). Once the battery is flat, there is fortunately the possibility of using the wired headset via the 3.5 mm mini-jack input, but we obviously lose the benefit of wireless and especially all the features.


Microphone

Software quality

Gold Wireless is accompanied by a dedicated application on PS4 available on the Playstation Store called "Companion of the headset."

It is not really very complete and responsive, but it at least has the merit of offering a minimum of customization on the sound rendering. It offers several EQ modes (depending on certain games and others more general) and a 3-band graphic EQ to obtain a personalized profile on the headset memory (position 2 of the switch). The rest of the settings (including microphone gain) are made via the console's audio settings menu.


Software quality

Audio

Gold Wireless (2018) offers a correct experience which can be a little more satisfying if you opt for a personalized EQ profile.

Basic, without any correction on the part of the user, these headphones naturally focus on the mediums which makes them a companion above all made for voice communication. He is indeed shy at the ends of the audible spectrum (low and treble extremes) and shows a slight affection for the midrange around 1 and 2 kHz approximately. The voices are therefore naturally put forward and intelligible in all circumstances, without being particularly warm, clear or airy. In this area, the stamps are fairly well respected. On the other hand, we will go back for precision. The sound rendering is generally not very detailed either on the mediums or in the other regions of the audible spectrum for that matter. This general lack of precision, combined with the timidity of the mid-high / treble and certain mask effects, bring a slightly “dull” and fuzzy side to the sound. It is therefore difficult to identify precisely certain elements of the sound scene, especially when they are set back.

Fortunately, some things can be slightly improved if we go through the custom EQ profile. We also advise you to do it as soon as you receive the headphones because the second original profile offers a too exaggerated boost of low frequencies and completely ruins the listening experience. By drawing a small signature in V on the EQ of the application (bass boost to +2, reduction of midrange to -2 and more generous boost in treble to + 4 / + 6 for example), we gain in presence loud and clear. The stereophonic scene is a bit more airy and we can more easily distinguish certain more subtle effects and sources placed in the background. The bass is a bit deeper thereby improving the feeling of impact and more generally the sound immersion. That said, the sound offered by these headphones is still not very detailed and precise. We always feel its limits when there are many different sources to reproduce.

In terms of distortion management, the Gold Wireless 2018 is doing very well overall, unless you decide to boost the low frequencies too generously with the EQ of the application. Indeed, the headphones show big limits in the reproduction of the extreme bass and you will then get a very messy restitution in this area, with many mask effects as a bonus. As we mentioned above, it is better to limit yourself to a very slight boost (one notch max) to preserve the quality of the signal.

Let's finish with the virtual surround mode Virtual Surround Sound embedded in this Gold Wireless offers a very convincing result. The 7.1 stream of the game is binauralized with homemade HRTF filters from Sony. The perception of the surround space and the objects which constitute it is relatively natural, in any case on the front, side and rear left / right. Depending on the case (game or user), there are some effects of confusion before / back when a source is located right in front / behind us, but nothing too bad. Another significant point, no significant reverberation / delay effect (often added to simulate the acoustics of a listening room) ruins the listening experience. Immersion is good. Too bad the headphones are not more precise, which would have been a big plus for the rendering of virtual surround. Once activated, the VSS applies a flattering equalization in the high frequencies. We therefore advise you to switch to the original EQ of the helmet to start on a good basis, especially if you plan to use the VSS very often.


Audio

Audio

Unlike the overwhelming majority of gaming headsets, the Gold Wireless comes with a microphone directly housed in the left headset. It is cut and activated only via the dedicated button on the helmet.

The result is disappointing to say the least. The captured signal lacks power and it is mostly spoiled by a very unsightly effect that is probably due to a very large data compression or signal processing. The intelligibility is just correct if you do not speak too quickly, but the rendering of it always remains deaf and imprecise. Even if the microphone tends to correctly reduce surrounding noise, it is better to make sure you are in a quiet room to optimize the quality of recording.

Capture with the headset's built-in microphone in a calm environment (+10 dB boost)


Audio

Conclusion

Gold Wireless (2018) is far from being as impressive as its promises suggest. It nevertheless fulfills its mission correctly and can satisfy you if you are not too demanding and above all you have a very limited budget (we often find it below the € 70 mark). If you are a hard player and you want both a good listening experience and comfort, it is better to invest a little more and turn to other references such as the G533 or the RIG 800 for example.


Conclusion