SteelSeries Arctis Pro GameDAC vs Beats Solo Pro Side-by-Side Headphones Comparison

Tested using Methodology v1.5

Updated May 31, 2024 04:38 PM

See SteelSeries Arctis Pro GameDAC Review

TypeOver-ear

EnclosureClosed-Back

WirelessNo

TransducerDynamic

Noise CancellingNo

MicYes

TypeOn-ear

EnclosureClosed-Back

WirelessYes

TransducerDynamic

Noise CancellingYes

MicYes

Variants

Arctis Pro GameDAC (Black)

Solo Pro (Black)
Solo Pro (Dark Blue)
Solo Pro (Gray)
Solo Pro (Ivory)
Solo Pro (Light Blue)
Solo Pro (Red)

Review

See Beats Solo Pro Wireless Review

Our Verdict

SteelSeries Arctis Pro GameDAC

Beats Solo Pro Wireless

The SteelSeries Arctis Pro GameDAC and the Beats Solo Pro have different strengths, so you may prefer either. The SteelSeries are much more comfortable over-ear gaming headphones. Their boom mic has a significantly better overall performance, and they come with a DAC that allows you to easily switch EQ or surround sound settings while you game. On the other hand, the Beats are more versatile Bluetooth headphones. They have a great ANC feature, leak much less sound, and have a significantly better onboard control scheme.

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Black

Arctis Pro GameDAC

Black

Solo Pro

Black

Arctis Pro GameDAC

Dark Blue

Solo Pro

Black

Arctis Pro GameDAC

Gray

Solo Pro

Black

Arctis Pro GameDAC

Ivory

Solo Pro

Black

Arctis Pro GameDAC

Light Blue

Solo Pro

Red

Solo Pro

Main Differences for
Neutral Sound

Threshold

0.10

Neutral Sound

7.6

7.7

Passive Soundstage

6.1

3.0

Treble Accuracy

6.4

7.4

Mid Accuracy

8.4

9.0

Frequency Response Consistency

5.4

7.7

Full Comparison

Neutral Sound

7.6

7.7

Commute/Travel

4.8

7.4

Sports/Fitness

5.6

7.1

Office

6.0

7.1

Wireless Gaming

5.8

5.6

Wired Gaming

7.8

5.4

Phone Calls

6.8

6.6

Design

Style

Design Picture 2

Type

Over-ear

On-ear

Enclosure

Closed-Back

Wireless

Yes

Transducer

Dynamic

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Comfort

7.5

6.5

Comfort Picture

Weight

0.9 lbs

0.59 lbs

Clamping Force

1.2 lbs

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Controls

6.2

7.7

Controls Picture

OS Compatibility

Not OS specific

Ease Of Use

Decent

Good

Feedback

Great

Good

Call/Music Control

Yes

Volume Control

Yes

Microphone Control

Mute/Unmute

Channel Mixing

Yes

Noise Cancelling Control

On/Off

Talk-Through

On/Off

Additional Controls

Presets

Voice Assistant

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Breathability

5.4

8.4

Breathability After Picture

Avg.Temp.Difference

8.3 °C

1.7 °C

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Portability

5.7

Portability Picture

L

7.4" (18.8 cm)

7.5" (19.1 cm)

W

6.8" (17.3 cm)

6.6" (16.8 cm)

H

3.0" (7.6 cm)

2.8" (7.1 cm)

Volume

150.00 in³ (2,458.05 cm³)

139.00 in³ (2,277.79 cm³)

Transmitter Required

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Case

0.0

6.0

Case Picture

Type

No case

Soft case

L

N/A

6.6" (16.8 cm)

W

N/A

5.2" (13.2 cm)

H

N/A

2.8" (7.1 cm)

Volume

N/A

96.00 in³ (1,573.15 cm³)

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Build Quality

6.0

8.0

Build Quality Picture

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Stability

7.0

Stability Picture

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Headshots 1

Angled Picture

Side Picture

Headshots 2

Front Picture

Rear Picture

Top

Top Picture

In The Box

In The Box Picture

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Sound

Sound Profile

Frequency Response

Bass Amount

0.4 dB

0.95 dB

Treble Amount

-2.59 dB

0.19 dB

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Frequency Response Consistency

5.4

7.7

Consistency L

Consistency R

Avg. Std. Deviation

1.33 dB

0.45 dB

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Raw Frequency Response

Raw FR L

Raw FR R

Bass Accuracy

8.6

8.8

Bass

Std. Err.

2.01 dB

1.68 dB

Low-Frequency Extension

10 Hz

Low-Bass

-1.81 dB

2.72 dB

Mid-Bass

-2.69 dB

1.73 dB

High-Bass

-0.7 dB

0.75 dB

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Mid Accuracy

8.4

9.0

Mid

Std. Err.

2.19 dB

1.28 dB

Low-Mid

0 dB

0.23 dB

Mid-Mid

-1.07 dB

0.66 dB

High-Mid

-3.28 dB

1.46 dB

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Treble Accuracy

6.4

7.4

Treble

Std. Err.

5.25 dB

3.85 dB

Low-Treble

-5.42 dB

2.57 dB

Mid-Treble

-1.93 dB

2.41 dB

High-Treble

-9.05 dB

-2.82 dB

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Peaks/Dips

7.6

7.9

Peaks/Dips Graph

Peaks

1.44 dB

1.43 dB

Dips

1.56 dB

0.74 dB

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Imaging

8.7

8.6

Group Delay

Phase Response Mismatch

Weighted Group Delay

0.16

0.15

Weighted Phase Mismatch

3.53

3.02

Weighted Amplitude Mismatch

0.71

0.68

Weighted Frequency Mismatch

2.33

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Passive Soundstage

6.1

3.0

PRTF

PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)

5.02 dB

3.46 dB

PRTF Size (Avg.)

6.68 dB

0.7 dB

PRTF Distance

18.19 dB

5.75 dB

Openness

4.9

2.3

Acoustic Space Excitation

3.9

1.9

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Virtual Soundstage

2.0

0.0

Virtual Soundstage

Head Modeling

Speaker Modeling

On/Off

Room Ambience

Head Tracking

Virtual Surround

DTS 7.1

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Weighted Harmonic Distortion

7.7

8.2

Weighted Harmonic Distortion

WHD @ 90

0.362

0.215

WHD @ 100

0.122

0.073

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Test Settings

Firmware

Unknown

Power

USB

Connection

Wired

Bluetooth 4.2

Codec

PCM, 24-bit, 48kHz

SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz

EQ

Default

No EQ

ANC

No ANC

Tip/Pad

Default

Microphone

Boom

Integrated

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Isolation

Noise Isolation

4.5

7.7

Noise Isolation

Isolation Audio

Overall Attenuation

-13.24 dB

-23.18 dB

Noise Cancelling

Yes

Bass

0.28 dB

-11.23 dB

Mid

-8.65 dB

-23.13 dB

Treble

-32 dB

-36.34 dB

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Leakage

6.6

8.3

Leakage

Leakage Audio

Overall Leakage @ 1ft

42.08 dB

31.54 dB

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Microphone

Microphone Style

Integrated

Yes

In-Line

Boom

Yes

Detachable Boom

Mic

Yes

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Recording Quality

7.6

5.6

Microphone Frequency Response

Recorded Speech

LFE

85.99 Hz

687.92 Hz

FR Std. Dev.

4.57 dB

3.5 dB

HFE

10,240 Hz

7,671.33 Hz

Weighted THD

5.105

54.571

Gain

34.68 dB

3.21 dB

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Noise Handling

7.7

7.0

SpNR

SpNR

33.22 dB

13.86 dB

Noise Gate

Always On

Speech + Pink Noise Handling

7.5

7.0

Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample

Speech + Subway Noise Handling

8.0

7.0

Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample

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Active Features

Battery

0.0

7.2

Battery Type

No Battery

Rechargable

Continuous Battery Life

N/A

24 hrs

Additional Charges

N/A

0.0

Total Battery Life

N/A

24 hrs

Charge Time

N/A

1.2 hrs

Power-Saving Feature

Audio While Charging

Passive Playback

Passive Headphone

Charging Port

None

Lightning

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App Support

8.0

4.5

App Picture

App Name

SteelSeries Engine

Beats

iOS

Yes

Android

Yes

macOS

Yes

Windows

Yes

Equalizer

Graphic + Presets

ANC Control

On/Off

Mic Control

Adjustable Level

Room Effects

Playback Control

Yes

Button Mapping

Surround Support

Yes

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Connectivity

Bluetooth

0.0

7.1

Bluetooth Version

No Bluetooth

5.0+H1 chip

Multi-Device Pairing

NFC Pairing

Line Of Sight Range

N/A

277.00 ft (84.43 m)

PC Latency (SBC)

N/A

216 ms

PC Latency (aptX)

N/A

PC Latency (aptX HD)

N/A

PC Latency (aptX-LL)

N/A

iOS Latency

N/A

88 ms

Android Latency

N/A

101 ms

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Non-Bluetooth Wireless

0.0

Non-BT Line Of Sight Range

N/A

Non-BT Latency

N/A

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Wired

0.0

Cable Picture

Analog Audio

Yes

USB Audio

USB Type A

Detachable

Yes

Length

5.00 ft (1.52 m)

N/A

Connection

Mini B 8-Pin

No Wired Option

Analog/USB Audio Latency

1 ms

N/A

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PC Compatibility

Analog

Audio + Microphone

Wired USB

Audio + Microphone

Non-BT Wireless

PlayStation Compatibility

PS4 Analog

Audio + Microphone

PS4 Wired USB

Audio + Microphone

PS4 Non-BT Wireless

PS5 Analog

Audio + Microphone

PS5 Wired USB

Audio + Microphone

PS5 Non-BT Wireless

Xbox Compatibility

Xbox One Analog

Audio + Microphone

Xbox One Wired USB

Audio Only

Xbox One Non-BT Wireless

Xbox Series X|S Analog

Audio + Microphone

Xbox Series X|S Wired USB

Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless

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Base/Dock

7.8

0.0

Type

Wired USB dock

No Base/Dock

USB Input

Yes

Line In

Yes

Line Out

Yes

Optical Input

Yes

RCA Input

Dock Charging

Power Supply

USB

No Base/Dock

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Check Price

Black

Arctis Pro GameDAC

Black

Solo Pro

Black

Arctis Pro GameDAC

Dark Blue

Solo Pro

Black

Arctis Pro GameDAC

Gray

Solo Pro

Black

Arctis Pro GameDAC

Ivory

Solo Pro

Black

Arctis Pro GameDAC

Light Blue

Solo Pro

Red

Solo Pro