I’m not afraid to admit that I’m not very good at video games. I’m not bad, but I’m consistently gold tier in basically anything with a ranked mode, from Marvel Rivals to Rocket League.

The BlackShark V3 Pro don’t seem to mind. This esports-focused gaming headset has extremely tight spatial audio, bolstered by active noise canceling and the best built-in boom mic my friends have had the pleasure of hearing.

I can see why serious competitors would reach for something like the BlackShark V3 Pro. Even if they didn’t improve my K/D ratio, and even though they’re probably a bit much for an evening of Stardew Valley. They’re my pick for gamers looking to spend a bit more on a very premium headset.

Perfect Positioning

Excellent spatial audio execution sets the BlackShark apart from its competitors, with THX Spatial Audio supporting more zones than other options, including four overhead. There’s a really distinct separation between them, which feels great when I’m trying to track an enemy as they stomp around above me in The Finals. When precision is key, the BlackShark really stand out.

On the other hand, if the games you play are less dependent on exact positional audio, it can be a little jarring. I play a lot of World of Warcraft, and I was often startled by other players swooping overhead as I fished; they’ll bring any world into sharp detail, but sometimes that isn’t exactly what I’m looking for.

Excellent sound isolation and active noise canceling give a boost to the clarity of the spatial audio. It works well for that purpose, and might be perfect for tuning out a crowded arena, but I am not the type of person who games in front of crowds.

Despite including Bluetooth and ANC, I don’t think of this at the type of do-everything headset you might replace noise-canceling headphones with, and not just because the person next to you will wonder if you’re secretly talking to the pilots. These are so bulky and obviously for gaming that you probably don’t want to wear them outside the house. You’d certainly get some weird looks walking the dog or working from your local coffee shop.

Comfort and Fit

In order to fit all those features inside, the BlackShark 3 are noticeably heavier than some of the other headsets I’ve tested recently. The Pro version with ANC comes in at 367 grams, a full 100-plus grams heavier than the Arctis Nova 3 at 260 grams. If you opt for the non-Pro model without ANC, it’s much closer to the SteelSeries at just 270 g, which is very appealing if you mostly game alone at home instead of in front of a crowd of adoring fans.

That weight doesn’t make them uncomfortable, at least for a few hours at a time, largely thanks to the ear cups, which have a pleasant mesh exterior and squishy interior padding. Razer says there’s a layer of pleather underneath to help the noise canceling, but I couldn’t tell it was there, which is a good thing, because I hate how hot pleather can get.

Still, I miss the ski-goggle band found on most SteelSeries headsets, which distributes weight more evenly across the top of the headband. Especially during long sessions, and on bigger craniums, it can help a lot with comfort. Even the similarly heavy Arctis Nova Pro, my previous upgrade pick, has a softer top-of-head feel.

Extra weight also means a bigger battery. I measured close to 50 hours with the active noise canceling on, and right around 60 with the feature turned off. In practice, I only had to plug in the BlackShark V3 Pro once a week or so to keep them topped up. The one time they got low in the middle of a WoW raid night, I was able to charge them up on our 8-minute break from about 4 percent to 11 percent, which was more than enough for the rest of the evening. They got a little confused if I plugged them into the computer just to charge, but an external charger worked just fine while playing.

The Best Microphone

I rotate through a lot of gaming headsets, and most of the time I have to ask for feedback on my microphone quality. Some are better than others, but most are just gaming headset microphones, with a recognizable, slightly tinny vibe. The moment I sat down for my weekly Dungeons and Dragons game, my party members noticed how sharp and clear I sounded.

The mic is made even better by the app, which features detailed settings for equalizer and noise reduction, which your friends will appreciate if, like me, you have a noisy dog. There are a ton of settings to dig into here, with both mic enhancement and noise gate presets, as well as a 10-band equalizer for fine-tuning your transmissions.

Unfortunately, it has a similar problem to my other favorite gaming headset, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3. In order to provide extra options for balancing outputs and correctly applying equalizer settings, it has to create new system audio outputs. Unlike the Arctis software, which I felt was too invasive, Razer Synapse at least leaves volume and output selection in the system tray, so you don’t have to boot it up to switch back to your speakers when you’re done gaming.

These aren’t for everybody, most of all casuals like me. They’re a little bit heavy, would appreciate a little bit of extra work configuring the EQ, and have a little sharper mic than most of your friends will appreciate. At $250 for the Pro version, they’re also one of the more expensive gaming headsets to make the list of my favorite options.

If you fancy yourself a professional gamer, these are an exceptional choice, and you can rest easy knowing you’ve got the same headset on your head as many of the best pros. I don’t have any dreams of reaching platinum or diamond, but they sound so good I’ll keep using them in the hopes they’ll boost my ELO even a few points.