Sony’s Pulse Explore Wireless Earbuds Are So Close To Perfect

The dawn of a new high-end PS5 audio ecosystem

Alex Rowe
9 min readFeb 14, 2024
PlayStation Pulse Explore ear buds sitting on a laptop on a table in a coffee shop.
Photo taken by the author.

The PS5 already has several huge sonic advantages over competing console platforms, and with the launch of the new “PlayStation Link” ecosystem and their purchase/use of Audeze’s planar magnetic driver technology, they now have two more.

While Microsoft has flailed about trying to lock down the types of audio peripherals you can use with Xbox consoles, Sony’s console is much more open. Most standard wireless USB-dongle-based gaming headsets will work just fine on the PS5 platform. When paired with the Sony’s hardware accelerated Tempest 3D system, you can get a great audio experience without having to buy additional software licenses or a bespoke headset for your console.

A major issue with USB dongle headsets is that they can only provide so much bandwidth for audio. They use most of their precious wireless transmission juice to provide as much quality as they can for gaming sound, with little room left for your mic to also sound good. There’s one or two exceptions out there where a larger dongle with more power allows for better mic sound, but those have sadly been rare.

Now, Sony has once again leapt into the USB dongle arena with a brand new platform called PlayStation Link. Just…

--

--

Alex Rowe

I write about gaming, tech, music, and their industries. I have a background in video production, and I used to review games for a computer magazine.