Right ear emits wind blowing and humming sounds intermittently. Unacceptable at this price point. Read more

I purchased these headphones 349 days ago - on January 29th 2024. THIS IS A $749 PRODUCT - I AM WRITING THIS REVIEW AS A GENUINELY CONCERNED CONSUMER SO PLEASE READ THE FULL TEXT BEFORE DECIDING TO PURCHASE THIS, OR ANY OTHER ACEZONE PRODUCT. First of all, they sound great. The head clamp is painful but I guess it's necessary for the ANC, which works flawlessly. I've never had the "humming" issue other people described, and I've used these a fair amount for games like Escape From Tarkov. A "fair amount" means 4-6 hours per week of usage. I can't tolerate much more because they hurt my head from the clamping pressure. The manufacturing quality, on the other hand, is absolute cheap garbage. The ear cups, in particular, are total trash. Let's start by looking at the words of AceZone, from their very own website, for this specific product: "Handcrafted with Premium Materials A headset is a trustworthy companion that should last for years to come. The A-Rise Hybrid ANC Gaming Headset is built with longevity in mind, consisting of sturdy materials with replaceable parts, such as magnetic ear pads and genuine leather on ear pads and headband." Those are THEIR WORDS! And they are why I justified spending about $750 USD on these headphones. First, let's go to early August of 2024. I picked up the headphones one day, which I always store by just sitting them carefully on a large desk, and I noticed that the "leather" for one of the ear cups was coming unglued. The way they're put together, when you remove/reinstall them, you can see where the "leather" ends, and where it's glued to the plastic ear cup material. Plastic? Yeah, cheap-o plastic. But that's not the issue, just worth mentioning. The leather was sliding and peeling back, and the glue was goopy/sticky underneath - I had to wash my hands to get it off. Isn't it supposed to be, I don't know, cured or something? It definitely wasn't! It was more like "residue" than glue! In addition to that, the ear cup construction is like this: 1) A cheap-feeling plastic donut, shaped as such to attach to the headphones and also go around your ear. 2) A ring of cheap-feeling foam on top of the plastic ring - it feels like cheap packing foam from a craft store - it's definitely not "memory foam" or anything fancy. 3) A weird plastic-like donut that sits as a "cap" above the cheap foam. THIS IS THE PRIMARY ISSUE, and I'll get into it in a moment. 4) The cheap, thin material they call "leather" - it might be leather, but if it is, it's the cheapest "leather" product I've ever used. Let's talk about number 3 - the plastic-like donut that caps the foam and gives the ear cups their shape on the side that goes against your head. When you first get them, they work (seemingly) fine - you wear them, they "conform" to your head (unless you wear glasses! then don't get these because they will HURT), and when you take them off the material is generally elastic and returns to its original shape. But back in August, in addition to the peeling leather, the plastic-like "cap" started to hold its shape. It wouldn't return to the smooth, rounded shape, but started holding indentations. Simply put, it started getting rigid and losing its elasticity. You can tell by just pushing down with your finger - it starts to feel like one of those little toys where you flatten it on the table and then it "pops" up and flies into the air. It feels like that. It actually makes an audible "pop" sound when depressed and released. So back to the point, if the headphones don't sit flush, the ANC doesn't work. It's pretty important to the functionality of the product. That being the case, I reached out to support, who were very nice. During our conversation via e-mail, I asked about the overall quality of the ear cups and their manufacturing process. The support agent gave me the following response: "To my best knowledge the supplier of the earpads did not changed the manufacturing process, but we have noticed that some batches seem to harden over time. We're investigating the issue, but we don't have an answer yet as to why this is happening." They also said: "Unfortunately, this issue does not extend the warranty period for the entire headset. Since we're not selling these earpads separately at the moment, this situation falls a bit outside the "normal warranty." If you encounter any issues with your earpads again, please reach out to us, and we'll either provide you with new earpads or let you know where you can purchase them." That was alarming - they tout replaceable ear cups but the replacements don't exist? Even a year later!? And they've gotten OTHER REPORTS ABOUT THE SAME ISSUE!!?!?? I chalked it up to a defect and accepted the replacements, which arrived in a plastic bag with a shipping label stuck to it. Not really high quality packing, but they seemed to arrive fine. Now fast forward to today, Jan. 12th 2025. It has been 153 days since I received the replacement ear cups. They, too, are now doing the exact same thing. I'm scared to "remove" (by lightly pulling on it) the magnetic ear cup in case the "leather" is coming loose again, because on my old pair they started bunching up around my ears (like sleeping sweaty in a bed with a single loose sheet that tangles you up and feels icky). But, the "plastic cap" thing is clearly holding its shape. I have never been so disappointed with a product in my life. The part that's supposed to stay hard (the glue) degrades rather than cures, and the part that's supposed to stay soft starts getting hard. Hello!? As a separate issue, I also own the AceZone A-Spire headset, which I purchased first, and those ear cups work fine but the plastic structure has a bunch of cracks in it. My advice - STAY AWAY FROM ACEZONE PRODUCTS. They are not mature. They still make claims on their website that the ear cups are "replaceable" but no such replacements exist, which in my opinion is borderline fraudulent. I fear that after Jan. 29th 2025, when my one year warranty expires, that these headphones will become a paper weight because there's no way to get ear cups!!! I really don't like having to write this review. I really liked their products - at first. But I guess the pains I'm going through are the "early adopter tax" people talk about. I submitted another support ticket and will update this review if any information is presented that changes my opinion, or presents a satisfactory remedy that includes better manufacturing processes/materials. UPDATE #1 (2025-01-14): Support indicated that they will be sending me replacement ear cups, and that they're forwarding the concerns I raised to their engineering team. AceZone support continues to be exceptionally kind. So, I do want to add that dealing with them has been a pleasure. It's ONLY the manufacturing process I have a issue with. More updates to follow. Read more