This is my review on the Thrustmaster T.Racing Scuderia Ferrari Gaming Headset. This is the first headset that Thrustmaster has released to be officially been licensed by Ferrari, and is designed to resemble the headset that the Ferrari Formula One Team crew members use to communicate with drivers.
The Thrustmaster T.Racing Scuderia Ferrari Headset is also part of a larger series of headsets, all which feature similar designs. The “T.” series of headsets also have variants that resemble flight headsets, as well as another version released alongside Rainbow 6: Siege. All of them have near identical functionally, so it’s a case of “Pick Your Poison”. Being a Sim Racing channel, we’re obviously taking a look at the Ferrari version.
The headset has a decent aesthetic and build quality to it.
The Thrustmaster T.Racing Scuderia Ferrari headset retails for $100, and is a fairly powerful headset, featuring 50mm drivers to provide powerful stereo audio. This isn’t a headset that officially supports “Simulated Surround Sound”, like other gaming headsets in a similar price bracket. Personally, I’m not a fan of simulated surround sound, as I find good stereo beats cruddy surround, but some people will swear by their 7.1 headsets, so it comes down to personal preference.
The headset also comes included with a removable unidirectional microphone, which allows you to pick up your voice, and block out outside noises. The arm of the microphone is very adjustable, while also being very sturdy, allowing you to put the mic right where you want it.
Now that the box info’s out of the way, let’s talk about how this piece of kit actually performs. All things considered, this is a decent performing headset, but I came away from it a little disappointed. The main way I analyze headsets is by asking 3 questions:
So, let’s tackle the first question. Does the headset sound good? If I put the headset on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being cheapo dollar store headphones, and 10s being high end studio headphones, then I’d put these solidly at about a 6.5. These headphones get the job done, but don’t really do anything to go above and beyond.
I’m not a total expert when it comes to headphone sound signatures, but it felt like the T.Racing Headset featured a relatively flat sound signature, maybe with a little more pronounced bass. I tend to prefer the flatter audio curve, but if you’re looking for strong Bass, you may come across disappointed. A volume knob is placed on the left earcup, which can get the headphones plenty loud, with little distortion.
While I was a fan of the headset’s sound signature, I was still slightly underwhelmed by the audio quality. The audio from the headset doesn’t feel as dynamic as other headphones and headsets I have used. While I can clearly make out the audio coming into my ears, the range of the audio felt somewhat narrow, almost “muffled” to an extent. I’d say the headphones portion of the headset are comparable to $40-$50 headphones.
The microphone gets the job done, but didn’t really impress me…
The microphone is largely the same situation as the headset. It picks up the audio well, but doesn’t really do anything to “blow me away”. The voice through the mic is fairly clear, but it is quite compressed. The audio’s quite flat, and gives off an “AM Radio” vibe. Personally, I would never pick this headset for use while Live Streaming, but it’s perfectly serviceable for use while racing or gaming online.
The next main question I want to address is “Is the headset comfortable to wear?” The comfort of the headset is easily the highlight of this headset. This is one of the most comfortable gaming headsets I’ve ever worn. The headset is well built, and well suited for hours of use at a time. The pads on the ear cups are made of a Memory Foam material that actually does a surprisingly great job keeping the ears cool. The band on the top is not overly padded, but still pretty comfortable. The only bit of the headset that I’m questioning about the reliability of is the inline microphone controls, as it feels somewhat chincy and can be finicky at times. That feels like a questionable oversight by Thrustmaster, and is a sore spot in a headset that nails the build quality on just about everything else.
The last question I have is, is the Thrustmaster T.Racing Scuderia Ferrari Headset a good value? This headset retails for $100, and for that, I’d say it is a pretty good value, BUT you can get better bang for your buck elsewhere. For the $100 price point, there are headsets with better sound quality and better microphone quality. However, for people who like Ferrari, are looking for comfort, and are willing to take minor compromises on sound quality, this headset is a solid offering.