Hearing your enemy first would be enough to pique the interest of most FPS gamers. But, when you throw in the crystal clear audio, a growing list of game-specific equalisers and a microphone with clarity akin to standalone gaming mics, things just get ridiculously overpowered. AceZone has listened to the needs of competitive gamers and it’s clear.
The A-Spire knows its identity, knows what problems it’s trying to solve and delivers solutions with near-perfect execution. For the serious gamer looking to juke out as much performance as possible, the A-Spire is the tournament-grade headset you have been seeking.
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Save for the logo, you may be wondering why the AceZone A-Spire looks so familiar. Well, it’s the baby brother of the A-Live which has been the go-to headset at major esports tournaments for over half a decade (*cue penny drop*).
Co-founded by Søren Louis Pedersen, Frederik Byskov and Christian Poulsen, AceZone’s leadership team is packing some serious ammunition. Here, you have the granddaddy of the world’s first digital hearing aid, CS:GO’s first major tournament director and an 8x serial entrepreneur in the audio space respectively.
A knowledge base that could pave the way for the future of gaming headsets.
Is the A-Spire that future? Let’s find out!👇
AceZone A-Spire Headset Review:
AceZone’s profound history in competitive esports would be enough of a draw for most gamers. But, as we know, the peripherals world is marred by bold claims and lacklustre outcomes. So, I decided to put the AceZone A-Spire through its paces.
Testing the audio, microphone, comfortability, functionality and, of course, in-game performance, here is everything you need to know about AceZone’s newest entry into the Australian market.
AceZone A-Spire Gaming Headset Review Contents:
- Design
- Comfortability
- Sound Quality
- Game Performance
- AANC Technology
- Microphone Quality
- Connectivity & Compatibility
- Battery Life
- Companion App
- Price & Value
- Review Verdict
Click the links above to skip sections or get your scroll on! 👇
Design & Features
Whilst not your typical gaming headset in the flashy sense, there’s real maturity in the design of the AceZone A-Spire; a level of professionalism.
From experience, I had half expected the A-Spire to don those garish and bulky earpads that most top-of-the-range ANC headsets wear so unashamedly. Instead, I was met with a 270g deep blue headset with a portable, yet durable build. The pictures on the website enlarge the appearance.
Inside the box, you will find a sleek AceZone protective carry case which contains the A-Spire headset, connection cables and a QR code for scanning the manual.
Yes, AceZone has gone paperless here! 🙌
On the right earpad, you will find basic volume controls, an AUX 3.5mm jack and a sizeable button for pausing media. One press of the +/- buttons will manage volume levels and a longer hold will skip track when listening to music. On the left earpad, there are controls for power, Bluetooth connectivity, AANC and sound modes.
In addition, there’s a braided flip-to-mute microphone that clips onto the left side of the adjustable headband (finally, a solution for that) and when you press the power button down for a split second, you will be notified of the battery level when in wireless mode.
Nothing groundbreaking, but I’m not here for pretty pictures.
Comfortability
At almost half the weight of the Audeze Maxwell gaming headset (which also attempts to isolate footsteps in FPS games by the way), the AceZone A-Spire is extremely comfortable. A headset that would happily sit atop noggins of all shapes and sizes.
The 3D isolating earcups are cushy, the adjustable headband is padded equally and the smooth contoured nature of the A-Spire makes for a pleasant experience during those long nights grinding your way to Apex Predator Rank.
You will barely notice you are wearing it when gaming.
Sound Quality
For sound quality, the AceZone A-Spire delivers a strong output, albeit a flatter experience straight out of the box. There’s crispness, clarity and balance, but you know straight away that the A-Spire has more in the tank – you wouldn’t be wrong.
That’s not a dig at AceZone.
Rather, the A-Spire gives breathing room to the adjustments you can make inside the companion application. It’s not an audio headset trying to improve the sound quality of video games. It’s a dedicated gaming headset that harvests as much accuracy as possible with the listening experience of the specific game that you playing; tailorable to each game.
There are prebuilt equalisers for major esports games such as CS:GO and every sound profile has been considered with acute accuracy. Honestly, you will be slightly worried that other manufacturers are not adopting the same degree of precision. The software has always been there inside video games for peripheral manufacturers to exploit, yet, AceZone seems to be the only one who has decided to pull the trigger.
For the discerning audiophile, you will probably snuff your nose at the overall sound output across the breadth of potential use cases. As a headset that uses 40mm drivers instead of the standard 50mm drivers of rival headsets, you will find that general listening in the highs and trebles will be flat, particularly when in wireless mode.
But, for me, it’s this unwavering approach and dedication to a single primary use case that makes the A-Spire so special. Particularly when it’s very respectable in other use cases too.
Game Performance
For game performance, the sound quality of the AceZone A-Spire is completely unrivalled. Well, only perhaps by the A-Spire’s more expensive siblings.
After just a few days of playing Valorant, my K/D ratio had improved by 0.9 and this continued long into testing. Now, whether that was the recipe of me actively tuning into the audio because I was testing the AceZone A-Spire headset remains to be seen.
But that’s exactly what the A-Spire does, it forces you to listen.
The flatter nature of the sound profile combined with tailored equalisers and supporting software that dampens unnecessary dramatics will force you to tune into what matters. All of this without making the game sound like you are playing inside a tin can.
It’s like an isolated sound chamber where there is no distraction from exterior disruption, team communications are crystal clear and prompts of danger are at the fore. For professional eSports, I can see why AceZone has been the go-to.
The wider sound space that the A-Spire provides is to a level that I have never experienced before in a gaming headset – everything you hear is faster. From distant gunfire to close footsteps, once you get adjusted to the sound, you can pinpoint the distance to near perfection.
Even with some of my favourite RTS games that typically wouldn’t benefit from the technology behind a gaming headset like the A-Spire, the experience is also totally different. When playing Northgard, for example, there’s less ambient BS and prompts of invasion are much quicker to your eardrums.
Getting the drop on your opponents is a breeze with the A-Spire
AANC – Ambient Active Noise Cancellation
Speaking with AceZone, the team were eager to show me a video of the A-Spire cancelling out the sound of an aeroplane flying a few feet above a Twitch Streamers head. Falling short of sneaking onto the runway of Melbourne Airport and shortly being arrested, I will have to trust AceZone here.
What I can confirm, however, is that the A-Spire efficiently blocks almost all irritating background noises. Utilising AANC technology, the A-Spire will passively dampen sound ranging from the city rumble to a PA system at an esports competition.
AceZone’s heritage in esports and partnership with Terma, a Danish state-of-the-art defence company with operational active noise reduction headsets for fighter pilots, takes credit here. I mean, those 5+ years at esports events must have invoked vigorous testing at AceZone’s labs to combat most low to mid-frequency groans. Crowd control, if you will.
That said, even at home, unfortunately, there were a few times when the ANC would leak unwanted noise. There’s a hospital close and a helicopter frequently flies over the top of my house. When playing at 60-70% volume, I could slightly hear the chopper; which actually added to the experience. But, that wasn’t supposed to happen.
I suspect that the bigger earcups of the A-Rise & A-Live perform better.
Microphone Quality
In addition to the AANC, the AceZone A-Spire respectfully obliges with clear team communications. Competitive esports is littered with team-based games and a microphone that can syphon unwanted noise to deliver crisp communications will always be welcomed.
Featuring a noise-cancelling, speech-enhancing microphone that cancels out anything and everything that is not your voice, the A-Spire delivers on this, albeit slightly robotically.
After speaking with AceZone about the output, I was informed that this is actually a product design that enhances the abilities of the listener to tune into your comms, rather than a flaw. It’s a brain thing and I would have to agree
A-Spire Connectivity & Compatibility
Universally compatible with PC, Mac, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, Android, iOS and Steam Decks, the AceZone A-Spire comes with 3 types of connections. There is Bluetooth, USB Type-C and a 3.5mm AUX jack. For PC and Mac gamers, you can use all 3 connection types and for Xbox and PlayStation gamers, there is the AUX cable.
Somewhat disappointingly, albeit unsurprising, wireless usage is only advised for listening to music to get the maximum benefit from your AceZone A-Spire headset. When playing any video games, you should connect the headset via USB or AUX to ensure maximum performance.
That is unless, of course, you are playing ambient games such as Northgard that don’t need to utilise the A-Spire’s incredible noise isolation technology.
Battery Life
For battery life, the AceZone A-Spire will last for up to 35 hours utilising an 800mAh battery. It’s not exactly jaw-dropping when rival headsets survive up to 200 hours. However, you will want to go wired to get the maximum benefits regardless. 35 hours is more than enough for travelling.
Acezone Companion App
To extract the maximum performance from your AceZone A-Spire gaming headset, there is a companion app that is currently available on the App Store. Android users, you’re unfortunately going to have a wait a while, but it’s coming.
During testing, the iOS app was in beta mode. However, even then, you can tell that the AceZone App is where things really start to come alive. In fact, without it, the headset wouldn’t be on the same level.
Inside the app, you can adjust equalisers for game sound and music, play around with the noise cancellation settings and load preset equalisers for Apex Legends and CS:GO. I am hopeful that more presets for games will follow as I had to find my own way through the darkness to get the Valorant settings right, but I am sure they will.
Price & Value
AceZone A-Spire Cost: From $549 AUD
Priced in the realms of audio-phonic gaming headsets such as Sennheiser, the AceZone A-Spire is going to set you back $549 in Australia from Harvey Norman.
Yes, that’s quite a lot of money.
Now, while the A-Spire might not deliver that studio-like experience when you’re skipping along listening to your favourite tracks, it’s chalk and cheese for gaming when stacked against similar-priced gaming headsets. We’re talking about a gaming headset with the sole focus of delivering an esports experience at home.
As a result, there’s nothing like the AceZone A-Spire in the market at this price range. It’s like the Omega watches of the gaming peripherals world – premium.
You should buy the AceZone A-Spire gaming headset if:
- You play at competitive esports tournaments.
- You are a gamer who is serious about improving.
- You mainly play FPS or team-based games.
- You are happy with playing with a wired connection.
- You are interested in innovative technology.
- You don’t care about RGB lighting.
- You love best-in-class technology.
- You just want some cool sh*t in your gaming den.
If you are someone who plays casual games like Minecraft or Hearthstone, you are not going to experience the value of the AceZone A-Spire. However, for first-person shooters and games with heavy team communications, there’s literally no competition.
Acezone A-Spire Review Verdict
Unequivocally, the AceZone A-Spire is the best gaming headset I have ever had the privilege of reviewing. It’s like cheating, but legitimately.
The sheer notion of being able to hear your enemy first would be enough to pique the interest of most FPS gamers. But, when you throw in the crystal clear audio, a growing list of game-specific equalisers and a microphone that goes toe-to-toe with standalone gaming mics, things just start getting ridiculously overpowered.
However, what really makes AceZone stand out is the clear dedication of the engineering team to solving genuine in-game problems. AceZone visits major esports events to record ambient noise across all frequencies. Then, they take this back to the studio to further develop their headsets.
It takes me back to a time when manufacturers actively listened to their audience and developed problem-solving peripherals – not just a rehash of a past model with some RGB lighting and a new name. Now that’s a brand I can get behind.
The future of tournament gaming headsets at home is here.
If you’re not AceZone, well, you’re 2 seconds too late.
Thoughts on the AceZone A-Spire Headset? Hit the comments below.
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Content Disclaimer: This AceZone A-Spire Headset Review has been independently written using a demo version of the AceZone A-Spire Gaming Headset. GamePro has not been commissioned by AceZone, nor have we received any royalties for this article. This includes financial reimbursement, gifts or retail versions of AceZone’s peripherals.
Should you click on any link to Amazon and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission. But that’s just how we keep this website alive! Feel free to hit us up in the comments with any questions about AceZone’s entry into the Australian market and we’ll be sure to hit you back!
