AceZone A-Spire Wireless Review

Slowly making its way into the minds of esports fanatics, AceZone returns just one year after the launch of its headset series. The updated A-Spire Wireless headset delivers tournament quality but now features the highly coveted 2.4GHz connectivity option.

This turns the once-wired headset into the ultimate AceZone gateway to the home. However, the price tag – £263/$369 – still represents a pricey barrier to entry for a headset that most users may never be able to fully enjoy.

AceZone hasn’t done much to the internals or design of the A-Spire Wireless compared to the original A-Spire we reviewed earlier this year. It still has the same 40mm drivers, adjusted to allow for a larger soundscape in esports games like Counter-Strike.

Again, the AceZone A-Spire Wireless sounds great. It has that amazing neat sound right out of the box, and all the EQ settings provide excellent adjustments. It’s still fascinating to hear more than I initially could with other headphones. Listening to players lurking around corners in Counter-Strike 2 never ceases to be terrifying. Sure, I can hear more than they can, but I’m still not good at the game.

As the name suggests, this is the next step in gear of choice for those who aspire to compete in their chosen game. You’ve got the peripherals, now it’s time to step up your audio game, and the A-Spire Wireless does just that in spades.

Fortunately, it’s also incredibly comfortable for long periods of time. The ear cups are designed to tighten around your head, helping to reduce noise, but unlike the A-Rise, they never start to squeeze your scalp. I spent an entire day playing World of Warcraft chatting with friends and never felt the need to take the A-Spire off my head.

This noise cancellation is still top-notch, especially in the gaming headset space. It’s not just the headset part, the built-in microphone is far superior to even some high-end audio devices. Even with a dog running around in the background, neither I nor my crew were aware of the chaos behind me.

I do wish the microphone was a bit more forgiving when muted, though. This was also an issue in our review of the previous, non-wireless model, and that hasn’t changed here. It’s a stiff microphone, and it doesn’t easily start sliding back to an unmuted state. If you want to mute it, the AceZone requires it to be pointed all the way up. That made me wish there was a physical button as well, so I wouldn’t have to rely on the software option otherwise.

While the introduction of 2.4GHz was welcome, it did cause me some issues. Setting up the headset and pairing it with the dongle is a no-brainer. As soon as I powered up the A-Spire Wireless, it immediately found the dongle and connected to it.

Then it disconnected. Over and over again. The problem stems from my addiction to USB hubs. Plugging the dongle into the monitor’s additional ports caused constant disconnects. I quickly solved this problem by plugging it into my laptop, but this Gigabyte computer only has one USB-C port—which is occupied by the monitor to employ the built-in hub.

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After a while of searching for a USB-C to A adapter, it started working flawlessly. This is a common problem with audio devices, in my experience, and some specifically ask not to connect them to a hub.

The next problem came with the plethora of 2.4GHz dongles I have sticking out of my laptop and monitor. My keyboard, mouse, and controller all run on 2.4GHz, and I’m a bit of a grump when it comes to sound. If I’m at home, I want a wired connection, and I had to force myself to do it because of the shrill, interfering noise from three other dongles.

Removing all of that and swapping it for Bluetooth or USB solved the interference problem, and I doubt most people considering a headset will ever run into that problem. That’s not to say 2.4GHz is bad. It’s comparable to my preferred wired USB connection — when it works — and having all three methods at hand solidifies the A-Spire’s place as one of the best.

I’ve been using the original A-Spire and A-Rise since I first met the company last year. They’re excellent headsets, but the app was in its infancy. While it worked well with firmware updates and EQ tweaks, there weren’t that many presets. There are now three game-specific ones — Counter-Strike, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty — as well as ones aimed at general gamers.

As AceZone’s hardware offering becomes more elastic, it’s clear the company doesn’t want to put all its eggs in one basket.

In most games outside of the esports scene, I’ve found that the extra fidelity is lost in the weight of the sound design. Counter-Strike 2 is a fairly still video game, which makes it the best demonstration of the technology. Call of Duty may constantly beep at the leveling up, but the details of the game’s sound design can still be heard after a few tweaks.

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I threw myself into the action with Space Marine 2 just to see if the active range options had any benefit. As with any other single-player game, the escalating music and constant sounds of violence drowned out any fidelity.

In quieter places like Battle Barge, you can definitely hear more than you would with a standard set of headphones. I compared this to the Audeze LCD-GX and Final UX-2000, neither of which provide that extra depth.

The same can be said for smaller games. The A-Spire Wireless delivers crystal-clear sound, but in titles like I Am Your Beast, the overall audio style means that everything AceZone has designed is lost.

AceZone’s A-Spire Wireless is the version of this headset you should get. The price is a huge barrier to entry, but those who take their gaming seriously should consider this as their next step. For those who, like me, die in CS2 right away, stick to the lower end.