The Nari Ultimate, from Razer isa unique pair of headphones that uses wideband haptic actuators on the hardware side along with advanced audio-to-haptic digital signal processing software developed by a German natural haptics company Lofelt.

Razer calls this technology 'HyperSense' and it essentially brings the visceral pounding of a subwoofer you get from a traditional surround sound speaker setup to headphones, by physically vibrating the ear cups at varying intensity levels depending on the scene. It sounds like a gimmick, but it actually works and the results are impressive.

Firing up Mad Max: Fury Road, I could feel the subtle vibrations from the roar of the engines while also feeling the booming impact of explosions. Each bass note has its own level of force feedback and it's the closest that headphones have come to replicating the punch of a dedicated subwoofer in your ears.

My only real qualm with the Nari Ultimate is that the mid-range is a bit weak, making dialogue sound hollow at times especially when there's a lot of action on-screen.

On the upside, the haptics are each connected to a different audio channel to provide stereo feedback so if a tank rolls by from the left, stronger tactile feedback through vibrations will be felt on the left side, providing a sense of direction and spatial awareness.

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As the haptics inside the headphones is done in real time, it will work across any device that has a headphone jack and on any piece of content be it movies, TV shows, games or music. I tested the headphones on my Huawei Mate20 Pro smartphone via a USB-C dongle, iPad Pro, Nintendo Switch, PC, Playstation 4 Pro and Xbox One X and it all worked with no setup required.

I particularly enjoyed using it with PlayStation VR; having nuanced haptics piped to your ears while in virtual reality made a tangible difference to the sense of immersion. The stereo haptics is equally adept at music as well with bassy tracks such as The Weeknd's "Starboy" delivering a thick oomph of vibration feedback for the drums and a nice rumble for the low-end synths.

Using it wirelessly via the included 2.4GHz USB dongle on PC gives you THX Spatial Audio as well, but as is the case with virtual surround sound on most headphones, it wasn't particularly convincing and the audio quality suffered in certain titles. For the best experience, be sure to keep the headphones in stereo mode.

The other set that bears mentioning is the Turtle Beach Elite Pro 2 + Super Amp. It lacks the haptic-infused bass of the Razer Nari Ultimate, but what it does offer is a compelling implementation of virtual surround sound.

Let's be clear, no headphones can deliver the sense of space, imaging and grandness of an actual surround sound speaker setup but the Elite Pro 2 is one of the better efforts I've heard in recent times.

In my testing, I was able to pinpoint the direction of footsteps and other ambient sounds without much issue. There's also the added convenience of being able to pair the amp with your smartphone so you can take incoming calls on the headset while gaming or watching a movie on another device.

Sadly, the Xbox/Windows PC version we tested of the Elite Pro 2 doesn't get particularly loud and the bass lacks depth, making it tough to recommend.