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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-20 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
• TNE 2 — biggest strength: a detachable 3.5 mm boom mic with a bendable 360-degree arm, unidirectional pickup and a foam cover, built specifically for the Steelseries Arctis 1.
• TNE 2 — biggest trade-off: it's a single-purpose part. If your headset isn't an Arctis 1 (or a compatible 3.5 mm jack design), it does nothing for you.
• YTYKINOY Black 360 — biggest strength: a universal under-desk clamp with a 360-degree rotating arm, cable loop and silicone padding, fitting desks from 10 mm to 40 mm thick.
• YTYKINOY Black 360 — biggest trade-off: it holds headphones, it doesn't improve them. No audio benefit whatsoever.
• Who each pick is for: TNE 2 is for Arctis 1 owners with a dead or missing mic; YTYKINOY Black 360 is for anyone tired of a headset sprawled across their keyboard.
The TNE 2 is a problem-solver, and the problem is very specific: your Steelseries Arctis 1 lost its microphone. Maybe it snapped, maybe it vanished during a move, maybe you bought the headset secondhand and the boom was never in the box. Either way, the headset still works — it just can't talk anymore. The TNE 2 plugs into that 3.5 mm jack and gives you a working boom again.
What stands out in the design is the bendable arm. It rotates a full 360 degrees and, importantly, stays where you put it. That matters more than it sounds. A floppy mic that droops toward your chin mid-match is worse than no mic at all, and the bendable stalk design is meant to hold its position so you can park it just off the corner of your mouth and forget about it. The polar pattern is unidirectional, which means it's aimed at picking up your voice rather than the room around you — the sensible choice for a boom that sits close to your face.
Who should buy it: Arctis 1 owners on PS4, PS5, Xbox One X or PC who need voice chat back without replacing the whole headset. It's compatible with gaming consoles and personal computers, wired, and single-channel — plug it in and go.
Who should skip it: anyone whose headset isn't an Arctis 1 or doesn't use a matching detachable 3.5 mm boom jack. This is a fitted part, not a universal one. Also skip it if you're hoping for a studio-grade broadcast sound — this is a practical replacement mic, and I'd treat it as exactly that.
YTYKINOY Black 360: Who It's For
The YTYKINOY Black 360 is the answer to a mess you've probably stopped noticing. Your headset lives on the desk — next to the mouse, on top of the keyboard, or balanced precariously on a monitor stand. Every time you reach for it, something gets knocked over. The Black 360 clamps to the edge of your desk and gives the headset a dedicated home underneath it.
The clamp is the clever part. It grips desks as thick as 40 mm and as thin as 10 mm, which covers the overwhelming majority of desks people actually own — from a slim IKEA-style top to a chunky gaming desk with a raised edge. The spring-loaded clamp is what holds it there, and the design includes silicone protective pads on the hook and on both clamp faces. That's a thoughtful detail: the pad on the hook protects the leather on your headband from scuffing, and the pads on the clamp protect your desk surface from being marred. If you've ever clamped something metal onto a nice desk and regretted it, you'll appreciate why that matters.
The 360-degree rotation arm is the feature that earns the product its name. Swing the arm out, hang the headset, swing it back under the desk. Your headphones disappear from your field of view but stay within easy reach, and you never have to unclamp anything to get them. There's also a built-in cable loop, which is the kind of small addition that quietly fixes a second problem — the headset cable that otherwise snakes across your desk and tangles with everything else.
Build-wise, it's a plastic body in black, weighing about 100 grams, with dimensions of 3.94 x 3.94 x 4.72 inches. Light enough that it won't stress a thin desk top, and the universal "on ear" form factor means it's designed to hold any size of headphone, not one specific model.
Who should buy it: anyone with a desk, a headset and a shortage of surface area. Console players, PC players, work-from-home folks with a headset for calls — the use case is universal.
Who should skip it: anyone whose desk has no accessible edge to clamp onto, like a glass-topped desk with a full frame or a desk pushed flush against a wall. And if your headset already lives on a stand you like, this adds nothing.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• If your Arctis 1 mic is broken or missing → TNE 2. It's the only one of the two that restores voice chat.
• If your desk is cluttered with a headset → YTYKINOY Black 360. It's the only one of the two that creates space.
• If you need to protect a leather headband and a nice desk surface → YTYKINOY Black 360. The silicone pads are there for exactly that.
• If you want cable management built in → YTYKINOY Black 360. The integrated cable loop tidies the headset cord.
• If you care about breath noise and room pickup → TNE 2. A unidirectional pattern plus the foam cover is the more audio-focused design.
• If you have a very thin or very thick desk → YTYKINOY Black 360. The 10 mm to 40 mm clamp range is unusually forgiving.
• If you're not sure your headset has a detachable 3.5 mm boom jack → check before buying the TNE 2. The YTYKINOY has no such compatibility question.
In my opinion, these aren't really competitors — they're two halves of the same setup, and the right pick depends entirely on what's broken in your life. If your Arctis 1 can't talk, I'd buy the TNE 2, because no amount of desk organization fixes a dead microphone. If your headset works fine and your desk is a disaster, I'd buy the YTYKINOY Black 360 — it's the cheaper-feeling fix in the sense that it solves a smaller problem, but it solves it completely and without any compatibility guesswork. Forced to choose one for the average gamer, I'd take the Black 360, simply because more people have a messy desk than a broken Arctis 1 mic. But if you're the exception, the TNE 2 is the one that actually matters.
FAQ
It's designed and marketed specifically as a replacement boom for the Arctis 1, connecting via a 3.5 mm jack. It may physically fit other headsets with a matching detachable jack, but the fit and positioning aren't guaranteed, so I'd only count on it for the Arctis 1.
Yes — the clamp is rated for desk edges from 10 mm up to 40 mm thick, which covers most standard and gaming desks. The spring-loaded clamp plus silicone pads on both clamp faces is what holds it securely without marking the surface.
They cost very different amounts and do completely different jobs, so "worth it" depends on your problem. Check the current price on Amazon for each and compare against what replacing a whole headset or living with a cluttered desk costs you.
It uses a unidirectional polar pattern and ships with a dust-resistant foam cover, both of which help focus pickup on your voice and soften breath noise. That's a design-level reduction, not active noise cancellation — don't expect it to erase a loud room.
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