Review unit in and here are my early impressions:

As expected, the Gold is not much better than the Pulse when it comes amplification under wireless mode. There's not enough volume on the low end, mids are far and distant and there's a lack of energy up top in the treble.
So far, dissapointed with the Gold in wireless mode and Sony's VSS is again at its best; just decent and nothing special. But with HRTF technolgy, it is a lot more of a preference than a down to paper sort of benchmark.

Will wire it up to a proper amp along with an Astro Mixamp 5.8 tomorrow to see how the Gold fares.

Oh and as for comfort, it's a lot more comfortable than the Pulse Elite. The Gold does clamp a little bit more, but I'm sure with a few more days of break-in, the clamping force will relax a bit. Otherwise, the headband is a HUGEEEEE improvement over the Pulse's stupid 2-piece design.

+EDIT
Built quality is passable, but I'm pretty sure the earpads wouldn't hold up for more than a year even with the best possible care. The side hinges... well, let's just say you'd better be very, very careful about not over stretching them excessively.