SteelSeries Intros Blue Siberia V2 Gaming Headset

[btarunr]

SteelSeries released its Siberia V2 gaming headset in a new limited-edition blue model. The scheme includes blue on its phones, and mostly-white head-band, and white . The headphone portion makes use of 50 mm drivers with 10 Hz to 28 KHz frequency response, leather is made use of in its around-the-year cushion that offers passive noise dampening. A unidirectional microphone sticks out. There are basic local volume controls. It is priced at €79.99.



Source: SK Gaming

[caleb]

Kinda ugly IMHO.

[KashunatoR]

also outdated. I got the 7H USB from SS and they are way better, altough more expensive

[fenurch]

Kash, how are they outdated if they got released less than a year ago? Also, while 7H is strictly meant for gaming, Siberia v2 is a mix of music and gaming.

[AndreiD]

All gaming headsets are crap when it comes to music. A pair of 50$ Sennheisers or Beyerdynamics will trash any of them.

[Batou1986]

Originally Posted by btarunr

leather is made use of in its around-the-ear cushion that offers passive noise dampening.

fixed

[Benetanegia]

Originally Posted by AndreiD

All gaming headsets are crap when it comes to music. A pair of 50$ Sennheisers or Beyerdynamics will trash any of them.

Yeah and those Sennheisers and Beyerdynamics you talk about and similar headsets, completely suck when it comes to games (and it's a waste to use them on the integrated sound in MB anyway, which is what 95% of people use). Plus they don't have mic. Plus I'd like to know where can I find a $50 pair of quality around-the-ear (I cannot stand other types) Senheisers/Beyerdynamics, if the cheapest they sell in my surroundings cost 60+ € and are garbage compared to much cheaper Panasonic headsets, for example. From my experience Sennheisers are garbage (for what you pay) unless you go with 90+ € ones. Of course getting those ones is moving one or two steps higher in quality. It's 90+ € or nothing.

I've had some Senns, Koss, AKG and I can say that Siberias being gaming headsets are good enough for music, on the PC anyway, even with Xonars or X-Fi anything better does not make a difference really.

[TIGR]

Originally Posted by AndreiD

All gaming headsets are crap when it comes to music. A pair of 50$ Sennheisers or Beyerdynamics will trash any of them.

To which $50 Senn and Beyer models do you refer?

Sounds to me like lots of bias and little experience. There are some impressive gaming headsets out there.

BTW, are you familiar with Sennheiser's PC350, or Beyer's MMX 300? Both are "gaming headsets." FYI the MMX 300 is basically a DT 770 with a boom mic.

[AndreiD]

I used to play CSS competitively, maybe not for a top team, but we were pretty decent.
I went through my fair share of "gaming" headsets and all of them are terrible. Their only advantage over a pair of normal headphones is the fact that they have an integrated microphone.
Even the Sennheiser PC 350's sound like mud if you compare them to a pair of Senn 595s (even though it seems they have the same driver!)
Also, please note that a pair of Beyedynamic DTX900s with some EQ tweaks to make the highs more pronounced, were better in gaming than some SteelSeries Siberias / 5HV2 (it was easier for me to hear where the sounds were coming from).

Right now, if you get a pair of Sennheiser HD448s or a pair of Beyedynamic DTX910 you can't go wrong with them.
If you want a mic, just a get a 10$ one or the Zalman clip-on mic.

PS: Haven't tried the MMX 300s but aren't they a couple of hundred $?

[TIGR]

Originally Posted by AndreiD

Even the Sennheiser PC 350's sound like mud if you compare them to a pair of Senn 595s (even though it seems they have the same driver!)

I've tried them side by side, and you're right—the 595s blow the PC350s away in overall SQ. On the flip side, PC350s isolate better (closed whereas the 595s are open) and of course have a mic—and can be had for around half the price. Neither is "better." They're just geared toward different applications and budgets.

Originally Posted by AndreiD

....DTX900s ... HD448s ... DTX910....

None of these are a "pair of 50$ Sennheisers or Beyerdynamics" that you said could "trash any" gaming headset. They're more around the $100 price point.

Originally Posted by AndreiD

PS: Haven't tried the MMX 300s but aren't they a couple of hundred $?

Indeed they are, and they blow PC350s away. Hey, you said any gaming headset could be trashed by a $50 set of Beyers/Senns.

I'm not trying to jump down your throat, but blanket statements like that have the power to mislead a lot of people reading the forums. There are truly some excellent products out there sold as "gaming headsets." Are they worth the price, and for what applications they are well suited? That is a debate all its own, the answer to which varies from person to person.

[AndreiD]

Maybe they're not 50$ (though you can find good deals on ebay), but most gaming headsets aren't 50$ either.
For example I can buy the HD448s for 49 euros where I live.

Well, the problem is that the "truly excellent gaming headsets" are a couple of hundred $, which isn't just chip money.

[Benetanegia]

Originally Posted by AndreiD

Maybe they're not 50$ (though you can find good deals on ebay), but most gaming headsets aren't 50$ either.
For example I can buy the HD448s for 49 euros where I live.

Well, the problem is that the "truly excellent gaming headsets" are a couple of hundred $, which isn't just chip money.

Yeah but there are many non-trully excellent ones that sell for 60 € that are very good, specially if you want them for gaming, which btw it's what they are for. To match the Siberia in gaming you have to spend more than 60 € on the headphone and at least 25 € on a mic, because the Siberia does have a mic that works very very well and cheapo 10-15 € mics don't even come close, at least the ones that I've seen from friends and such. Even then after paying at least 25 € more, a gaming headset is much more convenient and more durable.

For gaming I use a Siberia which I bought from Icemat website for 50€ and I use others for music. The reason is that this gives me the best in every case and I don't have to worry about breaking an expensive headphone in the heat of a battle. Also I'm not plugging unplugging plugging unplugging all the time which is not good for the sound card.

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

Ugly as hell

[Super XP]

Originally Posted by AndreiD

All gaming headsets are crap when it comes to music. A pair of 50$ Sennheisers or Beyerdynamics will trash any of them.

They are made for gaming that is why they sound like crap with music. Music headphones soound like crap when gaming.

[f22a4bandit]

Hey, my Sennheiser PC131's work pretty well for music and gaming for $30! Seriously though, no lie.

[Super XP]

Does it have 8 channels positioning technology as so you can locate the enemy anywhere & hear them crisp & clear?

[EaGle1337]

Originally Posted by Super XP

Does it have 8 channels positioning technology as so you can locate the enemy anywhere & hear them crisp & clear?

surround sound in headphones is a joke.
On another note my hd555s work great for gaming so do my hd 280s.

[Frederik S]

A decent sound card and headset is required if you want good sound quality.

The sound quality of a headsets is almost always below that of a decent set of headphones. A set of headphones with good sound stage qualities will almost always be good for gaming. A 7H costs $129 whereas the better sounding and better isolating Audio-technica A700s cost $110 incl. shipping. For $20 you can get a pretty damn good desk microphone or a slightly worse performing clip-on.

Same goes for Sennheisers PC350s sure they sound alright but they need to be modded to sound really good. You could instead just buy a set of Sennheiser HD555/595/558/598s and get way better sound quality.

Noise attenuation qualities of well designed closed headphones is just as good if not better than that of the PC350s or similar design.

The only reason why the manufacturers can get away with such a high price premium on headsets is because the everyday gamer relies on the name of the manufacturer and their gaming brand to give him the best possible "tweaked" solution.

Most headsets have an elevated level of treble because some place clues in games are quite high frequency. This can also be achieved with a sound card running a different EQ than normal. The most important things are imaging capability and the level of midrange detail when choosing a headset or headphones for gaming

My best advice: try some different headsets/headphones before you decide what to buy.

[f22a4bandit]

Originally Posted by Super XP

Does it have 8 channels positioning technology as so you can locate the enemy anywhere & hear them crisp & clear?

If you're asking can I hear the guy creeping behind me or locate where a shot came from, then yes, my headset can actually do that pretty well. As long as I can hear someone behind me I'm good because I can care less about K/D. I don't prefer to spend $110 on a headset when another pair does the job for me at $30.

[Kantastic]

For anyone interested in the 555's, check out this 100% reversible mod to turn your 555's into 595's.