Setup, Design & Observations
The headphones feel high quality from first touch to wearing, and the comfort instantly shone. I would rate that this is close to, if not on par with the Siberia V3 in comfort, which in itself is high praise as I would consider these to be amongst the most comfortable around. The soft squishy pads felt great even with glasses and because the headset doesn't feel particularly heavy either, long sessions were no problem here. I did note that the size adjustment needed to be pulled out quite a long way, more than most, but fortunately there was plenty of space to do this.
The high quality stretched to the nicely braided modular cables and the in-line remote, which feels solid and easy to access. As the standard cable is a 4 pole, those gaming on consoles or listening to music on their mobiles will have no issues, and there is no major hassle using the splitter/extension for the desktop either.
Overall there isn't a huge amount to talk about in consideration to the design, some may not like the external cables as some may be prone to snagging them on something, though in most scenarios there should be no issue. Everything is solid, in an elegant and functional way.
Multimedia
Listening through to various familiar music tracks, there are several things you can instantly identify the Sound BlasterX H5. Precise, well balanced audio which gives smooth creamy bass, clear mids and treble with a wide soundstage. The 50mm drivers are impressive and arguably performed as well as the Sennheiser we recently reviewed. In comparison to the HyperX Cloud and QPad QH-90, Creative have used their know-how to eliminate the harsh high-end with generally better clarity throughout. At max volume the audio rumbles through your skull with deafeningly beauty, almost giving the sensation of watching your favourite band live; say goodbye to your hearing.
Gaming equally benefited from the awesome sound balance, the bass giving a perfect kick in intense gunfights, yet is competent enough to pick up the minute details of people moving around in the thick of it.
Microphone
In voice calls through Skype, several people commented on how the microphone sounded clear, natural sounding and very good. It did pick up faint hiss/background noise but was not intrusive nor cause any distortion. A small amount of background noise too is picked up but the microphone itself done a good job of keeping all but the loudest background noises at bay.
The headphones feel high quality from first touch to wearing, and the comfort instantly shone. I would rate that this is close to, if not on par with the Siberia V3 in comfort, which in itself is high praise as I would consider these to be amongst the most comfortable around. The soft squishy pads felt great even with glasses and because the headset doesn't feel particularly heavy either, long sessions were no problem here. I did note that the size adjustment needed to be pulled out quite a long way, more than most, but fortunately there was plenty of space to do this.
The high quality stretched to the nicely braided modular cables and the in-line remote, which feels solid and easy to access. As the standard cable is a 4 pole, those gaming on consoles or listening to music on their mobiles will have no issues, and there is no major hassle using the splitter/extension for the desktop either.
Overall there isn't a huge amount to talk about in consideration to the design, some may not like the external cables as some may be prone to snagging them on something, though in most scenarios there should be no issue. Everything is solid, in an elegant and functional way.
Multimedia
Listening through to various familiar music tracks, there are several things you can instantly identify the Sound BlasterX H5. Precise, well balanced audio which gives smooth creamy bass, clear mids and treble with a wide soundstage. The 50mm drivers are impressive and arguably performed as well as the Sennheiser we recently reviewed. In comparison to the HyperX Cloud and QPad QH-90, Creative have used their know-how to eliminate the harsh high-end with generally better clarity throughout. At max volume the audio rumbles through your skull with deafeningly beauty, almost giving the sensation of watching your favourite band live; say goodbye to your hearing.
Gaming equally benefited from the awesome sound balance, the bass giving a perfect kick in intense gunfights, yet is competent enough to pick up the minute details of people moving around in the thick of it.
Microphone
In voice calls through Skype, several people commented on how the microphone sounded clear, natural sounding and very good. It did pick up faint hiss/background noise but was not intrusive nor cause any distortion. A small amount of background noise too is picked up but the microphone itself done a good job of keeping all but the loudest background noises at bay.
