SteelSeries Siberia V2 Headset Review

👤by David Mitchelson Comments 📅12-11-09
Performance
In order for us to gage whether the Siberia V2 is as formidable as the previous headset that we tested. It will need to be put through a few tests in both the gaming and entertainment environments.

Steelseries claim that the audio technology used on the Siberia V2’s improves the richness of the sound, giving a boost to the bass, overall volume and an enhanced response to 10-28,000 Hz. I’ll be comparing all the playback to the original Siberia headphones so that I can identify any improvements right away.



Modern Warfare 2 was released just days ago and is the much anticipated sequel to the thrilling franchise that is Call of Duty. I see no better candidate for testing the Siberia V2’s on this new release as it features some intense action that is sure to produce a massive assortment and variety of sound effects.

Loading up MW2 I began playing the single player campaign, as right from the word go there is a feast of action that is good test material for our headset today. Steelseries are right to claim the right to this upgrade in audio quality because the difference in bass is quite clear, and the sound is indeed richer. You have to be quite discerning to identify the sounds but the improvements are definitely there and recognizable. The sound does indeed sound more concise so a thumbs up here.



Quake Live since the beginning of the year has attracted millions of gamers world-wide to the FPS battleground. It’s based on the ever popular Quake III Arena but is designed to run through your web browser via a plugin. You can literally play it anywhere, on any machine that has a web browser. It does not suffer if you have inferior hardware and thus it does not depend on powerful graphics cards and processors.

Whilst Quake Live is not as visual spectacular as COD:MW2 it does feature a good variety of sounds to pick up. It was more difficult to pick out the improvements in audio with this game, picking up the sound effects in MW2 are probably easier because of the different surroundings and characters you are found in and with. MW2 is 12GB and Quake Live a 400MB plugin, that in itself is a testament to the differences in complexities. Putting this aside the improvement in audio quality is still present and what sounds that are picked up have more bass, a deeper tone and the sound is crisper. Very pleasing to see that both games found the Siberia V2 to be a success in the performance department. Now we will have a listen to some music.

Entertainment
Listening to a variety of tracks , I found the Siberia V2’s to be great. Audio quality was very good, particularly bassy type tracks. Its nice to see a headset that compliments both departments and presents us with no problems. To test the microphone out I tested it out over an IM session, the recipient actually commented that the feedback was very good. Clear and concise, just as the playback through the headphones are.

Comfort
This is the one area that I think Steelseries have done exceptionally well in. The Siberia’s are now a lot more comfortable and they almost feel that they are not on your ears/head. The earcups are soft and extremely comfortable. With hours of usage, its what you require – there’s nothing worse than earphones that ache your ears after prolonged or even short use.


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