Review: SteelSeries Siberia V2 PS3 Headset

SteelSeries has unleashed the Siberia V2 headset on PS3 to an unsuspecting public. Does this headset match up to it’s competitors, or fail with a slew of mediocre features. Hit the break for our verdict.

Setting up the Siberia V2 headset was as easy as taking them out of the box. All it requires is three easy steps (depending on your set). All you have to do is plug the headset into the Audio Mixer and then connect the two splitting ends of the Mixer to your PS3 (USB); and the other into your television (Standard Jack/ AV cables). From there you just turn on your PS3 and go into System Settings followed by Audio Devices. Since these aren’t Bluetooth there’s not be any sort of pairing up, only a simple click on the audio device list. After that’s all done you can begin enjoying the crystal clear quality sound and the amazing comfort of the headset.

The Siberia V2 headsets are actually built well even though they may appear a bit cheap looking. They’re sturdy and very durable, but at the same time they feel extremely comfortable to wear. Like any other devices, the headset should still be handled with care and be used for normal uses only (gaming, music, TV). It will fit virtually any head size due to the self-adjusting head band. The speaker cup that go around your ears are covered with soft leather cushion padding. When worn, outside sound is omitted to a minimum. This means that you’re going to hear outside sound at a low when there’s no volume coming through the speakers. On the left ear-cup there is a retractable mic, which can be pulled out and tucked back in for later use.

The mic is also very flexible and can be bent in any direction that feels most comfortable with the wearer. Finally the the cord length. As a Playstation 3 gamer this was one of my many concerns. I have used headsets with cords before and I can’t tell you how annoying it is when you want to sit at a better distance. The Siberia V2 cord, when combined with the appropriate connectors for the Playstation 3, can stretch as far as 16-20ft. This gives players plenty of room to enjoy any type of media from a distance. As for the weight, these are surprisingly light for their size. I can go on all day wearing these without even noticing the extra weight added.

Additionally, the headset does come with an Audio Mixer. This has to be my favorite part of the Siberia V2 Headset. Never have I ever used a headset with so much control over the audio. The Audio Mixer is made up of four parts.

There’s a microphone chat control in the center that controls whether or not your mic can be heard and then on the left side we have the volume controls. There are two of these, one for gaming audio and the other for voices. This becomes extremely useful as most times I am either fixing the volume on my television or spending a huge amount of time adjusting in-game audio settings just to get the perfect balance between the two. Finally on the right side we have the Mixer. It’s exactly like the volume controls on the opposite side except it will do it automatically. So say you are playing an online match with voice chat. When someone speaks the in-game audio is automatically lowered down so that you can hear the user speaking. There’s a high, medium, and a low setting for this option. Everything on the controller is user friendly and easy to access anytime you want. This makes listening to music, watching T.V, movies, or playing games and other media format so much better.

One of my many issues with today’s headsets is the lack of sound quality. A lot of times your voice is either lagging, to soft, or the end users are receiving the horrid screeching sound of mic interference. Not with these bad boys. The first test that I did with the headset was with Call of Duty: Black Ops. I was amazed by how much the sound had improved the game. Upon just entering the logo and intro screens the differences were quite noticeable. Sound had been amplified and became much more clear to hear. Entering an online match was so much better to. The heartbeat of your character nearing their death sounded so good. My overall game skills improved as well. Never would I have thought a pair of headsets would increase my level of awareness. Footsteps could be heard easily from their corresponding directions, explosives sounded so much more realistic, and even hearing enemies reloads from behind a solid wall could be heard. I ran a few other tests on various media formats, which included blu-ray movies and some audio music. They yielded the exact same result as that of video game audio. Increase in volume, much clearer, and most of all much more enjoyable to listen to.

Now moving onto mic testing. During voice testing I received much positive feedback from my fellow online peers. No distortions, high pitching, or screeching sounds have come out of my mic during any of my chats. Although not well liked, screaming into the mic still would not cause any type of interference. Many people were surprised by how much better my headset had gotten since my previous ones. I did have one issue with loudness, but thank goodness for the flexibility of the mic. Otherwise it’s everything you would expect from a reliable mic. Voice chat is much like one would expect if they were to be in a one on one chat in person.

Overall this is perhaps one of the best gaming headsets I have ever used. If your a gamer and are looking for headset designed for gamer’s then these are the ones I highly recommend. The SteelSeries Siberia V2 works not only on the Playstation 3, but also on Xbox 360 gaming console (additional equipment required), Windows and Macintosh computers.

You can purchase one from participating retails stores for around $119.
http://shop.steelseries.com/us/audio/steelseries-siberia-v2-for-ps3.html

Specs:

Headphones

Frequency response: 18 – 28.000 Hz

Impedance: 32 Ohm

SPL@ 1kHz, 1 Vrms: 112 dB

Cable: 1.0 m / 3 ft.

Jacks: 3,5 mm

Microphone

Frequency response: 50 – 16.000 Hz

Pick up pattern: Uni-directional

Sensitivity: -38 dB

AudioMixer

Cable: 3.0 m / 9 ft.

Chat cable: 1m / 3 ft.

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