SteelSeries Siberia V2 Headset Review (PC)

How good can a headset be?

It’s not often that I get the chance to review a headset. In fact the only one I have had before the Siberia was the very good ZOWIEGEAR Hammer. So it was with great interest that I unwrapped the packaging for my new Siberia V2. I say interest and not excitement as I was not really all that sure how much you could do to a headset to make it exciting. Turns out quite a lot!

The Siberia V2 builds on the already great series of gaming headsets available from SteelSeries., in their own words
“Every element of the Siberia v2 has been optimized for pro-gaming, making this headset a preferred piece of equipment for the world’s best competitive PC gamers,” said Bruce Hawver, CEO of SteelSeries. “What’s even more impressive is that the headset is multifunctional with its ability to deliver an unparalleled audio experience for music lovers and VOIP users.”

Overall, I just can’t fault the SteelSeries V2

Slick looking and very comfortable, this is a triumph in design. SteelSeries have remembered that people will be wearing these for very long periods of time. The large cans have nice, soft, thick padding and the head strap is sprung loaded so that it does not apply too much pressure on the top of your head.

Speaking of the cans, this headset really can deliver the goods sonically. With a superb range (10-28,000 Hz), you get enough bass to feel like you are in the middle of a warzone, but with enough clarity in the mid and upper ranges to hear all of the speech and other sound effects perfectly. The same can be said for listening to music or movies. Crank the volume up and you will be hard pressed to distort the sound!

The cord from the headset to the PC contains a volume control and a microphone on / off switch. Here again SteelSeries have added a neat touch, the mute switch is not some tiny little black switch on the side of the control, but a great big slider. Perfect for sweaty, slightly hyper active hands!

The microphone is neatly hidden in the left can, but can extend about 3 inches out and can then be bent to any position. Again, a great little design feature that just gives the Siberia V2 an edge. I will admit, that when I saw how small the microphone was, I was a bit concerned that the sound quality would be pretty poor. How wrong was I? In game I was assured by other players that I came through crystal clear with pretty much no background sounds. Not being one to take other peoples word for it, I decided to record a few training videos for work using the microphone for the voice over. Again, it was brilliant. Even with my washing machine going in the background, the Microphone only picked up my voice, with almost no background noise at all.

Overall, I just can’t fault the SteelSeries V2, it delivers on looks, sound quality and at about £49.99 (at time of writing) it is a great cost. To answer my question: “How good can a headset be” – Pretty damn good indeed!

Some Specs

• 50mm speakers
• Impedance: 32 Ohm
• Frequency: 10-28,000 Hz
• SPL@1kHz: 112dB
• Cable: 1m + 2m extension
• Jacks: 2* 3.5mm
• Retractable microphone: 50-16,000 Hz, unidirectional

The Scores