SteelSeries Siberia v2 Gaming Headset Review

Looking for a great gift for the gamer in your life? The great thing about getting them an excellent pair of headphones is not only will they enjoy all their games and media in high quality sound, but it keeps the rest of the house quiet. Well, until they yell out “Boom Headshot!

Personally I have never been a fan of headphones mainly because I love to crank up the sound in my office, but mainly because of uncomfortable headphones that just become bothersome after wearing them for a few hours. One of the first things I noticed with the Siberia v2 was how comfortable they were.

This is achieved by two means. One is their unique band that adjusts to your head. With most headphones you need to pull and adjust them to fit, but the Siberia v2 fits like a soft leather glove and speaking of leather that brings us to the number two reason.

When wearing headphones after a few hours you really can tell if the padding on the earpieces are made for comfort or not and the soft padded cushions built from sound dampening foam really does keep you from even noticing you are wearing them.

Let’s face it, if you are a gamer you are spending a lot of time doing what you love, so, if you are chatting using Ventrilo or Skype or in game voice clients you want a headset that feels great to wear for long periods of time and the next important factor is sound.

First let’s look at the numbers:

Headphones

  Frequency response: 18 – 28.000 Hz

  Impedance: 32 Ohm

  SPL@ 1kHz, 1 Vrms: 112 dB

  Cable length: 1 + 2 = 3 m (9,8 ft.)

  Jacks: 3,5 mm

Microphone

  Frequency response: 50 – 16.000 Hz

  Pick up pattern: Uni-directional

  Sensitivity: -38 dB

So first the tech. The Siberia v2 uses high-performance 50mm driver units to produce an optimized soundscape for games, music and other media. However, when it comes to games the headset really shines especially in FPS games. The Siberia v2 is engineered so you can hear the direction of enemies or sounds from all around you. I personally tried this out in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 and believe me it makes a difference.

It is established that the Siberia v2 has high-quality sound, but what about volume and noise reduction? Earlier we talked about the leather padded cushions made with sound dampening foam. How does this translate into the real world? The staff at Obsolete Gamer travels often and of course we game or listen to media on the plane. With too many headphones you get the high quality sound and high volume, but you still hear too much outside noise which kills the immersion factor.

The combination of the sound dampening foam and the precise fit of the Siberia v2 allows the sound quality to remain within while blocking out passive noise. Now you will still hear some of the jet engine, but much less than other headphones and even ear buds that I have tried. Now place yourself in a noisy dorm or home and the passive noise reduction means you will be focused on the game not outside distractions.

Finally we come to the microphone. Anyone who has been in a Ventrilo channel knows what it is like to have someone with a bad mic. With the Siberia v2 one of the first cool things is its retractable microphone. Forget that crappy bendable wire that reminds me of the microphone in fast food joints. This mic can hide away in the left ear cup when not in use and pulls out easily when you need to talk.

The Siberia v2’s microphone is uni-directional so you don’t need to swallow the mic to talk. Also, the microphone is optimized for voice chat meaning you will come across clear without the need to yell unless you must have a Leroy Jenkins moment.

I got to test out the Black and Gold special edition and as you can see they look pretty sweet, but you can find them in an array of colors on the SteelSeries website. Two last things to mention. One is the extended cords that come with the headset which is great for those whose PC is far away from them or when connecting them to another media device. Like your prom date said, nothing is worse than a short cord.

Second is the volume controls on the cord. Sure, this is nothing new in the world of gaming headsets, but the Siberia v2 controls are smaller than most and not noticeable until you need it. The volume itself can get pretty loud which is great and being able to adjust the sound as well as mute the microphone at the touch of a button puts the icing on the cake.

All in all the Siberia v2 is a great gaming headset and for about $90 it is in the perfect range for those looking for a high quality audio experience. We were so pleased with these headphones we gave it our Totally Not Obsolete seal of approval.

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