Headsets are not often considered a key accessory in your gaming rig setup; if you are not heavily engaged in player vs. player combat or team /coop gaming this might be true.  If you are one of the many taking up arms against waves of enemies–the ability to share battle plans, give orders and improve the cooperation of your team members is a vital tool to victory.

In this review I’ll give you a close look at the details behind this beautiful product.  Most importantly I will explore if this is a worthy purchase to add to your arsenal of accessories.

Aesthetics

Siberia V2 features many parts exact to its previous version.  The one notable change is the addition of a pull out microphone.  But since many of you may not have had the opportunity to experience Steel Series Siberia V1, I will give you a run down on the specifications that make this brand of headsets FTW.

Comfort is the most important feature on a headset next to the sound quality.  The Siberia features a very unique head band, cable support system.  The purpose of the cable support is to keep the headset on without squeezing your head too tightly.  The image might have you think the two bars expanding over the head strap are made of cheap plastic.  Looks are deceiving; these two bars are actually made of strong flexible cables attached directly to the speakers.  The cables allow the headset to stretch easily to fit any head size.  Attached to the same area at the base of the speakers, just below those cables, is the head strap.  This strap is attached at each end by two thin cables.  All four of these cables are wired into the speaker housing and seem to be on a retractable zip line.  The whole function of this is so that, again, the headset will fit any head size comfortably.

The headset speakers have thick padded muffs wrapped in soft leather.  The quality here is second to none and you won’t even notice you’re wearing the headset, even hours into game play.

Down the cable a bit is a volume regulator control.  This allows you to adjust volume output and also mute the microphone.  Even further down the cable, if you happen to have purchased the Siberia V2 model that is $20 bucks more than the other listed V2s you also should have a 7.1 USB sound card.  This sound card is a MUST.  Trust me and spend a little more for the USB attachment, it features volume adjustment and mic adjustment separate from the other volume regulator.  What this means is if you want to pump out even more sound you can further amplify the volume to your liking.

Along with those additions the 7.1 sound card includes software to customize settings for every game or program to the exact volume and mic specs you need.  The way of customizing your peripherals settings for each of your computers applications / games is the way of the future.  All the newer products are beginning to include these features.  That being said if you plan to purchase this headset make sure it comes with the 7.1 USB sound card.

Speaker Quality

If you owned the Siberia V1 headset you won’t be disappointed with version 2.  The sound quality did not diminish since the predecessor; in fact it the speakers have been increased to 50mm.  For competitive gaming this headset will deliver bullets firing off down range and colliding with the walls behind you.  You can easily track the enemies’ footsteps through nearby hallways.  These things are what make the gaming headset a necessity in competition.  The only feature I can make some negative critics on is the speaker muffs are not going to fully block all the noise around you.  In an active gaming LAN all those noises may still be a distraction.  That being noted the external noise is deafened down a little bit and smaller LANs or a few people talking around you won’t be too distracting; if at all, noticeable.

Microphone Quality

I recorded a sound clip so you can hear for yourself the mic quality.  The following audio sample is unmodified in WAV format.

Siberia V2 Mic Sample

If you listened to the audio clip, that was me talking in my normal speaking voice.  The mic cable is pulled out and about 3 inches from my mouth.  The quality does not suffer at all through Ventrilo using default mixer settings.  I got the opinions of 15 people from my MMO legion’s vent channel, all of whom agreed they could hear me loud and clear with no external sounds coming though.  The Siberia V2’s microphone surprised me by taking in only direct noise and muting out all extra sound.

I also tested the V2 on the PS3.  After plugging the headset into the USB port it was instantly recognized and took 2 seconds to change all voice comm. to output to the headphones.  As with vent everyone I played with responded positively toward the quality of my voice.  Quite a few PS3 players use Bluetooth headsets for communication and after hearing my voice through the headset it made a few of them jealous.  Just to be annoying, I rubbed it in by playing some music through my microphone and it came out just as clear as it was playing off my computer.

Speaking loudly or screaming may cause your microphone to peak and anyone on the other end will hear a lot of scratching.  This is common with all headset mics being that the microphone is placed so close to the mouth.  And I don’t suggest screaming as it’s a quick way to get muted.

To finish this review up; this headset is in my opinion the best option out there for competitive gaming communication.  Whether you play on Ventrilo, PS3 or Xbox360(extra connecter needed for 360) the Steel Series Siberia V2 will give you phenomenal volume output and above par voice input.

Steel Series Siberia V2 Headset – 9/10
Steel Series Siberia V2 Headset w/USB sound card – 10/10