A Closer Look
Today we will take a closer look at the Steelseries Siberia Elite Gaming Headset.
First I will take a look at the packaging of the headset, since the Siberia Elite is a premium product, Steelseries also tried to make premium packaging for it. And yes, Steelseries managed to create an awesome looking box. First there is an illustrated wrapping with a picture of the Elite, some features on the side and a lot more information on the back. Then when removing the wrapping we find a black box with the Steelseries logo on it.
Here You can see some more pictures of the case:
Then when I opened the box I saw what I have been waiting to see for a long time, the Steelseries Siberia Elite! I could hardly wait to put it on my head, connect it to my iPod and listen to some music.
After removing the headset, I could access the space beneath the headset where all the cables and the manual have been stored.
This is something I really like about the Elite, and I want to talk a little bit about it: Steelseries has included three types of inputs for the Siberia Elite, a single 3-pole 3.5mm jack for mobiles (Cellphones, iPod’s, MP3’s,..) a PC cable with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a 3.5mm microphone jack, and their newly redesigned USB sound card which we will discuss more in-depth later. They have also included an extension cable, because for some people the regular cable is way too short and for others its just perfect, so with the extension cable you can extend the cable if necessary and if not then you can just use the regular cable.
I really prefer this system over the typical USB powered headset or a 3.5mm jack headset. When using the USB sound cards you do have a few benefits over using the mobile or pc connectors such as : access to Dolby technologies, custom equalizers for multiple profiles, colorshift and color customization, and you can enable noise cancellation on the microphone. So why did Steelseries include the other input connectors if the sound card is superior?
Well, what if you want to listen some music on your cellphone or on your iPod? What if you want to enjoy some music on your friends Mac? Now you have several options to choose from and you do not need multiple headsets for different devices. When I did my review of the Steelseries Flux In-Ear Pro’s I also liked this system, there was not a sound card but still, I actually hope to see this more and more in the future as it is really handy to just switch inputs.
Now lets talk about the Elite itself shall we?
The Siberia Elite is the successor to the popular Siberia V2 but improved in every way. I want to make a comparison between the Elite and my Siberia V2 Heat Orange:
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Steelseries Siberia Elite
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Steelseries Siberia V2 Heat Orange
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| Steel stronghold | Plastic stronghold |
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Super thick cushions packed with memory foam, and covered in leather.
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Leather covered noise reducing foam cushions
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Extra padded leather suspension headband |
Simple foam suspension headband |
| 16.8 Million colors to choose from | Only orange LED’s (Blue on Frost blue) or none on regular Siberia V2 |
| Volume controls and Mic mute on ears | Volume controller and Mic mute on the cord |
| Multiple inputs (USB sound card, Mobile, PC) | Only USB or PC |
So as you can see the Siberia Elite surpasses his predecessor in all ways. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my Siberia V2 Heat Orange headset and it was may main gaming headset for the whole time I got it. But now his big brother replaces him.
