Gadgetory

hey guys this is Dimitri with Huracan oxen welcome back to another video review the Siberia line from steel series is still one of the most popular within the sphere of gaming Audio the company has made sure to fine tune the drivers for gamers and from our experience they have done a fantastic job now because of this popularity for the Siberia had said steel series has gone ahead with the elite version of the product bring in a bunch more physical features but also a few revisions under the earcup so today we going to take a look at the Siberia elite gaming headset and because of the added premium features it is priced quite high at $200 so I guess you can ask yourself whether or not these gaming features are all appealing to you as there are headphone alternatives available within the price range then I would certainly recommend it still carries the iconic superior look with over the head suspension system and instead of the plastic support band it is now steel so the build quality of the elite is nothing short of amazing plus add in the leather work they've done here on the ear cups and on the headband and you start to put together as to why these costs so much now they are available in both black and white the white version can get quite dirty easily and for sure it will pick up a few blemishes here and there the left ear cup contains the retractable microphone with built-in LED to indicate when mute and on the other side a headphone pass-through for connecting an additional headphones perhaps if you're using this on the go for music and want a friend to join in the tunes but as you see from putting them on they are far from low-profile and I don't think I would use them for on the go the large aircrafts don't exactly articulate into place and leave small spaces at the bottom so you have to sort of angle them slightly forward for a more snug fit now personally I don't find them as comfortable as the original siberius and while the ear cups are somewhat thick after about an hour I could feel the uncomfortable pressure settling in but on a better note no sweaty ears thanks to actual leather surface they do use anti tangle cord that is not removable and at the end has the SteelSeries proprietary jack that you can either connect the microphone the headphone splitter the 90 degree headphone jack and also included is an extension cord volume control is located on the right ear cup which is very convenient no need to reach in for inline controls and on the left ear cup we have the mic mute function now of course you really notice the lighting feature which is something unique and adds to the premium of the elites the illumination is very bright with multi color options and different notes available but since you never really see the headset while it's on your head it doesn't really make a difference plus it only works when plugged in using the SteelSeries connector into the included USB sound card the included USB sound card has a very minimalistic menu where you can change the color and the effective illumination enable dolby surround adjust the presets and manually play with the equalizer activate mic noise reduction and compression and adjust microphone volume and you can also create profiles that will auto launch with an application so that's always convenient now I was expecting a bit more clarity out of the microphone for the $200 headset but I guess they sort of make up for it in the mic noise reduction so turn that on it reduces the amplification and actually makes the microphone quieter and we also have compression turn that on it auto levels the microphone for a more uniform volume now some of the advantages of using the USB sound card or to adjust your equalizer and enable Dolby virtual surround but the sound card included with the elites lacks the power to drive the headset to higher volumes and SteelSeries drivers are really nicely tuned for detail and USB soundcard just doesn't showcase the elites and its full glory enabling Dolby surround sound does expand the soundstage so your audio environment is a bit larger but things do sound more Hollow and less details so there is some lost potential and so I plug the elites into our audio engine DAC and right away the drivers sounded much much better SteelSeries are known for bright sound with excellent emphasis on the highs and detailed mid-range without having the intense bass now because the closed type design the soundstage isn't very large and audio elements do feel a little cramped in but they do make up for it in the detail so hearing somebody running up behind you or behind wall is what the elites do best I love the clarity this produced without any EQ tweaking now because the thick and large air pads I was expecting there to be a dominant presence on base which took me by surprise because the base was almost non evident the air cups would experience slight vibrations in the game but without any complimenting base which was just very strange I did manage to bring the base slightly forward with some EQ adjustments for just a more fuller sound but the way the driver is tuned seemed to complement more the mid-range and the sharp treble which for in-game detail is awesome but I wasn't entirely happy with the weak base response and I will conclude by saying that this is certainly an upgrade in terms of build quality we have the volume control and mic mute function is well integrated into the headset and steel series drivers are nicely detailed without overpowering bass so positional awareness of audio elements around you is one of the best things about this headset now when it comes to utilizing Dolby Surround through the included USB sound card it sounds as very unnatural and Hollow and even at the hundred percent volume up lack the power to drive the headset to its full potential so both detail and volume the soundstage is quite small due to closed design and the illumination effect is only available through the USB card which I wouldn't recommend and all of this for the $200 with the USB dongle is a little bit too high considering audio reproduction is quite poor so using a DAC or a more appropriate sound card to get the best out of the elite is recommended so guys this includes our view of the Siberia elite let us know in the comments below of what you think of this illumination effect thanks for watching don't forget to subscribe for more similar content and we'll see you in the next one