craig5320

SteelSeries 7H USB Headset Review
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SteelSeries are not a company who stand still and even back in March when we attended CeBIT they were starting to show their next model to select members of the press. From our brief demo of the headset that day we were impressed and couldn't wait for our chance to properly use the product. That day is now here and on our test bench is the SteelSeries 7H headset and virtual 7.1 USB soundcard.

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niceguyrichy

ok, they're not exactly lookers (imo), but at 75 squids for the ones without the usb fluff they look to be pretty damn good value.
i'm liking the detachable cable especially

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craig5320

I know what you mean about the looks, personally though I like this, it's kinda retro and how you'd expect a 90s Sony set to look but that's not a bad thing. Understated I think is the word, I like the detachable cable as well and the retractable mic is cool, it's not often I need the mic, they look very comfy as well and as you say without the usb sound card it's a very good price.

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darkunknown88

Soooo...........which is better? Steelseries 7H or Razer Megalodon? (Don't care about the old looking software suite. Just the performance.)

Both are equally priced.

Veridian3

Look and feel - Tie (Very much down to personal preference)
Comfort - SteelSeries
Design - SteelSeries
Gaming - Tie (slight edge to SS maybe on quality, Razer very slightly on positional audio. Both are hugely impressive though.)
Music - SteelSeries
Value - I areas where they are the same price, tie. In other the 7H tend to be cheaper so they win on Value.

Pine

I need help. I need to decide between the Sennheiser PC350, the SteelSeries 7H and the SteelSeries Siberia V2. Hardware Heaven has reviewed them all, and they all got the same points - absolutely great sounding, awesome, etc. I can't decide what will suit me best for my need of gaming and mostly music such as Trance and Rock.

niceguyrichy

i know that Stu rates the SteelSeries above the Senns, with or without the USB thang, so i would guess he's gonna recommend the 7H

your post is slightly ambiguous just btw; do you mean that you want the headset mostly for music, and just occasional gaming ?
or did you mean equal gaming & music, and the 'mostly' was supposed to refer to the style of music you listen to?

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Veridian3

I havent personally used the 350 or the v2 but I have used the 7h, 330 and 360 and would say that you should go for the 7H. There really is nothing to fault about them and the fact they sound very close to a product nearly twice their price says a lot.

Pine

Hey, these replies have helped me lots. I meant I'll be gaming a fair bit, but music is prioritized over gaming. Thanks for all the help guys!

craig5320

Good to hear! that's what this sites intended for!

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Kaiser68

I just bought the 7H and i am using the onboard soundcard. they sound great but i am left wondering if they would sound better if i got the usb soundcard?
on a further note, would they sound better with a new up to date internal soundcard?

obviously im sure the internal would be better than usb but how much better?

Veridian3

All depends on the model of internal soundcard. The USB one is likely to be better than your onboard but a decent high end discrete card such as the top end Asus PCIe which we use is even better again.

gouryella99

Hello,

I've been looking at buying this headset mainly for music & gaming, but more for music. I would purchase headphones made specifically for music, but they are usually much more money compared to gaming headsets.

How well does is the 7H with music/movies compared to other headsets in its price range? Also if I buy the standard non-USB 3.5 mm, is there any significant difference between that and the USB soundcard? So will the 7H still be able to play virtual 7.1 surround sound without the soundcard USB?


Thanks.

Veridian3

These are great for music, I use them every day for that very task. Better than the Corsair HS-1 on that front and for my ears a little above the PC330 and Carcharias (though the later is very close).

For virtual 7.1, that would depend on the soundcard you are plugging them into. Does it do virtual 7.1? (Probably also worth pointing out that the music quality will also depend on the soundcard)

gouryella99

Ok thanks for the info. I'm using a X-Fi Titanium from Creative.

need4steer

Thanks a lot for another great and comprehensive review.
I enjoyed reading it and it helped me decide.