Recently, I had the pleasure of reviewing one of SteelSeries newest headsets but I wasn’t excited, I was ecstatic. My past experience with their products have been above others and have set the standard for excellence in professional gaming gear. Now with this in mind it would be pretty hard to be further be impressed but was I wrong. As soon as I had the transmitter set up and headset on I played some games to hear sound quality in “performance” mode, with this pre-set equalizer setting and the SteelSeries LiveMix (Improves the balance and mixing of Xbox LIVEâ„¢ chat and in-game audio, so that voice communication is mixed perfectly and is clearer than ever before over the sounds of gunfire and explosions, without having to increase the volume of the headset and risk hearing damage) I had the sweet spot set for me for gaming/voice audio balance. No hassle, no turning up or down just simple. Mic audio was clear to my teammates, I could hear steps, reloads, etc. as good as if not better than any other headset I have had. The noise cancellation ear cushions work perfectly without having your ears sweat inside. The transmitter operates with wireless4Mbit/s bandwidth for true “lossless†digital audio. It was designed to avoid interference from other devices, using intelligent frequency hopping up to 344 times/second to offer crystal clear audio. The quality was best I have experienced in wireless headsets so far. The uni-directional microphone is only compatible with Xbox 360 and can be retracted and hidden in the left ear cup. This is a good feature to keep the mic safe and also great storage for music ,casual use or travel. The feature to disassemble the SteelSeries Spectrum 7xb into 4 pieces including at each ear-cup, headband, and the cord, makes it ideal to travel with. One thing that they could have done was possibly a carrying pouch or case to keep your headset nice and clean. Control’s on the right ear cup are simple On/Off, Volume +,Volume –, LiveMix and ExactSND which is pre-set equalizer settings that can be quickly switched between to improve directional sounds, environmental sound, and entertainment. The only negative is that you do need 2AAA batteries to power the headset, which run for about 20 hours. I would suggest buying rechargeable batteries, 4 of them so you always have two charged just in case.
Performance is amazing, with all the features, it is the best wireless headset out and one of the best overall. The stylish headset is also a plus the use of two toned dark gray(Black)/light gray compliment each other. Comfort is amazing, this headset is light, over the ear cups to not hurt your ears, and just overall a great product. I used the headset for a few hours two days in a row and didn’t have any discomfort or aches after both days. Between gaming and listening to music it performed beyond my expectations. The Pre-set equalizer settings: Performance: for directional sounds footsteps and gunfire, Immersion: for optimized environmental sound and game music, and Entertainment: for increased bass levels and environmental sound when watching movies all delivered perfect settings. Only hard part is knowing the setting that it is on during gaming. Pro Tip: set your settings with music. The ascending and descending beeps are hard to differ at first. SteelSeries could have approached that differently, maybe just the words of the settings or numbers.
Overall one the best headsets out in the market. I would recommend this to anyone that plays video games or uses PC for music or movies. From the casual gamer to the professional this headset is built to please anyone that will purchase it. A must buy for anyone wanting the best in the wireless audio or in audio in general. Leave your thoughts and questions below. For pricing and more information see the site below.
Product Site:
http://steelseries.com/products/audio/steelseries-spectrum-7xb
