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Hey Guys,
Quick question.. I was I'm looking into getting a new headset for my Gaming needs, for Starcraft and other games. I've seen a lot of the progamers recommend and use the Steel Series Siberia headset?
First of all what do you guys think who own one? Is it good? Any major concerns or defects with this product?
Also I'm gonna probably by the V2 version, my sound card in my computer isn't that great its on board and has crappy generic drivers, so should I get the USB version of this product or not? Personally I tend to stay away from USB headphones etc. but maybe I should get the USB version?
Thanks for the help!
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if i was y ou i would buy the non usb and save money for a soundcard it self w ould sound 10x better.
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i personally prefer the usb soundcard. i'm using one right now with my sennheisers. it's not so much for music/movies but for the positional audios in FPS. it's extremely useful. it really comes down to what you plan to listen to. most things won't need the position audio and you can just save yourself some money like what WarmaNe said.
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I haven't had a sound card in my pc for a while, so you think the overall consensus is to get a dedicated sound card for my pc and not rely on usb ones?
If so any suggestions as to what the top of the line ones are these days?
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What's your motherboard's onboard sound chip model? Maybe it's not actually that bad.
In terms of sound quality performance of the hardware per cost, Asus has the best sound cards. HT Omega and Auzentech are good too. You should be aware that some sound cards don't have a headphone amplifier, so you'll want one that does. Just having line-out level front channel (L/R) audio is different from having the amplifier components necessary to drive headphones well. Headphones have much lower impedance than devices that take analog line in signals, so the requirements are different. Driver support can be somewhat flaky for everybody I think.
If you're specifically looking for EAX, that is Creative's proprietary solution for environmental audio effects (i.e. positional audio, and other things) that seems to be falling out of favor in the last couple years. Creative of course has the best EAX support since they invented and pushed the technology. Other companies have some EAX support. But nowadays people use OpenAL.
I'm not too familiar with Creative's whole product line, but avoid the X-Fi Go! Also, try turning off some of their DSP effects, as they mostly just make music and other things sound worse.
Aside from driver support for some effects, clarity of positioning through audio is going to be just dependent on the headset itself. Some are better than others at creating a realistic soundstage.
In general, USB sound cards aren't much different than PCI or PCI-E sound cards, except that USB sound cards are portable. That means their price/performance is usually worse. Functionally, they are the same, but the hardware implementation is a little different. One other limiting factor with USB is that the bus only provides +5V and ground, while you can get at least +12V from a PCI or PCI-E slot. Having more voltage to work with makes the design easier and better. Possibly USB +5V is noisier than voltages going out of the motherboard too. Max volume levels of USB sound cards is a little lower because of the rail voltage limitation--granted, it's going to be plenty loud enough in most cases.
USB sound cards are dedicated sound cards too, unless you were talking about USB headsets. USB headsets are just headsets with low-end USB sound cards internal to them.
Anyhow, I wouldn't spend $200 on a high-end Asus Xonar Essence STX if you don't have correspondingly high-end analog audio gear. Steelseries Siberia is nowhere near that level.
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if you're buying a soundcard, avoid creative
they have some great hardware but ive never encountered drivers so terrible with anything ive ever used, and i definitely wont be buying from them again
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First of all, don't get the Siberia v2. It's ridiculously overrated imo.
Had one for two days and sent it back because it sucked so much.
The sound is very thin, NO BASS and it hurt after a while of wearing it (medium sized head). Also, it's overpriced.
I seriously don't get how people can recommend this headset. It looks good and has a decent mic, but that's really all it has going for it.
I own and can recommend these two headsets (copy pasted from another thread):
Sennheiser PC 151:
+ Very comfortable and light
+ Good price (about 50€)
+ Decent sound, ok bass
+ Very durable (have owned them for 4 years, then a cable broke and Sennheiser repaired them FOR FREE and I didn't even have a receipt)
+ Very good mic
Razer Carcharias:
+ Ultra comfortable!
+ Braided cable
+ Very good sound, strong bass
+ Ok price (about 60€, got mine for 36€ though)
- parts are very light, that makes it look a little cheap. It's sturdier than it looks though.
- Due to bad construction and being an open headset, the mic will sometimes record what you're hearing if you listen to it very loud.
I was very surprised with the Carcharias because I'm generally not a fan of Razer products, but it's a good headset really. I'd also look into the Sennheiser PC161, which is an upgraded version of the PC151. I haven't tried it myself but heard good things about it.
Regarding your question about USB soundcards - definitely get one imo.
Besides the stuff Myrmidon already said about soundcards I think the main point here is that your recording quality will improve A LOT with a USB soundcard.
The main problem of cheap integrated soundcards is that you have hissing, white noise or light distortion when recording something and to a lesser degree also when listening to something. Get headphones and turn your volume very high without anything playing, and you will notice it. You may also hear internal computer sounds like some noise when you click on something etc. Also try getting a mic and record yourself, you will notice the annoying hissing - that's how others will hear you on Skype etc. These problems will be gone with an USB soundcard. So either get a headset with an integrated USB soundcard or get an external usb soundcard even if it's cheap (mine was like 15$).
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I've been usin Siberia V2s for about 6 months now since my 5Hv2s broke and I love them,
-very comfortable (no pain on the top of my head or around ears even wearing em for hours and hours)
-sound quality sounds really good for everything I do (game, listen to mp3s) but honestly I've never really had any complaints about sound just don't pay that much attention as long as everything sounds clear and I could hear directional footsteps playing competitive CS
-some friends have told me I have one of the cleanest mics they've heard
-the usb soundcard seems to work well, I got the usb version because I could use it on my pc and laptop if ever the need arose since my laptop had no mic jack.
The real seller to me was the comfort while wearing them for a looooooong gaming session, I have a very large head and my ears used to get sore as hell using the 5h v2s whereas the way the siberias are lightly suspended on your head and don't press on your ears at all, ah-mazing.
If all your looking for is sound quality, buy a pair of Sennheiser HD555s, best non professional sound studio (1000$ plus) headphones EVER and just get a standalone mic.
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The 151 headset snowbird pasted are utter crap for gaming sessions longer than 20 minutes, and utter crap in general. The carcharias headsets are really poor for sound quality too plus any noise going on around you even if its a cat having a shit outside you can hear it over whats actually coming through the carcharias headphones!
The siberia v2's are only recommended by a lot of pros, because steelseries sponsor a shit ton of orgs 
The don of all 'gaming' headsets at the moment is the sennheiser pc350, really comfortable well made and all around solid audio performance.
regarding USB soundcards, they are an upgrade from general crappy onboard sound, but they aren't anywhere near as good as a proper soundcard and they are definately not worth their price i have found, the X-FI go mini usb soundcard was the only one i used which impressed me with its quality, the steelseries one wasn't so good iirc.
My recommendation to you, is to go for sennheiser pc350's with a proper soundcard, or a creative X-Fi Go usb soundcard if your dead set on usb soundcard.
Yes its probably slightly more expensive, but its definately worth it, hope this helps
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I'm using the USB version, and I'm very happy with it. I used Sennheiser 161 or something along those lines in the past.
In fact, I'm on my second v2 usb after my dog chewed my old one back when she was a little puppy.
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On September 04 2010 19:06 dahornnn wrote:
The 151 headset snowbird pasted are utter crap for gaming sessions longer than 20 minutes, and utter crap in general. The carcharias headsets are really poor for sound quality too plus any noise going on around you even if its a cat having a shit outside you can hear it over whats actually coming through the carcharias headphones!
What makes you think the Sennheiser 151 are utter crap? Have you used them for longer than 20 minutes? They are VERY comfortable and you don't even notice them after some hours of playing. Also they are pretty cheap for the quality you get.
What you say about the carcharias is true, you hear outside noise pretty loud. I consider this an advantage, others may not. But very poor in sound quality? I very much disagree with that.
I personally don't like the sound of the PC350. I prefer the Carcharias' sound. But the PC350 are very good in general yes (didn't try them for long though because I just didn't like the sound).
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Just an update, I ended up buying the siberia v2 the sound is really amazing, but i mean what i had before was a crappy logitech headset. I'm gonna try it out for the next 30 days and return it if i find something better or whatever, the only thing that pissed me off was they only had black and i wanted white! I've had black headsets forever so i figured something different woulda been nice but apparently only way i can get white is if i order it online 
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On September 04 2010 20:29 snowbird wrote:Show nested quote +On September 04 2010 19:06 dahornnn wrote:
The 151 headset snowbird pasted are utter crap for gaming sessions longer than 20 minutes, and utter crap in general. The carcharias headsets are really poor for sound quality too plus any noise going on around you even if its a cat having a shit outside you can hear it over whats actually coming through the carcharias headphones! What makes you think the Sennheiser 151 are utter crap? Have you used them for longer than 20 minutes? They are VERY comfortable and you don't even notice them after some hours of playing. Also they are pretty cheap for the quality you get. What you say about the carcharias is true, you hear outside noise pretty loud. I consider this an advantage, others may not. But very poor in sound quality? I very much disagree with that. I personally don't like the sound of the PC350. I prefer the Carcharias' sound. But the PC350 are very good in general yes (didn't try them for long though because I just didn't like the sound).
I've used almost every gaming headset going! I speak from experience;] >.<
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I wouldn't ever use USB for anything involving sound.
And isn't the USB headset like $20 more anyway?
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get the usb if your soundcard sucks
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$20 more for shitty usb "sound card" crashes when you actually install your own sound card, if your aren't planning to buy a sound card then get the USB, but like i said if i was you, i would grab the non-usb, save the extra flow and grab a bangin sound card, that way you will have the best sound quality with a decent headset, trust. i got a sound card last month, and can't go back to listening to music without one, its just that goood.
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Anyone who wants to buy my Steelseries USB sound card and adapter cord.
Send your offer to my email address:
I dont use it
User was warned for this post
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Steelseries v2 siberia works fine for me used it for over 1 year. The mic broke after one year got that fixed with warranty and now have a fresh pair. Sound works fine for me jsut realised what the usb was for and works fine on my laptop (asus). Make sure settings are right with them but usb is digital so always better than analog sound if soundcards are working.
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Just as a counterpoint to all of the "USB soundcards are shit" posts, there are plenty of high quality USB sound interfaces. Your bog standard PC soundcard in USB form is going to be bad, but for audio production work there are several USB interfaces which blow PC soundcards away (in terms of recording quality and 2 channel playback anyway).
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On November 22 2011 04:48 BL0CK wrote:
Anyone who wants to buy my Steelseries USB sound card and adapter cord.
Send your offer to my email address:
I dont use it
This is not a place to sell stuff, use craigslist/ebay for that kind of stuff.
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EPT
