With SteelSeries launching a full audio product lineup today I have a feeling that some people aren’t going to even realize that the Siberia Elite Prisms are a lot more than a renamed Siberia Elite. Frankly to stick with the Prism theme that wouldn’t have had to change anything, because the original Elite has the full color lighting. SteelSeries took the chance to look at the Elite and make a few changes to make their flagship headset more of a proper flagship model. Their original had a few key issues that we along with a lot of their customers ran into. They changed the earcup design to increase comfort, swapped out the microphone with a more flexible model, tuned the USB soundcard, and anodized the arch black for the black model and changed the earcups from white to black on the white model.
So did the changes help? In short yes, very much. The original Siberia Elite has been sitting stored away for months because I wasn’t able to use it over extended periods of time. The Elite Prism though hit the nail on the head and was very comfortable for me. The change to the black arch was great although I think now the black version looks worlds better than the white model because of the earcup change. Just like before, I loved the tangle free cables, they do such a great job that you really don’t notice until you go back to a normal cord. The same goes for the integrated audio and microphone controls, they are great to have right on the earcups.
The Siberia Elite Prism wasn’t perfect though. I did still have some issues with the audio levels for the USB sound card being lower than what I could get through analog. It wasn’t a deal breaker by any means, but it is worth keeping in mind. I also nitpicked a little on the LED colors not really lining up with the colors I selected in the software. I had to use what was basically a red to get a real orange. That is trivial though. Really the only issue I still have is with the overall price. While I think SteelSeries has finally made a headset deserving of its name I do think that the market is going to be a little limited at this price point. People spending this much on audio are few and far between, especially when a lot of gamers are young. Gaming headsets in this price range generally are wireless.
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers.
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Today SteelSeries introduced a completely new Siberia product line. The first in a series of reviews is the Siberia Elite Prism. Expect to see the Siberia RAW Prism later this week and the Siberia V3 reviews in the near future as well.
Up until two weeks ago I had a SteelSeries 9H headset, but was forced to send it back to the factory because of a complete microphone failure. Now SteelSeries is saying a replacement 9H is unavailable, and has offered to replace my headset with a Siberia Elite Prism. I have a severe hearing loss, and had trouble with the 9H volume because I was unable to wear my hearing aids while using the 9H's. You mentioned in your review the Siberia Elite Prism has a higher db output (120db) than the 9H, and that the ear cups were larger (2 3/8" versus 2" on the 9H). Given these differences would you say the Elite Prism would meet my special needs better than the 9H.
They should work for your needs, if you need more volume you can drop the USB sound card and hook them up directly.
I think you are getting a good deal here though, worse case if you aren't happy with them you could most likely sell them and buy another 9H on amazon. There are listed for almost half the price of the Siberia Elite Prism currently
Also if they don't work out for you, get in contact with me. I will do my best to make sure it gets to the right person to find something that will work for you
Thanks. I appreciate the input. Also, I've got to say you write the most comprehensive reviews I've ever read anywhere. Great stuff with pictures that answer any question I'd ever have about a product.
I really appreciate the feedback and the kind words. I tend to get a little self conscious and always think I need to improve on the writing. As for the photos, that is one of the biggest parts of the review to me. The goal is to show every aspect because I don't know how many times I've been shopping for something and I needed to see a specific angle and just couldn't find it.
If anyone ever needs me to take another picture of something after a review is published I will always do my best to accommodate, assuming I didn't have to send the product back.
On a related note, the standard Siberia V3's came in this week. About to get photos and will be testing them out over the weekend at a LAN.
