SteelSeries Siberia Elite
- Details
- Category: Audio
- Published: Wednesday, 18 December 2013 14:48
It’s really hard to believe that the SteelSeries Siberia v2’s that we know and love have been out for over four years now. In that time most of you have rebuilt your PC at least once, have played countless game, and even lived through the Harlem Shake and Gangnam Style. So after all of that, I’m not surprised that SteelSeries is finally introducing another Siberia model to sell alongside of the v2. I have been looking forward to seeing what SteelSeries could do with their latest Siberia headset, let’s dive in and see what they are all about and see if they live up to their Elite name.
The headphone market is flooded these days. Whether you are strictly a gamer or enjoy watching TV and listening to music from time to time it seems to be harder and harder by the day to make call on which product you should settle on. Today I take a look at Alienvibes by Ineo Technology’s EP02 offering with active noise cancelling features and the promise of high-end sound in a portable mid-range price. Let’s see if the EP02’s have that special something that can separate itself from the pack or will simply fade into the crowd.
I have reviewed quite a few audio products lately each of them have their perks and quirks, but one thing always missing is a bit of customizability, something to set you apart from other users who buy the same product. Eagle Tech has recently began releasing its like or Arion branded products, and amongst those is a headset named the Urban Zen. The Zen headsets come in four different designs and a few different colors. Finally we have some options to set ourselves apart from everyone else. It is nice that we can change things up, but how will the headphones actually perform when it comes down to crunch time?
With mobile devices becoming more and more common it isn’t surprising that we are starting to see different devices pop up that have built in support for them. From keyboards to headsets, the most common type of interface used to connect these devices is Bluetooth. Eagle Tech has kindly shipped us one of their brand new foldable Bluetooth headsets to test with our mobile devices. The Bluetooth headset is in the Arion brand of products and features both Bluetooth audio and microphone. Join us as we take a look to explore the new device and find out how it holds up.
Today we are going to be taking a look at the Steelseries Flux In Ear Headphones. You might think that the name sounds familiar, and you would be correct. Last week we reviewed the Pro edition of this same headset and were pleasantly surprised. This time around, at about a third the cost of the pro's, they should fit in more peoples budgets. But how will the lower cost effect performance. There is only one way to find out of course, test them out.
Corsair products are not strangers to the pages of LanOC, and the name is one that carries with it a good reputation for quality products. It's with an expectation of a quality product that does the job with style that I first put on the Corsair Vengeance 1500 headphones. Would my expectations be met by stunning Dolby 7.1 digital sound? Or with stunning disappointment? Let's find out.
Recently I did a review on a pair of earbuds from Gigabyte. They were a nice pair of earbuds for only being $10. When Wes told me that the price of earbuds can get quite high I began to wonder what could make a pair of earbuds worth so much money. Steelseries sent us a pair of their Flux In-Ear Pro headphones, and priced at $129.99 they certainly come with a hefty price tag, though still at the price point of most decent earbuds. Join me as I take a close look at them and find out what separates them from their competitors and if they are worth your hard earned money.
Being a headphone guy myself, when Wes told me I was being shipped some speakers, my first instinct was either a portable speaker set for laptops or mobile listening, or maybe a small set of speakers for a desktop setup. To my surprise AlienVibes sent out one of their W401 model speakers. This is part of a new larger line of speakers that AlienVibes recently released. The W401 is a full size desk speaker setup with subwoofer. After clearing off some room around my desk it’s time we take a look and see what these guys are capable of.
One of the newer names out there that you may not have seen before is Oblanc. They are jumping into the market with headphones for gaming, music, cell phones and other products. One of their most recent items to hit the shelves are the NC2 line of U.F.O. themed headphones. The NC2 headphones are designed to be used with games, music, or listening on a mobile device. All of Oblanc’s gaming headphones have a futuristic or alien theme to them, which in my opinion look very cool and it’s refreshing to see something new. The different models come with some unusual shapes, as well as colors and features. Today we will take a look at the NC2-2 (black and silver) model and see how the headphones will stack up against many other models and designs out there.
When it comes to gaming, you only use two senses: sight and sound. While a great monitor, or an Eyefinity/nVidia surround setup can cost you $500 or more, a top of the line headset won’t cost nearly that. Asus has sent over one of their Republic of Gamers branded headsets in the Orion Pro that falls directly in the category of high end gaming headset. In a sea of headsets ranging from awful to amazing, it’s time to see where the Orion Pro lands.
Ipods, smartphones, and tablets are everyone today. Just about everyone owns some form of mobile device that plays video or audio. More attention is paid to the device than to the means at which the media is delivered. A $500 device could be rendered almost useless without the right set of headphones or earbuds to transfer the audio. Lucky for us, Gigabyte has sent over a pair of their GP-H11’s. While looking at style, comfort, and audio quality I am going to take a look and see if these earbuds can answer your everyday needs.
We have looked at products from the CM Storm line up before. Most recently we took a look at the 
A few weeks ago we took a look at the Asus ROG Xonar Phoebus audio card. Asus, with its Xonar brand, has made a big name for themselves in the audio card market. When it comes to things to attach to their sound cards, they are a little less known. They really introduced a new gaming headset with built in Active Noise Canceling. When I hear about this, I couldn’t help but think about all of the times I’ve been at a LAN and wished I could cutout the hum of 100+ gaming PCs. Because of that I jumped at the chance to take a closer look. How will the active noise canceling work out in a gaming headset?
In the PC audio world, there is a major divide as far as people who find onboard audio more than enough and users who absolutely must run a sound card. In recent years, onboard sound has improved considerably. But no matter how much they improve it, it main flaw is being on the motherboard itself and not a separate circuit. When it comes to sound cards, there are just a few top manufactures with Asus being one. Asus recently introduced a new sound card focused on the gaming market under their ROG (Republic of Gaming) line called the ROG Xonar Phoebus. I’ve had it running in my gaming system, today we will talk about my experience thus far.
Of all of the headsets that we have had into the office, almost every headset at some point in time has ended up tangled up in the wheels of my office chair. With wired headsets you either end up with too short of a cord or so much that you are running it over like me. Wireless is an interesting option but the wireless headsets available haven’t been interesting for the most part. Seeing Corsair bring out a wireless headset, I had to get my hands onto one to see if they live up to Corsairs growing reputation. After getting the Vengeance 2000 wireless gaming headset in and spending a few weeks we can go over their performance, comfort, and find out if wireless is the way to go.