The evolution of the popular Siberia headset from SteelSeries reaches the next level with the Siberia Elite. We take a good look to see if it is worthy of the title.
Product on Review: SteelSeries Siberia Elite
Manufacturer: SteelSeries
Street Price: £170 inc VAT
SteelSeries need little introduction since diving head first into the realm of eSports and much of their early success can be attributed to the revolutionary design of the Siberia headset, which was released way back in 2004. After various additions as well as a refresh to the Siberia line up, SteelSeries go all out to bring a premium gaming headset to mark the 10th anniversary. Loaded with specially crafted 50mm drivers, top quality materials and customisable LEDs with 16.8 million colours, there is a lot to take in. Shipping with a USB sound card to work alongside the SteelSeries Engine 3, there is a huge amount of flexibility to be had with the Siberia Elite. Let’s take a closer look before we put it to the test.
Overview by SteelSeries
Delivering the newest generation and highest-quality SteelSeries audio drivers, the Siberia Elite headset is equipped with Dolby® technology for realistic 7.1 virtual surround sound. Siberia Elite’s amplified design includes extra-large memory foam ear cushions, SteelSeries’ signature Siberia self-adjusting suspension system connected to a sandblasted steel arc, and illumination with a choice of 16.8 million color options that radiate from each earcup. Dials on the earcups power the Siberia Elite’s audio and microphone-mute controls, while new levels of customization are supported by the newest version of peripheral configuration software, SteelSeries Engine 3. The new software will enable users to select illumination and equalizer settings, activate microphone features and more all through an intuitive and easy-to-navigate layout. Built for gaming and entertainment across multiple devices, the Siberia Elite offers limitless connectivity through its swappable cable system making it instantly compatible for PC, Mac®, tablets and phones.
Specifications & Features
SPEAKERS
Frequency: 16-28 KHz
Impedance: 32 Ohm
SPL@ 1KHz, 1V rms: 113 dB
CABLE
Length: 1.2 meters
Extension cable: 2 meters
Connectors: 3.5 mm 4-pole & 3-pole x2
MICROPHONE
Mic pattern: Unidirectional
Frequency: 75 – 16000 Hz
Impedance: <2.2K Ohm
Sensitivity: -38 dB
Frequency: 16-28 KHz
Impedance: 32 Ohm
SPL@ 1KHz, 1V rms: 113 dB
CABLE
Length: 1.2 meters
Extension cable: 2 meters
Connectors: 3.5 mm 4-pole & 3-pole x2
MICROPHONE
Mic pattern: Unidirectional
Frequency: 75 – 16000 Hz
Impedance: <2.2K Ohm
Sensitivity: -38 dB
Siberia Design
The iconic design of the Siberia headsets has been a favorite among gamers for many years. The Siberia Elite carries on that tradition with an all-new take on that classic look and feel.
SteelSeries was the first to bring the retractable microphone to gaming headsets. We made the comfort and fit of the suspension headband renowned around the world. We are doing it again. This is Siberia. This is Elite.
NEW MICROPHONE
Our new microphone is capable active noise-cancellation when used with the included USB sound card. This greatly reduces background noise for crystal clear transmissions. It also features an LED right on the microphone to indicate when you are muted.
SUSPENSION DESIGN
Siberia Elite features the lightweight, perfect-fit suspension design that made the Siberia so iconic. Now, a steel arc with its beautiful beaded metal finish supports an extra padded leather suspension headband for luxurious comfort and style.
INTUITIVE CONTROL
No need to fumble for the cord searching for your inline control. Simply rotate the dial on the left ear cup to mute or unmute the microphone. On the right side, rotating the dial will adjust the volume.
Superior Sound
Next generation SteelSeries drivers are engineered with the learnings from over 10 years of delivering premium audio specifically designed for gamers.
DOLBY
While there are many gaming headsets that feature Dolby Headphone technology, Siberia Elite also includes Dolby ProLogic IIx for a rich, immersive soundscape.
Dolby Headphone is a revolutionary signal processing technology that delivers up to 7.1 channel surround sound for richer, more spacious headphone audio.
With Dolby Pro Logic IIx you experience engaging, natural surround sound. Special effects are more realistic than you ever thought possible. Video games reach a new level of audio intensity, and your music is more compelling than ever before.
COMFORT & MORE
The Siberia Elite cushions are super thick, packed with memory foam, and covered in leather. They provide a luxurious level of comfort, but there’s more to the story.
The cushion completely envelops the structure of the ear cup to insulate the driver. This creates an insulated chamber that reduces resonant warp and creates a superior acoustic experience.
Lastly, all that extra padding creates a great seal around your ear providing a high level of passive noise reduction so you can focus on your audio experience and shut out the world.
THE SOUND CARD
We have completely redesigned our USB sound card with powerful digital signal processing that opens up for incredible new features. Delivering multiple Dolby® technologies, DSP driven active-noise cancellation microphone, brilliant 16.8 million color illumination with ColorShift, and more.
CUSTOM SOUND
SteelSeries Engine 3 allows you to define and save a 10-band equalizer setting for each of your unlimited profiles. Each of these profiles can be game specific and set to load automatically when your game launches.
When you are playing your favorite first person shooter, you can tweak the equalizer to focus on the highs and mids so you never miss an enemy’s reload sound or a single footstep.
When playing your favorite RPG, set a game profile with the equalizer to take full advantage of the immersive world with all its birds chirping outside and the dark, ominous sounds of the dungeon coming through in beautiful balance.
COLORSHIFT
ColorShift in the new SteelSeries Engine 3, brings a whole new element to the standard 16.8M color illumination.
Why settle for just one color at a time when you can now define a set of colors to rotate on a set interval. Get creative and create a style of your own.
NOISE-CANCELING MIC
When the Siberia Elite is connected via the included USB sound card it features an active noise-canceling microphone that reduces background noise so your teammates hear you loud and clear.
Packaging & Accessories
Packaging front
At the front we see a large image of the product with matching colours on the box and on the headset. There is a list of compatibility in the top right as well as the Dolby logo. The impression is understated and classy which is reflected by the quality of the packaging itself.
Reverse side of box
At the back we get some features listed in various languages as well as a list of included accessories. There is a mention of the customisable LEDs with 16.8M colours on the side.
Opened up
Once you remove the outer sleeve and opened the chest like box, you are greeted by the Siberia Elite. The molded plastic tray is hinged to open up from the bottom, revealing the accessories underneath.
Loads of accessories
Included in the box we get a manual, case sticker, an extension cable, a mobile device adaptor, an analogue PC adaptor and the USB soundcard.
Closer Look
Front on
The most prominent feature is the over-sized padded earcups, while the suspension design keeps the materials on top to a minimum. This is very much in keeping with the design of the original Siberia.
From the side
The earcups themselves have an opening of 2″ in diameter and could be considered oversized supra-aural by some. The headband has a row of soft memory foam pads covered in leather.
Bottoms up
On the left side earcup (on the right) you will find the retractable microphone, the dial on the side of the earcup will mute the microphone which will be indicated by a LED on the microphone end if you use the USB sound card. On the opposite side, there is an interesting feature that allows for an additional 3.5mm jack to be attached in series to share the audio out you are listening to with a friend. The dial on this side changes the volume.
The retractable microphone
The microphone on the Siberia Elite looks a fair bit larger than the predecessor.
Software and Customisation
The USB sound card
The USB soundcard is fairly discrete and has jacks for stereo/microphone as well as the mini USB port for the Siberia headset. The included features of the USB soundcard include microphone noise reduction, Dolby, microphone compression, side tone as well as the equaliser.
Colour control
In the colour control we get a full RGB colour scale, most colours look great with the exception to ‘white’ that tends to look a little washed out with faint tints of other colours rather than a brilliant white though this is a limitation to using full RGB LEDs. The brightness isn’t over the top and looks great.
Colour shift
Amongst the ‘steady’ ‘breathe’ and ‘volume trigger’ options, there is also the colour shift that rotates through a various of preset colours. It is a shame as there doesn’t seem to be an option to customise your own colour shift pattern but it’s a nice option regardless.
Performance Testing
Setup, Design & Observations
There are a variety of ways to setup the Siberia Elite, the most likely way people will choose would be via the mini USB to the included USB sound card. You will need to download the driver from SteelSeries which shouldn’t take too long depending on your download speed. You can also use the included adaptors to use with 3.5mm jacks, whether it be with the included USB sound card or an alternative audio output source. There is also a mobile adaptor included to use with a smartphone.
When you put the Siberia Elite on, you instantly notice how soft the padding is, though the opening in the earcup is only 2″ in diameter and could have been larger as it does press on your ears a little. This is something that can sway peoples decisions about a product as many, including myself, prefer a true circum-aural headphone, however, I found it very forgiving and comfortable once you get it in the right position, even when wearing glasses. The oversized padding completely envelopes your ears isolating them in a way that creates an acoustic chamber that also reduces external noises passively. In warmer weather, some may find the huge padding may turn their head into an oven, though, I didn’t experience any discomfort or overheating after fairly long sessions at a room temperature of around 21°C. The clamp strength is acceptable but could have been weaker and the headset itself can feel a little heavy after a while, sitting at 450g, they are certainly more on the heavier side of things. The headband is comfortable and easily adjusts as you would expect with the suspension design but it feels noticeable and one wonders whether it is actually an improvement in comfort over a simple leather strap.
The dials to control volume and microphone mute located on the earcups are fairly simple to use and slide freely, though I did sometimes find myself finger fencing with the steel frame as it did tend to get in the way at times. Pulling the retractable microphone out is simple and can be moved into your desired position. It is larger than the microphone found on the Siberia V2 and when muted (via USB) there is a white LED indicator that comes on to remind you that you have muted it.
Multimedia
w/ USB Sound card
The sound at first seemed rather quiet, even by my standards where I enjoy reasonable volume levels that won’t destroy my hearing. The only way to solve this was to increase the equaliser on all frequencies to reach your desired level. By default, the bass is very smooth and prominent as expected with a gaming headset, giving decent impact yet sounding distinctly more refined. The middle tones and treble were clear and complimentary to the bass, making for a bass heavy yet balanced listening experience. Unlike many USB headsets, the included sound card allowed for sample rates up to 16 bit 96000 Hz and the improved level of precision in music was noticeable. However, throwing on a few games, each one suffered from a recurrent metallic distortion that was not present at 16/48000, thus creating a limitation regardless. The Dolby effect with the Siberia Elite is useful in FPS games, giving a more echoy distinction allowing for improved spatial awareness, however, it doesn’t appear to be as well implemented as we found on the Corsair Vengeance 2100.
To give a better view, we tested the included USB sound card with some different headsets, namely the BitFenix FLO and the QPAD QH-85, this revealed similar properties that was displayed by the Siberia Elite, from the overall volume to the metallic distortion in games when increasing the sample rate. Overall the quality is likely better than the majority of integrated solutions but will not be as good as various discrete solutions available. The ultimate sacrifice to using a discrete sound card, rather than the included USB one, would be the loss of the customisable LED lighting.
We also tested the audio share port by plugging in a headset into the 3.5mm jack on the right side earcup. There was no perceived dip in audio quality or volume in the Siberia Elite and the received sound was nice and clear with only the change of audio properties from the different headset experienced. This is a fairly enjoyable feature that some may find to be a very useful addition.
Using discrete sound card
Using the Siberia Elite with the Creative Soundblaster ZxR opened up a whole new experience. The sound is more balanced, defined and involving across the board with incredible precision and separation. This makes it easy to conclude that the USB sound card is actually the weak link in regards to performance of the Siberia Elite. The bass is close to the very impressive bass we found on the Corsair Vengence 2100 while the mids and highs help create an almost supernatural experience. Whether you enjoy a bit of first person action or destroying your mouse in a RTS or MOBA, the Siberia Elite pumps out some seriously good sound.
Microphone
w/ USB Sound card
The microphone was fairly tinny and the noise reduction via the USB sound card wasn’t too bad knocking out virtually all the static. In Skype, it was reported to be fairly robotic sounding that picked up a lot of background noise including but not limited to keyboard typing and mouse clicks. Also, it was noted that the tip of the microphone needed to be placed very close to the mouth to be heard loud and clear, otherwise your voice would sometimes ‘dip’ in volume. The robotic sounding voice could be caused by the USB sound card which appeared to have a limited recording sample rate of 16 bit/ 16000 Hz.
Using discrete sound card
Plugging the Siberia Elite into a discrete sound card gave for a little more natural sounding and better quality voice, however, a lot of background noises were still picked up even when using various noise filters. The position of the microphone still needed to be fairly close to your mouth, which seems to be a running theme with a ‘unidirectional’ microphones. So, when setting up you may need to find the right microphone sensitivity and noise filtering features to get optimal results, even then it may not fare too well in noisy environments.
Conclusion
Taking in the SteelSeries Siberia Elite as a whole can be fairly overwhelming, the construction materials are top class, the included bundle makes it versatile and the 50mm drivers potentially give the best audio experience yet from any gaming headset. The oversized memory foam earcups squish to the side of your head in a cosy and forgiving way that is comfortable while the customisable LED lighting finishes the aesthetic in a breathtaking and iconic style.
To be more objective, the USB sound card powered by the SteelSeries Engine 3 is a pleasant inclusion and certainly gives an improved audio processing solution over an integrated one. However, to get the most out of it, it does require a little work to get that ideal equalisation. Looking at the grander scale of things, the USB sound card is fairly inhibiting, like a leash holding back the awesomeness of the Siberia Elite headset. The fact that it is an ‘essential’ inclusion to the full functions of the Siberia Elite was a fairly ill conceived consideration by SteelSeries. Considering the price of the Siberia Elite, sitting between £150-170, it is not cheap and some may quiver at the idea of having to buy a discrete sound card to get the most out of it.
On the other hand, many already own a discrete sound card and often have their choices restricted because most higher end gaming headsets tend to use a USB connection making their discrete sound card useless. The fact that the Siberia Elite has this versatility improves its value and the included sound card could quite as easily be used as a portable solution when on the go. This would make a lot of sense if you travel to LAN parties or events or simply to your friends place with your portable build. You could then use the small and convenient USB sound card that provides a reasonable audio improvement as well as the full effect of the Siberia Elite lighting in a much more gratifying way. This would often be the situation when considering the popularity of mini ITX builds that are not likely to have the space for a discrete sound card.
Another reservation one would have about the Siberia Elite is the microphone, it is one that picks up a lot of background noises while requiring to be placed right next to your mouth to correctly pick up your voice. It does function and there is certainly no huge issue with communicating with others, it just seems faux pas considering the price of the headset.
The SteelSeries Siberia Elite is of a rare breed that gracefully stamps its place amongst competitors in design, quality and audio performance that rightfully settles in position as one of the most definitive gaming headsets created to date. For these reasons, we proudly present our Gold and El1te awards.
Pros.
+ Beautiful aesthetic w/ Customisable lighting
+ Excellent bass
+ Clear mids and treble
+ Impressive build quality
+ Versatile/ modular
Mediocre
+- The USB Sound Card
Cons.
– Microphone picks up a lot of background noise
– Requires a DAC/ discrete sound card w/amp to get the best out of it
+ Beautiful aesthetic w/ Customisable lighting
+ Excellent bass
+ Clear mids and treble
+ Impressive build quality
+ Versatile/ modular
Mediocre
+- The USB Sound Card
Cons.
– Microphone picks up a lot of background noise
– Requires a DAC/ discrete sound card w/amp to get the best out of it
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net. Thanks to SteelSeries for providing today’s review sample.
