SteelSeries has been an avid producer of gaming base peripherals for many years now and still continue to do so with feedback from professional gamers all around the world. I’ve been a fortunate one to receive one of SteelSeries products to review and that is the SteelSeries Siberia Neckband Headset.  

 

 

 

On the first day at first sight of it, I could tell a difference that the Siberia Neckband was different from the typical normal, more common headsets. It is a Neckband type of the headset, a headset where you put it on by letting it clasp around your ears. Naturally to its name, it also fits nicely around your neck when your ears need a sound break. It has a tight grip and fits perfectly on the ears.

 

 

A soft padding that lasts keeps ears warm and comfortable for long hours of audio. It has hardly accumulated any lint or dirt in the entire time of use in spite the dirty environment, a very clean, hygienic and health safe benefit. However, it has a price. Due to the neckband design, the headset has an ergonomic flaw like all neckband headsets possess. Most of the headset’s weight is resting purely on your ears. This leads to greater pressure and possibly pain during long hours of use. In spite of such, tests conducted around with several people shows that it is not always the case and is probably more individual dependent.

 

 

Now onto the design, the Siberia Neckband followed a classy black and white coloured design. That was certainly a nice mix of colours and lives up to the name of white Siberia. The length of the cable was just right for versatility. It’s long enough to be used at a computer or be attached to a Portable Playstation (PSP) or the common MP3 player. It was neither too long nor too short and SteelSeries went safe with a cable extension that solves any shortage. A nice treat SteelSeries added is also an X-box controller adapter. This means that the Siberia Neckband is also compatible for the X-box, making it a bonus for X-box users.  

 

 

 

This headset is considerably smaller than the normal headset. The padding is of the same size but the neckband design reduced its size. That gives it a bonus to portability. It’s easier to bring it around alongside say your MP3, PSP or laptop and could fit any bag easily without hassle than a similar gaming headset.

 

 

SteelSeries certainly gave a nice touch for the microphone for this headset. They integrated the microphone directly into the headset and it can be retracted and reinserted at will. The microphone was made to be flexible and easily adjusted to the user’s liking. It takes less space, doesn’t need assembly or dismantling and could be easily tucked away for your convenience.

 

 

 

Now down to the gist of the headset, audio. It is superb to say the least. It was realistic and high quality. When played with music, it was booming with great sound. For games, it was crisp and clear. It could tell me the distance and its direction of a sound such as footsteps very well despite large noisy backgrounds as I played some FPS with it. It has to be noted however that the max volume in the headset seems rather reduced whenever using the volume control attachment.

 

 

A plus to this headset is that it’s just as easy to set up as a regular headset. It only needs two ports instead of the complex-icating numbers of plugs that comes with a gaming headset. Work a simple setting tweak in the computer and your good to go. Unlike the Steel Series Siberia USB series, it doesn’t have a soundcard and the many cable channels of audio. Despite as such, the audio quality is great that it can have a run of its money against its predecessor.

 

Putting it all together, we get

 

- Soft lasting ear pads

- Clean from lint and dust

- Classy

- Versatile use

- High portability

- Integrated Microphone

- High quality audio

- Plug and Play

 

- Ears might hurt during long hours

- Lacks volume strength with volume controller

- No soundcard

 

 

As a conclusion, if you want a headset that is classy, X-box capable, highly portable with high quality sound, this is definitely a product of choice. Best before buy however is to borrow one from a friend and try it out to avoid having comfort problems after purchase.