When I turned a discerning ear to the Astro A50 Wireless Headset in Summer 2012, I hailed the cans as “gaming headset excellence.” That statement still holds firm, but SteelSeries has crafted the best gaming headset I’ve ever tested with its H Wireless Headset. Priced at $299, the SteelSeries H Wireless Headset doesn’t come cheap, but should you plunk down the cash for this beast you’ll experience not only beautiful 7.1 virtual surround sound, but a wealth of extras that make it one of the best buys in the gaming headset space.
Damn near every imaginable headset audio connection comes bundled in the package. Fitting, as the gaming headset works with a variety of computers and consoles, including the new Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Xbox One. Note: You’ll need a special Microsoft adapter to tap the chat functionality; otherwise, it will work as just a headphones out of the box.
The SteelSeries H Wireless Headset comes bundled with power, mobile, chat (for Xbox 360), analog, optical, and USB cables neatly stored in plastic baggies. A wireless transmitter base with an attractive matte-and-glossy exterior, power adapter, sticker, and two batteries are also packed in. The cans match the wireless transmitter’s look, but the SteelSeries H Wireless Headset lacks the eye-candy appeal of just about any gaming headset in Turtle Beach’s catalog.
SteelSeries’ spin on the wireless transmitter is easily one of the coolest and most useful I’ve seen. The box has a built-in OLED that’s ready to walk you through the set up process once the transmitter’s powered on. Setting up a wireless gaming headset may look intimidating to novices due to all the connections that come in box, but SteelSeries’ helpful wireless transmitter instructions helps remove that potential barrier. It’s far superior to the Astro A50′s light-based system.
A slot in the SteelSeries H Wireless Headset’s right side lets you charge the spare battery, so there’s always juice to power the wireless handshake. It’s this attention to detail that makes SteelSeries — and the Wireless H Headset — shine as hardcore products for hardcore gamers. Note: If you’re using a Mac, PC, or PlayStation console, you can simply use the included USB cable to power the wireless transmitter – a power adapter isn’t required.
My gaming laptop doesn’t support optical game audio connections, so I resorted to linking my PC to the wireless transmitter using USB at the wireless transmitter’s prompting. I was a bit miffed that my machine didn’t have the connection, because Dolby Digital’s 7.1 virtual surround sound optical audio is incredible. I “settled” for Dolby Headphone and Dolby Pro Logic IIx technologies instead. More on that later in this review.
Selecting sources is as simple as turning the wireless transmitter’s large volume knob to cycle through options and then pushing in the knob to make your pick (there’s also a button that lets you go back to a previous menu screen). If you select a setup that uses different connections for the game audio and chat channels, ChatMix and LiveMix – technologies that balance in-game and voice audio, either manually or automatically, respectively – are enabled. If you select a setup that uses game audio and chat on the same channel, however, the technologies are disabled.
When ChatMix and LiveMix are active, you can press and hold the headphone’s volume wheel to activate the wireless transmitter’s menu system and tweak the game/vocals without touching the box — boss. My time with the SteelSeries H Wireless Headset included lots of multiplayer gaming and Skype chat, but not once did game sound override voice sound or vice versa. A retractable mic in the left cup lets you taunt others on the digital battlefield. It’s barely noticeable when tucked away.
The headset itself features large pads that encase your ears. I wore the headset for extended periods and didn’t suffer the ear fatigue that sometimes comes with wearing large headphones. That said, I would’ve liked a tad more headband padding. After an hour or so I started to feel the headset resting on the top of my skull. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was noticeable.
When removed, the glossy black plate built into the left earcup reveals a battery slot that you can use to hot swap batteries at any time. Popping a battery into the wireless transmitter reveals the battery’s charge level as it powers up. A Share port on the bottom of the right earcup let me share the sounds with another person after I removed the small, rubber cap and plugged in another headset. A friend soon co-grooved to the sounds of Portishead’s Roseland NYC Live album. Plugging the mobile cable into the Share jack transforms the wireless headset into a wired headset.
All the aforementioned features are fine and dandy, but they would mean nothing if the SteelSeries H Wireless Headset didn’t deliver quality audio. Fortunately, it does. Sound effects were crisp and lively, and the heavy thumps caused by explosions conveyed the danger of the situation in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. The 7.1 virtual surround sound simulated bullets whizzing past my head in shooters, and placed sound effects in their appropriate locations within the audio environment.
One expects that in a virtual surround sound gaming headset, but what impressed me were the little audio moments that I’d never heard in a game, like the barking dogs in a King of Fighters XIII stage and the strong voices in Ninja Blade. The same feeling washed over me as when I first donned my Astro A50 cans — this is next-level gaming headset audio. The SteelSeries H Wireless Headset improves the music listening experience, too. Tracks from The Roots, Sam the Butcher, and Res bounced with head-bobbing energy. Even classic tracks that I’ve listened to since my youth sounded fresh. Some may find issue with the volume — it doesn’t really crank to ear-splitting levels — but I was more than satisfied with the loudness. Note: Like the Astro A50, the SteelSeries H lacks active noise-canceling, but the padded cups seal off a certain amount of ambient noise.
All in all, gamers with a thirst for excellent audio should pick up the SteelSeries H Wireless Headset. It’s super-simple to set up and the audio quality ranks with the likes of Astro Gaming and Turtle Beach. The price is hefty — it costs as much as a Nintendo Wii U console — but video game audio mavens will appreciate the product.
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You can buy the SteelSeries H Wireless Headset at SteelSeries.com for $299.