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Hotspot Shield service makes your internet browsing safer more secure and

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fully private click now to learn more the steel series 9h is the direct

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replacement for the much maligned 7h which delivered fantastic sound for a

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gaming headset but was let down by one fatal flaw the micro USB connection that

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it used on the bottom of the ear cup was just too Fragile the 98 looks to improve

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in every way on the 7h by delivering better sound with updated tournament

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grade drivers and by using steel series's newer proprietary connector to

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break out into standard analog connectors included in the package

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you'll get the headset itself a USB sound card which I'll talk about more in

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the software portion of the review a short cable that attaches actually quite

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securely to the left ear cup and has an inline volume wheel and mic mute button

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although the mic mute button is something I'd like to see integrated into the ear cup at this price but I

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guess we can't have everything you get an extension cable that has the same

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really nice black and orange sleeving and two 3 and 1 12 mm analog connector

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choices that let you use the headset with almost anything a four pole for

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mobile devices and Ultrabooks and two separate three Poes for a more typical

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PC the 9 HS are quite light a

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characteristic that I normally associate with cheapness but their build quality

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is actually a strong point the heads set uses metal in the joints between the

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headband and the ear cup and the pleather that steel series is using in

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their new products is Head and Shoulders

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above the rubbish included on something like the Audio Technica m50s the foam in

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the ear cup is plush and thick and the headb band uses a cloth cover and has

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actual gaps in the foam to make sure that it's both cushiony and breathable

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unlike the cross fades it doesn't really put this uh workmanship on display

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though and the 9 H's have a very subdued overall look to them as if they're

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trying really really hard not to stand out in fact only a little bit of subtle

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orange stitching and a chromed Accent on the side reveals that this might be a

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premium product now if you compare directly to audio file headphones at the

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same price the 9h is up against some pretty tough competition theota cross

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Fades with the first party boom mic accessory can be had for about the same

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price and while you won't get a microphone or or a USB sound card or

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anything like that the legendary Audio Technica ATM 50s are also available at

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this price all right so to begin with I used the included sound card for all

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side by-side listening tests instead of my objective two because it felt unfair

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to not utilize an accessory that actually looks like a pretty solid value

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I also did not enable either Dolby headphone or prologic 2 because I don't

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really care for them but hey they're included if you like virtual surround so

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that's another value ad if you do happen to like that I burned in all the

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headphones and listened to my usual mix of top 40 music and Twitch TV streams

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switching back and forth between the headphones as quickly as I could to keep

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the sound of the previous unit as fresh in my mind as possible so with that out

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of the way the 9 HS are musically a pretty solid performer they're base

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heavier than I'm used to seeing from steel series and definitely sounded a

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bit boomy with less control in the low range compared to the m50s but they also

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delivered a much Fuller base experience than the m50s can even if you were to

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try to EQ them up the mids and highs also lacked detail in a very noticeable

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way compared to the m50s something that bothered me in music but not nearly as

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much in games and it's all going to come down to what you're after the m50s are

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very popular but they're not for everyone they are accurate but they're

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made for Studio monitoring rather than entertainment and have a very flat

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response curve something I used to prefer but no longer really find myself

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preferring compared to the Cross Fades I couldn't quite put my finger on it the

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cross Fades had more oomph in the low end and a similar lack of fine control

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over that low end but they had slightly better Clarity in the higher ranges but

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then that felt somewhat overpowered by The increased boominess and I think

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while at this price I'd be happy with either um I very slightly preferred the

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9 hes in terms of sound quality but one

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advantage for the votas is that with their fashionable yes you can wear these

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out of the house look and solid construction they're a very strong

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competitor for the 9 H's next was my gaming test and for that I focused on

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the multiplayer FPS dujour Titanfall

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which really helped me see where steel series was going with the boier sound

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signature even if I wish it had a bit more control if the intended use of this

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headset is more than 30% gaming then it's starting to look like the 9 H's are

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a very solid option because sound effects

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really go for lack of a better word

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finally the 98 uses a closed ear cup design and noise isolation is fairly

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solid and while I'm not sure how much their double enclosure technology is

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contributing to it I can say that they are competitive with the m50s in this

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regard and that's a pretty that's a pretty solid overall place to be the

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software is where steel Series has really stepped up in the last few years

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the USB sound card updated its firmware in a matter of seconds after I plugged

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it in and their engine software automatically detected my new peripheral

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and dumped me into the Configuration utility very seamless from there I could

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play with EQ Dolby settings volume control side tone or self-monitoring of

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your own mic stream to avoid those awkward oops I left my mic on moments

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and two fantastic mic settings compression and noise cancellation which

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I'll use for my microphone test the microphone is retractable and

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is easy to position

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correctly the microphone is retractable and easy to position

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correctly the microphone is retractable and is easy to position

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correctly so in conclusion the decision to buy or not to buy will as it always

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is with headphones be one of personal preference the software is functional

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and easy to use the build quality is very strong and the sound quality is

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good but it's still a tough choice the 9 HS are really good but we can't ignore

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other good products in this price range Corsair's Vengeance 2100 lacks some

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features by comparison and doesn't sound as good to my ears but is Wireless the

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cross Fades might be preferable if you want to wear them outside and many

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people will enjoy the improved accuracy of the m50s even if it costs them some

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immersiveness and a microphone and any

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of the other you know gaming oriented features like the nice short cord so you

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can plug into your front connectors with extensions and stuff like that versus

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being stuck with a super long cord that's actually quite heavy all the time

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so there it is they're good headphones and they do what they say they're going

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to do at a fair price so if you don't mind the proprietary connectors and you

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like the look and the stuff I said about them in this video you'll be happy with the steel series 9h guys like and share

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this video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it and leave a comment on

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the lineus tech tips Forum Linked In the video description if you want to discuss this product you you want to know how

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much it costs and where to get it or you have any constructive criticism for me

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and my team also linked in the video description is our support link with

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options to buy T-shirts see I'm actually wearing one now give us a monthly

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contribution or give us a kickback whenever you buy random junk on

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amazon.com check it out if you enjoy our videos it helps us out a whole bunch and

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as always guys thanks for watching and don't forget to

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subscribe okay