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fully private click now to learn more the steel series 9h is the direct
replacement for the much maligned 7h which delivered fantastic sound for a
gaming headset but was let down by one fatal flaw the micro USB connection that
it used on the bottom of the ear cup was just too Fragile the 98 looks to improve
in every way on the 7h by delivering better sound with updated tournament
grade drivers and by using steel series's newer proprietary connector to
break out into standard analog connectors included in the package
you'll get the headset itself a USB sound card which I'll talk about more in
the software portion of the review a short cable that attaches actually quite
securely to the left ear cup and has an inline volume wheel and mic mute button
although the mic mute button is something I'd like to see integrated into the ear cup at this price but I
guess we can't have everything you get an extension cable that has the same
really nice black and orange sleeving and two 3 and 1 12 mm analog connector
choices that let you use the headset with almost anything a four pole for
mobile devices and Ultrabooks and two separate three Poes for a more typical
PC the 9 HS are quite light a
characteristic that I normally associate with cheapness but their build quality
is actually a strong point the heads set uses metal in the joints between the
headband and the ear cup and the pleather that steel series is using in
their new products is Head and Shoulders
above the rubbish included on something like the Audio Technica m50s the foam in
the ear cup is plush and thick and the headb band uses a cloth cover and has
actual gaps in the foam to make sure that it's both cushiony and breathable
unlike the cross fades it doesn't really put this uh workmanship on display
though and the 9 H's have a very subdued overall look to them as if they're
trying really really hard not to stand out in fact only a little bit of subtle
orange stitching and a chromed Accent on the side reveals that this might be a
premium product now if you compare directly to audio file headphones at the
same price the 9h is up against some pretty tough competition theota cross
Fades with the first party boom mic accessory can be had for about the same
price and while you won't get a microphone or or a USB sound card or
anything like that the legendary Audio Technica ATM 50s are also available at
this price all right so to begin with I used the included sound card for all
side by-side listening tests instead of my objective two because it felt unfair
to not utilize an accessory that actually looks like a pretty solid value
I also did not enable either Dolby headphone or prologic 2 because I don't
really care for them but hey they're included if you like virtual surround so
that's another value ad if you do happen to like that I burned in all the
headphones and listened to my usual mix of top 40 music and Twitch TV streams
switching back and forth between the headphones as quickly as I could to keep
the sound of the previous unit as fresh in my mind as possible so with that out
of the way the 9 HS are musically a pretty solid performer they're base
heavier than I'm used to seeing from steel series and definitely sounded a
bit boomy with less control in the low range compared to the m50s but they also
delivered a much Fuller base experience than the m50s can even if you were to
try to EQ them up the mids and highs also lacked detail in a very noticeable
way compared to the m50s something that bothered me in music but not nearly as
much in games and it's all going to come down to what you're after the m50s are
very popular but they're not for everyone they are accurate but they're
made for Studio monitoring rather than entertainment and have a very flat
response curve something I used to prefer but no longer really find myself
preferring compared to the Cross Fades I couldn't quite put my finger on it the
cross Fades had more oomph in the low end and a similar lack of fine control
over that low end but they had slightly better Clarity in the higher ranges but
then that felt somewhat overpowered by The increased boominess and I think
while at this price I'd be happy with either um I very slightly preferred the
9 hes in terms of sound quality but one
advantage for the votas is that with their fashionable yes you can wear these
out of the house look and solid construction they're a very strong
competitor for the 9 H's next was my gaming test and for that I focused on
the multiplayer FPS dujour Titanfall
which really helped me see where steel series was going with the boier sound
signature even if I wish it had a bit more control if the intended use of this
headset is more than 30% gaming then it's starting to look like the 9 H's are
a very solid option because sound effects
really go for lack of a better word
finally the 98 uses a closed ear cup design and noise isolation is fairly
solid and while I'm not sure how much their double enclosure technology is
contributing to it I can say that they are competitive with the m50s in this
regard and that's a pretty that's a pretty solid overall place to be the
software is where steel Series has really stepped up in the last few years
the USB sound card updated its firmware in a matter of seconds after I plugged
it in and their engine software automatically detected my new peripheral
and dumped me into the Configuration utility very seamless from there I could
play with EQ Dolby settings volume control side tone or self-monitoring of
your own mic stream to avoid those awkward oops I left my mic on moments
and two fantastic mic settings compression and noise cancellation which
I'll use for my microphone test the microphone is retractable and
is easy to position
correctly the microphone is retractable and easy to position
correctly the microphone is retractable and is easy to position
correctly so in conclusion the decision to buy or not to buy will as it always
is with headphones be one of personal preference the software is functional
and easy to use the build quality is very strong and the sound quality is
good but it's still a tough choice the 9 HS are really good but we can't ignore
other good products in this price range Corsair's Vengeance 2100 lacks some
features by comparison and doesn't sound as good to my ears but is Wireless the
cross Fades might be preferable if you want to wear them outside and many
people will enjoy the improved accuracy of the m50s even if it costs them some
immersiveness and a microphone and any
of the other you know gaming oriented features like the nice short cord so you
can plug into your front connectors with extensions and stuff like that versus
being stuck with a super long cord that's actually quite heavy all the time
so there it is they're good headphones and they do what they say they're going
to do at a fair price so if you don't mind the proprietary connectors and you
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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