Steelseries 9H Tournament Grade Gaming Headset
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2014-05-07
·
1,489 words · ~7 min read
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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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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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