If you into gaming and LANs then you know that headphones are pretty much an essential part of that whole scene. Or if you’re like me and have a wife and kids, then well, a set of headphones is pretty much a requirement to do any sort of gaming late at night. Steelseries is known around the world for their gaming gear and today for review I have their Steelsound 3h headphones. The Steelsound 3h headphones are tagged as an entry level type gaming headphone that are affordable, portable and very well made…
SteelSeries Steelsound 3H Headphones
Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio
Sponsor: SteelSeries
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
SteelSeries Steelsound 3H Headphones
SteelSeries 3H highlights:
– Foldable/collapsible lightweight gaming headset
– Retractable non-directional microphone system
– Comfortable to use, easy to transport
– Developed in cooperation with professional gamers
– Strong bass for optimal in-game sound projection
– Optimized for RTS and MMO games
– 40mm SteelSound SunDancer(LCP) Units
With it’s foldable design the SteelSeries 3H is easy to transport and the small size also means that the headset is very light weight – the headset is hardly noticeable when the sound start playing. A strong bass and crystal clear sound will help you determine where you can expect the next encounter with your enemy.
All headsets from SteelSeries are optimized for specific sounds found in gaming, like the sound of gunfire, weapon reloads, footsteps and other crucial in-game sounds. That’s why professional gamers all over the world use it. We’re sure you will enjoy it too, whether you’re an aspiring competitive gamer or just want to fully immersive yourself in your gaming experience.
We recommend SteelSeries 3H for RTS and MMO-gamers.
Specifications for SteelSeries 3H:
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Headphones:
– Frequency response: 10 – 27.000 Hz
– Impedance: 50 Ohm
– SPL@1kHz, 1Vrms: 102dB
– Cable: 2 meters (6.5 feet)
Microphone:
– Frequency response: 50 – 18.000 Hz1
– Pick up pattern: Non-directional
– Sensitivity: -40 dB
– Impedance: 2.2K Ohm
Buy SteelSeries 3H directly from SteelSeries
(EUR: 39.95 USD: 49.95 DKK: 299.00 + shipping)
A Better Look at Things
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The SteelSeries Steelsound 3h headphones come in a semi clamshell package, with the front being plastic and the back being cardboard, fairly easy to open as well.
On the front of the package we can see the headphones and a couple pictures, while the back has all the specs and features listed along with endorsements from popular gaming clans.
Opening the package we can see the Steelsound 3h headphones in their folded position, this is good for storage and transportation. Included with the 3h headphones is a brief instruction manual, catalog and an advertisement for SteelSecurity products.
The headphones themselves are solid black in color, mostly made of plastic with hinges on the headband and earpieces and mounts.
The Steelsound 3h headphones use the standard headphones jacks, making them compatible with pretty much every computer and a lot of portable devices as well.
There is only one cord that comes out of the right ear piece, so no need to worry about tangles. The steelsound logo is on each earpiece and there is a ‘R’ or ‘L’ there as well to indicate which ear the headphones go on.
The headband is sort of padded, the hard plastic part essentially floats over your head, while the flexible band is what rests on your head, this does actually make them more comfortable.
The right and left sides do features adjustable bars so you can change the size to fit your head comfortably.
One of the coolest parts of the Steelsound 3h headphones is the microphone, it is sort of hidden and pulls out when needed. The wire of the microphone is flexible yet firm allowing you to place it in the perfect position for whatever your needs and it will stay where you put it.
The actual headphones are very soft and well padded making them comfortable to wear.
The Steelsound 3h Headphones are very lightweight and feel fairly durable as well. They should last quite a while with not much worries about carrying them around in a LAN bag.
Installation, Testing and Comparison
For testing of course I got my game on…. Steelseries recommends the Steelsound 3h headphones for RTS and MMO gamers, I don’t do MMO (just no time) but I do like RTS games like C&C, LOTR and a few others. So I loaded up C&C and then LOTR and played a few rounds to see how the Steelsound 3h headphones sounded… I found them to be very good overall for this type of game with good reproduction of all the sounds, explosions, voices etc all sounded nice and clear.
I also wanted to try it with an FPS game so I loaded up BF2142 and played a few rounds there as well. I was impressed, the sound was great, and yes as advertised it was an immersive experience.
Being an entry level set of headphones I really didn’t expect much out of them, and they faired better than I expected for gaming…
So for gaming I can say the Steelsound 3h headphones are really good, not crystal clear but very good for an entry level set of headphones.
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There is bass in the Steelsound 3h headphones but just not a booming bass, you’re not going to feel the explosions rattle your head, but you’ll know something exploded. Turning the bass levels up just caused distortions, but that’s bound to happen with most any speaker.
The microphone seemed clear and able to pick up my voice fine, but I found it did have to be fairly close to my mouth to pick everything up or I had to adjust the gain levels accordingly.
Other media is a bit of a different story, for movies the Steelsound 3h were pretty good, though I don’t really use headphones to watch movies, but they work well.
Now music, the Steelsound 3h Headphones just can’t cut it, at least for me. I consider myself sort of an amateur audiophile, I like my music and I like it to sound good. Playing music through the Steelsound 3h headphones just isn’t something that I can recommend if you have an ear for sound. I can only describe it as being muffled, the highs just weren’t very crisp, and the lows just not low. I played with various equalizer settings and still I just couldn’t get a good sound out of the Steelsound 3h headphones…
Summary:
The SteelSeries Steelsound 3h Headphones are an excellent entry level gaming product for those looking for quality gaming sounds. They are portable and very well made, they should last through many a frag session.
For gaming the Steelsound 3h headphones are great, for music, not so great, but then these are gaming headphones and not really sold for music. Personally though I like to be able to use one set of headphones for everything and not have to switch back and forth…
DragonSteelMods gives the SteelSeries Steelsound 3H Headphones a 4.5 out of 5 score.
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Pros:
-Lightweight
–Foldable/collapsible
-Long cord
-Hidden microphone
-Very comfortable to wear for long periods
Cons:
-Sound is sort of muffled, not crisp and clear
-Not really for music
I would like to thank for SteelSeries the chance to review the Steelsound 3H Headphones and for their continued support of DSM.
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