SteelSound 3H Headset
www.SteelSeries.com
Price: $49.95 (Direct from Steel Online Shop)

A few weeks we took a look at SteelSeries SteelSound 5Hv2 Headset that amazed us for comfort and gaming. Now SteelSeries has upped their offering with two brand new headsets, both aimed at gamers but that also can be used for music listening.

The SteelSound 3H is a interesting new headset that comes away from the styling of the 4H and 5Hv2 for a more compact design. It also comes in as SteelSeries current cheapest headset at $49.95.

Like the 4H, the 3H comes in a blister style packaging with a cardboard backer. It is not quite as nice as the 5Hv2's fine packaging, but still is very visually appealing.

As soon as I pulled the 3H out of the box I was very impressed and could not wait to get it fired up and begin testing. I absolutely love the small size and the way it folds. It also has a more studio look to it mainly because of its headband. The portability of the 3H over the full size headsets like the 4H and 5Hv2 makes it much easier to bring with you which excited me.

Than came the issue that frankly is my reasoning for giving the 3H a 3 out of 5 rating, the comfort. Unlike the 4H and 5Hv2, for the 3H SteelSeries went for a on ear earpiece. This means that the headset rests on your ear instead of cupping it like the 4H and 5Hv2 do. This leads to more pressure being put on your ear and thus less comfort. There also is a bit less noise isolation in this design. Besides the shape of the earpieces and the on ear design, the rest of the headset is quite comfortable. The headband consists of two support bands and then one comfort vinyl like band that sits below the supports. This band sits on your head and provides a surprising amount of comfort. Like the 5Hv2 the 3H features a plastic adjustment piece and offers a fair amount of travel and flexibility in the ear pieces.

Also similar to the 5Hv2 and now the 4H, the 3H includes a pull out microphone system in the left earpiece. This system worked very well on the 5Hv2 and continues to work well on the 3H. The microphone is on a flexible boom that is easy to put where you want. The boom on the 3H is a bit thinner though and does not always stay in place as well as on the 4H and 5Hv2. It works for the occasional use, but tends to get a bit annoying if you want to use it all the time since it does move around quite a bit. When not in use, the microphone slips away into hiding and out of your way.

As far as microphone quality, it sounds pretty much the same as the 5Hv2 and 4H which means it is decent and should work great for VoIP and even the occasional podcasting.

Unlike the 4H and 5Hv2, the 3H features no inline remote and uses a different end cord layout. At the end there is a much beefier Y that splits into the microphone and headset connectors. Very confusing to me is that unlike on the 4H and 5Hv2, SteelSeries decided to use much cheaper looking connectors that are red and black with no labeling on them. This means that they do not color code to the ports on your PC and there is also no way to tell which is which easily without first looking it up or doing some guessing and checking (for the record black is headset and red is the microphone). The cord on the 3H is also back to the standard plastic cord as on the 4H, but for some reason is much thicker and heavier gauge. This might be annoying for some but I tended to like it in testing as it did not want to get tangled as easily.

Now on to the part most have been looking for, the Audio Tests! To get a fair comparison I used my 4G iPod Photo and PC with a 3 way audio boosted splitter to have all three headsets (5Hv2, 4H, and 3H) hooked up at the same time and to the same source.

To start off I did some game playing, BF2142, BF2, and Half Life 2 to be exact. As found before, the 5Hv2 continued to boost high sounds (footsteps, movement, etc. in games) and make it much easier to detect people around you in games. The sacrifice to this is that the bass response is lacking a bit compared to other headsets on the market. In using the 4H, I noticed a very similar sound as the 5Hv2 in that it boosted high sounds and lacked a bit in the bass department. The 3H is like using a different beast all together. The 3H is tuned much more to the bass side and seems to be more for music listening. Since the 3H seems to be based on more bass, it does not offer the same response to high sounds in games and in my opinion is not as good for gaming as the 4H and 5Hv2.

Next I did some music tests by using songs with bass (some rap), songs with more acoustical and defined sounds (rock), and finally some classical pieces. As to be expected based on the results from using the headsets while gaming, the 5Hv2 offers little bass response but does offer a very clear sound. Sometimes though the 5Hv2 will tend to make you feel a bit like sounds are farther away (in music that is). The 4H with its more mixed look on highs and bass offers a bit more bass and tends to not have the far away effect that the 5Hv2 can give you in music. Coming in as the beast of a different nature, the 3H brings the music right to your ear and really lets you feel the bass compared to the 5Hv2 and 4H. The 3H is also a bit louder in volume than the other two headsets which music listeners should enjoy.

The final part I wanted to touch on is a photo comparison of the three headsets (5Hv2, 4H, 3H).

(headsets from left to right 5Hv2, 4H, 3H)

(headset cords from left to right 3H, 4H, 5Hv2)

Overall the 3H is a good headset that for me is let down by its on ear design that makes it uncomfortable to wear for any length of time. I really liked the compact design though and the sound response was tuned much more to music listeners and more bass than the 4H and 5Hv2. If SteelSound is looking for a new headset to design, I would love to see the 3H sound in a over the ear ("ear cup") design as the 4H and 5Hv2 are. Ear piece aside though, the 3H is an awesome headset that is small and offers big sound for the budget limited buyer.

Pros:

• Great Bass
• Small Portable Design
• Heavier Gauge Cord

Cons:

• Comfort! The on ear design is very uncomfortable for me and others that I had try it
• Connectors are not color coded or labeled?

Thanks to SteelSeries for the review sample.