Many a pro gamer or pro gamer wannabe wouldn’t be caught dead at a LAN party without a Steelpad mousepad. Now, the company responsible for this fragging accessory is turning its attention to the headset market. Will the Steel Sound 5H USB headset raise your gaming abilities to “pro” levels? No—that part is still up to you. But it can help.

The headset is very lightweight, despite its somewhat bulky size. It’s comfortable to wear for long periods of time, thanks to generous padding on the ears and connecting band. A retractable, flexible mic housed in the left ear cup performed flawlessly in our tests with Battlefield 2 and Counter-Strike Source. And the included 7-foot extension cord makes it possible to use the headset with just about any conceivable PC setup. Oh, and the set can be easily disassembled for quick and safe packing—a great feature for gamers on the go.

The 5H’s real claim to fame, though, is an onboard 3D audio DSP that makes the headset work much like an external USB-powered soundcard for notebook PCs. The included utility software can be used to tweak the DSP’s equalizer settings for specific games, so you can more easily hear footsteps in Counter-Strike, for example, or the plop of a grenade in BF2. (Default settings are geared for CS, based on input from several pro players.) The onboard DSP and ability to save custom profiles for your favorite games means you’ll get the exact same audio performance from any PC you plug the set into.

We love the Steel Sound’s ability to produce subtle positional audio effects—such as with enemy footsteps in Call of Duty—but we would have liked to hear a bit more bass response; big explosions lacked some oomph. Still, for even the average Joe who wants a leg up on the competition, the 5H is a solid choice for an all-around gaming headset, albeit at a not-so-average price.
—Steve Klett

Month Reviewed: Holiday 2005

Verdict: 9

www.steelpad.com

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