By: Aaron Lai
April 10, 2015
You have probably heard the old saying, "Third time is the charm". This refers to the fact, generally speaking, the third attempt of anything will produce the best chance of success. People will have learned from their past two trials and would also still have enough motivation to take a third go before giving up. This is a similar situation for electronics. The initial product released is like an experimental run, where the manufacturer starts with a their foundation. Manufacturers could be the most creative here, since they do not have external restrictions. The second product is then an improvement of the first, based on feedback from their customers. Since feedback can include vast, numerous changes, their second product may only focus on refinement, rather than innovation. So when a third iteration is released, the manufacturer should know what their customers want by now, and they can add a few extras. Of course, some manufacturers may quit after one or two failures, especially if they cannot fund their losing effort. Thankfully, this is not the case with SteelSeries and their headset lineup. Today we have the third iteration in the SteelSeries Siberia line, the V3 Prism. Back in 2006, Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Kwan reviewed the original Icemat Siberia. Since then, Icemat and SteelSeries became one brand, and they released the second version of the Siberia in 2010. Both of their past headsets, especially their second version, were positively received by the general public, so I can only wonder what SteelSeries has up their sleeves with the V3 Prism. Does the SteelSeries Siberia V3 Prism fit in with the rest of the lineup or, better yet, does it rise above? Let us read on to find out!
Today's review unit of the SteelSeries Siberia V3 Prism arrived from SteelSeries' offices down in South Gate, California. This parcel traveled up north to our APH Networks location here in Calgary, Alberta via UPS Standard. While you can see the box itself looks like it took some slight crush damage, the box is still fully intact. There are no holes, deep scratches, or additional dents to speak of, so I grabbed my scissors and opened up the corrugated cardboard box.
Inside the shipping container is the review product itself, cushioned with some brown packing paper. There also is a shipping slip to notify us of the contents, but of course we already knew what was coming. As for the SteelSeries Siberia V3 Prism, the retail container is displayed in the photo above. SteelSeries maintains the overall black and orange color scheme we have seen with many of their products, as well as a similar box design. The Siberia name is printed in all capital letters on the top left corner, with the specific model name underneath. The front shows a left profile of the headset, with an orange glow emitting from the earcup. In the top right corner there are some small specifications or features listed, with even more printed on the back of the panel. Everything you see is actually printed on a sleeve which wraps an orange box, so we slid the sleeve off to get to the Siberia V3 Prism.
Before we continue, let us first peruse the specifications, as obtained from the manufacturer's website:
Headphones
- Frequency Response: 10 – 28000 Hz
- Impedance: 35 Ohm
- Sensitivity: 80 dB
- SPL@1kHz, 1V rms: 102dB
- Cable Length: 1.5 m (5 ft.)
- Connection Type: USB
Microphone
- Frequency Response: 50 – 16000 Hz
- Pick Up Pattern: Unidirectional
- Sensitivity: -42 dB
Compatibility
- Windows and Mac OS X®
- Playstation®
Inside the box, you will find two things. One is the SteelSeries Siberia V3 Prism, sitting in a plastic shell. For our unit, we received the black V3 Prism, but a white model is also available at press time. The cable has a USB plug end covered by a plastic cap, and the wire is bundled by a piece of plastic and some tape. The second thing is a small black envelope, which contains a user guide to start using the V3 Prism. The nice thing about the manual is the lack of words, as this is all picture based. It kind of reminds me of the IKEA manuals they use for assembly, but thankfully no assembly is required here. A more in-depth installation and usage manual is available from SteelSeries' website. With the unboxing complete, let us take a closer look at the headset itself.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
