USB Sound

These headphones are marketed as a USB headset, but the headphones themselves
are not. They are standard headphones with a plug for the microphone and another
for the speakers. In order to use the set on USB you need to make use of the
USB sound card which is provided with the package. The USB set uses Xear 3D
sound technology, which is optimized for 3D gaming. It also offers a virtual
7.1 channel sound field which will allow you to get a 7.1 feel from your 2 speaker
headset. The quality of it isn’t bad at all.

The drivers that come with the unit are for powering this USB sound card. Installing
the drivers was straight-forward, although I did find it annoying that it required
a reboot and offered no way to put if off until later. Once it is set up, the
software will kick in whenever you plug the sound card into the USB port (although on one occasion it did not and I could not figure out why). A
little taskbar icon will show up and you can click it to enter the configuration
GUI. From there you can control volume, adjust the sound with the equalizer,
adjust the sound type used, and even arrange karaoke. I played around with the
equalizer for a bit. The preset settings aren’t very good at all. I’m a big
jazz guy and when I tried some jazz using the preset jazz settings for the equalizer,
it was a joke. However, you can customize the settings to your liking and make
it sound pretty good.

One thing that I did find a bit annoying was that I got a consistent low hum
from the speakers when plugged into this sound card. I’m not exactly sure what
the cause was. When the headphones were plugged into my normal sound card directly, I got no such hum.

All in all, the USB sound card is a nice touch. Some may be hesitant to add yet another piece of hardware to their collection. However, a USB sound card gives flexibility that you can carry around with you to any computer. Even if the PC you are using has no sound card, you can plug this into it and use your headphones. Also, being that this card is packaged with the headset, Steel has optimized the two to work together. Besides, using USB can make plugging your headphones in a lot easier if you have front-mounted USB ports. Reaching around to the back of the PC can get old very quickly.

Conclusion

All in all, I like these headphones. They are marketed toward gamers and, in my opinion, the sound algorithms used seem to be more tailored for gaming than for music. However, it is all easily adjustable and the headphones can be made to sound good for all applications. Sound quality is good, and the USB sound card is a nice touch for flexibility. The real kick in the knockers, though, is the price. The standard headphones (no USB card) will set you back $119.99 retail. The USB version we are reviewing is $139.99. They certainly are not cheap, but at the same time, you get what you pay for. I bought my Bose set for $249, and it could be argued you are paying more for Bose’s marketing than their sound quality. While my Bose set certainly sounds fantastic, it takes a fine-tuned ear to sense the differences between them and the Steel Sound 5H, and the 5H costs roughly half the price.

If you can part with $140 and are looking for a great pair of "cans", the Steel Sound 5H is a nice investment.