SteelSeries 5Hv3 Gaming Headset Review

Subjective Listening: Music, Movies, and Games

Not everyone hears the same as each other. Peoples ears are different and preferences dictate our style. While the SteelSeries 5Hv3 sounds only average at best, there will be those who want good enough and thats something to be respected. The subjective listening tests in our reviews not only compare the product with other gaming headsets, but also audiophile grade headphones. Those who dont regularly listen with higher-end equipment may not notice the sound quality deficiencies we are able to notice.

Music

The 5Hv3 is heavily dependent on the quality of the output source and as a result can sound terrible or decent. Overall, these arent great music headphones. The sound characteristic can be described with well-defined highs, underpowered and hollow sounding bass, and moderate detail at all frequencies. Compared to better headphones, the 5Hv3 lacks impact and energy. Just about every song from every genre tried with this headset resulted in disappointment.

To be particularly nit-picky, long decay on the mid-tones muddies the overall sound and impacts instrument separation. Decay is amount of time it takes for the vibrations to stop after a sound has stopped. This is normal to all headphones, but better headphones will more correctly sequester or lengthen the time the drivers vibrate at certain frequencies.

Movies

The 5Hv3 generally does well with movie audio playback. Despite not having a sound characteristic optimal for a variety of music, the 5Hv3s tuning for gaming makes it adept at emphasizing vocals and most environmental effects, even if doesnt always reproduce those sounds accurately. Speech sounds are sharp, sometimes or oftentimes too sharp that words that end in sh will loudly hiss back.

The stereo soundstage is remarkably wide. Dual-channel audio fluidly moved between left and right ear and stereo positioning had a good amount of emulated distance.

Games

Surprisingly, the 5Hv3 didnt recreate gaming audio as well as expected. Taking Battlefield 4 Beta as an example running sounds, enemy footsteps, character dialog had very good clarity and positioning. However, impactful effects such as bullets and environmental destruction were not impactful. The last point is important because the game atmosphere feels less lively and is an important consideration for those who like to hear explosive combat.

Microphone

The microphones sound quality is more than passable and users definitely wont need to yell to make themselves audible. Its definitely not studio quality, but it gets the job done for gaming and casual voice chat. The bendable boom and unidirectional pattern are hugely valuable for the sake of usability.