[section_title title=Closer Look]Closer Look
Taking an overall look at the SteelSeries 9H gaming headset, which is all black and features orange inner ear padding/orange stitching which I love the look of to be honest; it has a very nice contrasting effect to it. The headband features a very soft padding which should ensure they are comfortable to the top of your head. The main material used in the production of the 9H is black hard plastic but aside from the plastic, it does have a very nice feel to it; weighty but not heavy.
On the left ear cup, we have the connection required to plug the 9H into which ever device/cable you need. There is a cable supplied to connect directly into the provided USB sound card and also adapters for plugging into an internal sound card; if you would rather make use of a higher end one. Also on top of that, there is an adapter for mobile devices and MP3 players etc. which I really do feel adds versatility to the 9H.
As previously mentioned, the majority of the headset is made from plastic and the headband is no different. It features the SteelSeries logo etched into the plastic with the logo on the left hand side; I think it looks quite nice actually.
The ear cups have a lush faux leather feel coating which include plenty of padding which should provide much comfort during use. One thing I do like is the orange stitching on the ear up; it adds a little external contrast as the orange inner ear padding won’t be seen when being worn etc.
Unlike the SteelSeries Siberia Elites, the 9H has a manually adjusted headband and unlike some cheaper headsets, I am glad to see SteelSeries have gone with a metal one; this not only adds to the build quality but assures me that it isn’t going to snap at any point. There are 2 screws firmly holding the mechanism in place and the overall design of the headband is good in my opinion.
The thing I like the most about the aesthetics of the headset is the part connecting the cups to the headband. It is made from plastic but it works really nicely in my opinion and I really do love the etched SteelSeries logo.
The 9H features a retractable microphone and as you can see from the picture, it doesn’t feature any foam to protect from spittle nor pops. I do however prefer pre-attached mics rather than removable microphones as there is no fear of losing which is already attached.
