[section_title title=”Performance”]
Performance
Comfort
The 5H V3’s offer a snug fit that is tight but not to the extent that it feels uncomfortable. I had the arms extended by one ‘click’ each and it felt spot on for me. The earcups themselves are also shaped ever so slightly, rather than just round, and it can take a few seconds to twist them into place. I have quite prominent (read: big) ears so the shaped design wasn’t ideal in this regard and my left ear didn’t feel like it was in the cup how it should be.
The 5H V3 itself quite light, which is one of the best things to look for in a headset and shouldn’t be overlooked. Having used heavy headets in the past, I can tell you after extended periods your ears and the top of your head can ache and, thankfully, the 5H V3 avoids this. The in-line control also fell around my chest area which was convenient for volume adjustments and muting and I never found myself grabbing round for the control box.
One negative to the comfort of the 5H V3 for me was that, as closed-back headphones, my ears became hot and itchy after an hour or so of use. Individual tolerances may be able to deal with this better, but for me, I found myself grasping for the earcups to re-adjust and get some air to my ears. This isn’t an issue solely with the 5H V3, it’s just the nature of there not being ventilation for your ears.
Music
Music performance from the 5H v3 feels a bit inconsistent and clumsy. They don’t seem to produce the level of bass you’d expect from a closed back design and yet, depending on source, there is also a muddled overtone to the stuff I listened to. I primarily think this is down to the headphones being closed back by design and forcing a rather tight focus of sound rather than SteelSeries using poor components.
Arctic Monkey’s ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ didn’t have the right level of ‘thump’ to it I’ve come to expect and at the same time, nothing really stands out across the range, either. As i’ve said above, if it’s not a sense of a muddled sound it’s that everything is in the middle and not really reaching high or lows. Moving onto Laura Mvula on the rather average music effort presents itself here, too. ‘Green Garden’ lacks any sort of separation between the channels where I’m accustomed to distinctive clap. Instead, the whole aural range feels reigned in, on the up swing, the bass in ‘Green Garden’ was produced a lot better across the board than in ‘Do I Wanna Know?’
Gaming and Voice Chat
Battlefield 4 was of course the weapon of choice here and was a complete reversal of my experience in the music department. The 5H V3 really comes into their own. Sounds were precise, different and spatially engaging. Hiding in the warehouses and tunnels of the Zavod 311 map offered up a treat of gunfire, steps and voice-overs that were all clear, properly spaced out and informative. Explosions had the right amount of booms, gunfire and near misses the amount of crackle and highs. Even here in Battlefield 4, the closed back design didn’t give the impression that the sound was being restricted as a result, or more accurately, it feels like SteelSeries eschewed any sort of forced bass heavy-tuning to not affect overall sound. As I said, explosion sounded ‘right’ a not a Michael Bay distraction.
I also gave the 5H V3 a spin in Project CARS. There are no in-game settings for configuring specifically for a given sound setup so had to work with the default options. Engine sounds were nice and viscous whilst throwing the Pagani Huyra around the Monaco circuit with the headset producing a perfect sense of reverb whilst blasting through the landmark tunnel. I also did a lap sticking near the AI cars, too, and here positioning of the audio was great for immersion purposes.
The last game I tested was League of Legends. Although League of Legends doesn’t have that much of an extensive soundstage, character VO and effects are all clear with the 5H V3 which can help with competitiveness so you know who is firing off what ability around you. League is also a game that can be won or lost on co-ordination and chatting to a friend over Skype worked like a charm. Call quality was as good as my usual headphones and I heard no complaints about the mic from the person I was playing with. Voice and game sounds somehow managed a good distinction which music couldn’t and there was never a case where the person I was talking to was drowned out by in-game sounds.
Video
The first series of Game of Thrones was the material used to test the 5H V3. The opening credits sounded between the various instrument switches and as the levels built up with everything having a defined and recognisable edge to it. Again, this surprised me given how, comparatively, music was. In terms of the show itself, the first episode beyond The Wall offered up a treat where the frosty ambience wasn’t missed by the the 5H V3’s and dialogue was clear between the three rangers. Just before the opening fight-scene one of the swords being slid from its scabbard had a rousing, rusty aura to it which sounded great and the brief chase scene was equally as good.
How do I feel the performance stacks up with the whole product? Read on to find out.
