INTRODUCTION

   If things go as they should and all game publishers manage to roll-out their latest PC titles as planned 2015 may just turn out to be a great year for gamers around the world. The list of PC games scheduled for release in 2015 is very long but some of them really stand out like Grand Theft Auto 5, The Witcher 3, Batman Arkham Knight, Battlefield Hardline, Call Of Duty 12, EVE Valkyrie, Mad Max, World of Warships, Star Wars Battlefront, Entropy, Just Cause 3, Dreadnought, Galactic Civilizations 3, HomeWorld Remastered and Carmageddon: Reincarnation because let’s face it, gamers have been waiting for them for quite some time now (HomeWorld Remastered, Carmageddon Reincarnation and Grand Theft Auto 5 especially for many years now). Unfortunately whereas titles like EVE Valkyrie require players to spend a nice amount of money on VR headsets like the Occulus Rift just to be able to play (unless this changes until launch that is - we hope it does) the rest require the usual gaming peripherals for the best possible experience. Headsets are particularly important when playing games and the latest Siberia Elite Prism virtual surround sound headset by SteelSeries should be all you've ever wanted and then some.

   SteelSeries is a gaming brand that leads the market in building peripherals with quality, innovation and purpose. The company’s passion has been the driving force behind many first-to-market innovations and technologies that continue to become the industry standard and have-to-have requirements of gamers. The global brand continues to support the growth of competitive gaming tournaments and electronic sports leagues through professional team sponsorships, partnerships and community support. The company surrounds itself with the passion and the commitment to being the best. It is with this mentality that SteelSeries chooses to partner with some of world’s most respected and recognized brands that work together to push the growth and evolution of the gaming industry into an even greater proposition.

   The Siberia Elite Prism is not entirely new since it's basically an upgrade over the excellent Siberia Elite SteelSeries released in late 2013 so once again we find the same design featuring a retractable microphone, suspension headband, very large foam cushions (although painted dark grey), dual control dials and colorshift illumination on the exterior of both earcups. SteelSeries however used a new USB sound card model and did improve the specifications of the headset so although the new 50mm drivers share the same exact frequency response of 16Hz-28KHz with 32Ohm impedance as the old ones their sensitivity has been moved up to 120dB something which we all welcome since that should result to better/easier driver response. However the uni-directional microphone is what SteelSeries has changed quite a bit compared to the original Siberia Elite since it's entirely new so although it features noise cancelling technology like is predecessor it now has a frequency response of 100Hz-10KHz (as opposed to the 75Hz-16KHz of the original) with impedance of 2.2kOhm (same as the original) and -44dB sensitivity (the original had -38dB). This is indeed a little strange since the new microphone seems to be a step down from the old one but SteelSeries never leaves anything to luck. Of course the real question is whether or not the new Siberia Elite Prism is better compared to its predecessor the original Siberia Elite so let's find out for ourselves.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

A large product picture, the product name and the compatible devices take most of the front of the box.

You can take a quick look at how the illumination LEDs look like from a picture placed on the left side.

The features are listed and showcased with a product picture at the rear.

Once again you can find the sticker with the specifications of the product at the base of the box.

SteelSeries has placed the headset inside a formed piece of plastic (the rest of the bundle sits beneath it).

The box contains the Siberia Elite Prism gaming headset, USB sound card, user manual, sticker, 2m extension cable, 3.5mm mini jack adapter and a mobile (2x3.5mm) adapter.

THE STEELSERIES SIBERIA ELITE PRISM

If we were to place the original Siberia Elite gaming headset right next to the Siberia Elite Prism model the only visible difference would be the dark grey colored earpads/cushions (and that's just in the white version). Size remains the same and as for weight the new model is slightly lighter at 395g (the original was 410g).

Once again we used the REVO Wireless by Jabra to showcase just how large (or small) the headset in our hands is and just like the original the Siberia Elite Prism is quite large.

SteelSeries has once again placed their logo on the exterior of both earcups.

The large disc on the exterior of the left earcup is used to mute/unmute the headset (front/back rotation) while the one on the exterior of the other earcup can adjust the volume.

Although the specifications of the retractable uni-directional microphone have changed it's still as flexible as ever.

Another similarity between the old and new is this 3.5mm port on the base of the right earcup which allows you to share whatever it is you're listening to with another person (using another headset obviously).

Aside being dark grey in color the new earpads/cushions also have the company name printed inside.

The headpad is painted black (as opposed to white in the original version) but still features 6 small foam filled cushions.

On the exterior of the suspension headband we see the company name and logo.

The new USB sound card is placed in the same enclosure as the previous one and can also be used either via the 3.5mm jacks or the mini USB port.

As expected all 3.5mm connectors are gold plated just like with the original Siberia Elite.

STEELSERIES ENGINE 3

For some weird reason SteelSeries decided to forward people onto a dedicated webpage for their Engine 3 software instead of their usual support page so this is where you need to go to download it (steelseries.com/engine).

After you install and launch the software it will detect any available firmware updates and will then apply them if you want (this takes roughly a minute to complete).

Well not much new to see here since although SteelSeries has tweaked the settings of their Engine 3 control software quite a bit since the release of the original Siberia Elite they haven't really added new ones so once again through here you can create/modify/delete configurations/profiles, setup the illumination color and effects, enable/disable the Dolby virtual surround function, adjust the equalizer or use one of the 11 available presets and you can also configure the microphone sensitivity, clarity and accuracy.

Here you can see 4 different colors on the left ring, looks nice right?

CONCLUSION

   When you receive the newest version of a product which you reviewed in the past the first thing you need to do is check and see how much better it is and that's exactly the very first thing we did. Unfortunately the original SteelSeries Siberia Elite is no longer with us but having spent the better part of a month with it back then some things are easy to remember. So let's start with build quality. Here SteelSeries hasn't really changed anything since both units are identical, they did however change the color of the earpads/cushions from white to dark grey (which means less discoloration after many uses), increased the inner opening to allow for larger ears to fit, reduced its weight from 410g to 395g (with the 1.2m cable included) and even tweaked the suspension system to make it more loose and relaxed. This may not be the best thing especially for people with small heads but i at least for us the new tweaks add to the overall comfort of the headset. Moving to noise isolation things here are very good but could get even better since we've used headsets in the past which didn't leak sound at all, in or out. This of course is not a drawback since 90% of the headsets out there (perhaps even more) are either just as good or worse in this area but we just had to point this out. The microphone was also a surprise since judging solely by its specifications i was expecting worse results compared to the one used in the original Siberia Elite but in the end that wasn't the case since most people we used it with during online games and Skype calls reported clear and crisp reception so bravo to SteelSeries for that. As for the most important aspect of a headset which is audio quality SteelSeries did a wonderful job there as well especially in games and movies since the new USB sound card paired with the new drivers delivered crisp and accurate audio with a very good amount of bass. Volume levels could be better i have to admit but the audio clarity is simply put superb and certainly better compared to the original Siberia Elite. Does that mean you should move from the Siberia Elite to the Siberia Elite Prism? Well I’d say that depends from what your requirements are but personally i don't think i would. Sure the Siberia Elite Prism is better but not enough to justify spending that much for those improvements.

   The Siberia Elite Prism gaming headset by SteelSeries was released at the same exact price as its predecessor so once again you can find it for USD199 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 139Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de - limited offer). Now as you can see inside the EU currently there's a very good offer by Amazon.de so I’d call that price a bargain but just like with the original Siberia Elite the price in the USA might just feel high to some people. However there are several things one needs to take into account and from the superior build quality, very nice design, excellent comfort and up to the very detailed Engine 3 control panel and the crystal clear and accurate audio the Siberia Elite Prism has it all. So is this the perfect gaming headset? Certainly not since if you are looking for just perfect audio quality there are headsets that cost many times as much and offer better results. Still since the SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism does come really close it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Superb Build Quality
- Design
- Excellent Audio Quality (Crisp And Accurate Mids/Highs)
- Powerful Bass Levels
- 7.1 Virtual Dolby Surround USB Sound Card (For Some)
- Extremely Comfortable
- Noise-Cancelling Uni-Directional Retractable Microphone
- Volume & Microphone Controls
- Colorshift Illumination
- Tangle-Free Cable
- Extra 3.5mm Output
- Engine 3 Control Software
- Single 3.5mm & Dual 3.5mm Cables
- Extension Cable
- Current Price (EU)

CONS

- Current Price (USA)