SteelSeriesSiberia 200, Gaming Headset, Retractable Mic, Software Management, (PC / Mac / Playstation / Mobile) - White

If you are someone like me you want the best quality product you can but simply don't have the money, and therefor have to compromise somewhere along the line. This is the mid priced Siberia headset and what I consider a good compromise if you don't fancy selling a kidney.For £45 (at the time of writing) you get what I think are very important features such as:- Retractable mic - Clear enough for Skype, Teamspeak etc. The omni-directional mics of other versions have bad reviews, an adjustable mic such as this is a must if you play games like CSGO and want your team mates to hear you clearly. It very easily retractable and adjustable (like a bendy wire).- Long wire. Rubber textured (like vertical grooves). Feels durable. About 2m length. Having previously had a wireless headset I recommend a wired headset, nothing is worse than playing a game of CS with no sound because your headset ran out, even though you thought you charged it an hour ago. Note: the headset connects via audio and mic input not USB, meaning it doesn't use any Steelseries drivers/engine.- Volume control and mic mute on wire. Useful for adjusting volume and muting in game. Goes from entirely silent (Obviously) to holy s--t my eardrums are bleeding, in a fair few spins of the wheel though so you couldn't change it by accident. Headset volume control is independent of the PC volume control (as not connect via USB).- Fairly comfortable. I've worn more comfortable headphones, but all much more expensive. These cup your ears nicely though the inside can rub a little (I do have quite sensitive ears so this may not be a issue for others). Extensive use can make you ears feel hot as these are closed back. Overall, comfort is perfectly adequate but nothing special.- Audio Quality. Now this can be difficult to judge, different people have different preferences. I personally would say quality seems perfectly clear with a good mix of bass and treble. There's no feedback or noise. Sound could be said to feel less full and maybe less bass driven than some more expensive audio-production designed headsets but ... obviously the key word there is 'expensive'. I'm entirely happy about the audio quality and I'm sure any equalizer adjustments could be made on your computer to suit any person preference you may have.- Style ... Well make that judgement yourself, lets face it, as gamers our fashion sense isn't going to be great anyway. There's plenty of colours to suit your preference none the less.Conclusion (TL;DR): £45, has mic, emits sound waves, reputable brand.

Firstly I will address what is frankly the most important thing anyone should be looking for in a gaming headset - are they comfortable? In short - no. No they are not comfortable to wear.The ear cups are nice and thick but very shallow meaning the space between your head/ears/plastic inside the headset is quite small so you'll end up feeling that all too common throbbing ear pain and hot sensation. HOWEVER I found these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HWBJETW/ref=cfb_at_prodpgQuite simply these are meant to be a repair kit but conveniently they have a sticky backing to them which I peeled off and fixed to the original ear cups making them bigger (photo provided). This made a whole world of difference. Ever felt warm, soft cushiony breasts softly pressing against your ears? Well that's how this now feels! Not only is the pain now gone but somehow there is a slight vacuum sensation which you'll notice when you put them on and take them off. This also helps prevent outside noise from coming in (as I noticed that was also an issue)So - problem of the ear pain is now solved so on to the sound qualityOverall pretty damn decent. I've had some creatives, turtlebeach, G930's in the past and this lives up to the sound quality I expected. The bass is goooood and the left/right ratio sounds impressive. The 7.1 feels a bit odd though. Something not quite right so I don't often use that very much. Using it via the USB device (there's a thing you need to use but it IS optional) makes functions like lighting, 7.1 and a few other features work but you'll find the max sound volume drop but it's easily tolerated.Now for durability:These actually feel like construction materials to build houses. My old G930s and my turtlebeach felt like a wet paper bag flying through a tornado and they both broke within a short amount of time as I use headsets for a good 12h+ a day. These are really strong and sturdy. If I dropped these on the floor I'd be more concerned about house damage than headset damage so I'm pretty confident these will last a very long time.Adaptability:This headset can pretty much be plugged into all your devices which is nice. A few headsets out there will either be exclusive USB or the audio jack thingy. These can switch to 3 different connection types so even if your microwave has an audio jack you can finally listen to your food sizzling away (not recommended). The fact that I can now switch to any device is actually quite nice as I know this headset can be used with anything I own.It's a shame you need to buy some extra padding to make these worth while but I would recommend these as a gaming headset