REVIEW

     Taking a quick look around the headset, we find the i-Rocks logo etched atop the headband and both sides of the ear-cup. Like what the name already states, the headset has a matte black finish with gold accents around the ear-cups. The finish feels high quality to the touch but I doubt that you want to constantly caress the headset. In my opinion, the headsets looks very fashionable and normally I would let it sit around my neck and use it as sort of a fashion accessory.




     To expand on how it could be used as a fashion accessory, is how the A05 features a detachable cable and a detachable mic. At the bottom end of both ear-cups, one would find 3.5mm ports that allow the audio cable and mic to be attached to either side you prefer. This comes in very handy because in the past people have complained about being restricted of how the cable is laid out and would prefer it on the other side. With this feature, users are given the liberty to take control of their own layout. Of course, if you just want to use the A05 as just a fashion accessory, you can detach both of them to prevent unnecessary cables dangling around while you walk in style.


     While detachable cables are certainly wonderful, I have a gripe with this particular cable. Logically, you would keep the cable coiled inside your bag or whatever method you please and let the headset sit around your neck. The cable also features in-line volume control allowing users to easily adjust volume on the fly independent of the usual Windows Volume control. One problem with the cable is when one keeps the cable coiled for a certain amount of time, the cable has the tendency of getting itself dangled. Fortunately, one would just have to straighten it out for a few moments before using the A05, but still, dangling cables, period.


     Let's move on to the comfortability of the headset. Around the ear-cups we find cushioning made of leather and on the top we find cushioning made of what I would presume as memory foam since it forms around my head when I actually wear the A05. Adjusting the size of the headset is kept like how it is with adjustable headband that is made of shiny aluminium. The adjustment process is actually very smooth without being too smooth to avoid accidental adjustments while using the headset.

     Overall build quality wise, the A05 feels pretty robust. If you would like to stash the A05 inside your bag while you travel instead of letting it sit around your neck, it wouldn't be much of a problem in my opinion. That pretty much sums up what I have to say about the quality, let's move on to the audio quality.


     The A05 sports 40mm drivers as you would find standard across most of the gaming headsets in this range. Music wise, I have been listening to Billboard's Hot 100s and as expected the A05 performance is stellar. Unlike other gaming oriented headsets, the A05 does not have that much of an emphasis on bass which might or might not suit you. With some fiddling around with the equalizer of my preferred music player, I was able to achieve my desired audio quality. One word of advice though would be to ensure that the headset is firmly placed around your ears to ensure good audio quality; I guess thats the trade-off for designing such a light headset. Gaming wise, the A05 is on par with other gaming oriented headsets within its range. Oh and before I forget, since I am sort of categorizing the A05 as a portable accessory, the headset works great on mobile too!

     Now we shift our attention onto the detachable microphone. The microphone bears almost the same DNA of retractable microphones found on a lot of gaming headsets; as in the microphone of the A05 is very flexible with how it can be positioned. i-Rocks also claims the microphone to be noise-cancelling but awkwardly enough it doesn't muffle the clicky noise of the K10 keyboard.... which analogically put is like pitching the best sword against the best shield I guess.

CONCLUSION
     Looking at the whole package, the A05 presents itself as an extremely competitive product at a SRP of RM199. If you are looking for something portable, durable and in a sense, "stylish", the A05 is right up your alley. Interested to get one for yourself? You can contact the guys over at i-Rocks Malaysia using the links down below.

•     i-Rocks Malaysia Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iRocksMY
•     i-Rocks Malaysia Website: http://i-rocks.my/

REVIEW

     Taking the Siberia Elite out of its packaging, you would feel that the packaging really suits the price tag. This is one of the best packaging I have ever encountered while unboxing products. Taking the sleeve out, reveals a nice matte black box with a varnished SteelSeries logo. The box is automatically a keeper and is able to stand up as a display piece for SteelSeries fanatics.

     Enough about the box, today we have come to check out the headset, not the packaging. Taking the Siberia Elite out of its box, we are greeted with a Velcro strap (mentioned in 3 reviews in a row, I need to tone down my love for Velcro) keeping the cables neat and tidy. The MicroUSB cable is flat, making tangling cables a non-issue here.
     So you might be wondering how you are supposed to connect the Siberia Elite to your device since the thing has a MicroUSB connector. The Siberia Elite comes with the staple USB sound card, audio only jack cable and microphone/audio splitter cable, connect the MicroUSB header to either one and you are good to go.

     But obviously you would choose to connect it via the USB sound card, because if you don't, the thing that makes the Siberia Elite special, the LED illumination, would be neutered. Speaking of cool stuff, I bet you already noticed the illuminated ring, one beside each of the ear cups of the Siberia Elite. The illuminated ring on the right also works as a volume control, while the other a microphone mute switch. I have to say that such design is a very interesting one indeed. While it may not be that intuitive compared to the in-line mic/volume control found on the Siberia V2, it certainly works and there won't be anything dangling on your USB cable too.

     I mentioned about the illuminated rings, but how exactly do they work? How are we supposed to change the colours of said rings? This is where the SteelSeries Engine 3 comes into play. Currently, only the SteelSeries Engine 3 supports the Siberia Elite so those of you who have the previous version, SteelSeries Engine 2 would need to install additional software in order to configure the headset to your liking. I have prepared a separate post about the SteelSeries Engine 3 which you can check out in the near future!

     While I am able to keep on rambling about the illuminated rings of the Siberia Elite, I have to bring your attention to something that is key in all headphones; how comfortably the Siberia Elite would sit on your head. Due to it's aluminium band construction, the Siberia Elite is much more heavier compared to other headsets available in the market. When you wear the Siberia Elite, you would certainly remember that you are actually wearing it, which may or may not be a deal-breaker for you.
     This point is also reinforced with the stretchable headband; this type of headband is certainly a "one size fit all" kind of design. While that may be a good thing, but still that means the headband is constantly pressing against your scalp. Those who are new to the Siberia series might need some getting use, but for those who have used the any of the Siberia headsets, it's a major improvement with the added padding and firmer headband.

     Another thing that affects comfort is of course, the ear cups. The Siberia Elite sports very thick padded memory foam ear cups. This makes the Siberia Elite a very comfortable headset as the memory foam would shape around your ear. There is one problem though, the inner part of the ear cups are pretty small considering the size of the headset, even the Siberia V2 had a bigger inner ring than this. This would make people with big ears have a harder time to get the comfortable experience as the inner ring does not cover the entire ear.
      Now we come to the core of the headset itself, the audio quality of course. SteelSeries places emphasis on the Dolby technology used to process the audio signals before transmitting it to the user. Personally though, the USB sound card doesn't make that much of a difference than plugging it into my laptop's audio jack, given that my laptop supports THX TruStudio so that might be why. What I can say about the Siberia Elite would be, that it gives the user a very immersive experience no matter what you are doing. I have started to play the Titanfall beta recently, and the headset gives me a truly immersive experience, explosions sound epic, guns sound powerful and a lot more (credits to Respawn, 6GB of audio data for a beta, phewit). The experience doesn't just stop at gaming. I have been listening to nightcore music recently and the audio that the Siberia Elite produces is top notch, albeit not as good as audiophile headphones within the same price range.


     Not forgetting what makes or breaks a headset, is of course the microphone itself. Of course how can one forget SteelSeries's staple retractable mic? The microphone is very flexible and can sit as near to your face as possible and even as far as possible. Atop the microphone, you also get an illuminated ring when you mute the microphone. The noise cancellation featured in this particular microphone is also top-notch and removes all ambient noises, even mechanical keyboards clacking away in the background. If you need more than my words to be sure about it, do a search on YouTube and you will be amazed as what I just said was all true.

CONCLUSION
     In my opinion, the Siberia Elite is an extremely well built headset with good audio quality compared to other gaming oriented headsets. But at the end of the day, it will still burn RM769 from that wallet of yours. When asked why I'd spend so much on this headset, I always answer, "Well does your headset glow every colour in the rainbow?" So, buying the Siberia Elite grants you a special bragging right that currently no other headsets can offer; basically, the thing is a hater magnet.

Cons:

1. Weak bass
2. Needs good equalizer to maximize potential
3. Active noise cancelling would have been good.