As far as headphones for iOS devices go, the SteelSeries 7H for iPod, iPhone, and iPad (we'll just go with iOS devices, or simply 7H for the rest of this review) looks about as serious as you want to get for a quality set of cans without venturing into super-high-end territory. From a company that is probably better known for their gaming-related peripherals, rather than their upmarket audio gear, the 7H is actually not a bad pair of headphones.
I'll be honest with you: when the opportunity to review the SteelSeries 7H came up, I jumped on it. Not because I am particularly interested in headsets, or because I wanted to write some long-winded review on a product just for my own perverse enjoyment, but because it was from SteelSeries. Being somewhat of a gaming enthusiast myself, I had heard nothing but good things about other SteelSeries products — thus, choosing to review the 7H was an easy decision.
Armed with the knowledge that SteelSeries were a company that mostly made PC-related gaming peripherals, imagine my
With my initial surprise out of the way, I realised this might not have been a bad thing after all. Okay, time for a second confession: I've never been a big fan of over-ear headphones, and especially not in public, where I find myself listening to music primarily on my iPhone, in public, which means a slightly more discreet set of ear speakers. The Apple in-ear headphones have been choice du jour for the past year or so, due to how portable they are and how great the audio quality is for their tiny size.
Using the 7H headset has made me truly appreciate what a bigger set of cans can do for audio quality. I'm no audiophile, but even I can tell that things just sound better with this headset, and at a guess, mostly due to the larger drivers; the drivers in the Apple in-ear headphones are a few millimetres across, at most, and the drivers in the 7H are 50 millimetres; it's not hard to see why the audio quality is so much greater. I could throw around words like "tonal separation", "soundstage", and other fancy-sounding words, but just trust me on this one: these headphones sound pretty good, about as good as it gets for this kind of money. If I was being super-picky, I might say that the bass probably isn't as pronounced as it could be (and by that I mean, while you should probably look elsewhere for your shake-your-teeth-out-of-your-head experience, the bass is more than capable of delivering where it counts). The mids are great, fantastic, even, and the highs are just as good. I'll leave it at that in terms of audio, as I realise that audio is a pretty subjective thing.
You'll be pleased to know that the microphone (both in form and function) is equally as good as the audio portion. I conducted a few Skype calls and listened to the sound of my own breathing for a while, and I can safely say that the microphone performs admirably. The microphone is of the discreet retractable type, and is flexible to a variety of different positions (within reason, obviously). It's not quite long enough for it to be placed directly in front of your mouth as it reaches roughly towards the corner of your mouth, but it works perfectly okay in that configuration, so I have no complaints.
Comfort wise, the 7H scores pretty highly. The headband is padded and wide enough to accommodate all but the widest cranium, but the real comfort stakes are fought and won with the ear-cushions. You see, dear reader, the 7H comes with your choice of ear pads: a nice leather pair attached by default, and another synthetic set awaiting you elsewhere in the packaging. Which pair you use is up to you: I found that the leather set gave me better sound isolation (much like how in-ear headphones give you that block-out effect), but were a little less comfortable during lengthy listening periods due to a lack of breathing space. On the other side, the synthetic pair didn't give much, if any, of a sound isolation effect compared to the near-complete block out of the leather set, but conversely were quite a bit more comfortable during marathon listening periods. That SteelSeries have given you the choice between these two ear pads is only a good thing in my books.
Other miscellaneous details worth nothing about the 7H for iOS devices might include things like the ability to take the headset completely apart, or at least separate the headset into three separate parts. I'm guessing this feature is for ease of transport, and the only disappointing thing here is the fact that SteelSeries don't provide a little bag to carry the parts around in.
The cable for the 7H for iOS devices bears many similarities to the standard Apple earphone cable. It's roughly the same length, seems to be made of a very similar material and has a very similar texture (which unfortunately also means it's probably prone to the same tangling issues). It also has the little inline clicker attachment that you might be familiar with — which also includes the volume control that works just as you would expect it to. This is the 7H headset for iOS devices, after all. There's one curious thing about the cable though, and that's the fact it attaches to the headset on the left hand side, using none other than a micro-USB connector that our European friends seem to be so fond of. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before, and certainly makes the 7H headset a little unique in that regard.
I'm all out of confessions, but I'll let you in on a little secret: iOS devices aren't the only products compatible with the 7H, even with its single-plug design for both audio and microphone. Sure, you can plug it in to any standard 3.5mm jack and you'll get audio no problems at all, but ever since a few revisions ago, Apple started building these composite jacks into their computer range, too. Which means you can actually use the single plug on your MacBook Pro, iMac, or basically any other Mac built within the last few years and you'll be able to use both audio and the microphone. But wait, there's more! If your Mac has one of these composite jacks, there's a very high chance you'll also be able to use the clicker and adjust the volume using the inline attachment. Fantastic, right?
Overall, the SteelSeries 7H for iOS devices is a pretty great set of cans. The audio quality is fantastic, the mic works admirably in all sorts of situations, and the overall build quality is as you would expect from a company that has had a bit of experience with Mac and PC related peripherals in the past. The bottom line is, if you're after a set of headphones for your iOS device — or your Mac, for that matter — and don't have the same personal image issues I do (and by that I mean, don't mind a little bulk), then you would be fairly hard-pressed to find something of this quality for the price, not to mention something that also includes a very capable mic. Recommended!
The SteelSeries 7H headset is available from the SteelSeries online store for 115 Euros, or about $150 in our local currency.
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