SteelSeries Spectrum 5xb's
Though Astro is one of the the prominent provider of competitive headphones for Xbox 360 (also with Turtle Beach and Tritton), they have one giant issue: the quality of their product. The most common complaint about Astro is with their wiring, mixamps, and headphones constantly breaking due to manufacture defects. Gamers end up having to find different techniques to have the product work, even if that means using duct tape just to keep the product together. Gamers end up spending $250 on a product that breaks after very little use. SteelSeries solves these problems with the solution being the Spectrum 5xb's. At MLG Raleigh I got to use the Spectrum 5xb’s, and this is my analysis of these headphones to see if they will be competition for the Astro's A40's.
Pros: Great sound, very light, retractable microphone and ear cups were very soft and comfortable.
Cons: No voice feedback.
Design and feature: Designed as a premium quality, wired headset for Xbox 360 gamers, the SteelSeries Spectrum 5xb has XL-sized, hear-through cloth ear cushions that fit comfortably around the ear. With the custom-built soundscape via 40mm SunDancer (SCS) units, gamers can pinpoint the direction and locations of noises and movement throughout the game. The SteelSeries Spectrum 5xb features a durable double-braided nylon cord and dismantles into 3 separate parts, at the headband and at each earcup making it compact and easy to fit into a carrying case for storage and/or travel. Even if you drop the headphone it will not break! The material the headset is made with is quite resilient to the product being dropped. Even if you throw them in anger, they will be fine, though this is not recommended, ha.
Bottom line: These headphones are incredible. Sennheiser PC350's are good headphones as well but the headphones just feel heavy on my head. The closed ear leather cups made my ears feel very hot and uncomfortable. The headphone also just had too much bass audio which just made it really difficult to hear people talk in the game. Spectrum 5xb's had the perfect idea with hear-through cloth and design of the headphone. Less wires, leads to less problems. Astro has so many wires and are so sensitive that makes it almost impossible for them not to have problems.
Overall I would say the Spectrum 5xb's are amazing! Plus, this quite magnificent product is going to be sold for $89.99. Wait…your telling me that a headphone that is better in multiple fields than other headphones is only going to be $90! Why would you want to waste time with Astro’s product that not only breaks constantly, but is also $160 more? You wouldn’t!
The only feature I wish they would have incorporated on the 5xb’s was voice feedback. I just like having the feel of my own voice and replay what I'm saying to my teammates. It’s nothing though you can’t get use to and isn’t a big deal. I would recommend these headphones to all competitive gamers and the causal gamer. This headphone only improves your experience of gaming. Yet again, SteelSeries makes an amazing product, like they have been doing for the last decade.
For more information visit the SteelSeries Spectrum 5xb Page!
