 This is a product that there's been a lot of buzz about online. This is the SteelSeries 7H USB Pro Gaming Headset. And what SteelSeries is going after with this particular headset is something that is not only great for gaming, like their old top of the range, the 5H V2, but also outstanding for music, movies, or any other use that you could want from them. So this is their highest end headset to date, and it is also their most expensive. It's available in both a USB and non-USB version. The headsets are identical in both of those packages, however, and the only difference is whether or not it has the included SteelSeries USB sound card. So if I could get the cameraman to come and have a look, I'm just going to show you what SteelSeries has to say for themselves about this particular headset. So here they show you the specifications, so if you just want to zoom in on that so they can read it. As long as it's focused, it's good because they can pause. And then here there's a bunch of information about it as well. And then let's flip around to the back. So this headset does feature 50mm drivers, so that's quite large for a PC gaming headset. It is a closed-type headset, but the interchangeable ear cushions, and I'm going to just start unboxing the headset itself, the interchangeable ear cushions actually give you an option. Depending what kind of a sound you prefer, you can either use the...okay, oh, these are secured on here. You can either use the pleather ear cups that ship on the headset, or you can actually switch to these cloth ear cups. And the cloth ones are going to provide a more open sounding experience, even though they are closed headphones, as opposed to the pleather ones. So you kind of get a little bit of customization, and they do include both options in the package. So I'm going to go ahead and pull the headset off of the package. Because it is their most expensive and most premium product to date for a headset, it does look like it. Okay, so you've got...here. We'll compare against their previous high-end. There are some similarities, but also some pretty significant differences. So first of all, you notice that the band for the headrest up at the top is quite a bit wider versus the old 5HB2. You see that? It's quite a bit wider, so you're going to get a more spread out, comfortable feel up on the top of the headset itself. I can tell right away that these are quite closed. I can barely hear myself talking right now with these on, which is great for not disturbing others late at night when you're gaming or listening to music or whatever else you happen to be doing with your headphones. And I put these on the wrong way. This is the way they go. Sorry about that. So we'll have a quick look at what we've got included in terms of accessories first, and then we'll have a closer look at the headset itself. So here's another key difference that I noticed right off the bat. Long pause. Is that the 7H actually has a mini USB cable here, whereas the 5HB2 has a permanently attached cord. So that makes it a little bit easier to transport, because they both come apart into three pieces. But now the 7H can actually come apart in three pieces and keep the cable separate, whereas the 5HB2 came apart into pieces, but had the cable permanently attached to the one ear cup. Okay, so the actual accessories included. Here we go. We have the short version of the cable. So here's your headphone and microphone jacks, as well as your mini USB right here. So this goes into the bottom of this ear cup, just like that. Okay, it doesn't... Oh, it has a bit of a clip on it, but you can pull it out with a firm tug. So that's no problem. And the reason SteelSeries has these short cables is because if you have a supported keyboard with an audio passthrough, you can actually plug them right into the keyboard, have a nice short cable, and keep it right on your head when you're gaming. So it keeps the cord from getting in the way. And then they also include an extended audio cable. So the extended audio cables, if you do have to go around to the back of your computer, that's a nice long cable. You'll be able to go pretty much wherever you need to go with it. These are gold-plated connectors on both ends, so you don't have to worry about that. And they are quite clearly labeled if you want to come have a look close up here. So you can see that this is the microphone. It is also color-coded here. But on there, there's a little headphone icon. And then on this one, it just clearly says mic right on the connector. The last piece included, and this is optional, so this only comes with the USB version, is a USB sound card. So you plug this into a USB port, and then without any interaction from the sound card, you can just have audio running off of USB. I mean, it's not the best thing in the world, but if you want all of your settings configurable, and you can just move the thing from one computer to another, it'll actually keep that consistency if you're that much of a pro. Another thing that SteelSeries does provide with their software for the sound card is Virtual Surround. So they say you've got Virtual Surround 7.1. You can actually configure how many speakers and exactly where you want them positioned. So that's another thing that's pretty cool about the USB sound card, and it's not an expensive adder. I think it only costs another $20 or so. So I think that pretty much covers everything I wanted to say. I'm gonna go ahead and put the headset back together really quickly here, hopefully to demonstrate just how easy it is. There we go. That was easy. Oh, you know what? We should also show... You know, let's just show the headset a little bit closer up. So you've got your SteelSeries logo up along the top here. On either side, you've got these kind of metal-looking SteelSeries logos. The earcups actually rotate like this, which I don't believe was a feature of the 5HV2. No, it was not. So that's gonna give you a more comfortable listening experience, whether your ears are positioned closer to the back of your head or closer to the front. The angle will adjust itself such that you can be very, very comfortable. Also, I didn't talk about their tractable mic. This is a SteelSeries staple. It's existed on their high-end headsets for quite a while now, but they've refined the look of the microphone a little bit. It looks more professional and less kind of like a big teardrop. So that's one other thing that's cool. And let me see what else I have to say about it. I think that pretty much covers it. I'm going to be doing probably either a separate video or I'll do some annotations on top of this video. Once I have a chance to listen to it, I'll be comparing it against the Sennheiser HD555s as well as the Sennheiser PC350s. So thank you for checking out my video on the SteelSeries 7H USB. Don't forget to subscribe to Linus Tech Tips. Okay, I missed two small things. Sorry about that. First of all, there is an inline volume control and mic shutoff key. So if I could just get the camera to have a close look here, you can see it's labeled mic for the button right here, and then there is a volume control slider right there. Very convenient. And last but not least, I never did take a close look at the interchangeable ear cups. So you have the cloth ear cup option, which is as simple as just pulling off the plethorae ones that are included, which hopefully I can figure out now that I'm on the spot. I've been shown this before. It wasn't difficult when I saw it. So there we go. Just get your fingernail under there. Pop that up. There we go. And there's a little instruction here. Align top with the dot on the cushion. So you can see the one I pulled off has a little orange dot on it. The one that I'm putting on has a little orange dot on it. And it's as simple as that, I guess. Let's go ahead and put that on. Okay, you just snap that right on. So once I have that in place, I can actually hear quite a lot more through my left ear than I can through my right ear. And the point of that, like I mentioned before, is to give it a more open-feeling listening experience versus an entirely closed experience because this makes a much better seal with your head than a cloth ear cup does.