Sennheiser RS 180 vs SteelSeries H Wireless

Hi guys, I am looking to get my first wireless headset. And after doing some research I am split between Sennheiser RS 180s and SteelSeries H Wireless headset.
If anyone owns these or has used them, can you tell me which offers better sound quality?

Surround is a big thing for me, because I do want to use them for games as well as movies. I know the Sennheiser RS 180s arnt surround but I have been hearing from people that you can configure some quality headphones to give good surround sound and get better quality sound than going for a "gaming headset"

Let me know what you guys think. Also if you know of any alternative wireless headphones/headsets in the same price range please let me know.

Thanks guys...

Hi On_Point -- (side question - did you play Team Fortress Classic at some point in the past?)

I have received and am in the process of reviewing the Wireless H headset from Steelseries (as well as a couple others of theirs). I found the sound quality to be pretty solid (for a gaming headset) and the headset to be comfortable and lightweight to wear for a day of work. ATMInside bought one, but he didn't like it as it didn't fit his ears (mine fit inside the cups no problem). Stay tuned for the review, I have a handful that I have to get through before I can start writing everything.

Important thing to note, is that you will need a soundcard that supports Dolby Headphones + optical output to be able to utilize the surround features of the headset. I bought an Asus Xonar DX for this purpose and it has been pretty solid.

I haven't tried the Sennheiser (although I did reach out to them for a review sample as well, hoped to get a PC363D). I know a lot of people buy the HD598s (not wireless though) and love the sound quality when virtual surround is used. Then attach a modmic for microphone capabilities.

FYI Janus, mine fit inside the cups fine, but hit the back of the cup. They were comfortable for an hour or two, but after 3-4 it was hurting.
The sound quality on the H Wireless is good, but not great.

You can never go wrong with a set of cans from Sennheiser, they're awesome.

I ended up with the Sound Blaster Recon3D Omega Wireless. Sound quality is better than the H Wireless, it has great range, and it's more comfortable (although not as comfortable as my G930's were).

I'm currently testing out the G930s, I find them to be pretty comfy, but a little heavier than the WirelessH's.

That's fair about the sound quality, saying excellent is probably a bit of a stretch, I edited my response to mark that and also mentioned 'for a gaming headset', as a set of cans that are for audio specifically (sennheiser ones, audio technica, beyrdynamics, etc) will almost always beat out the gaming headsets in sound quality.

Janus67 said:

I'm currently testing out the G930s, I find them to be pretty comfy, but a little heavier than the WirelessH's.

That's fair about the sound quality, saying excellent is probably a bit of a stretch, I edited my response to mark that and also mentioned 'for a gaming headset', as a set of cans that are for audio specifically (sennheiser ones, audio technica, beyrdynamics, etc) will almost always beat out the gaming headsets in sound quality.

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Yeah, excellent is a bit of a stretch. It could be better with some fine-tuning on the EQ, but that is MUCH easier on my Omega.

The G930 is definitely a bit heavier, but it doesn't clamp as hard and wears better for long (10hr) sessions.

List of what I've tried:
- Logitech G930 (my headset for 4 years, good range, long term comfort, good sound when tuned)
- Logitech G35 (my headset when I travel)
- SteelSeries H Wireless (notes above, good range)
- Astro A50 (sound was good, on par with the H Wireless, but I found the headband very uncomfortable. Range was acceptable)
- Creative Sound Blaster EVO ZxR (Bluetooth caused issues with sound quality when mic is active)
- Turtle Beach Z300 (Hit my ears worse than the H Wireless, sound quality was barely acceptable)
- Skullcandy SLYR (Girlfriend's headset, good sound quality, wired, comfortable)
- Corsair Gaming H2100 (Sound quality on par with the Z300, range was highly unacceptable)
- Turtle Beach i60 (Range was great, sound quality was good, microphone quality was garbage)
- Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D Omega Wireless (I needed to stuff the ear cups but this set hit my ears the least of anything except the Logitech and Corsair cans, great range, very nice sound)

Thanks for the replies guys. I will keep an eye out for your review Janus67. And you say you love the quality on Sennheisers when virtual surround is used...so how does that virtual surround compare to something like the H Wireless? Because this is what I been trying to find out. Is it better to get a "gaming headset" that has surround, or get some decent headphones like the RS 180s and add virtual surround? And I can always add a modmic to it as you said.

ATMINSIDE I will have a look Sound Blaster Recon3D Omega Wireless, they look quite nice.

Oh by the way my current soundcard is the Asus Xonar Phobeus.

FYI, the Recon3D Omega can be used via USB, Optical, or Analog.
I use mine via USB, and would recommend this. The Recon3D portion is actually a Creative Sound Blaster sound card, so you get all their software to control it as well.

You're always going to get better sound out of a set of headphones like some Sennheiser cans, but obviously you're tethered to the system.
I use mine while cooking, doing laundry, etc. to listen to music/podcasts. That's why I wanted wireless.
If you're going to get wired, I always recommend a nice set of cans and a mic to go with them.

I haven't personally used the Sennheisers + virtual surround, just read many many people's posts/threads discussing it and they liked it a lot. From what I read having the two nice drivers and open back cans allowed for a larger sound stage and gave more accurate virtual surround. Sound quality suffers on headsets that try to use 'real' surround with multiple smaller drivers.


Regarding the sound quality of the H, I did have to play with the EQ a bit in both the audio driver and the control box, but ended up getting it to the point where the sound was pretty decent. Defaults/balanced across the board were very muffled/bland.

@ATMINSIDE Ah nice being able to use USB, Optical, or Analog is a big plus.
But you should know the Sennheiser RS 180 I mentioned are also wireless
I was not comparing wired with wireless.

@ Janus67 Yea I been reading a lot of possitive feedback from Sennheiser RS 180 users. The only downside is it can only be used with analogue. I am not even sure if it will work with my soundcard.

By the way I just noticed the question in your eariler comment...I did play Team Fortress Classic as well as most of those games in the past.
Even that one where you jump between platforms throwing disks like in Tron lol (I forgot the name)

I assumed you were talking about a wired headset since you were talking about using a modmic.
Sennheiser is a dedicated headphone company, their sound quality will still be superior to a "gaming" headset.

Isn't the Xonar Phoebus purely analog?

Did you play in a clan/guild called *the greats* (*TG*)?

Loved TFC! And I believe the game you are referring to was Ricochet

If it can only be used analog it may not be possible for it to be setup for virtual surround without USB or optical

@ATMINSIDE Lol yea I think I confused myself there with the modmic. I was looking for a mic I can use with these headphones and completely overlooked the fact that modmic is wired
And you're right the Xonar Phoebus is purely analogue, but it's a 7.1 card. The headphones come with a headphone/feed and a headphone/R&L feed. So I think it will work with the headphone feed on the soundcard, but will I get surround sound effect...

@ Janus67
Yea I was in a clan called TG...but this was a LONG time ago.
Man I use to play CS, TFC, DoD, and Ricochet
I'm a little confused about the Sennheisers, it is designed to work with a simple headphone jack or R/L audio jacks. And I think the surround effect is mixed in the trasmiter...but I'm not sure. I really do want some surround effect beucase I play a lot of games.

EDIT:
I just noticed this card actually seems to have an analogue S/PDIF output...unless you're using that port for "side speakrs"

atmin, how far into your review of those headsets are you.
and did you get a pair of the sennheiser's?

dejo said:

atmin, how far into your review of those headsets are you.
and did you get a pair of the sennheiser's?

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It's not a review, that's what I tried in a quest for something I liked.

I haven't had a pair of the Sennheiser headphones mentioned here, but every set of their cans I've put on blew me away.

Ironically I sent messages to most of those companies for review samples that ATM has used. I'm currently expecting a Turtle Beach Elite 800 headset to come any day now, but most don't like to respond to messages apparently.

I just read this review which is describing a latency issue with the RS 180s...this may be a problem in games.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R3DI...pr_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B002TLT10S#wasThisHelpful

Also the H Wireless now has an "Item Under Review" message lol
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FAN4LTI/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=

Not under review on the amazon.com site:
http://www.amazon.com/SteelSeries-W...TF8&qid=1427933127&sr=8-1&keywords=wireless+h

Ah cool, do you know if the "Item under review" messege could be due to fakes being sold?
Beucase in recent times I remember hearing about replicas being sold even through Amazon for more than one product.
They always seem to be quite expensive gear too. Like smartphones, tablets etc

That's possible I suppose, I almost always buy directly from amazon to avoid most of those issues and if I have a problem their return policy is excellent.

Janus67 said:

That's possible I suppose, I almost always buy directly from amazon to avoid most of those issues and if I have a problem their return policy is excellent.

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This +1,000,000,000