What do you do when you want to enjoy a true 5.1 experience, but you don’t have the room to set up all those speakers in your tiny bachelor suite? What if you’re rocking a laptop and it would be just too cumbersome to have a 5.1 surround sound stereo system pouring out of that portable computer? What if you’re going to a fragging LAN party and want the added advantage of actually hearing where your opponents are coming from? Stereo sound just doesn’t cut it, right?
Saitek is an established leader in the area of PC gaming accessories and their latest line of products — the Cyborg line — is absolutely top-notch. In addition to things like gaming keyboards and mice, they’ve also got the Saitek Cyborg 5.1 headset. This certainly isn’t the first set of headphones to offer the 5.1 experience, but I must say, these are some of the best headphones I’ve used in quite some time.
Taking A Look In and Out of the Box
Before we get down to the actual headset itself, let’s have a look-see at the packaging and the contents.
The retail packaging is predominantly black and purple with the front of the box offering you a glimpse at the Cyborg headset. Around the back, you get the spec sheet in five different languages as well as a prominently featured Cyborg logo near the bottom. For some reason, the logo makes me think of Universal Soldier. You know, the movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme? Oh, never mind.
Pulling the product out of the box — for some reason, pulling from the bottom was a lot easier than from the top — you see that the headset has been placed into a bowl-like container. In this container, you’ll find the headset itself, along with the inline controls and the detachable mic. As it turns out, this “bowl” is really one half of the carrying case. The top half is located just beneath this, containing the user manual and installation CD. Yes, this headset needs software.
The carrying case is a hard shell with red felt lining the inside. This is a great bonus, especially if you plan on bringing the Cyborg 5.1 headset to a LAN party. Plant the carrying case next to your professional gaming mouse and you’ll look like a pro! My only complaint is that the zipper is a little finicky. I almost would have preferred if the case opened like a book rather than coming apart into two pieces.
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Specifications and Features
As a professional gaming headset, you’d think that the Saitek Cyborg 5.1 headset would come with some rather impressive specs. Thankfully, the people at Saitek have not disappointed on this front.
- True 5.1 Surround Sound using integrated USB sound card with in-line volume/mute controls
- Low profile, rotating cans and adjustable headband for total comfort and portability
- Includes hard carry case
- Detachable noise-cancelling boom microphone
- 6 sonic drivers deliver precise directional audio
- Unique styling – ‘Cyborg’ logo illuminates when 5.1 sound is selected
- 3.5mm jack included for use with MP3/CD/handheld devices (in stereo)
- VoIP ready
Strangely, the spec sheet makes no mention of the frequency range for the drivers. Going through the graphic equalizer within the setup application, which I’ll describe in a moment, it seems that it’ll do 30Hz to 16KHz, but I can’t say for sure.
Build Quality and Design
These headphones mean business. That was my initial reaction to the Cyborg 5.1 headset. The headband is very well padded and the sliders for adjusting the size of the headband are metal, not plastic. This speaks volumes for the quality. The cans themselves are very nice as well, boasting a glossy black finish on the outside, but you’ll also notice that they are vented as well. This helps to reduce moisture during those sweaty LAN parties.
The inside of the earcups, the part that actually touches your head, is very well padded in a velvet like material. These are designed to be over-the-ear style headphones, but I found the inner lining to be a touch too small. It’s not that I have big ears, at least I don’t think I do, but I would have appreciated an extra millimeter or two of clearance between my ears and the earcups. If you look closely on the inside, you’ll notice that there are three separate speakers housed in each earpiece. This is how the Cyborg is able to achieve a 5.1 sound field in such a confined space.
Built into the cable is a simple controller. It’s possible that this is where the rudimentary sound card is also located. There is a slider for choosing between stereo and 5.1 sound, a mute switch, and a pair of buttons for adjusting the 5.1 volume. Adjusting the stereo volume is done by a separate dial on the side.
In the left earpiece is a small port where you can connect the detachable microphone. The mic boom is about six inches long and is somewhat flexible. It’s great being able to remove the microphone when you don’t need it.
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Performance
For my initial test, I only hooked up the Saitek Cyborg headset through the stereo connector. Even when I was listening to music through YouTube, I was thoroughly impressed with the sound quality. The bass was rich and clean, and nothing sounded washed out at all. This held true for watching various videos and listening to my MP3 collection as well, whether it be rap, rock, or anything in between.
Switching over to the 5.1 configuration for gaming and movies, I am pleased to report that the sound quality was maintained. The gaming experience isn’t quite as satisfying as having a real 5.1 speaker system, but this about as close as it’s going to get with a set of headphones. You can very clearly distinguish between sounds coming from the left, right, center, and behind you. The six speaker system is an absolute dream.
Software and Configuration
To install the software, you must first plug in the Cyborg headset via the USB connection and ensure that the switch is set to 5.1 mode. After that, you simply insert the provided CD and follow the instructions. You have the option of installing the required software alone or you can accompany it with the demo software as well.
The configuration software lets you set up all sorts of options revolving around your aural experience. This includes a number of pre-defined equalizer settings and you can further customize these to your liking, saving the results under whatever name you want. It’s also cool that you can set the environment size; setting it to the biggest room provided the best sense of surround sound. Fiddling with the equalizer also made a world of difference for enjoying my music, making it even better than I had experienced at the default settings.
The main screen of the settings software lets you choose between the different output styles. I went with the six speaker setting, which is basically 5.1. This is displayed visually on the right side of the window. Clicking on the play button below the graphic gets the software to read out something from each “speaker”. If you want to further customize this, you can activate DSP mode and move the virtual speakers to any location you’d like.
Along with the configuration software, you also get a couple of demo programs. The one shown about is that of a 3D helicopter and it flies around (and behind) you. This is meant to demonstrate the 5.1 surround. The other demo is a rock fight and you find the other rock based on sound location.
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Conclusion
Saitek has really outdone themselves with the Cyborg 5.1 headset. The sound quality is absolutely tremendous and I was really impressed with how everything sounded coming out of these headphones. They’re not nearly as big as some other DJ-style cans, let alone those that provide 5.1 surround sound, but the Cyborg has a performance level that sits pretty high in my books. They won’t be as compact as a set of premium earbuds, but premium earbuds just don’t offer the same kind of experience.
The build quality is exceptional and there is plenty of padding to keep you comfortable for hours of movies, music, and gaming. It’s also pretty cool that the Cyborg logo on each earpiece lights up when in 5.1 mode. The right ear lights up green whereas the left ear lights up red. It’s also on the left earpiece that you’ll find the cleverly hidden port for the removable microphone.
Headphones like these will never replace the experience of a true 5.1 surround sound speaker system, but Saitek has done a great job with the Cyborg 5.1 headset. The surround sound experience is pretty spot on and the quality of the product is among the best in the business. I just wish the ear muffs were a touch bigger for my ears.
Pros
- Exceptional sound quality
- Versatile application for both stereo and 5.1
- Provided software adds a great deal of customization
- Fantastic build quality all around
- Very comfortable, even with extended use
Cons
- Carrying case zipper is a little troublesome
- Inside of earpiece is a little too small
- Sound escapes to outside of headphones
Overall Rating: 9.0/10
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