Team Exile5 recently got their hands on some of the brand new Sirus 5.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headsets from our friends and sponsors at CM Storm. A few of our members got to test them before release and the wait since has definitely been worth it.

The Sirus 5.1 Headset comes packed with features and options for all gaming needs. The Sirus 5.1 headset also comes with a Tactical Mixing Control for an external method of adjusting sound levels.

Sirus Cushioning and Support

These headphones have been designed with gamers in mind, so as well as delivering high end 5.1 surround sound they had to be wearable for long periods of time. This is achieved via the smooth finished pinch provided by the curvature at the top of the set combined with the padding under the curve. This ensures that even with the weight of the 8 drivers onboard the headset it still remains seated comfortably.

Solid and robust sliders built into the headset span allow the Sirus to most head sizes comfortably. The option to change the padding from breathable mesh to enclosed fabric also means that you have more options for both comfort and effect.

Drivers

The Sirus comes with 4 drivers per ear arranged in a circular fashion. In the photo you can see the four drivers clearly after removing the ear cushions. The top driver is the centre and the middle two are the front and left. These 3 drivers are all 30mm whilst the bottom bass driver is a larger 40mm. The size of the drivers helps to keep the weight down but still allows for crystal clear sound at sustainable volumes. It’s also easy to tweak the sound levels to reduce or compensate any ranges needed for specific games, movies and music. Again, CM Storm provides customisation.

Cup and Fabric Options

Included with each headset are two pairs of ear pad covers. The removable covers click into mounting slots around seating securely and safely. One pair of pads is breathable mesh allowing for more airflow and background noise; you can hear people calling you for dinner (just) with this pair on. The other is a more solid fabric pair maintaining total noise reduction. With these on, you will smell a fire burning around you before you hear the house coming apart.

The covers detach easily and slip into place smoothly. Small details like this show us that CM Storm doesn't mind headset modding too.


Tactical Mixing Console

The Sirus 5.1 headset comes with a Tactical Mixing Console which allows you to adjust the different audio channels on the fly. It is powered by dual USB gold plated adapters and allows players to change volume, adjust levels and mute the microphone or sound. If you need to lower the background engine noises when driving tanks or if going commando on foot and need to hear footsteps, you can adjust all the necessary sound without having to leave the game.

The bottom of the TMC is equipped with a coated non slip material to keep it secure on the desk or surface. The weight of the TMC also reduces the chance it will get moved easily if the cable gets pulled.

The volume control was solid and smooth with a high quality finish on the dial.It’s important to stop here and recognise what CM Storm has done. The headset comes with a range of 3.5mm jacks for plugging directly into a sound card. However, if you are at LAN, or on a machine with an inferior Sound card the TMC has its own sound card built in and by plugging in with 2 USB's you sidestep the strange machine/config/driver issues. This feature will be a real blessing come LAN time. Being able to crank or impede the levels to lower background crowd noises in a large area will be a huge advantage.

CM Storm has provided the best of both worlds but more importantly, the option for both is stellar.

LED’s

The LEDs built into the unit look amazing from the glowing CM Storm emblems on the side to the soft led on the microphone. The Sirus headphone design is not only functional but very gamer cool.

Cables

The headset cable is over a meter long and terminates in a 10-pin connector. This connector is designed to plug into either the TMC or into a group of 5.1 surround sound 3.5mm plugs.

All of the connector plugs for the Sirus are gold plated with smooth styling (they also come shipped with protective plastic cases).

CM Storm has been very clever and made sure the cable is strongly braided for durability at all locations and connections. Over time this should prove to be a major factor in the headsets longevity.

The range of cables ensures that players can either choose to use high end sound cards with 3.5mm jacks or to simply use the built in sound card at LAN with your personal settings.

The Microphone

The Sirus 5.1 microphone is a uni directional microphone that includes background noise cancellation features. This should prove exceptionally useful at LANs for removing chatter,noobs screaming and the general noise of events.

The microphone arm bends smoothly to allow players to adjust to their own preference. It can also be moved out of the way when watching movies or listening to music.

The end of the arm also comes with a small led to show if it’s muted or live. During transmission, voice sounded crisp and clear. It’s designed for -46 dB ±3dB sensitivity and a Frequency Response threshold of a 100 Hz - 10.000Hz. As gamers, a solid, clear microphone is essential for making clear calls to the team or screaming for support from the armour.

The Software

The software comes with options to change the settings on the headset for music or films and gaming. Moving between these modes is easy via the settings icons in the mixing software. Language adjustment, GUI settings and more are also included. The software comes with the option for a system tray icon so navigating to these settings is easy.

You can also manually adjust all of the 10 channel EQ levels via the software which is a handy feature as well as a range of presets.
Essentially one of the most powerful things about the Sirus headset is that when at home on your personal gaming rig you can tweak the hell out of the settings using the 3.5mm inputs. Alternatively, when moving between systems, LANs or events, the Tactical Mixing Console allows you to simply plug in via USB on systems without the full range of 5.1 Surround Sound jacks and use the onboard sound card. Either way, the option is there.

After all the product info, what’s it actually like to wear a Sirus Headset?

The three major tests the Sirus faced were games, followed by music and film.

We tested the Sirus 5.1 Headset on Battlefield Bad Company 2 and found the sound to be simply awesome. Spatial awareness is increased tenfold with the 8 drivers giving massive amounts of high end sound and assisting spatial awareness. Combat was...intense using a pair of Sirus, when an MG opens up around you, you know it. The most interesting thing about the headphones is how clear the range of gaming sounds is. Sounds don’t get washed out during intense fire-fights due to the audio design. This is really noticeable when massive contacts are underway. This is also a major factor when playing for several hours, there was no sense of industrial deafness from too much bass or ringing ears.

For music testing, we used Acid Techno, Trance, Rock, Enya, Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. After hearing bullets fired for an hour or two it was great to test them out in a more placid arena and they proved more than up to the test. The software was easy to play with in order to adjust the EQ needed for the different genres.

To get a feel for its film options we used certain key sections from Black Hawk Down, The Hurt Locker, Transformers and Saving Private Ryan. The start of Saving Private Ryan was incredible to say the least.
5.1 Headsets are a little heavier than normal stereo models, you notice this when you put them on. But then the sound starts and your audio experience begins. It’s a bit like describing going from DVD to Blue Ray, until you try it; you have no basis for comparison. Once you try it, you never want to go back. It’s literally a whole new level of sound.

The sound cancellation is never so obvious than when taking them off and removing the sound after a game or film. It’s like moving into another world as your audio realigns to the room. The Sirus 5.1 Headset adds a whole new level of sensation for audio and combined with high end graphics it lends towards intensely enjoyable gaming. It’s actually easier to locate and shoot people when you ears tell you that the fire is coming from 3 different directions instead of your eyes.


Conclusion

The Sirus headsets are simply stunning. For the range of options for usage and specifically for gaming the Sirus 5.1 Headset is amazing. As stated, we tested it primarily in FPS environments, so the 5.1 vs Stereo was a really noticeable difference. Any extra information in real time environments is important and the intuitive situational cues you get from the sound can be a winning edge.

Prices start around $120-130 dollars but we have also seen some much cheaper.

Here at Exile 5, we are giving the Sirus a MASSIVE thumbs up and are looking forward to using them for gaming LANs and comps.