Nice review
But isnt it too big all of a sudden coming from inferno?

Sealed?

Quite nice price

that means they must have messed it up the during the manufacturing process

Go look around garage sales
If you are around subang area i saw MVP concept store still have 1 last left

go in the device manager and uninstall the sensei raw driver
then replug it in
if its still same means it's most likely the sensor died

the price is RM499 last time
i dont think so there are people willing to pay so much for it
but for now RM299

everytime you plug into a new computer it willl automatically install a native driver
you try to remove that and replug your mouse in
if the sensor is dead, have no choice but to send back to warranty


Reviews up in two weeks time
in the mean time any question regarding these 2 items i will try my best to answer you

This post has been edited by H3LLKEEPER: May 10 2014, 11:24 AM

Make sure they are authorised reseller
There is counterfeit product in the market currently for steelseries

its the printing
instead of just printing the dota 2 logo, the whole pad had to be printed to ensure smoothness all across
so the colour looks pale

the steelseries siberia v2 counterfeit is common now but not as common as the beats
microsoft 3.0 steelseries ended production waaaaaay long time ago, but for people who still like the design can mod it
its not original but it serves the same
unlike the v2 counterfeit

SteelSeries 9H Review

Introduction
SteelSeries H-line gaming headsets are designed towards competitive needs instead of enjoyment of gaming. Some may had called them the ''cheating'' headsets due to its sound tuned towards for FPS gaming, i usually say these headsets are bad for everything except for gaming. However the release of the 7H proves that they are moving towards the more balanced sound instead of a pure FPS specified sound. But today, they took the H-line of headset to the next level and create the SteelSeries 9H.

Unboxing

Before moving on into anything, i want to talk about the packaging. SteelSeries had changed its packaging recently and to be honest it looked more classy than the previous one. However you can take a peek inside the box this time

Opening the box you will be greeted with quick start guide, manual and a sticker. After that, open up the inner packaging and reveal the 9H itself, the USB soundcard V2 and a few other cords.

Design

The design of this headphone is gorgeous. It consist of plastic matte black housing with metal joint. With leather stitched ear cushions and orange inner padding. The top of the headphone is heavily padded so you wont have to worry about fatigue on the top of your head. SteelSeries did very good with the design here. Even without those fancy back-lighting, it still looks gorgeous. This headphone is a fully closed headphone so your ear will definitely get a bit sweaty if you are playing in a non air-conditioned room. However, these headphone are doing a great job in noise isolation. If you think the siberia v2 is good in noise isolation, then you most probably going to love these. These headphones are comfortable and to those who worried about ear touching the driver, fear no more as these doesnt. The headphone is light and it feels the same weight as the siberia v2. One extra feature of this headphone is that you can plug into any device. Yes i mean it, whether you need a USB connection for your laptop or even a 3.5mm mini jack for your phone; its there thanks to the new cable design. Which let you pick either to have the normal splitted 3.5mm jack, or the single 3.5mm phone jack or even straight into the usb soundcard. The design of the soundcard is simple, built consist fully plastic. Here is the bad part, the connection used to connect to the headphone is a micro-usb jack and the other end of the cable is the even smaller usb jack (sorry dont know what its called). So finding a replacement cable might be a hassle later on but the braided cable ensure that it stays good as long as possible (we are talking 2-3 years here). I do find that once i put in the cable into the headphone its quite hard to pull it out. The soundcard however has two 3.5mm jack output so you can easily pair it with your current headset if needed. It also have a slide out microphone which i have problem putting it in after using it. Its possible to put it in but you have to keep pull in and out until you get the perfect fit back inside the mic slot.

Compared to the siberia elite, the 9H is significantly lighter and the earcups are much deeper and wider as well, this allows you to easily achieve a good seal around the ear with the 9H. The microphone of the siberia elite is longer and definitely can put it in front of your mouth. And when it comes to design, the elite has blings while the 9H remains as a classy professional gaming headphone.

Sound Quality
Ok lets get to where it matters most, the sound quality. These things are balanced sounding headphone. It neither had that over emphasis on the bass section nor having a ear piercing highs like the 5Hv2. Its a fun sounding headphone, music enthusiast that require a closed sealed headphone could give this a try. If i were to compare to an audiophile headphone, its like an ATH M50 with toned down bass. Soundstage is average for a closed back headphone.
The USB soundcard
This is where the magic happens. The virtual surround sound is far more superior than the siberia soundcard or any i've heard. Compared to those multi driver headphones out there, this still comes on top. I was totally surprised on how different they sound when i turn on the dolby engine in the driver (In case you are wondering if it works without driver yes it does, just that you cant activate the dolby engine which you are missing out a lot). This is truly an immerse gaming experience compared to the other headphones that i have

Mic Quality
Mic quality is great but its not studio quality i can guarantee you that. But for voice communication its top notch and the noise cancelling feature helps blocking out unwanted noise (laptop cooler fan, air conditioner, maybe some mechanical keyboard clicks depends on what switch you are using)

Software
The software allows you to create custom EQs and there are also presets. Furthermore there is options to toggle the dolby engine, mic compression and noise cancelling mic function. I dont bother to show you the picture here because its too simple to use. Once you set it up you can pretty much leave the software in the background.

Real World Usage
Ok the headset is great and it features a lot BUT how you would probably be using it. Im not a fan of EQing my headphones because it really just compromising the raw sound quality that comes out of your headphone. Mic is great but i find it to be quite short, it only hangs at the side of your face and not possible to get it infront of your mouth. However, there is the noise cancelling feature that made up for it so no worries there. The option that i found most useful in the software is to toggle the dolby engine on and off. When i wanted to listen to music, i will just turn off the dolby engine. Otherwise, i would leave it on (gaming,movies, tv shows etc). However, there is a catch, the headphone isnt all that loud when it comes to movies. I find it being soft when i used it for movie, that can be fixed by having a headphone amp in between the headphone and the soundcard. So do keep in mind if you are a movie maniac. The headphone isnt big so people wont really stares at you when you are wearing it in public areas (well its still not for walking around). The headphone is incredibly light as i said it is comparable to the siberia v2 weight. Durability wise i dont see the leather pad peeling that soon as i dont sweat much. If you do, a simple using a tissue to wipe off the sweat will do the trick. As i said all cables are braided and can withstand good tension (unless you pull it on purpose)

Conclusion
For the price of RM659 it does definitely considered to be a mid end gaming headphone. But given with its features it definitely worth it. You will enjoy your games even more trust me. Coming from a gamer point of view, there is no headset that can come close in this price range, at least in my opinion. Shoutout for SteelSeries Malaysia for their kindness in giving me an opportunity to review this monster headset and MVP Concept Store for lending me the siberia elite for side to side picture comparison. If you have the budget, go for it. You will definitely agree with me once you put it on your ear and turn on the dolby surround.

Im up for questions as well, if you have any questions regarding this headset do drop down a pm for me or just join the discussion thread.

SteelSeries RIVAL Review

Introduction
SteelSeries is well known for its sensei or xai line up past few years ago which is perfect for both lefties and righties. By then SteelSeries had kept the same design for their mice bacause why change when its not broken right? But earlier this year steelseries released a budget ergonomic gaming mice for the righties (sorry lefties), which is called the RIVAL that we will cover in this review

Unboxing

SteelSeries still using the same old design for the box. There is a front cover which you can open up to let you get a grip of the mouse to see if it's fit for you which is a plus if that particular store doesnt have a demo unit for you to try it out. Inside the box you will be greeted with the quick start guide and a steelseries sticker which hasn't change since they released their product few years ago.

Design
Jumping into the design section, the steelseries rival is a whole new design for steelseries. Neither does it look like its a sensei or even the older ikari. However it does resembles a bit like razer's deathadder. The mouse is huge, i highly recommend palm grip users to give this a try because there isn't any other mouse that fits this nicely in your hand. The whole mouse is covered with rubber while the side has a dotted rubber grip which gives the user extra secure grip, this mouse will be able to be flung left and right without worrying it flying off your hand. However compared to the other predecessor, the cpi toggle doesnt light up when switching cpi, this could be annoying for those who loves to keep track on what cpi they are currently in. There are 4 mousefeet under the mouse which i believed it was teflon ( do correct me if i were wrong) which ensures smooth gliding across your mousepad. Both LED lights up the same colour but its changeable via the software to any colour you want. With all that good stuff aside, there is the not so great rubberized cable

Hardware
Lets go to the hardware section of this mouse. This mouse is equipped with a Pixart PAW3310 Sensor which boast a maximum DPI of 6500 and minimum of 50. This sensor is quite new to the market and could be found in the Mionix Naos 7000 or the Kone Pure Optical Military. Acceleration is minimal to none. However when it comes to mouse correction you be the judge, Here is the two paint drawed lines with the steelseries sensei raw and the steelseries rival.

SteelSeries RIVAL (above) SteelSeries Sensei RAW (Below)

Looking at the lines which i've tried to draw a perfect straight line which i fail most of the time which is good since mouse correction isnt really there. If i turn on the angle snapping, the line would look like this (below)

So for those who are afraid of angle snapping, fear not as this mouse is able to turn it on and off according to your liking

SteelSeries also employed new switches in these mouse. Click still feels tactile as ever but this time without that sharp clicking sound. It almost sounds like a blue switch mechanical keyboard(sensei raw) compared to a black switch (rival) here. (NO THIS MOUSE IS NOT EQUIPPED WITH MECHANICAL SWITCHES IM JUST LISTING OUT AN EXAMPLE ON THE DIFFERENCE ON HOW BOTH THIS TWO MOUSE CLICK SOUNDS). Scroll wheel also made to be much more silent and solid when compared with the sensei raw

Software

In the tweaking section here, you will find the basic mouse button adjustment,macro,dpi, angle snapping and mouse acceleration.
In the button mappings section you can basically assign a macro or even a button for each keys and yes the cpi toggle is programmable now. But there isnt an option to toggle between profiles here so do keep that in mind.

Macro editing is easy, you can either record your actions with the keyboard or decrease that delay time to as fast as 15ms or even no delay.

In the DPI settings you can toggle from the lowest 50DPI with step by step incremental value of 50DPI up until 6500DPI.

Polling rate can be adjust from 125Hz>250Hz>500Hz>1000Hz.
Angle snapping has several levels and can be adjusted to fit the user
You can also adjust the acceleration and deceleration of the mouse here

When it comes to the lighting settings. There are a few options on how the light would react. The other 2 setting is pretty straight forward. The one what i wanted to talk about is colorshift. There are 5 options in the colourshift inner tab. And from there it will cycle the colours shown. Neat way to show off the rivals's capabilities in the lighting section

Real World Usage
All it matters most is how it stands in the real world despite having all those features.
Lighting is a great feature in the steelseries rival and it definitely stands out in the budget mouse market. The design was just too big for me and my grip style wasnt really suitable. I was a fingertip grip user and i find it hard for me to manuever around with such big mouse but for those large hands with palm grip style, this is possibly the best you can get due to its unique curves. Despite its similarity looking with the deathadder, it feels a lot different when you palm it. The rival definitely feels longer and much more grippier as well. For my usage, for not having a cpi toggle light doesnt really bother me that much since i play dota 2 with 1800dpi and CSGO with 800dpi, so its a significant change in DPI and i wont be mistaken on which dpi im at. Sure having a rubber cable sucks but keeping it away from your pet and sharp objects will definitely do the trick. To those who are bothered that it doesnt have a laser sensor, well dont worry much since optical sensor had came a long way and it doesnt feel any significant difference when using either optical or laser. For me i would just rule that out

Conclusion
What matters the most to everyone of us is, is it worth it? Well, for a retail price of RM229(Original Rival) or RM239(for the iG Rival) you cant really go wrong with it unless you have a moderate size hands like me. I strictly recommend this mouse for those who palm grip with their mouse. With this price range you may consider the deathadder and also the roccat kone optical. This is solely depends on personal preference and i recommend you trying it out before getting one. Otherwise SteelSeries RIVAL really packs a punch and for RM229, try finding another mouse that offers this much features under this price. Special shoutout to the wonderful guys at SteelSeries Malaysia for giving me an opportunity for reviewing this mouse. If you dont know about that be sure to check them out.
As always im up for any questions, so if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask me about it.
Heres a picture of the iG mousepad to whoever is interested in

Yes there are
Check 1st page for more info
What problem? Non for me so far

too soft or no sound at all?
if no sound at all means you probably put it on mute or ur mic boost too high

the horrible tweaking software
i havent installed it back ever since
even razer fixed their synapse
makes me wonder if steelseries ever gonna update their old engine for old products

if it annoys you then send it for warranty
manufacturing defect

You still remember
I forget already
Ya thats the bad part of rubberize

Braided cord depends on usage
My friend and i have the same deathadder, his cable looks damaged as hell but mine still as good as new

i dont think thats possible

SteelSeries RIVAL DotA 2
Estimated to arrive in August
Pre-order from a retailer near you



This post has been edited by H3LLKEEPER: Jul 10 2014, 04:58 PM

dont think they cover user damange bro

i help you all contact the distributor so can get a faster reply
but they say man made wear and tear aren't covered by the warranty

The people at dota 2 section can help with that
Otherwise just look around steam community market

it wouldnt even display for me
the software is just bad to be honest

*After a fresh reinstall of the latest software, it does work better than the old ones
its 3.2.5

This post has been edited by H3LLKEEPER: Jul 20 2014, 11:15 PM

Any retail store near you? if can do try them out or at least have a feel before buying
Otherwise
RIVAL=Very large hand and perfect for palm grip ONLY
kana v2= suitable for medium to large hand and good for all type of grips
DPI doesnt matter, for single monitor, 3000dpi is more than enough
Both have little to no acceleration and mouse correction