I don't like to write reviews immediately after receiving an item, I'd much rather wait a good long time before posting. I purchased these headphones back in Oct 25, 2010 and am only posting this now because the headphones are still for sale on ncix and else where.

Ultimately they worked great for about 2 years of infrequent use, but considering that they are a mid range (price wise) headset and I paid $130 after tax & shipping, I expected them to last a lot longer.

After the first few months the glue partly separated on one side of the top padding. (See link to picture below)

Then the cord had a line break at the point at which the cable merges with the micro usb style end (the end that plugs into the left ear muff). I fully admit this was most likely my fault with the cord break. 2-3 times I had my headphones on and while sitting in my desk chair I bent over to pick something off the ground and yanked on the cord. Not enough to pull them off my head but enough for me to curse at my own stupidity. :P  Even though they did not break after being yanked they did eventually stop working and I needed to bend and twist the cable to get the sound working.

I finally contacted SteelSeries support and was able to purchase a replacement cable for just $5 through PayPal. I bought 2 cables just in case it broke again and I would not have to go through the replacement process another time.

Over the last year the right ear muff would periodically stop working. I would only have to twist the headphones on my head slightly to get them to work. I suspected at the time that it was a connection issue at the point where the top head piece clips into the right ear muff piece. There are 4 springy pins in the ear muffs that make the connection with the top piece. I thought there was just a lack of solid connection but the problem got a bit worse even after a bit of polishing/cleaning.

They finally died this last week when the right ear muff stopped working completely. I broke down and decided to take the right ear muff piece apart. I inspected the cable where the ear muff passes through the hinge that allows the muff to rotate 90 degrees and there did not seem to be any issues with frayed/pinched wiring etc. Before putting them back together I did adjust the wire routing slightly to give it more slack but it did not fix the issue.

Next I took apart the top piece. There were 3 screws holding either the connection points at both ends of the top piece and there did not appear to be any issues there. Then I peeled back the padding and tried taking off the plastic panel via 4 screws but there is 2 plastic weld points that prevented me from removing the panel. I suspect that the problems are hidden behind the panel but I can't get access to it without destroying the panel in the process.

Here is a picture showing the breaks in the plastic, glue separation, and stress points. 7H Problems Screenshot

The glue separation is due to a combination of the heat from my head and the flex in the top part of the head band and never came apart more then what you see in the picture.

I rated this two stars because a 5 star headset is perfect, every part works until it has been used for a few years, and can take a beating. Based on my experience these are not able to take much of a beating in day to day use. I only ever used them periodically at night when other people were sleeping otherwise I prefer to use my 5.1 surround sound speakers. I used them a few times when traveling and kept them in a laptop backpack but always took care to ensure there safety.

All in all when they did work they worked great, but ultimately I won't be buying another SteelSeries headset product. I have nothing against SteelSeries but I am the type of person that expects more out of the products I buy. I'm sure others have had great experiences with there 7H's but I feel my experience was lacking. Buying headphones off the internet is always a crap shoot as you can only rely on on line reviews, and each person has different hearing and tastes.

I have since purchased a Logitech G430 as a replacement based on the reviews, specs, and the fact it has a 3 year warranty.