SB Inferno

You don’t always have to pay a lot of money for a high-quality headset. Keeping this principle in mind, Creative has released a new line of decently-priced headsets designed for buyers on a budget. Creative is well known for its history of quality headsets, but while their devices were always at the top of their game in terms of their technical capabilities, they were often lacking in the design department. Things have been changing for the better, though, and with their most recent line of headsets, Creative has made a lot of progress on this front as well. This trend continues with the new SB Inferno.

The SB Inferno is Creative’s new headset aimed at price-conscious gamers while sacrificing nothing in performance quality or visual style. Here at DLH.net, we’ve gotten our hands on one of these fine specimens and conducted a through investigation. We wanted to find out whether this headset could meet the needs of gamers and still remain near the lower end of the price range.

What makes the headset so visually appealing is the new design, with red highlights on the earpieces to make it look extra cool. The headset comes with instructions, an audio/mic splitter adapter, and a detachable microphone. There’s no driver disk, but you can download the drivers online if you need to. In most cases, though, the device is plug & play. Connection is achieved via standard 3.5mm audio jack (no USB connection available).

One of the first things we noticed was that despite the relatively small earcups, the SB Inferno left nothing to be desired in terms of comfort. The earcups are wrapped in soft fabric, allowing for hours of gameplay not only free of any pain, but also free of sweat. The design of the device also makes it really easy to wear, too, and it can be adjusted to fit even the largest heads without any trouble.

The overall design really conveys a sense of quality, as well. Nothing flaps loose or looks like it was cobbled together. The red details stand out against the sleek, black plastic on the rest of the headset, and the “SB” logo on the earpieces looks really cool. They could have made the wire a bit thicker, though. It’s thin, and looks like it could easily snap, but at 2 meters (6+ ft) long, it’s definitely not too short.

The 40mm speakers perform really well, though they seem to be more bass-heavy than they should be. With sounds on the higher end of the spectrum, the headset shows a real weakness – they’re not as easy to hear as the lower-pitch sounds, giving the headset a rather one-dimensional range. This is truly a shame, because the basic sound quality of the headset is one of the best in its price range. A small control piece on the wire allows you to adjust the volume and also features a mute button. Unfortunately there’s no way to control chat and game volume separately.

The audio jack can be connected to a smart phone, a tablet, a PC, a Mac or the PS4. One jack is used for both audio output and input. Just plug in the included condenser microphone and start talking. The microphone is flexible and can be twisted in any direction. However, the quality of the microphone is not very high. Voices sound muffled, and there’s a lot of echo, as if the microphone were behind a wall or something. Anyone planning to use the SB Inferno to make voice recording should think again before buying it. But it’s okay for voice chat.