Introduction

Anybody in my family will tell you that I'm a headphone freak. Every couple of months I manage to get myself a new set. So when Cyber Snipa sent me their new set of Cyber Snipa SONAR 5.1 headphones, I couldn't wait to test them out.

Just looking at them through the packaging you get a sense that they are a cut above the rest. They are a little larger than standard gaming headphones and completely cover your ear. Getting the headphones out of the box, I soon discovered that the ear padding is made of some kind of soft felt/velour type material. They have a real retro look to them which is very cool. The package also includes a CD with all the required software, so there's no downloading required.

Included with the set is a very long USB cable that has a control panel attached for volume and microphone controls. The LEDs on the control panel indicate power and microphone activity.

The actual ear pieces rotate and fold in on themselves for neat and tidy storage.

As attractive as these haedphones are the features on this product outweigh the sexy look by a long shot. They are full 5.1 surround sound headphones, with a headset microphone which all connects to a computer by one simple USB cable - no messing around with multiple cables having to be plugged into the back of your PC.

These headphones don't even require a 5.1 surround sound audio card to produce 5.1 surround sound. In fact they don't evn require onboard sound or a sound card at all! They have a built-in audio chip that is fully controlled and installed via USB. This is a perfect solution if your onboard sound has died on you and you don't want to fork out for a sound card. It's also a fantastic way to upgrade a cheap onboard 2 channel audio solution.