Both Plantronics and Logitech have made great strides in the PC headset market. Professionals who do a lot of teleconferencing and videoconferencing swear by Plantronics devices because of their superior microphone quality and ease-of-installation. Many gamers prefer Logitech headphones because of their incredible 5.1 audio and surround sound allows them to talk smack with their friends one moment and know exactly which direction they're taking fire from the next. The trouble with several headset models however is that one often sacrifices audio quality for speech performance, and vice versa. Saitek's Cyborg 5.1 stereo headset doesn't skimp on either. It sounds great on both ends.

The Cyborg comes in an impressive package. The headset comes in its own carrying case that's soft enough to slip into a backpack but firm enough to stand a few drops with the headset inside. The Cyborg comes with three connectors: USB for 5.1 surround sound, and two 3.5-inch analog connectors if you want just stereo sound. The Cyborg has an in-line volume and sound controller on the headphone cord, so you can adjust the volume easily, mute your microphone, and switch between stereo and 5.1 audio quickly on the fly.

The cups on the headset are large and cushioned, so unlike my old Plantronics, they rest over my ears instead of on them, and are more than comfortable for long gaming sessions. The microphone is detachable, so if you're teleconferencing you can easily plug it directly into the left earpiece. If you're just listening to music or connecting the Cyborg to an mp3 player or stereo, you can detach it so it's not in the way. Installing and using the Cyborg was a snap. The software installed easily and provides some granular control over the volume and lets you choose different "drivers" designed to optimize sound for different situations. In the end though, I removed the software, and all of the Cyborg's features work just fine without the Saitek software on your system: just plug in the headset and play.

I put the Cyborg through the toughest test I could imagine: a guild run through Karazhan in World of Warcraft. Our run lasted a couple of hours (we don't exactly have it on farm status yet) and I swapped out my old Plantronics USB headset for the Cyborg. The first thing I noticed was the rich sound quality: the headphones sport rich bass and a strong volume gradient-I didn't have to hold down the volume button to really hear the difference in sound; one or two clicks did the trick. I could leave the microphone in a natural position in front of my mouth and I didn't come off too loud for the other folks listening. The microphone didn't pick up a ton of ambient noise from the rest of the room, and the earpieces are insulated enough that you might think there was passive noise reduction built-in.

I only have a few complaints about the Cyborg. The analog connectors and USB connector are all on the same cable, it just splits off at the bottom. If you're using it with your PC and have it connected via USB (which you have to in order to get the 5.1 channel audio) the analog connectors just dangle. If they touch one another, you get some impressive static. I wish the Cyborg had some kind of cover for those connectors, but since they don't, I just put electrical tape over them so when they touch they don't make contact.

The earpieces have lights on the outside that are powered by the USB connection: green on the right earpiece and red on the left. They look pretty cool to someone who sees you with them on, but you can't really turn them off. Because I use headphones almost all the time, I leave them plugged in. That means when I stumble to the computer in the morning, I'm greeted by pretty bright green and red lights where my headphones sit. Cool, but after a while it's a little tiresome.

Even so, the Saitek Cyborg headset is a winner. The Cyborg sports a professional microphone and an excellent microphone without skimping on the sound quality, especially when using the 5.1 channel audio. Even when I wasn't using the microphone and was just listening to music, I found the Cyborg one of the best pairs of headsets I've ever owned, even when compared against some of the DJ headphones I've used. The Saitek Cyborg is available now, and retails for £69.99. I saw a pair at Amazon for $79.95, and a few other online retailers had it for even less.