Viper Gaming V380 7.1 RGB Gaming Headset Review

A Closer Look & Performance

The Viper Gaming V380 comes hard-wired with a really nice quality black braided cable. There’s a gold-plated USB header too, and overall, the whole thing looks great. I do prefer a detachable cable, but at this price range, it’s not a deal-breaker.

The design is really cool, and a little bit unique too compared to the more rounded designs we’re used to seeing from other brands. The ear cups are pretty much rectangular in design, but also quite large so that they can fit around your whole ear easily enough.

The back of the ear cups has this hard mesh design as well as a really stylish two-tone metal and plastic finish that really gives them a premium-quality look. However, the design still sits fairly firmly on the “gamer” side of the spectrum, which is fine. The mesh looks like it’s an open-back headset, but it’s not and actually is closed back, which helps lock in the sound quite a lot. On the flip side, it’ll help block out ambient noise too.

The drivers are quite deep though, and they would need to be, given that they house massive 53mm drivers. There’s also the built-in RGB, built-in USB sound card, and deep ear cup padding too. The design doesn’t look bloated though, I think they look really cool and modern, but I know that’s pretty subjective.

Down the side of the ear cup, you’ll find a volume wheel, as well as a microphone mute button and master RGB lighting control. It’s not the most comprehensive control system, but it gives you everything you need within easy reach. Viper Gaming wants this to be plug and play friendly, so they’ve avoided bloating it with software and complex features.

The ear cup mounts are really nice, with a durable metal fork design and adjustable metal slider throughout the headband. Not only does it look great, but it feels great too, it’s pretty durable.

This mounting allows for a huge range of pivot for each ear cup, allowing a good and comfortable fit around your ears.

What’s more, despite the durable design, the headband has quite a good amount of flex to it. It flexes and bends confidently, so it’s unlikely to snap and break any time soon.

As you can see, there’s a rather thick layer of soft leather padding here too, which combined with the closed-back design will help provide quite a lot of passive noise isolation.

The headset is really lightweight too, surprisingly so actually given it looks kinda blocky and robust. Amazingly it strikes that balance of a good size, durable build quality and a comfortable weight, which is superb.

As you connect the USB cable, the RGB lighting sparks into life. It looks amazing too, with a lovely edge light on each ear cup as well as the Viper logo just off to the side. As you saw earlier, there is a button on the headset allowing to tinker with the colours, plus, you can turn them off too if you so desire.

The 53mm drivers are the main focus here though, and they pack quite a bit of punch. There’s plenty of top-end volume too, so if you do need to crank the headset, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Because the ear cups are enclosed, and the leather padding is huge, it fits perfectly around your ears, rather than on your ears. It creates a seal that locks in the sound and blocks out the world around you. The end result? A more punchy sound, deep and heavier bass, and it sounds fantastic.

Is it a completely flat and accurate sound? I wouldn’t say so, it’s slightly tuned for the wow factor and for a gaming headset, I think that’s absolutely fine. More bass, brighter and more detailed treble, and it gives you clear vocals and footsteps with the satisfying whomp to explosions.

For movies, music and gaming, I really can’t fault it. It sounds punchy and exciting all the time. For throwing on a few albums while you’re working, it’ll leave you with a smile on your face. The USB soundcard is pretty decent, allowing for plug and play usability and the 7.1 surround is dealt with on-board too, keeping things really simple.

What really stands out though is the microphone. It features a nice quality flexible boom, but also noise cancellation. That means if you’re mashing away at a mechanical keyboard, it’s less likely to annoy your teammates. What’s really cool is that the ANC processing is built into the headset, rather than additional desktop software.