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Review: Exclusive: Corsair HS1 USB surround sound gaming headset

by Tarinder Sandhu on 6 September 2010, 16:56 4.5

Tags: Corsair HS1 USB headset, Corsair

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qazwp

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Sound quality and final thoughts

Music audio performance

Corsair makes bold claims about the HS1's sonic abilities. We put them up against some studio-quality Sony CD1700 cans, costing $300 when launched, and the utterly transparent nature of the CD1700s makes them ideal benchmark-setting candidates.

Bruce Springsteen's The River is an emotionally-charged song that just drips with rawness on the CD1700s. While understandably not as refined as the Sony headphones, Corsair's HS1 does an admirable job of relating the urgency and sadness of the The Boss's laments during the song.

Likewise, Coldplay's The Scientist is clear and crisp, albeit with a little too much brightness. Moving to the other end of the scale, Leftfield's Phat Planet is reproduced without the booming bass that overcomes cheaper headphones. Instead, it's reasonably tight and consistent. Having collectively used over 20 different headphones over the last 15 years and personally been something of an audiophile, the HS1 headset leave us with an impression of decent-quality headphones.

Multi-channel gaming audio performance

Playing through Mafia II, Crysis Warhead and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in quick succession and with Dolby processing active, the HS1 does a reasonable to decent job in positioning sounds 'around' your head. Gunfire genuinely appears to come from, say, the left-hand side and explosions can be mentally pictured to be coming from one side or another. However, comparing the results to a true 5.1-speaker setup highlights that headphones still have some way to go when mimicking the real deal.

Our overall impression is that sound positioning is a little better than on the price-comparable Logitech G35 headset, and we feel one would need to spend considerably more in order to gain a fundamentally better headset gaming experience.

Verdict

Corsair's first foray into the audio market is represented by the HS1 USB headset. Arriving with a retail price of £75 that entrenches it in the premium category, build quality and comfort are both above average. Stereo sound, too, is very good for a headset, rivalling audio produced by quality headphones. The bundled software provides granular control over frequencies and general settings, and the 5.1- and 7.1-channel positioning is good, if not excellent. Perhaps the only aspects missing here is Mac and console support.

Bottom line: the Corsair HS1 USB is the best gaming headset we've come across and is certainly worthy of a recommendation if you're looking for a premium sound from a premium product.

The Good

Very comfortable and well-built headset
Very good stereo performance
Decent, if not excellent, multi-channel gaming performance

The Bad

Does not work as a gaming headset on Macs and consoles
No 3.5mm jack for use with regular audio equipment

HEXUS Rating

4.5/5
Corsair HS1 USB gaming headset

HEXUS Awards

HEXUS Performance
Corsair HS1 USB gaming headset

HEXUS Where2Buy

The Corsair HS1 USB gaming headset is currently on pre-order from SCAN.co.uk* at a cost of £74.47.

HEXUS Right2Reply

At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.

*As always, UK-based HEXUS.community forum members will benefit from the SCAN2HEXUS Free Shipping initiative, which will save you a further few pounds plus also top-notch, priority customer service and technical support backed up by the SCANcare@HEXUS forum.



HEXUS Forums :: 8 Comments

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the software is rather the same as on my £18 headphones from trust
morda8
the software is rather the same as on my £18 headphones from trust

and the same as my Auzentech hda xplosion sound card.
£85?!?!? Thats seems ridiculously high for a pair of stereo headphones. You can get good 5.1 cans £30 cheaper!
It's a 7.1 headset, not a stereo headset (Dolby Headphone for 5.1 and internal processing for 7.1).
george1979
£85?!?!? Thats seems ridiculously high for a pair of stereo headphones. You can get good 5.1 cans £30 cheaper!

You also pay triple or quadruple that though, it all depends on the quality you expect to recieve and the quality that you can percieve.

I payed £100+ for my DT880 stereo headphones and will probably pay even more for my next set.